Crunchy Baked Pork Chops with Roasted Broccoli

Browsing online for an easy dinner recipe requiring few ingredients other than those already in the pantry/fridge, I stumbled upon Smitten Kitchen's Crunchy Baked Pork Chops. She borrowed the recipe from Cooks Illustrated so I knew it had to be good. Cooks Illustrated is the Bible of cooking magazines in my opinion- its expensive though (there are no advertisements in it) so I actually don't have a subscription at the moment. I took a few short cuts based on what I had on hand. I adapted the recipe as follows: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. (for both the pork and broccoli) 3 boneless center cut pork chops, each about 1 inch thick 1/2 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs 2 cloves of garlic- pressed 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 2 eggs 1 tsp dijon mustard Beat the egg with the dijon mustard in a shallow dish. Mix the bread crumbs, pressed garlic, and parmesan cheese in another dish. Dredge each chop first in the seasoned flour, second in the egg wash and lastly coat them in the crumb mixture. You want to press the chops into the bread crumbs to ensure you have a thick coating on all sides. Place the chops on a baking sheet (lined with foil for easy clean-up), drizzle with olive oil to help the crumbs toast and set aside. Roasted Broccoli is all the rage these days so I decided to give it a try. Tyler, Ina, and just about every cooking mag I read has raved about it over the past year or so and for good reason I tell you. I took notes from Ina Garten's recipe on this one: 3 bunches of broccoli (mine were fairly small) 3 cloves of garlic- minced Juice and zest of 1 large lemon 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese Olive oil, salt and pepper I cleaned the broccoli and sliced it into spears, trying to keep them approximately the same size. I made sure to dry the broccoli as much as possible with a few paper towels which helps it to caramelize and brown versus just steam and get soggy in the oven. I arranged it on a baking sheet, drizzled with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, and seasoned with kosher salt and pepper. I then tossed it together with the minced garlic and until evenly coated. The broccoli and pork went into the oven the same time. I set the timer for 17 mins and then watched the pork closely from there until just cooked through to medium (150 degrees by a meat thermometer). I think I let mine go 19 mins total. There is nothing worse than a dry, overcooked pork chop so watch carefully! I removed the pork and continued to cook the broccoli another 5 or 6 minutes while the pork rested. Right as the broccoli came out of the oven, I sprinkled it with the parmesan cheese, the lemon juice and zest - tossing it all together. I served the pork and broccoli together with another squeeze of fresh lemon juice over the top of everything. The crunchy, garlicky crust of the pork worked perfectly with the toasty lemony-garlic flavors of the broccoli. Roasting it really gives it a depth of flavor you just can't get from steaming it. It tastes like a whole different vegetable. Besides, broccoli lover or not (it just so happens that I am) sprinkle parmesan and garlic on just about anything and its bound to be good. Smitten Kitchen used fresh bread crumbs and fresh parsley in the pork coating mixture and she toasts the mixture before coating the pork. I think the parsley would really be divine and honestly, toasting the crumb mixture would have taken a little of the bite off of the garlic which was fairly potent this go round. I will probably go that route next time even though it will add few minutes of prep time. Another yummy, quick, and inexpensive, weeknight meal that required very little by way of dirty pots/pans/dishes! I'd definitely reccomend...