Stuffed Pork Chops (boneless)
Boneless Pork Loin
Diced Bread
Minced Onion
Minced Garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
Butter (margarine, olive oil, grease)
(Variations offered below)
The first thing you do is take a whole pork loin and cut it into 1 1/2 in thick sections. Then butterfly each section. When opened you should have a 3/4 in thick piece of meat that will be 6 to 8 oz. in weight. Now get a smooth sided pounder (almost anything with a flat surface and a little weight will do but there are professional devices), open the butterflied pork loin, place the meat between pieces of plastic wrap (controls the mess) and beat hell out of the meat until it is a little less than 1/2 in. thick.
Create the stuffing now. Essentially, you are making crouton. Place the minced onion, minced garlic and the dices bread (stale slices are the easiest to work with, cube them) in a skillet, melt some butter. Its hard to relate amounts because I just wing it but figure one to two cups of diced bread, 1/4 cup minced onions, two tablespoons of minced garlic and at least 1/2 stick melted butter for two chops (keep the other half handy). Get the heat up high enough to fry the bread and stir frequently, add pats of butter as needed. Once the bread is slightly crisp the stuffing is ready.
Variations on the stuffing - you can add many different herbs and spices to the stuffing. Sage works well, I always enjoy basil, tarragon, rosemary, celery. Other additions are cooked herbed rice, wild rice or a combination of the two. Anyway, stuffing.
Cook the meat - preheat your grill (indoor, outdoor, skillet with ridges, etc.) very hot. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take the butterflied pork and close it and lay it down. Now open it like a book. When this is done, the side that is down is the side that should be down on the grill. You will not be cooking the meat on the grill, you will simply be putting grill marks on the meat (adds character, color and flavor) and only on one side. Place the meat on the HOT grill for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes (correct side down) then (don't turn it over) pick it up and rotate it 90 degrees and leave it for another 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Take the meat off and place it in an oven proof dish. Place the stuffing on one side of the pork chop and fold the other side over. (If all is correct, the place where you placed the stuffing is raw and when you do the fold the top will have grill marks.) If there is extra stuffing, place this around the outside of the chops. Place this into the preheated oven and let bake for 15 min. for medium or 20 min for well done.
The result - these are tender and moist and very flavorful pieces of meat with many dimension of flavor and texture. Goes well with many sides such as baked of fried apples, applesauce, mashed potatoes, baked or candied sweet potatoes, gotta go, I'm gettin' hungry.