Pan Fried Nut Crumbed Pork

Pan fried pork on the menu today! In this recipe the pork is dipped into a mix of breadcrumbs, ground nuts and herbs to give it a delicious crust. The crust seals and protects the pork inside and allows it to cook gently in the pan. Great served with some steamed veg, it also works very well with some Whole Wheat Pasta and a stir in sauce like Tomato Pesto.

The pork in the post was provided by Bord Bia - Irish Food Board at the food blogger event organised with The Good Mood Food Blog- Donal Skehan last week. Prior to the event, Bord Bia sent pork packs to Irish food bloggers, but I was unable to get mine as we were out of the country for a few days. Big thanks to Maeve Desmond from Bord Bia who arranged for me to get some choice cuts from GMIT butchery lecturer Pat Conway's handiwork to make up!

The seeds I used for the crust are the pumpkin mix made by Good4U as part of their smart seeds range. Thanks to them also for the samples they provided.

The following recipe will coat two large pork chops.

Ingredients

• 2 pork chops. Trimmed of any visible fat

• 1 medium egg. Lightly beaten

• 100ml low fat milk

• 2 slices of Weightwatchers wholemeal bread (To be blitzed into bread crumbs)

• 10g of pine nuts

• 20g pumpkin seeds

• 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

• ½ teaspoon garlic granules

• ½ vegetable or chicken stock cube. Crumbled

• 4 sprays of Fry Light One Cal spray oil

• a good twist of black pepper

Method

1. In a small bowl, mix the egg and milk and beat with a fork to combine.
2. Blitz the bread, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds together with a hand blender or food processor. Add the Italian seasoning, garlic granules and stock cube and transfer to a medium sized plastic food bag.
3. Next, heat a large pan over a high heat and add the spray oil.
4. Dip the chop into the egg/milk mix, then place in the bag of breadcrumbs and lightly shake until it's well coated. Shake off the excess and place the chop into the pan.
5. Repeat the process with the second chop and place it into the pan also.
6. Allow the chops to brown for 5 minutes, the carefully turn them and brown the other side for a further five minutes.
7. Reduce the heat to low/medium and allow the chops to cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes until fully cooked.
8. Transfer to warmed plates and serve.