Chef Jamie's Apple-Stuffed Pork Chops with Cider Sauce

Chef Jamie says: Pork never had it so good as in this dish filled with fall flavors!

 

This recipe serves 6

Ingredients for the Stuffing:
4 slices pumpernickel or dark rye sandwich bread, crusts removed & diced
Directions for the Stuffing:
Preheat the oven to 300°F. 

Place bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes to dry out. Remove from oven and set aside.

Raise the oven temperature to 375°F. 

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. 

When it foams, add the diced apples and let them brown, stirring only occasionally. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and remaining 1 tablespoon of the butter. 

Add the onions, salt and freshly ground white pepper and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the cooked apples, bread cubes, dried apples, sage and thyme and cook until heated through. Stir in the apple cider, season with salt and pepper, remove from heat, and set aside.

Directions for the Chops:
Rinse the pork chops and pat them dry with paper towels. 

Holding a sharp paring knife parallel to the work surface, cut a 3-inch-wide pocket into each pork chop all the way to the bone. Move the knife in a fanning motion to create a larger pocket, being careful not to cut through the top or bottom of the pork. Repeat with the other pork chops. 

Season chops well on all sides and inside each pocket with salt and freshly ground pepper. Stuff 1/8 of the stuffing into each pocket.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in large frying pan over medium-high heat. 

When the butter foams, place three pork chops in the pan. Sear the chops until they are nicely browned, then turn them to brown the other side. 

When the chops are browned, remove them from the pan to a rimmed baking sheet or baking dish large enough to hold them all comfortably. 

Dump out the used oil that remains in the pan, but do not wash the pan. Repeat with the other chops.

When all the chops are seared, place them in the oven and bake until they are fully cooked and a thermometer inserted into the center registers 145°F, about 25 to 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, return the pan used for browning the chops to medium heat. (Do not clean the pan!) 

Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, onion, celery, and carrot to the pan. 

Cook until the vegetables are softened and brown around the edges, about 5 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, add the apple brandy, and return it to the heat. (If you want, carefully tilt the pan to ignite the brandy.) 

Use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any of the browned bits that have adhered to the pan. Stir in apple cider and bring to a simmer for about 8 minutes.

Add chicken broth and herb sprigs, and return to a simmer. 

Cook until sauce is reduced to 2 cups, about 12 minutes. Strain sauce through a fine-mesh sieve and return it to the pan. 

Whisk in the crème fraiche to thicken the sauce slightly.

 

Jamie Gwen is a Celebrity Chef, Certified Sommelier, Lifestyle Expert and four-time Cookbook Author. For the past 13 years, she has brought the best to radio with her weekly Live Radio Show filled with delicious conversation, heard every Sunday from 8:00am to 10:00am on KFWB News Talk 980 in Southern California and heard worldwide on iTunes and the Internet.

Jamie can also be heard on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius/XM and she can be seen stirring up something delicious on television shows and in print nationwide.

Jamie’s most recent cookbook entitled “Good Food For Good Times 2” is now available as an eBook and has been featured on Emeril Live, Martha Stewart and QVC. She is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and her website, www.chefjamie.com, is a scrumptious resource for food lovers everywhere.