Tuesday 30 April 2013

Stuffed Pork Chops -Deja vu


    I don't know about you, but sometimes a certain food can take me back to a certain memory.  I like it best when it's a good memory, and not a bad one (like the time I ate a whole bunch of fair food and then decided it was a good idea to go on the Tilt A Whirl.  The boy I really liked was sitting in the car behind ours and when I barfed, oh man did I barf, it sprayed all over his car, oh and all over me.  Godd times, good times).  Stuffed Pork Chops is a really nice memory.  It takes me back to our many trips to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania.
    Have you ever been somewhere and it just felt like home?  It's like that for Christopher and I in Lancaster County.  I feel like I have lived there before.  I have this feeling of complete peace come over me there.  It is a stunningly beautiful place.  There are horse and buggies all around the streets (it's Amish country).  There are people dressed in their black clothing scooting around on these funny little scooters.  It is just a really beautiful place.  You can find such good and different types of foods (whoopie pies, shoe fly pie...ect, ect).
    On one of our many trips we stopped at this little family run restaurant.  It's called "Pennsylvania Dutch", but there is nothing "Dutch" about it.  That area of Pennsylvania was settled by the Germans.  The German people call Germany "Deutschland"(pronounced Doych - land), thus "Dutch".  It was good German food that restaurant sold.  We decided to be adventurous and try the stuffed pork chops.  They were delicious!


    When we got home from that trip I craved those stuffed pork chops, and so I found this easy recipe, that I adjusted to fit my laziness.  

    The first thing that I do is make the stuffing...

1 loaf of white bread                                           1 large chopped onion
4 pieces of celery chopped up fairly fine             1 medium red pepper chopped up fairly finely
salt                                                                       pepper
1 tsp of garlic power (you can adjust this to suit your taste)
1/2 cup of parsley flakes                                      1 cup of chicken broth

Mix it all together until it sticks.  I like to use my hands because it feels doughy when it's ready.


    After the stuffing was made I arranged my 5 pork chops on the cookie sheet.  Honestly there is lots of stuffing left and I could have done at least 4 more chops.  I then thickly lay on the stuffing mixture, mine was about 3-4 inches thick.  


   After the stuffing was on, I put a second chop on the top, like a pork chop sandwich!  I popped it into a 350 degree oven for about an hour.  You can adjust this to suit yourself, but I like to make sure that my pork is REALLY cooked.



    It is at this point that I feel like I should warn you.  Those chops smell like heaven when they are cooking.  They look really pretty, and taste pretty good too.  I served it with loaded mashed potatoes which I will share tomorrow.




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2 comments:

  1. Couple of things...we went to Lancaster on our honeymoon and went to a "Family Style" restaurant where they seat you with anyone at picnic tables and proceed to bring out (not exaggerating) about 40 different dishes in huge bowls. For dessert they took orders and Kevin said he would sample 1 of each cake/pie. 8 (at least) slices later, he couldn't eat even the next day...good times. Also, I was wondering if the stuffing would go better if you pounded the meat a little flatter and it might fold. Just a thought, they do look delicious!
    Fiona

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    1. That's the way you are supposed to do them, flatter and folded over, but I'm just too lazy!

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