October 13, 2011

What's for Dinner...Blue Cheese, Pear, and Onion Stuffed Pork Chops

Although I don't normally cook pork, when I saw a great recipe in this month's Cooking Light Magazine that made me want to!  I of course had to put my special spin on it but all in all I think it turned out great.  
Here is the recipe I ended up creating based on my inspiration of stuffed pork chops:

Blue Cheese, Pear, & Onion Stuffed Pork Loin Chops
4 Four Oz pork loin chops
1 Pear
1 small yellow onion
1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
2 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
Parsley, for garnish

First, I diced the pear into small pieces and sliced the onion in to thin slivers.  Then I cooked them over medium low heat which the thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper for about 10 minutes or until soft.

 The onions in the pan right before I added the diced pear and thyme.  

While the filling was cooking I took each of the pork chops and cut a small pocket in each chop- a hole large enough to fit a fourth of the filling.  Once the filling was just about finished cooking I added the vinegar and cooked for one more minute.  I then allowed the mixture to cool.  Once cooled, I added it to the bowl I had the blue cheese crumbles in and mixed.  Finally, I placed the stuffed chops, sprinkled on both side with additional salt and pepper, back in to the same pan I cooked the filling in and cooked the chops for five minutes per side.
 The chops getting nice and seared!
 I served the chops with olive oil and garlic dressed french bread and green beans.
The finished product!

All in all I think they turned out great.  The flavor was awesome but to change it up a bit next time I could see myself grilling some chicken breasts and then instead of using the mixture as a stuffing I would just spoon it over the top of the cooked chicken!