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Thanks to the new delicious Honey Bunches of Oats Crunch O's and the fun Berry Colossal Crunch, these cereal crusted pork chops are a sweet and savory treat that are perfect any day of the week!

I threw myself a birthday party a few weeks ago, and my brother stopped by with his grandkids, all of whom are absolutely in love with the Kung Fu Panda movies, which means both my brother and myself have sat through those movies more times than we can count. Consequently, the announcement of a Kung Fu Panda cereal, a new product available at Walmart, means that the fascination is about to make a metamorphosis from our tv screens to our breakfast tables.

Speaking of movies, I took a grownup moment for myself the other night and watched ‘Burnt,’ a kitchen drama that I knew I would relate to on an almost visceral level. Surprisingly, the Kung Fu Panda movies revolve around food almost as much as Burnt did, oddly enough. The film opened with Bradley Cooper’s character Adam at the end of a self-inflicted penance - shucking a very literal one-million oysters over the course of years as he contemplated how to rebuild his life. While perhaps the movie didn’t intend for this to be the point of that opening sequence, I found a strange, revealing, and oddly relatable beauty in the monotony of his task.

In many ways, we’ve all experienced self-contemplation through work, or that soul-searching moment when we find ourselves taking a hard look at our own routines, and wondering if we aren’t just really running in circles for the sake of circles.

Given my particular profession, that scene, and especially all that came after it, reminded me of how even the most monotonous of tasks, if performed with a singular goal, are simply small steps towards in a grander plan. Yet, while the end result of these daily small steps is limitless, for Adam it was the dream of a third Michelin Star, for example, even the most determined among us occasionally needs to ‘break’ the regimen.

I found myself needing to do precisely that while I was shopping at Walmart a few days ago for materials for a post, and I just simply had to do something different than what I had been planning. I need to mix things up a little.

Not only was I changing my plans on the spot, but I decided on a vast departure. How vast?

Let me put it this way, watching the cooking scenes in the movie last night, I was reminded of how each meal, no matter how simple or how gourmet, starts off with essentially two things, a plan, and a set of typically mundane ingredients. From there, anything is possible.

For me, those ingredients started with a big bag of Berry Colossal Crunch cereal, and Honey Bunches of Oats Crunch O’s. While Post has a variety of flavors to make the whole family happy, these two varieties were exactly what I was looking for.

And no, I was not having a long line of cereal bowls for dinner.

Just the contrary. Cereal is a surprisingly versatile item, being able to double as flavorful bread crumbs, coatings, or even pie crusts, meaning that thinking beyond the classic breakfast bowl can lead to surprisingly pleasant places with enough creativity. That said, these two cereals are sure to become a part of my morning routine.

Now, I wanted to put together something fun, something the entire family could enjoy but that was still at least moderately seasonal. What I ended up doing was grinding down the cereals separately, and then using them as the base for breaded pork chops as shown below.

Cereal Crusted Pork Chops Garlic Bread and Herbed Olive Oil

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5 from 2 reviews

Author: Living the Gourmet
Total Time: 13 minutes
Yield: 6-7 1x

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Ingredients

Units Scale

6 - 7 boneless pork chops - sliced thin; about 1/2 inch thick
2 cups of flour
3 eggs plus a splash of water - beaten
2 cups Berry Colossal Crunch cereal
2 cups Honey Bunches of Oats Crunch O's
2 heaping tbs. Parmesan cheese
1 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of fresh Italian parsley - chopped
1 lemon - sliced for garnish
Your choice of oil for frying

For the Garlic Bread

1 loaf Italian bread
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons grated, parmesan
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

For Herbed Olive Oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

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Instructions

Place each cereal separately in the food processor and process each cereal to a crumb like consistency and set aside.
Set up a dredging station for the pork chops; the flour, the egg wash and finally the cereal with the fresh parsley and the Parmesan cheese divided between the cereals.
First, dredge the pork chop in the flour, then in the egg wash and finally in one of the crushed cereal, parsley and cheese mixtures.
Heat a large cast iron frying pan with approximately half inch of oil plus the garlic clove.
When the oil is hot; place two to three pork chops at a time in the pan; do not overcrowd the pan. Gently, turn the pork chops when the crust is golden; after about two to three minutes and finish cooking on the other side for another two to three minutes, until the chops are golden on the other side; (make sure no pink juices remain when the chops are cut into).
Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl mix grated garlic, olive, cheese, oregano, salt and pepper together. Brush over bread.
Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and heat in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine all ingredients for the herbed olive oil and leave in the oven to heat with the bread until bubbling. Remove and serve with bread.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Category: Main Side Dish

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Paired with a fresh loaf of garlic bread, the end result was a fun, family-friendly take on the classic breaded pork chop that helped keep things fresh and interesting for the night.

What are some of the ways you help break your own routines? We would love to hear from you. Don't forget to check out the delicious new variety of Honey Bunches of Oats!

Enjoy with Love!

Cereal Crusted Pork Chops