Gluten-Free Breaded Pork Chops

This is a very yummy recipe that I served with au gratin potatoes.

I know I know, processed food is bad.  But frankly, I adore Shake & Bake (both the taste and its ease).  And I love pork chops. However, as of yet, General Mills is not making a GF Shake & Bake, and I miss it. I find this be a pretty close substitute, using gluten-free flour and bread crumbs.

Pork Coating Mix

• 2 tbsps yellow cornmeal
• 2 tbsps GF Flour (a mediumly heavy mix, probably a brown rice and bean – I used Fava bean flour)
• 2 tbsps GF Breadcrumbs, Italian style if possible. I use Aleias.
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning (or sage)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Mix together all the dry ingredients in a bowl or, ideally, shake around in a plastic bag big enough to hold a pork chop.

You will also need 2 large pork chops and 1/4 cup milk

Cooking Directions

Rinse the pork chops in water and pat dry with a paper towel.  Then dip them in milk. You want all the sides to be coated. Don’t let them drip off too much – you want them to be wet. Drop them in the bag with the coating mixture and shake.  (You can just roll them around on a plate with the coating mixture, but shaking’s way easier and less messy).

Place on a shallow baking or roasting pan, and cook in a 425 degree F oven for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear and the center is opaque (165 degrees F (75C)). I find pork chops to be a little tricky – they seem to go from not cooked to overdone in about 1 minute and a half, so keep an eye on them and use a meat thermometer.

I served with au gratin potatoes, applesauce and carrots.

Dry-Rubbed Pulled Pork and Barbecue Sauce

I love love love pulled pork, but don’t have a real BBQ pit in the yard.  Instead, I take a shortcut of popping my pork in a crockpot, which still gets you a slow-cooked, braised pork without a lot of mess.

Dry Rub ingredients

• 1/4 c. brown sugar, loosely packed
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt

Mix the ingredients together.  Trim off most of the excess fat from a pork shoulder roast (I used a Boston butt that was just over 4 lbs).  Place the rub on the top of the roast and sides, then flip over and place the rest on bottom of the roast. Ideally it is best to place the rub on the roast the night before you cook it.

The next morning place the roast in a large crockpot.  Pour 1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar and 1/2 of dry ginger ale into the crock pot.  Cook on high for one hour and then turn down to low and cook for at least 4-5 more hours, depending on the size of the meat.  Because it is in a crock pot, and tends to be fairly fatty cut of meat, you can let it go a fair amount before it will become dry.

The meat is done when it flakes off when touched with a fork.

Remove the meat from the crock pot and let rest for 20 minutes.  Then pull the meat into shreds with two forks.

You can serve on a GF bun or with mac and cheese, cole slaw or other traditional BBQ accompaniments, including, of course, BBQ sauce.

Pulled Pork BBQ with Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese

As an experiment.  I made a Memphis style, whereas last time I made a mustard sauce.  It was good, but not quite what I wanted. If you’re buying, Pork Barrel makes a nice smoky BBQ that’s GF, or I also like Sweet Baby Ray’s.