Breaded Baked Pork Cutlets

First of all... I just want to say, HAPPY FRIDAY TO ME! It's Thursday, I know, but it might as well be Friday for me, because tomorrow is my Friday off. I work 9 hours Monday through Thursday every week, then an 8 hour day on Friday, which allows me to have a Friday off per pay period! Let's hear it for flexible work schedules! It doesn't matter how many Friday's off I've had by now, they always make me unbelievably excited! SO-- to start the weekend, I am making a delicious dinner for me and my babe.

Sometimes I think about breading things before I bake them, and then I realize... I don't have any breadcrumbs. It's not something I normally keep stocked in my pantry, because I just don't use them very often. SO... I decided to make my own! I threw two slices of whole wheat bread into my food processor,

went to town on them,

then put them on a baking sheet and baked them at 350 till they were crispy.

Voila -- instant bread crumbs that are probably healthier than the ones you buy in the store! Then I had a glass of wine and reveled in my accomplishments...

Oh right... where was I....Oh right! Dinner! I found this strange recipe that called for sugar mixed in with the bread crumbs... REALLY, Sugar on my breaded pork??? The whole recipe seemed a little weird, but I went for it. I'm glad I did. It was better than shake n' bake. Don't lie... you know you love shake n' bake.

Breaded Baked Pork Cutlets
adapted from eatingwell.com

Ingredients

3 or 4 pork chop cutlets
2 slices of whole wheat bread
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried rosemary

4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Mix breadcrumbs, sugar, paprika, onion powder, salt and rosemary in a shallow dish. Here are my spices before I mixed them with the bread crumbs:

And here is Sloopy who likes to watch me cook. (Or likes to wait for me to accidentally drop a tasty morsel for her).

Drizzle with oil and mash with a fork until the oil is thoroughly incorporated. (Put oil into your dry breadcrumb mixture???? YES. This is the secret to a super crunchy delicious bread crumb coating!)

Lightly beat egg white with a fork in another shallow dish. Sprinkle cornstarch over the pork slices and pat to coat evenly on both sides. Dip the pork into the egg, then press into the breading mixture until evenly coated on both sides. (Discard leftover mixture.) No pictures here cause I was a MESS.

Place the pork on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until just barely pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer registers 145°F, 14 to 16 minutes.

Steam some green beans, or other veggies of your choice and you have a pretty good little dinner! Doesn't it look delish?