Cran-Apple Goat Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops w/ Sauteed Apples

 

 

Verdict: Success

Neighbor-worthy

While looking for something new, I stumbled upon this recipe for "Apple-Cranberry Stuffed Pork Chops with Sauteed Apples".  I love stuffing foods and I wanted to tweak this to my liking as I wanted to try something new (both cooking and eating) and, 'cause I am not overly sold on sweet entrees, I thought I would curb some the sweetness involved in the original by using goat cheese. 

(Selection of a good side can also be a good way to counter a sweet or savory intensive entree recipe. As this recipe is quite sweet, I chose a salty, bitter brussel sprout side.)

Ingredients:

2 tart apples

1 cup fresh spinach finely chopped

1/3 cup dried cranberries craisons (I had 'em in my cabinet already) chopped

4 tablespoons apple juice divided

4 boneless pork loin chops (1" thick)

salt

pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter fake butter

+ 2 garlic cloves diced

+ 4 oz goat cheese at room temperature

Peel and chop 1 apple.  Leaving the peel on, thinly slice the second one (like a thick potato chip).  In a bowl, mix apple, spinach, craisons and a 1 tablespoon of the apple juice.  Separate in half and mix half with the goat cheese in another bowl.

Season your pork chops with salt and pepper and butterfly it (slice side-to-side to make a pocket).  Open the chop (like a book) and line the seam with the goat cheese mixture and close it.  Continue to stuff the chop with the non-cheese mixture. 

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on your range at Medium-high heat.  Add your chops and cook until well browned (7 or 8 minutes each side).  Remove chops from pan. Add your (fake) butter to the skillet and add your sliced apples along with the rest of your apple juice.  Cook until the apples are soft and top your chops with it.

Notes:

I think this (original recipe) was a grown-up spin on Pork Chops and Applesauce.  I took it a step or two away from that.

This recipe (the use of apple and spinach) offers a good source of antioxidants that help fighting cancer.

Tweak:

I added the goat cheese to the dish along with garlic to take some of the edge off the sweetness of the recipe I lifted.

I used craisons for the recipe as opposed to cranberries as I had them in my cabinet already and didn't want to waste money unnecessarily.

Healthy Tweak:

I swapped butter for my stand-by 'fake butter".

Got something I can stuff???    Let me know: theManicCheater@gmail.com