Pork Chops with Pecan and Onion Stuffing
Stuffing:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, moderately coarsely chopped
- 1 medium celery rib, trimmed and finely diced
- 2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 cup finely chopped, lightly toasted pecans
- 2 cups coarsely crumbled stale, dry, firm-textured white bread (4 slices)
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper 3 to 4 tablespoons hot chicken broth (about)
- Six 1¾-inch-thick, bone-in pork loin chops, 1 rib per chop (about 5 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup hot chicken broth
Instructions:
Southerners have always had a penchant for stuffing things: tomatoes large and small, bell peppers, eggplant, yellow squash, mirlitons, fish, shellfish. Pork chops too, of course.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- For the stuffing: Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over moderately high heat for about 2 minutes or until ripples appear on the skillet bottom. Add the onion, celery, and garlic; reduce the heat to moderate; and cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are limp. Mix in all remaining ingredients, adding only enough chicken broth to hold the stuffing together; it shouldn’t be wet. Scoop the stuffing into a small bowl and reserve. Scrape the skillet well, then wipe with paper toweling so that you can use it to brown the chops. No point in dirtying two skillets.
- For the pork chops: Using a small sharp knife and beginning on the outer curved edge (the one with the thin layer of fat), cut a pocket into each pork chop that’s about 4 inches wide and 2½ to 3 inches deep. If you can sweet-talk your butcher into doing the job for you, so much the better. Pack the reserved stuffing into the pockets in the pork chops, dividing the total amount evenly.
- Heat the oil in the skillet over moderately high heat for 1 minute, then brown the chops in two batches, allowing 3 to 4 minutes per side per chop. Remove from the heat, then lay the pork chops on their sides in an ungreased 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and pour the hot chicken broth into the pan around the chops.
- Cover the pan snugly with foil, slide onto the middle oven shelf, and bake for about 40 minutes or until an instant-read meat thermometer, inserted halfway through a top chop, touching neither filling nor bone, registers 145° F. Remove the chops from the oven, lift off the foil, and let stand for about 10 minutes.
- To serve, arrange the chops on a heated large platter and spoon some of the pan drippings over all.