And he stuffs it!

I am one of the luckiest women in the world in that my husband routinely cooks dinner for us.  Works a full day, comes home, lights up the grill and gets down.  Recently he treated us to grilled stuffed pork chops.  I made mention of this to Jeff at Culinary Disaster, who promptly requested the recipe for the apple stuffing (in his quest to use up apples).  He has a lovely post about spinach stuffed bone-in pork chops on his site, which motivated me to get the full recipe up on this site.  With much input from my husband, of course!

 

Grilled Stuffed Pork Chops with Maple Syrup Marinade

 

4 boneless center cut pork chops (1 1/2 inch thick)

apple stuffing cooled to room temperature (see below)

dry rub: (mix and match the following to your heart’s and palate’s content)

garlic powder

onion powder

kosher salt

dried thyme

dried rubbed sage

black pepper

paprika

marinade:

1/4 c maple syrup

1/4 c dijon mustard

1/4 t nutmeg

1/4 t freshly ground pepper

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Begin by making:

 

Apple stuffing for 4 pork chops:

 

Saute 1/2 c chopped yellow onions in butter. When begninning to brown, add 1/2 apple diced (Cripps Pink in this instance) and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme.  Once apples start to soften, add 1/4 dried cranberries and 1/4 c dried apricots diced.  Saute another 2-4 minutes.  Add scant 1/4 c unseasoned breadcrumbs (homemade), salt and pepper to taste.  May need to add more liquid (butter or a stock) at this point to moisten the stuffing to desired consistency. Cool.

 

Make a 2-3 inch pocket-like slit in the side of the pork chops (refer to Alton Brown for further elucidation).  Pack pocket full of stuffing.  Rub pork chops with dry rub.  Let rest for 20 minutes.

Place pork chops in bowl and pour over 2/3 of the marinade.  Coat evenly, let sit for 30-60 minutes.  Heat your grill.  Place chops on hot grill.  Reserve 1/3 of marinade to sauce chops once they are cooked and plated.

The finished product should look something like this (Brussels Sprout and Mashed Potatoes not included):

 

The mildly sweet marinade perfectly complements the tartness of the apple stuffing.