Spiced Oven-Fried Pork Chops

It's funny how much things change over time. How much we change over time. And how much things stay the same. This week I got a new haircut - I cut off 10 inches and feel like a new person. I used to have hair down to my hips, and I loved it. I hated the idea of cutting it off. My dad and stepmom always told me how cute it would be short, and encouraged me to cut it. I've had it varied lengths since college, but I've been growing it out for a couple years. When I mentioned to my dad's family that I was going to cut it, my stepmom said, "But it's so cute long!" What?!

My sister and I, like any good sisters, have gone through "phases" in our relationship. We did everything together in elementary school, nearly killed each other in middle school, were close again in highschool, hardly talked during college (time and distance were the culprits)... Now we live ten minutes apart and spend a lot of time together. We're different people than we used to be, for better or worse. But we're also the same. We'll always fiercely love each other (and occasionally want to rip each other's throats out).

Tonight we ate a dinner I would have hated - HATED - 10 years ago. My tastes have changed so much it's unbelievable. I used to be the girl that could practically snort a bottle of hot sauce with out batting an eye. Now "medium" salsa makes me sweat. Medium. MEDIUM! Ugh. Anyways, this meal would not have ranked very high on my list in high school. Not a single ingredient. The side dish I'll tell you about later, but the main dish was pork chops. I still don't actually love pork very much, so I keep experimenting different ways to cook it that I might like more. Tonight was yummy.

Spiced Oven-Fried Pork Chops

(Heavily adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

This recipe serves 2

~2 bone-in pork chops

~2 cups coarse bread crumbs

~2 diced scallions (about 2 tablespoons)

~1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

~salt and pepper

~2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese (or 1 tablespoon grated)

~1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

~1 tablespoon dried parsley

~1 cup plus 4 tablespoons flour

~3 large egg whites

~3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Pre-heat oven to 425. Stir together bread crumbs, scallions, garlic powder, cheese, thyme, and parsley and put in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Fill another bowl with the cup of flower. In a third bowl, whisk together egg whites and mustard until combined. Then whisk in the 4 tablespoons of flour until mostly combined. Coat pork chops in flour and shake off any excess. Next, coat chops in egg mixture with tongs. Next cover all sides of chops in a thick layer of bread crumbs. Sprinkle any excess crumb mixture on top. Spray a wire cooling rack with non-stick cooking spray and place it on a cookie sheet with raised sides. Put chops on rack and bake for approximately 20 minutes until cooked through

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