Valentine’s Day Dinner – Stuffed Pork Chops

Saint Valentine’s day is a week away, in fact the day is the start of the Spring Festival. Now as I’ll be doing all kinds of Asian meals this week, maybe I should do some thing a bit more western. In fact in keeping with the spirit of the holiday, something in the comfort food range but a dressed up, special effort just for you, comfort food.

Pork Chops have always been a bit of comfort food, and when one has thick chops cut special for the dinner, the dinner goes up a notch, and when one stuffs those pork chops, the meal goes up yet another notch, and when the rogue chef tosses in his special twist things will get quite special indeed.

I’ll start with center cut chops, about two fingers thick, (since you don’t have my fingers say 1 1/2″), then I’ll cut a pocket into the chops. I’ll stuff those pockets with a fresh made stuffing, give the chops a pan fry for a golden brown and delicious surface, (maybe add a bit of a bourbon glaze), and finish them in the oven.

One may want to brine the pork chops first.

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Cut Pockets into Chops, Set aside

(Or have your butcher do this)

3. Mix Bread Cubes, Celery, Onion, Parsley, Egg, Salt Pepper, and 2 TSB of butter
4. Stuff each chop with an equal amount of bread mixture
5. In a large saute pan, foam out remaining butter over high heat
6. Brown each chop, (~2 minutes a side)
7. Remove chops to a greased baking dish<
8. Cover with foil and bake until internal temp reads 150F (~40 min)
9. Deglaze saute pan with bourbon
10. Add 2 TSB water and sugar
11. Reduce to a thick glaze / pan sauce
12. Remove foil and bake until internal temp reads 160F (~10 min)
13. Serve with Mashed Potatoes and Spoon Bourbon Glaze over