Harvest Pork Chops

Sunday evening we stumbled across a great recipe that’s a triple threat: it’s cheap to make, you probably have most of the ingredients around, and it’s impressive looking and tasting. Pork loin is extremely inexpensive at Costco, and you can cut it to make your own deliciously-thick pork chops (I suggest around an inch thick). This would be delicious with dried apricots or cherries substituted for the cranberries. It’s a definite keeper at our house. Harvest Pork Chops (modified from Parenting magazine, September 2006) 4 1-inch-thick pork chops, cut from a pork loin 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped celery (2 stalks) (side note: we found a slug in our celery. EWWWW!!! Good thing we washed it first. That’s organic for you!) 1/4 cup chicken stock salt pepper 2 Tbsp lemon juice 1/3 cup sliced almonds 1/3 cup dried cranberries With a sharp knife, make a horizontal slit in the side of each chop, creating a good-size pocket. Season both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Press 1/2 cup stuffing into each pocket, mounding it at opening. Fit chops into a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake, covered, at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, then uncovered for 20 minutes. Serve with these delicious homemade rolls (this recipe makes a ton of rolls, so freeze leftovers to have on hand for the next meal!), a big salad, and finish it off with a thick slice of sweet potato pie. Yum!