Rosemary Parmesan Pork Chops

TODAY IS THE DAY.

Today is, hopefully, the transition into fall.

After two straight weeks of endless sun and 90 degree temperatures, a cold front should blow in later this afternoon/evening. We’ll get some storms, sure, but the exciting thing is the temperature dip—I hope.

I’m ready to use my oven more. I’m ready to sit outside on the porch with a cup of hot coffee. I’m ready to not sweat buckets when I’m cooking over the stove. I’m ready for that burning-toast smell when you first turn on your heater (does anyone else LOVE that smell?!?). Fall, I’m ready for you.

My house is already all decked out for fall and is just waiting for the season to finally get here. It’s the middle of September for goodness sake, we need a break from summer!

To get more in the autumn spirit, my cooking is starting to move over to the cooler months. Less salads, more heart meals. More stovetop cooking, less throw-together-on-the-counter meals. You know the ones.

I’ve been eating too much red meat/processed meat lately (sausage, salami, etc.) so I’ve been cooking things with chicken, pork and fish more. Pork is the trickier of the three—there’s only so much you can do to jazz it up. Pork is also really hard to get right. Nobody, and I repeat nobody likes dry pork. Pork tenderloins are good to use for most recipes, but you don’t need to be scared off by pork chops.

In order for this recipe to work, you have to get the thinnest pork chops imaginable. My grocery store sells pre-cut, super thin boneless chops and labels them as “breakfast pork chops”. If you can’t find that, just get the thinnest boneless pork chops you can find and either slice them in half and/or pound them out into thin cutlets.

You have to get thin chops because the outside coating cooks SUPER fast. You can easily get a burned outside and a raw inside! By using the thin chops, the cooking time ends up being perfect. You still get a crispy outside and a cooked inside. Plus, rolling the chops around in garlic butter and cheese makes them extra juicy and tender.

Enjoy!

Step-By-Step Instructions

In a small bowl, melt butter. Stir in minced garlic and set aside.

In another small bowl, sift together the Parmesan, rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Set up your dredging station with the bowl of melted butter and the bowl of Parmesan next to each other. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip pork chops, one at a time, in melted butter mixture, making sure they’re coated. Dredge in cheese mixture.

Cook chops, 1-2 at a time, in skillet for about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate. Scrape and remove any browned bits from pan in between adding pork chops.