Lemons to Lemonade/Stuffed Pork Chop

In the past, I have voiced my opinions concerning the Air Force Recipe system and it's shortfalls and frustrations. Recently in the Dining Facility that I manage we have been playing with the recipes a bit. The recipe is the same but the method gets twisted a little...okay, a lot. We tossed the method out the window and made our own! We took the lemon methods and made lemonade by substituting our own. We hold true to the ingredients, but make it in a way that people like--not scoff at.
The whole idea is that we take a recipe that doesn't sell and find a way to make it sell. Normally, our stuffed pork chop just doesn't sell. The AF method wants us to take a colorless, flavorless baked pork chop and place an ice cream scoop worth of stove top stuffing on top of it. The customers usually look at it then order a cheeseburger from the grill. But not today, my friends!  Keep in mind that this recipe is for what we have in an AF kitchen. I do recommend making your own dressing/stuffing. And I do recommend straying from the methods of the AF Recipe system, but even though I like to make a mockery of the AF method, we still try to stay close. So please play with this recipe. It's YOUR food, play with it!

Stuffed Pork Chop

Ingredients

• 4 Thick Cut (1"-1.5" cut) BONELESS Pork Chops
• Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder--Seasoned to taste on pork chops
• 2 Cups Balsamic Vinegar
• Box of Stovetop Stuffing (Chicken or Pork Flavor, if you can find it)
• 2/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Small Yellow Onion, minced
• 1 Green Apple, julienned
• 1 Red Apple, julienned
• Juice from 1 Lemon (mix with water to cover julienned apples in a bowl to prevent browning)

Method

1.  Make Stovetop Stuffing by using directions on the box.
2. Season Pork Chops with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Rub seasonings into meat. Toss into a medium heat frying pan. Cook chops to medium well.
3. Pour Balsamic Vinegar into a sauce pan and bring to an almost boil. Add diced onions. Add sugar as you stir. Keep the sauce moving as it starts to simmer. It will begin to thicken.
4. After chops rest for about 3-5 minutes, fillet chops down the middle, 3/4 of the way through long ways (it should look like an alligator mouth, not a clam)
5. Grab a small palm full of stuffing and roll loosely into a ball. Flap open pork chop and place the ball into the mouth of the gator. Place chops on a baking pan and into the a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. This will give the ball of stuffing a crisp element as well as curl the top of the chop just a little for visual pleasure.
6.  By now, the sauce should be thickening nicely. Be careful to not let it burn or you will have to start all over with the sauce. Take it off the stove and let it air cool on the counter top or an empty burner. 
7. Julienne your apples. A julienne is a complicated way of saying that you cut it to look like baby french fries. If you are still confused, check out this link (Julienning). This is best done with a slicer with a julienne attachment, but most people don't have one just sitting around so another option is to use a cheese grater. Use the big holes, not the small ones. As you julienne them, place them in your lemon/water mixture. The acid in the lemon juice will prevent the apples from browning plus it will add another element of tartness. Make sure you use a tart green apple and a sweet red apple. This will create a nice mixture of flavors that will enhance your chops!
8. Place your sauce in a squirt bottle (ketchup style if you have it). If you don't have one, a spoon will do nicely. Get a small plate, drizzle the sauce on the plate in any design you'd like. Swirls, zig-zag, Jackson Pollock, etc.
9. Pull Pork chops from the oven and place in the center of the plate.
10. Garnish with a large pinch of julienned apples.
11. Enjoy!

Please excuse the sloppy saucing.  A warped tray and  time constraints are to blame ;)

Usually we produce about 16 pork chops for our small facility and maybe 3 of them sell based on looks alone. But this day, we produced 16 and sold 14 of them. It just goes to show that people eat with their eyes way before they eat with their mouths.