Don't Let Breading Get You Down.

I've never made pork chops before, so when I saw this recipe for Parmesan Pork Chops, I worried that I would screw it up, even though the recipe seemed so simple. I didn't, but I could have done better.  The pork chops themselves came out perfectly cooked, but the breading didn't get very crispy. The flavor was great, so I will make these again, and I know exactly what to do next time. Breading and baking meat is sometimes difficult, because you want the meat to be tender and juicy, but you don't want the breading to have much moisture in it. I wanted to use the guidelines in the recipe on the first try before I decided to do anything differently.  I did change one thing about the recipe itself, only because I didn't have Italian-style breadcrumbs: I used plain bread crumbs and a tablespoon of rosemary.  The rosemary and Parmesan went well together, and I will probably continue to use that in the future.

What I did wrong:
1) Used untoasted sandwich bread for the crumbs.  I should have toasted the bread first or used day-old French bread for a crispier coating.
2) Covered the pork chops while baking and didn't broil for the last few minutes. While a good technique for unbreaded meat, covering with foil can make breading soggy. Broiling for a few minutes at the end of baking helps to brown the breading and give it more crunch.
3) Put the pork chops directly onto the foil.  Putting them on a wire rack on a pan (with sides less than 1") would keep both sides evenly crisp.  I also could have sprayed both sides lightly with cooking spray to keep them crisp.

I combined the bread, rosemary, Parmesan, black pepper and garlic powder in a food processor and blended until they formed even crumbs.

Then, I washed and thoroughly dried the pork chops (I had a package of three; the recipe makes more than enough breading for four, though).  I dipped them in the olive oil and let the excess drip off and dredged them in the bread crumbs.

Then I lined a baking sheet with foil, misted it with cooking spray, and placed the pork chops on it and pressed more bread crumbs onto each.  Here, I should have put the foil on the sheet and placed the pork chops on a wire rack over it, leaving them uncovered.

I baked the pork chops for 35 minutes.  Pork is safe to eat at 145°F (medium), and well-done at 165°F.  Because some members of my family don't eat meat with "pink bits," I took mine out at 155°F and let the residual heat cook it to 160°F before eating.  I should have broiled the pork chops for the last three or four minutes.

I did have use a paper towel to pat off some oil, as you can probably tell, but in the end, the pork chops came out well.  And next time they should be even better.

DEEMS THIS RECIPE:
Much easier than pie.