Back to the Cutting Board

Parmesan Pork Cutlets and Mashed Potatoes

from Real Simple

Dinner | Servings: 2
Prep time: 30 min | Cook time: 15 min | Total time: 50 min

Ingredients

For pork:

• 2 boneless pork loin top loin chops or cutlets
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/3 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

For potatoes:

• 4-5 medium red potatoes
• 1 can chicken broth (about two cups)
• Water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tbsp. butter (more or less depending how buttery you like your mashed potatoes)
• Salt and Pepper

Process

1. Start with the potatoes. To skin or not to skin, that’s up to you. I usually just wash the potatoes and cut off anything that looks suspect, but otherwise leave as much skin on as possible. If that’s not your thing, then cut off all the skin with a vegetable peeler.
2. Put potatoes in a large pot in one layer. Pour chicken broth on top (should cover potatoes 1/2 to 3/4 of the way up). Add enough water so that potatoes are completely covered in liquid. Bring to boil. Turn down heat to medium high, cover, and continue to cook until potatoes are fork tender about 20-30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Pork should be thin, about 1/4 inch, so you’ll probably want to slice your pork loins in half lengthwise and then pound them down a bit.
4. Now you are going to set your assembly line up. First is your pork. Then pour the flour on a plate. Next break the egg into a shallow bowl and beat lightly. Next mix up bread crumbs, parmesan, and salt in another shallow bowl. To make things easier, these should all be sitting in a line leading to your stove where you’ll have a large skillet with your olive oil on medium high heat.
5. Take a piece of pork and dip it into the the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumb mixture and finally set it in the skillet. Repeat until your skillet is full or you run out of pork. Cook until golden, about 1-2 minutes per side. Then transfer to a baking sheet. If you’re cooking for more than two people, then you can brown about 4 pieces of pork at a time, then wipe out the skillet and put in new oil and repeat the process until all pork is browned. Put in oven and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes.
6. While the pork is cooking in the oven, take the now tender potatoes off the stove and drain all the water out. Place back in the pot and mash the potatoes.
7. Combine the milk and butter in a microwavable container. Microwave in 30 second increments until butter is completely melted. Whisk together the milk and butter. Pour it, about 1/8-1/4 cup at time into the mashed potatoes and stir. Keep adding a little more until the potatoes are at a consistency that you like. Finally, sprinkle with as much salt and pepper as you want and stir.

Pair with a salad or any cooked vegetable of your choice and you have a complete meal that didn’t take much longer than half an hour to make.