MommyTLC

I've been a little held up writing this post.  It's been a bit of a hectic week for me and time for writing has been more limited them normal.  I have been itching to tell you all about the Stuffed Pork Chops I made Tuesday night.  I've tried making pork in the past, usually buying the pre-seasoned pork loin that I would end up over cooking even when following the instructions to a T.  After a few unsuccessful tries at making pork loins and a very direct request from my husband to not stay away from pork in general, I decided to give this new recipe a try and boy, was I happy I did!

Probably not the best presentation but it was the tastiest pork chops I've ever made!  Good enough that my hubby had 2 servings.  Stuffing the pork chops were easier than I expected and the stuffing was nothing more than some shaved cheese (the recipes called for a blend of 6 Italian cheese but since all I had was some Parmesano Reggiano, I used a cup of that instead.  It is Italian, so that's got to count for something), Italian season bread crumb, and dried parsley.  I mixed all the stuffing ingredients, made a nice pocket in the pork by making an incision leaving 3/4" uncut along 3 sides.  Once the pork was stuffed (don't over stuff or filling will just over flow out of the pork before it's done cooking), pinch the open edge to seal the stuffing in.  Rub seasoning mix (salt, pepper and paprika) on both sides of the pork and brown both sides then top the pork with more of the stuffing mixture and allow the cheese to melt while the meat is cooking.  The recipe calls for browning both sides on medium-high in a skillet then transferring the skillet to the over for 8-10 minutes, allowing the pork to cook at 375°­.  Since I have a beautiful cast iron pot, I allowed the pork to brown then covered the pot and let the pork continue cooking for 8 minutes until completely done (no longer pink when I cut the side to check).

All-in-all, it was a very simple recipe to follow and the end result was delicious!  This is definitely a recipe that's going in the book and will be used again!  Speaking of which, I made 6 pork chops and only used 3 Tuesday night.  These are great to make in quantity and freeze!  I put the remaining 3 in a Zip Lock freezer bag and cooked the left overs on Saturday night.  The held up well in the freezer, even the stuffing was as good the second time around.  For the complete recipe go to http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Cheese-Stuffed-Pork-Chops/Detail.aspx