Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• Table salt
• 4 boneless center-cut pork chops, 6-8 ounces each, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat
• 3 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1 small shallot, minced (about two Tbs)
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 Tbs)
• 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
• Ground black pepper
• 2 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 Tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
• 2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup plus 6 Tbs unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 large egg whites
• 3 Tbs. Dijon mustard
• Lemon wedges

Preparation:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat over to 425 degrees. Dissolve 1/4 cup salt in 1 quart water in medium container or gallon-sized zipper-lock bag. Submerge chops, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Rinse chops under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

In a medium bowl, add shallot, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, Parmesan, thyme and parsley to bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly and transfer to rimmed baking sheet.

Place 1/4 cup flour in pie plate. In second pie plate, whisk egg whites and mustard until combined; add remaining 6 tablespoons flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining.

Spray wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and place in rimmed baking sheet. Season chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in flour; shake off excess. Using tongs, coat with egg mixture; let excess drip off. Coat all sides of chop with bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so that thick layer of crumbs adheres to chop. Transfer breaded chop to wire rack. Repeat with remaining 3 chops.

Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of chops registers 150 degrees, 17 to 25 minutes. Let rest on rack 5 minutes before serving with lemon wedges.

Variation: Crunchy Baked Pork Chops with Prosciutto and Asiago Cheese

Follow above recipe, omitting salt added to bread crumb mixture. Before breading, place 1/8 inch thick slice Asagio cheese (about 1/2 ounce) on top of each chop. Wrap each chop with thin slice of prosciutto, pressing on prosciutto so that cheese and meat adhere to one another. Proceed with chops so that cheese and meat do not come apart duing breading.

Source: slightly modified from Cook's Illustrated, Jan. & Feb. 2008