Meet your Meat: Boneless Pork Chops

by Katie

To me, the pork chop is the quintessential cut of pork. Somewhat steak-like, partially marbled, framed by lovely yellow-white fat; pork chops are delicious, versatile, and easy to eat. Traditionally they come in two styles (with further subcategories that we can mostly ignore): bone-in and boneless. Both are perpendicular slices of the loin muscle, which runs along the top of the back of the pig. Boneless chops do not include a slice of the upper ribs/back bones like bone-in chops do, and tend to be a little thicker cut. Ours are 3/4" thick and vary in diameter due to natural variation among our pigs. The pork chop is analogous to the t-bone steak.

So now we know what it is, but what do we do with it? Most of the time I pan fry both kinds of chops; this just seems like the quickest, simplest option on busy weeknights as my family manages field and home chores and settling the children for the night. But this week I thought we'd do it up a little special and try genuinely frying our chops. There's no secret to this recipe, and nothing exact so feel free to wiggle things one way or another to your liking.

Eyeing the fried chops that are
"just for Honey, not for sharing"

Ingredients
boneless pork chops
1 egg
corn meal
flour
salt and pepper
lard, vegetable oil, coconut oil

I started the day before by putting two packages of frozen boneless chops in the fridge to defrost overnight. If I'm on a time crunch I'll often just leave them on the kitchen counter for a few hours before I start cooking- though I shouldn't officially recommend that.

cornmeal & flour

1. Mix some cornmeal with some flour (Cedar Rock Acres has locally grown cornmeal from their corn and ground locally). I like a 1:2 ratio of cornmeal to flour. Mix in as much salt and pepper as you like.

home-rendered lard

2. Melt some fat in a skillet or frying pan. I use enough home-rendered lard so that its about 1/2" deep when melted in our cast-iron skillet. It's hot enough when a tiny drop of water dances on the surface but doesn't sink at all.

3. Next, dip each pork chop in egg and coat with the flour mixture, shaking off any excess flour.  Then gently place each chop in the skillet.

breading a chop in flour

frying in the skillet

4. Here's where it takes a little practice/experience. In my kitchen, when its all cooking over medium heat, I know the chops are ready to turn when some of the internal/bloody juices begin to weep out of the chop into the breading on the top. Then I flip them just once, and cook until the bottom is the same color brown as the rest of the breading. This gives me a piece of meat that is a little pink in the middle, which is the way I like it.

ready to eat!

5. Serve!