Grilled Bacon Stuffing Stuffed Pork Chops With Spicy Pineapple and Honey Glaze

Liz Schwartz - EMCC Culinary Arts Student

Serves 4

4-2 inch thick boneless pork loin chops
Salt and white pepper to taste
8 slices of bacon, diced up
1 tbsp. dried sage
2 tbsps. chopped fresh parsley
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped carrot
2 cloves pasted garlic
¼ tsp. white pepper
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cup vegetable stock
4 cups of ¼” bread cubes, slightly stale
2 cups of unsweetened pineapple juice
½ cup of honey
½ tsp. of cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. salt

Directions:

Stuffing
Render the bacon pieces over a medium heat, remove bacon bits and drain on a paper towel. Reduce the heat to low then add the chopped celery and carrots to the bacon fat and cook until tender. Add the onions and cook until opaque. When all vegetables are cooked, add the garlic, sage, ½ tsp of salt, and white pepper, this should cook just until the garlic becomes aromatic. Deglaze with the vegetable stock, scrapping the bottom to release all of the flavor. Pour this over the bread cubes, toss to coat evenly, add the bacon bits to this mixture and incorporate well. Set aside.

Glaze
Using a stainless steel pot, combine the unsweetened pineapple juice, honey, cayenne pepper and ¼ tsp of salt, reduce this until it is half of its original volume, about a cup.

Pork Chops
Using a small paring knife, cut a pocket into the pork chop without cutting all the way through. Season the inside cavity with salt and white pepper. Fill using the stuffing mixture using about ¼ to half a cup of the stuffing depending on the size of your chops. Season the outside of the chops with salt and white pepper.
Have an oven preheated to 375 degrees as well as your grill set to a medium high heat.
Place your chops on your grill so that they have a 45 degree angle with the grill bars. As soon as the pork chops release from the grill, turn them 90 degrees and place back on the grill bars. When they release from the grill again, flip and repeat the previous steps. We are not looking to completely cook the chops on the grill because they could dry out, we want nice grill marks.
Brush the glaze liberally on both sides of the chops before placing in the oven. Cook until they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Reheat the glaze to kill any potential bacteria from brushing on chops previously then pour a little over each chop. There will be extra stuffing and that can be baked off in a separate pan in the same oven while the chops are finishing up baking.

Note: If you don’t have access to a grill, you can sear the pork chops in a pan with a little vegetable oil until a golden brown crust forms, glaze then bake in the oven entirely.

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