Crunchy Pork Chops

Who in the world would think of baking pork chops with mayonnaise and Melba toast crumbs?  Not me ~ that is, until I came across the recipe in The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

First off, coat the chops well with mayonnaise to give them a substantial crust.  Seasoned Melba toast crumbs coat these oven-baked pork chops and helps make these pork chops extra-crispy.  Don’t break the Melba toasts too much.  The crumbs should have some pieces the size of small pebbles. 

While an instant-read thermometer takes the guesswork out of determining when the meat is done, you can use the "nick-and-peek" method: Use a paring knife to make a slit in the top of the pork chop and take a look at the meat's interior. 

These pork chops are delicious; very tender and moist with an excellent crunchy breading!

Ready for the oven

Crunchy Pork Chops

Ingredients:

1 (5-ounce) box plain Melba toasts, broken into rough pieces

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper (my addition)

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon sugar

6 tablespoons mayonnaise

4 pork chops (6 ounces each)

Method:

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Place Melba toasts, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, thyme and sugar in a zip-lock bag.

Seal the bag and pound to coarse crumbs, leaving some crumbs the size of small pebbles.

Add 2 tablespoons of the mayonnaise to the bag and work the mayonnaise into the crumb mixture.

Transfer the Melba crumb mixture to a large plate.

Working with one chop at a time, coat with 1 tablespoon mayonnaise (see my note below.)

Coat thoroughly with the Melba crumb mixture.

Press on the breadcrumbs to make sure they adhere, then lay the chop on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake the chops on the wire rack until the coating is a golden brown and the center of a chop registers 140 degrees on an instant-red thermometer, 16 to 25 minutes.

Transfer the chops to a clean plate and let rest until the pork reaches and internal temperature of 150 degrees before servings, 5 to 10 minutes.

These are definitely excellent pork chops!!!

Enjoy!!!

Pam’s notes:  Instead of placing the crumb mixture on a plate to bread the chops, I kept the crumbs in the plastic bag and it worked great to press on the breadcrumbs to adhere to the chops.

I found that a tablespoon of mayo was a little much to coat each pork chop with.  I used about a teaspoon for each chop.

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and cookbook giveaway.