Panko Buttermilk Pork Chops

So the dinner with the high temperature cooked panko encrusted chicken went so well, I decided to apply the same idea to pork. Only, I did not mallet the whathaveyou out of them to make them slender like the chicken, so I decided to experiment with the temperature. Flattened chicken would cooked to perfection at 500 degrees F. I cooked these pork chops at 475.

Panko Buttermilk Pork Chops
nutrition facts

What to assemble before you start because it all happens quite fast indeed:


I used three pork chops (each about the size of 1/2 of a butterfly chop
1 pint buttermilk
1 T Sriracha Sauce
1 zip lock bag
1 1/2 cups Panko (you can get plain or seasoned as you prefer)
1/4 t fresh cracked black pepper
1 t dried parsley
1 t paprika
2 t garlic powder
I do not salt but I am used to very low or no salt, you may need some salt
1/2 cup fresh ground Parmesan

9 x 12 baking pan lined with foil
Non stick spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (yup, I decided)

As soon as I got home from the store, I took the pork chops out of the package and placed them in the zip lock bag with the buttermilk and Sriracha Sauce  If you are cooking dinner within a half hour, leave the bag on the counter, otherwise refrigerate it and then take the bag out of the fridge 45 minutes prior to baking. Room temperature meat will cook faster. This high heat method needs the meat to cook up fast so it finishes throughout and yet remains tender and juicy.

Mix up the Panko, seasonings, and Parmesan in a medium sized bowl.

Pull the pork chops out of the bag one at a time and gently shake - don't try to get all the buttermilk off just the excess. Then coat each chop thoroughly with the Panko mixture. Press the Panko mixture firmly into the meat. If you run out of Panko stuff, mix up some more. If you have extra you can press it in on the top or pitch as you prefer.

Lay them in the foil lined pan (don't forget to spray with the non-stick stuff first).

Here's what they looked like before going into the oven. I smashed on almost every bit of the Panko mix.

Pop the pan into the preheated oven. They should be done in 15-20 minutes depending the thickness of the chops. The Panko will be well browned, bordering on but not achieving an unhealthy charring.

Today's pork should not be cooked to the point of well done. It should still be faintly pink when removed from the oven. An internal temperature of 145-150 is fine. Check the chubbiest chop with an instant read thermometer. Mine were fat little fellows and took about 25 minutes. The pork chops are not improved with a higher internal temperature and will turn out dry in spite of the best efforts of the buttermilk.

Tent with foil for 10 minutes after they are removed from the oven. This will allow the juices to spread throughout and enhance the lovely texture.

Tonight, I served them with microwaved new potatoes and frozen cut green beans, layered with thick cut applewood smoked bacon which was sliced into nice delicious chunks.

Serve, and accept applause as mindfully as possible.

Green Bean and Tomato Casserole

I had a package of green beans, one of those plastic containers of cherry tomatoes, and an onion and decided to make something a bit different. If you are into calories, this dish is very low cal. There are a lot of options when making this. Play around with the ingredient proportions and seasonings and make it your special recipe.

Ingredients with suggestions for other ways to go:

1 pound cut green beans (fresh or frozen)
1 t olive oil
2 cups onion, thinly sliced (I think this will be great with leeks too so if that's what you have, go for it)
1 t sweetener of your choice, I used agave (sugar, honey, etc..)
6 cloves garlic, chopped (or equivalent dried granules)
1/4 t fresh cracked black pepper
1 t dried basil ... although now that I think of it, fresh basil would be awesome, maybe 1/4 cup packed?
1 t dried oregano
1 1/2 T good quality balsamic vinegar
1 container (10.5 oz) good cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup Panko (found in the same aisle as you find breadcrumbs as they are Japanese bread crumbs and are remarkably crispy)
1/8 (or more if you like) cup freshly grated Parmesan

pre-Panko and Cheese

Easy assembly instructions:

Preheat oven to 400F

Remember to do all your prep ahead of time - all cutting and measuring. Put the spices in a little bowl.

In a casserole dish, nuke the green beans in a little water until crisp tender. My microwave is old and I nuked them for eight minutes. You may only need to nuke them for four-five minutes if you have one of those new fast as lightening microwaves. Drain, remove the green beans to a bowl, allow the casserole to cool, wipe with a paper towel.

While the green beans are a-cooking, heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onion and saute until caramelized. You may give one or two twists of salt at this point - it does make the onions taste great when you "check" on their state of caramelization every now and then by tasting several of the delectable strands. Do not stir too often as it is sitting on the pan a bit that will make them brown up nice.

When the onions are nicely browned, add the garlic cloves and saute for another couple of minutes. If you are using ground garlic powder, then add it with the other seasonings. After the garlic has sauteed a tad, dump in the pepper, basil, and oregano (and garlic powder). Saute for one minute. Stir in the vinegar and stir another minute. Remove from heat.

Spray the casserole with Pam and add the green beans, top with the onion mix, top that with the cherry tomatoes, top that with Panko, and then give a light sprinkle of Parmesan all over the top.

Pop in the oven and bake, uncovered for about 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned.

This is good left over, but the Panko will no longer be crispy and as mindful as it was the day you made it.

Panko Chicken

Ok, I have just about had it with the stupid super lean chicken breasts in the store. Do yours squeak when cooked? Mine did. When they "look" done, they are over done. When they ARE done, they look unattractively underdone. I've tried braising, pan sauteing, oven baking, roasting, etc. But when I cook a boneless skinless chicken breast, I keep hearing that obnoxious squeak when I cut it that means it's over cooked and dried out. Bleh.

It's easy to cook up a moist and lovely chicken thigh or a whole bird...or even a bone in skin on chicken breast. But the weekday speedy boneless skinless breast was really beginning to annoy me.

So, I tried a bunch of stuff. Really I did. I ruined many a batch o' chicken breasts. Then one day, I tried again. The first thing my son said after sampling this experiment was "Wow. I can even cut this with a fork." Then he said "This is awesome, I'd pay $30 for that in a restaurant." 22 year old men are odd things.

I guess I finally figured it out. Here's what I did. Now remember,  my non chicken ingredients are at this point rather estimated because I only made it once and am not much of a measurer anyway. The recipe was repeated with success by a friend though so I think it's pretty dratted close. I'll edit it later if I find that I am off in an important area.

Panko Buttermilk Chicken Breasts

The main ingredients with notes as to flexibility and variations on a chicken breast theme:


3 large organical chicken breasts of the uneven size and proportion (don't worry, we'll fix that)

Enough Buttermilk to cover the chicken breasts (I did not measure and really, most of it will be poured down the drain later so don't worry about the calories, ok?)

Several shakes of Tabasco sauce (optional, but I thought it made a wonderful flavor enhancement and besides I love my food spicy, although this did not make the chicken spicy, there was just a hint of something extra). My friend Gabi, the BrokeAss Gourmet likes to use a couple tablespoons of Sriracha Sauce instead of Tabasco. Give it a try, it's tasty.

1 1/2 cups Panko Japanese Style Bread Crumbs (I used the Italian seasoned ones this time, but it's not important cuz you add whatever seasonings you want and I meant to grab the plain when I was at the store and I just didn't. So this is what I had to work with)

1 cup freshly grated Parmigianno Reggiano (or your favorite hard Italian cheese all grated up. Do make sure it's fresh grated. Never buy grated cheese in a bag or plastic container unless you don't like the people coming over for dinner.

More Seasonings I used probably 3 t or even more of garlic, oh say 2 t dried parsley, about a 1 of oregano, and a number of turns of the black pepper mill. You use the seasonings that you like. You might not be a major garlicaholic like me so you would NEVER additional garlic if you got the Italian seasoned Panko. BTW, you don't have to make this Italian. Use whatever your favorite herbs and seasonings are. You may love white pepper tarragon chicken or you may be a big Herbs de Provencal person. If so, then make it so.

How the thing is put together and baked to glorious tenderness and juiciness:

Get out one of those big zip lock bags and your meat mallet. Put one chicken breast inside the ziplock bag. Do not seal it, but lightly flatten the open end with one hand because you are about to whack the whathaveyou out of your chicken with the flat side of the mallet and you don't want the chicken squirting out. Don't use the bumpy side of the mallet, ok? Whack away. Whack until the breast is about even thickness throughout. You'll probably find it between 1/2 an inch to 3/4 of an inch thick depending on how big the breasts were in the first place. Repeat with the other two breasts.

One thing you will notice is that your three breasts are now incredibly huge. Didn't look like so much meat before. Now you know that only 1/2 of one is going to be just fine for dinner. Put the flattened breasts in a bowl or other container with a lid. Cover with buttermilk. Lift each breast to make sure the buttermilk gets all around them. Stir in some Tabasco while you are doing the lifting part. Cover and return to the fridge for about 1/2 an hour to an hour or whatever amount of time you find you have. Bring out of the fridge and sit for 1/2 an hour to bring to room temperature before cookery.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Yes. 500, not 350, not 375, not 425. 500 degrees in Fahrenheit.

While the oven is heating up, mix up all the other non-chicken ingredients in a wide bowl. Inhale the aroma and adjust the seasonings until the dry mix smells awesome. This is my most favorite of mindfulness cookery techniques. Use your nose, eyes, and memory in addition to a recipe.

Line a large baking pan with foil and give it a spritz of non stick spray.

Pull out one of the chicken breasts and coat well with the Panko mix on both sides. Place in the pan. Repeat. Repeat.

Now, the best thing is if your chicken breasts do not touch so use a large enough pan. If they have to touch you may need to add five minutes to the cookery time.

When the oven preheating dinger goes off and you know your oven is really hot, put the pan in and let it bake for about 20 minutes. Yes. 20 minutes. If you think your chickens were more on the 3/4 inch size you may need five more minutes. I will let you cut one or use your meat thermometer to make sure. Then remove from the oven and let them sit in the pan for five minutes to seal in the juiciness and flavors.

As you can see, the chicken was not only perfectly cooked but the Panko gave it a nice brownness - which helped me mentally because a non-browned chicken shrieks underdone to me and I am immediately prejudiced against it. Give it a try. If you use different seasonings, let me know what you did and how it turned out.

Don't forget to enjoy your chicken mindfully. :D