Baked pork chops

Whew! I haven't had much time to cook lately. I've been stirring a different kind of pot these days! Paint can that is. 

Found myself in the midst of redoing the kids bedrooms!
Now, I am talking about complete gutting of both bedrooms. Paint, furniture, carpet, everything. There has been a lot of "mental" planning for the past year or so, and I finally pulled the trigger!
Might be because it's Spring? Might be the fact that my 22 year old nephew is living with us right now for a few months (who does all the labor)? Or might be that I am just sick of waiting!

So, the paint is dry, the old carpet ripped out, all furniture removed to unpractical locations in the rest of the house (... we are talking two bedrooms worth!) and I find myself waiting for the carpet installer to call (who hasn't yet). Meanwhile, to bridge the agony of staring at my phone waiting for it to ring, I do what I do best - make a mess in the kitchen. And since I have a busy afternoon and evening coming my way, I thought I'd prepare a little dinner for my loved ones! How nice of me.

Now, as I have mentioned before, I am a HUGE fan of repurposing and reusing!! Coincidentally, this concept can be easily applied to today's pork chops! Not the meat part but the crust that is!

See, I haven't bought bread crumbs, ever. I am a hater of the end "butt" part of bread loaves. So every time we are done with the regular slices, I throw the ends in a bag in the freezer. After I accumulate a significant amount I take them out and thaw them a little, rip them into smaller chunks, and run them thru my trusty food processor! The crumbs are somewhat coarse, but I suppose you could blend them longer and they might get finer. I don't mind, it ends up giving the meat a nice chunky crust. And it's all WHOLE WHEAT!! :o) ... Well, I guess that depends on the bread you eat?!

Before I put the bread crumbs back in a zip-loc bag or container I add some salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder... but you can add whatever floats your boat to season them, or leave them plain, or make them "italian" with some oregano, thyme, and basil (.. I am seeing Chicken Parmesan in the future!). You get the idea! Freeze to keep them from getting stale.

Anyways, I am trailing off, "painting a picture" as my husband calls it.
Todays pork chops were supposed to be easy, non greasy, baking on their own - because I didn't want to smoke up the kitchen by frying them in batches in a pan.

Here is all you need:

4-6 pork chops
1 egg
2 tbsp. grainy mustard (or whatever kind you have)
1/4 cup buttermilk (regular milk will work too. I like the extra "tangyness")
a few cups of seasoned bread crumbs (2-3?)
1 Tbsp Canola oil for the dish
1-2 Tbsp. butter, cut into 4-6 very thin slices

Preheat oven to 425F.
Grease 9x13 glass dish with the oil.
Using two large plates: Add egg, mustard, buttermilk/milk to one plate, whisk with a fork to combine. Add bread crumbs to other plate. Arrange in order left to right: egg mix plate, crumbs plate, glass dish.

Coat each pork chop in egg mix, then roll in seasoned crumbs, then put into greased dish.
Bake in 425F oven for 10-12 minutes on one side. Flip, add a thin slice of butter to the top of each chop, and bake for another 10 minutes. Let rest a good 5 minutes before cutting to let the juices inside the chops redistribute. Do not overcook or they will dry out. A little pink in the middle is okay, and at times very desirable for pork!