My Gram's Breaded Pork Chops

thank you to the national pork board for sponsoring today's video i was feeling nostalgic for my gram's breaded pork chops but since i live across the country from my family and can travel right now i use pork as a passport to feel reconnected with my polish and czechoslovakia roots with today's breaded pork chops i chatted with my gram to get the basics of the recipe then had my parents send me some fresh horseradish root from their garden to my kitchen in order to recreate a simple but delicious dish from my childhood to share with all of you hey everyone i'm ethan a home cooking nerd who likes to find better ways to cook and share them with all of you so we've covered a couple of my other family recipes but another one of our favorites is my grams breaded pork chops so what we're going to do in this video is kind of cover the basics of how to cook better pork chops at home then i'll show you how to make fresh horseradish my parents sent me roots across the country this stuff is powerfully potent and then we'll walk through the step-by-step recipe and i'll meet you right back here for the taste test since i haven't actually made these myself before i called up my 92 year old grandma to ensure that i was on the right path and this recipe's basics are a classic three-part breading of flour egg and milk and bread crumbs that are then shallow fried in a pan there's nothing too special about it but you do need to nail the right amount of salt and two making the pork chops tender and don't let my grand find you serving her tough pork or she'll tell you about it here is her talking about a less than stellar pork dish that she was given recently yep it on top so the heater wasn't cooked properly yep maybe one of these hurry up but oh my gosh when i can't eat it so to make grandma jabowski happy let's go over the basics number one is the seasoning and it's the layering and timing of the salt which are the key first salt is layered on the plain pork chops to start and then left to dry brine for at least an hour in the fridge which will internally season the meat just as we discussed in the grilled chicken video then i also like adding a bit more salt to the breadcrumbs to help them stick on the exterior of the pork to make the chops tender the keys are the pork's temperature and again the timing of the salt so pork chops are a fairly lean cut with little fat and thus it's kind of easy to overcook them i mean how many of us have had a tough pork chop over the years the easiest way to fix this is by cooking it to the right temperature so overcooked 160 degree fahrenheit pork is a thing of the past per the usda the minimum temperature is 145 degrees fahrenheit with a three minute rest for this recipe i do shoot for 145 but since i also want the crust to get crisp it usually ends up being closer to around 150 degrees fahrenheit which still ends up nice and juicy next is a dry brine or saltine your pork ahead of time this keeps the protein coils loose in the chops and allows them to retain more moisture as they cook now if you don't have at least an hour just salt them right before and really focus on nailing that temperature lastly to keep our chops tender use bone-in pork chops because there is less exposed surface area which means our chops retain more moisture as they cook now that we have pork chop basics covered let's talk horseradish for many family dinners at my grams growing up fresh horseradish was a typical item on the table my grandpa grew it in his garden and now my dad grows it in his it's a perennial with large leaf but it's the roots that are actually used and let me tell you the fresh stuff is so much more potent than in what is bought at the store luckily enough my parents were able to send me some fresh cut roots across the country so i could make it for you all and it's really quite simple first peel the roots to expose the white flesh and really do your best to clean them as best you can and then chop them into cubes and if you've never had horseradish or wonder what it tastes like there's actually a good chance you have had it as most wasabis you get at sushi places are predominantly made from horseradish and only about one to five percent real wasabi at least according to this article from the business insider once you have the horseradish cubed gently just wash it in a strainer and then add it to a food processor add a little salt and a splash of vinegar and blitz everything until it's completely smooth and these fumes are potent just a subtle whiff will clear out your sinuses like no other so be a little careful if you do decide to blend up your own pour the blended horseradish into a container and then just add more vinegar and salt to balance out the harshness i like to add enough vinegar so everything is kind of gently suspended and this stores in the fridge for a long time but it will lose its potency over time as well now we typically mix this with just ketchup for a sweet tangy and kind of spicy sauce for fried foods like these pork chops and i've also used it for a nugget dipping sauce in the past with the horseradish done let's walk through the chops recipe and then do our taste test to start generously sprinkle salt on both sides of the bone-in pork chops in general i like using 1.5 salt based on the weight of the meat you just want to set these on a plate and leave them uncovered in the fridge for at least an hour during this time is a great opportunity to prep any side dishes for me i decided to whip up a nice cucumber salad all you have to do is chop up some cucumber some red onion and a bunch of dill and just toss them all in a container to that you add equal parts water and vinegar here i just use rice wine vinegar but plain white or red wine vinegar work well too pour that over the top and add salt fresh black pepper and a sprinkle of sugar and there you go shake everything up and let it sit in the fridge and it gets better the longer it sits before taking out the chops prepare the breading station with three trays one with some flour one with a beaten egg and a splash of milk and the final one with bread crumbs and a sprinkle of salt bread the pork chops by first placing them in the flour to coat the exterior lightly shake off any excess then move it to the egg mixture and finally over to the breadcrumbs really press the breadcrumbs into the pork chop to ensure they stick and even coverage is provided at the stove set a cast iron skillet over medium low heat and add enough peanut oil for shallow frying probably about a quarter of an inch once that's hot just add a pinch of bread crumbs to test the heat they should just be lightly sizzling not burning place the chops into the pan and slowly shallow fry until they are golden brown and that internal temperature reaches around 140 to 150 degrees fahrenheit the key here is to just go low and slow i like to flip the chops multiple times during this process to help ensure some even browning and cooking now during this time you can feel free to wash up your breading station pans finish prepping any sides or just wiping down the counters to test the temperature of the pork i just like picking it up with tongs and sliding a thermometer into the thickest part of the meat once it reaches around 145 to 150 and you're satisfied with that crust pull the chops off the heat and let them rest for about three minutes plate the pork chops up with the cucumber salad make sure you have your horseradish and ketchup sauce and just slice in and enjoy these juicy tender chops pork has a lot of history in my family as when my great-grandparents came from czechoslovakia in poland they had a meat shop selling a variety of pork-based products it's especially fun when i can use pork as a passport to reconnect with my family through recipes like making kielbasa with my dad or feel like i'm right back in my gram's kitchen eating breaded pork chops [Music] getting a pre-sauced piece here let's do our taste test nice and juicy tender it's all you could want the pork chop right there [Music] and just like that i mean it it takes me back it's just like those flavors you remember from growing up that are super nostalgic you know slightly crispy on the outside nice and moist and juicy and tender well seasoned with the salt and how we layered it i actually did go a couple degrees over what i wanted to 145 i think i hit like 148 at 149 but still really just got to focus on the salt and the temperature and you're going to make some killer pork chops um if you can get for fresh horseradish this is like this stuff i don't know why we just love it in our family like it's tangy with the with the ketchup for a little bit of sweetness it pairs super well with like fried stuff to kind of cut through the heaviness and then that's really all there is to it so hopefully you guys have enjoyed the video hopefully you learned a little bit of something and if you want to try out you know the breaded pork chops the recipe will be up on the website but i appreciate all of you watching i'll catch you all in the next one thank you again to the national pork board for sponsoring this video [Music] you

Channel: Ethan Chlebowski

Views: 72,449

Rating: 4.929893 out of 5

Keywords: Ethan Chlebowski, national pork board, pork, healthy, protein, cooking pork, pork checkoff, real pork, recipe, recipes, pork passport, cooking, culture, meat, breaded pork chops, grandmas pork chops, chlebowski pork chop, chlebowski pork, fried pork chops, fried pork chop recipes, pork chops fried, breaded pork

Id: D-y4gQHdqBk

Length: 9min 46sec (586 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 17 2020