Baked Pork Chops with Parmesan-Sage Crust

I always make pork chops during my mother in law's visits and I wanted a new way to prepare them. I absolutely adore sage and so this recipe caught my eye right away. Oh my, was it good!!! The chops were juicy and so flavorful.

Baked Pork Chops with Parmesan-Sage Crust:

courtesy of epicurious.com

1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread (I used prepared bread crumbs)

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. dried sage

1 tsp. grated lemon peel (I omitted)

2 large eggs

1/4 cup all purpose flour

4 center cut pork loin chops (about 1 inch thick)

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, sage and lemon peel in pie dish. Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend. Place flour on plate; season generously with salt and pepper. Coat pork chops on both sides with flour; shake off excess. Dip chops into eggs, then coat both sides with breadcrumb mixture.

Melt butter with oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops to skillet and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer skillet with pork to oven. Bake until pork chops are crisp on the outside and meat thermometer inserted into pork registers 150 degrees, about 20 minutes.

Transfer chops to plates. Garnish with lemon wedges and orange wedges, if desired, and serve.

Cola Chops and Oven Roasted Potatoes

The chops were very good, although a bit dry. The next time I make this recipe, I think I would cook them longer at a lower temperature. The ketchup/cola mixture tastes like a sweet BBQ sauce. The potatoes were awesome, although I had to finish them in the microwave. 45 minutes was not quite enough time for the bigger chunks to cook. A pretty good meal without a lot of work though!

Cola Chops:

adapted from allrecipes.com

3 boneless pork sirloin chops

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup cola

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Place the pork chops into a baking dish. Mix together the ketchup and cola until well blended. Pour mixture over the chops, covering them completely. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. brown sugar over the top of each chop. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Oven Roasted Potatoes:

from allrecipes.com

4 baking potatoes (I used red potatoes)

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Peel potatoes and cut into large chunks. (I left the skin on mine) Place in a shallow 2 quart baking pan. Pour butter over and toss until well coated. Sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Smoked Sausage Hash

This is one of my family's favorite easy weeknight meals. It's tasty and fairly quick.

Smoked Sausage Hash:

Adapted from Allrecipes

1 package turkey smoked sausage

6 potatoes

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

2 Tbsp. butter

6 oz. cheddar cheese - shredded

Sprinkle sausage with garlic and onion powders and brown in a deep skillet. Once browned, remove to a bowl.

While sausage is cooking, peel and dice the potatoes into small cubes. Pour into skillet once sausage has been removed. Add the butter and turn often until the potatoes are cooked and starting to brown.

Add sausage back to skillet and stir to incorporate. Sprinkle cheese over top and mix to combine cheese throughout.

Candied Ham Steak

My family always makes candied yams for holidays and I love them. I thought the flavoring would be good as a glaze on ham as well. I tried it and it was really tasty!!

Candied Ham Steak:

My own recipe

1 ham steak - cut in two

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Melt butter and brown sugar together in a skillet until brown sugar begins to caramelize. Add ham steak to skillet and simmer for about a half hour to bring the flavors out.

Creamy Crockpot Pork Chops

My mother made some amazing looking pork chops the other day at her house and I wanted to try and create them myself. These ended up really tasty and tender.

2 butterfly pork chops

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 cup chicken broth

1 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Place chops in the base of the crockpot. Season with garlic salt, paprika, seasoned salt and pepper. Layer the cream of chicken soup directly on the chops. Pour the chicken broth around the edges of the base. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until fork tender.