Bacon Apple Stuffed Pork Chops

Bacon Apple Stuffed Pork Chops

Who doesn’t love bacon…? We put these yummy, crispy, salty cracklins’ in, on and around just about anything you can imagine.

Bacon Ice Cream, Bacon Jam, Chocolate dipped Bacon, Bacon Rinds, Bacon wrapped around everything from figs to fudge.

You can buy Bacon shaped Band-Aids, Bacon air fresheners and you can get your very own yodeling bacon here: http://mcphee.com/shop/yodelling-bacon.html

We certainly have a love affair going on with bacon!

If you’re a vegetarian or vegan you might be thinking “Yuck! Bacon is gross!” Wait a minute, if you’re a non-meat eater perusing recipes for pork chops you might want to re-check your cravings. Obviously a cry from your subconscious for some good meat! Move along ya herbivore! ;-)

I pieced together this recipe up after looking at a few others on-line and picking and choosing ideas to make my own version.

Makes 8 servings, recipe can be halved

8 large Pork Chops between 1”-2” thick

3-4 hard rolls

Olive Oil or Cooking Oil in a Spray bottle

1/2 Cup Bacon bits (about four slices cooked & chopped)

1/4 Packet dry Italian Dressing mix or dry Ranch Dressing mix

2 Granny Smith Apples

1 Large or 2 Small White Onions

4-5 leaves fresh Sage

2 Satsumas (aka Cuties) or 1 large Orange

Salt & Pepper (preferably in grinders)

You will notice in my pictures that I have two different color cutting boards. The green one I use for breads, fruits and vegetables and other fresh items. The red one I use for raw meat only. Even though all the fresh ingredients will eventually be mixed with the raw meat it is always a good idea to keep your cutting boards separate and do the raw meat last. The less cases of salmonella the better I say!

Cut Hard Rolls into 1/2” or smaller pieces. Toss with Bacon bits in a 9” x 12” baking pan. Spray the bread pieces liberally with Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil (can be tossed with 2 Tbs melted butter if you don't have a spray bottle of oil). Sprinkle the Dry Dressing Mix over bread and bacon.

Bake in oven at 350° until well toasted.

Once cool, place in large mixing bowl. You can sub 3 cups of prepared dry stuffing mix (adding in the bacon) but I like to make my own.

I have an old "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray bottle (I still can't think of ICBINB without hearing Fabio) I re-purposed by putting olive oil in it. I keep it on my counter and use it all the time. It works great to spritz a pan for cooking or for making homemade croutons for stuffing!

Chop Onions and sauté in a little Olive Oil until slightly browned. Let cool while you are chopping and adding the other ingredients.

Cut and core Apples and cut into small pieces. Add to mixing bowl.

Peel Satsumas (or Orange) and separate into sections. Using a kitchen scissors, cut into small pieces into the mixing bowl.

Wash Sage leaves and remove stems. Stack and snip short strips across the leaves using a kitchen scissors into the mixing bowl.

Using your kitchen scissors for these two things will ensure that you get good cuts on the citrus without smooshing them and not bruise the sage leaves.

Again with the scissors. I would be lost without my good pair! If you don't have a designated pair, I highly recommend it! Make sure that they are dedicated for food only....

Add cooled Onions to the bowl and mix thoroughly.

Using a sharp paring knife or your kitchen scissors, slice or cut through one side of each Pork Chop (the side without the fat rind) making sure you don't cut through all the way to the other side and leaving the edges intact as well. Sometimes it helps if the Chops are still a little frozen. If you cut through the back or a side it's fine. It will taste the same but you won't get the same presentation.

Get your cooking pans ready by spraying or wiping with Olive Oil (I used a 9 x 12 and an 8 x 8 pan to make 8 large stuffed chops). Stuff each Chop with 1/8th of the stuffing and arrange in pan. Sprinkle any leftover stuffing over the chops and spritz them with olive oil.

If you use too much stuffing and don't have enough at the end you can always go back and take some stuffing out of the first ones to finish them all up.

Bake in a 350° oven for about an hour.

Dig in!

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If you're on Facebook, head on over to my foodie page "Taco Soup" and like that too. It's a FB page I made just for fun and share great recipes and all sorts of food tricks and tips on.

https://www.facebook.com/Taco-Soup-113068918760007...

Happy eating!