Pork Milanese with Cucumber Yogurt

1. Peel and cut the cucumber in to ½-inch bite-size pieces, then place in a colander and sprinkle with the teaspoon of kosher salt. Set aside until the cucumber pieces have released some moisture, tossing occasionally, 13 to 15 minutes. Pat dry with a kitchen towel to remove any excess moisture.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, dill, chives, spring onions, lemon zest and lemon juice. Using a microplane, grate in the garlic. Fold in the cucumbers. Adjust the seasoning with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside at room temperature until ready to serve.

3. Using a high-speed blender or food processor, blitz the panko breadcrumbs until finely ground, about 5 minutes for a blender, and about 10 minutes for a food processor.

4. Working with one piece of pork at a time, place the pork between two pieces of plastic wrap and use the flat side of a meat tenderizer to pound from the center of the pork to the outside, pounding out each pork chop until it’s about ¼-inch thin.

5. Set up your dredging station. Gather three pie pans or shallow bowls and a parchment lined baking sheet. In the first pan, place the flour and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. In the second pan, add the eggs and scramble using a fork or whisk. In the final pan, add the panko.

6. Working in batches, coat both sides of the pork chop with flour, egg and panko, taking care to make sure the pork is fully covered with panko. Repeat for all four pieces. Once breaded, set the pork chops aside on the baking sheet.

7. In a large cast-iron skillet, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat until hot, about 5 minutes. Test to see if the oil is hot enough by dropping in a piece of panko. If it starts to fry, it’s time to cook the pork.

8. Working in batches, carefully add the pork to the skillet and cook over a medium-low heat until golden brown and crispy, continuously moving the pork with tongs to ensure even frying, about 5 minutes per side. Set aside, on a rack or paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain the excess oil, and immediately season with kosher salt on both sides.

9. Once all the pork chops are fried, you can either slice the pork Milanese into strips for a family style meal or keep the chops whole and plate them individually. Give the cucumber yogurt a good stir before plating the pork with a generous serving of cucumber yogurt. If you’d like, make a well in the center of the yogurt and drizzle with additional olive oil. Top the pork and yogurt with additional chives, dill and freshly ground black pepper.

Substitutions: If you don’t have a Japanese cucumber, any cucumber will work. We recommend Persian cucumbers or seedless cucumbers. If you use a regular cucumber you will want to take the seeds out of the center before cutting and only let sit in salt for about 10 minutes. The herbs for this yogurt are very versatile. Parsley, tarragon, fresh oregano would all work really well in here. If you can’t find spring onions you can easily swap for scallions, shallots, or half a yellow onion, finely diced.

Optional Garnish: Whole herbs, salad greens or pea shoots are great additions to this dish.

Note: The cucumber yogurt will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator. The fried pork will keep for 1 day in the refrigerator. This recipe yields a good amount of cucumber yogurt to spread on leftover pork sandwiches or use as dip for crudités.