"Breaded" Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce

This recipe is one I published when I barely started my blog, in April of 2005, before I entered the digital age and bought a camera! I wanted a photo to show you, so last night I made it again, and I was pleased with how much I still liked it. I created the recipe when my friend Georgette bought me a bag of almond meal (also called almond flour), and I had the idea of using it instead of flour to "bread" pork chops before sauteeing. I used those giant boneless pork chops from Costco, the ones that can sometimes be hard to get cooked clear through without drying them out. The pork chops were tender, with a slightly crunchy, nutty coating that was delicious.

Recipe Buzz: I created this recipe, but the sauce was adapted from a recipe in Dana Carpender's 500 Low Carb Recipes. Dana recomended thickening the sauce, but I didn't think it needed it.

Let's Dish: The plate used in this food photo was a gift from my sister Pam, who teaches special ed in a school near mine. Pam's husband, Kelley, is the genius contractor who did an amazing job of remodeling my house in 1998, including the actual Kalyn's kitchen, which I gave readers a peek into in an earlier post.

"BREADED" PORK CHOPS WITH MUSTARD CREAM SAUCE

2 thick boneless pork chops

salt/pepper
Penzey's Pork Chop Seasoning (optional - If you don't want to buy this, season the pork chops with a tiny bit of garlic powder)
1/4 cup almond meal
1-2 T olive oil (will depend on your pan)
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 T cream or half and half or milk
1 T Dijon mustard (or less)

Trim all fat from pork chops, then put between saran wrap and pound until 1/4 inch thick. For best results, pound the pork chops on both sides with spiky side of meat mallet, then cut each flattened pork chop in half for more manageable sized pieces for frying. Season pork chops on both sides with a tiny bit of salt, pepper, and Penzey's pork chops seasoning. Put almond meal on a plate and press pork chop into it, sprinkling almond meal over both sides of pork chop and pressing on until you have an even coating on each chop. Heat olive oil in pan big enough to hold all pork chops, then add pork chops and saute over medium heat until well browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Turn them a couple of times and be sure not to have the heat too high or the almond meal will burn. Quite a bit of the coating will fall off, but don't worry about it. There will still be enough left on to give a good brown color to the pork chops. The part that falls off gives a delicious nutty flavor to the sauce.

Remove pork chops to plate and cover to keep warm if you want. Turn up heat in pan and add chicken stock, scraping pan until all the browned bits of almond meal are loosened. Cook about 2 minutes over high heat, then lower heat to medium low and wisk in mustard, then cream. Cook sauce at a low simmer 1-2 minutes more. Pour over pork chops, garnish with parsley if desired, and serve.

About Ingredients: Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour is widely sold in the U.S. and is the brand I buy. If you can't find it, you can make your own almond meal by using the steel blade of the food processor to chop blanched almonds until it is the consistency of cornmeal. Almond meal can also be used to make low carb cookies, something I keep promising to experiment with more.

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