PARMESAN BAKED PORK CHOPS

Growing up in the south I thought the only way to cook pork chops was to fry them in a skillet with some oil. That's how my mother always did them. It took me a while (a few years) when I had to do the cooking for me to fry them "just right".  You see most of the time, I overcooked them.  I'm not sure if I read it somewhere or if it was just experience, but I finally learned to make perfect fried pork chops. Cook them 7 minutes on a side over medium heat.  That simple.

Now though I rarely fry pork chops.  There are so many more healthy ways to cook (bake) them and today I am sharing one of those ways. 

I only wanted to cook two since it is just my husband and me in the house.  It's easy to do....just cut the recipe in half. I sprayed the foil with cooking spray but the chops still stuck to the foil. I discovered that chicken tenders bake really well if you use a rack that you cool cookies etc on.  Just spray the rack and the chicken doesn't stick to the rack.  I described this technique in my recipe, but didn't have pictures to go along with it since I did just lay the chops on the foil. Absolutely loved the taste.

PARMESAN BAKED PORK CHOPS

4       boneless pork chops
1       tablespoon olive oil
3/4  cup Parmesan cheese 
3/4  cup Italian Bread Crumbs  (I used my homemade garlic bread breadcrumb and added 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning)
1      teaspoon pepper
1      teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat  oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a pan with foil (for easing cleanup). Place a cooling rack in pan and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix the crumbs, cheese, pepper, and garlic powder together in a shallow pan (like a pie plate).

Rub the olive oil into the pork chops to coat.

Dip chops in mixture to coat.

Lay pork chops on rack and spray top of pork chops with cooking spray. (I baked them on the foil but they sorta stuck. I have baked chicken tenders using the rack method and was very happy with the result. I will do that next time I make them.)

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes.