A simple, yet tasty dinner of juicy, boneless pork chops coated in a crispy seasoned crust and a thick traditional country gravy.
These are best served fresh, so I wouldn't recommend making extra to store. Reheated, they tend to toughen up.
If you don't like the idea of frying, I would suggest adding an egg or two to the buttermilk soak, dredge in the breadcrumbs, put on a foil lined baking sheet, and spraying them with a fat-free nonstick spray like Pam and baking until done. Don't forget to season both sides, of course.
This recipe is enough for 3 thick, boneless pork chops, but you can easily double the recipe if needed.
On to the recipe!
The chops:
- 3 boneless pork chops, pounded with a meat tenderizer on both sides, mine were about 1/2 inch thick after tenderizing.
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- oil for frying
The gravy:
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup reserved pan drippings
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 2/3 to 2 cups of milk. You can sub. broth or partial water, and it'll be okay, but not as creamy
- salt and pepper to taste
- fresh nutmeg, dash
Let chops sit out for a few minutes to take the chill off. They're easier to tenderize at room temperature.
Play whack-a-mole with both sides of the chops.
Try to keep them an even thickness and don't get too crazy,
you don't want them falling apart.
Soak in buttermilk on the counter for about 20-30 minutes.
Dip in bread crumbs, both sides.
Put enough oil in a pan to cover the bottom well.
Bring to medium-high heat and season chops with
salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Flip when golden brown, about 5-10 minutes, depending on thickness,
and cook 5-10 longer until done.
Carefully remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
If there's too much leftover breading in the pan, remove it.
You want some of it, but not too much so that it burns.
Add butter (margarine is fine too).
Whisk and slowly add flour.
Keep whisking and adding flour.
Then whisk and cook flour for 2-3 minutes.
Keep whisking as you slowly (but not too slow, it'll thicken up FAST and will burn)add the milk.
Add almost all the milk, stop adding milk when it stops thickening so fast and is the consistency of thin gravy.
Save the milk, you'll more than likely have to add most, if not all, the rest of the milk.
Now you can relax on the whisking, kick the heat down to a medium and add some salt, pepper and a dash of grated nutmeg. Here, you can see my dash of nutmeg. Later, after tasting, I added a bit more.
You want to taste the nutmeg, but you don't.
If that makes sense.
Give the gravy a taste.
If it still tastes thick and paste-y, add a bit more milk.
Add more salt and pepper, if needed.
Keep doing this until it's a thickness and the taste you like. Just be careful to not add too much milk at a time now, because the thickening will eventually come to a stop.
Remove from heat and serve!
We had mashed potatoes and peas with the chops.
Some of us preferred the mountain method of serving:
While some of us others preferred a more traditional plating. hehe..
Either way, grab a plate, grab a seat, a tall glass of milk, and enjoy!
