Stuffed bone-in pork chops

Anyway, to start with, let’s take two beautiful bone-in pork chops, about 1 inch thick:

Thick, bone-in pork chops

Most recipes call for boneless pork chops, but I think bone-in ones are nicer: cooking meat on the bone gives it a special flavor, a sweetness which I really like.

Wash the meat in cold water, then dry it on some kitchen towels. Take the sharpest knife you have and cut a pocket in each pork chop, like this:

Pocket cut in the pork chop

Sorry I couldn’t take a photo of me slicing that chop, but these two are the only hands I’ve got and they were both involved in the cutting process. Anyway, here’s the result:

Pork chops prepared for stuffing

Salt the meat, season it with your favorite herbs (I used a mix of garlic powder, thyme and basil) and put it back in the fridge while you work on the stuffing.

Take one medium sized onion, cut it in half and peel it.

Halved onion

Chop the onion. Coarsely chopping is just fine, you don’t need to try too hard on that, because it’s going to be cooked for quite a long time anyway.

Chopped onions

Take about 10 white mushrooms. I chose medium to small ones, like you can see in the following photo, and they were more than enough for stuffing the two pork chops you’ve seen. Wash them very well.

White mushrooms

Chop the mushrooms and the stems. Don’t worry about making them really small.

Chopped mushrooms

In a non-stick skillet, heat two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add the onions. Cook them over medium high heat for about 3-4 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Add the mushrooms, stir and season with salt, pepper, red chili flakes and any herbs you like.

Mushroom-onion meat stuffing

Cook the mushrooms and the onions over medium heat, for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, take the parsley and the dill, wash them very well and chop them.

Chopped parsley and dill

Add the parsley and the dill to the skillet and keep on cooking and stirring:

Meat stuffing getting cooked on stove top

The stuffing still needs something to hold everything together. I used a slice of feta cheese. Other options are: any type of cheese that melts nicely or eggs. Here’s my cheese, crumbled, just before adding it to the skillet. There’s nothing special about this photo, I just want you to see how much cheese I’ve used.

crumbled feta cheese

Add the cheese to the skillet. Cook for about 5 minutes, over low heat. Stir frequently, otherwise the cheese will stick to the skillet.

Pork chop stuffing

When most of the cheese melted and mixed with the other juices in the pan, turning into a sauce, remove the skillet from heat. Spoon the stuffing into the pork chops.

Stuffed pork chops - work in progress

You’ll notice you’ve got more stuffing than needed. Don’t try to fit it inside the chops, because we are going to use it later on. Just use only as much stuffing as to allow you to secure the meat pockets with toothpicks. As you got here with the work, you may want to pre-heat the oven to 400F.

Stuffed pork chops - more work in progress

In a skillet, heat two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and brown the stuffed pork chops for about two minutes on each side:

Stuffed pork chops browned

Transfer the chops from the skillet to the baking dish. Take the remaining stuffing mix, put it in the skillet, add about half cup of water and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Your purpose is to mix the flavored brown stuff on the bottom of the skillet with the mushroom-onion mixture. Eventually, you are going to pour it over the pork chops, before baking them.

Stuffed pork chops ready to bake

Cover the baking dish and bake the pork chops for about one hour. You may now relax for 40-45 minutes. Just before the chops are done, you’d better get back to the kitchen and prepare some side dish. I boiled some potatoes, then drained the water and mixed them with butter and salt.

Stuffed pork chops served with potatoes

Serve the stuffed pork chops hot, with freshly ground pepper sprinkled on top. If you can, arrange with somebody else to do the dishes, as you’ll use plenty of them

Here’s the list of ingredients for two big chops (enough for two not-very-hungry persons):

• 2 bone-in pork chops, 1 inch thick
• 1 medium-sized white onion, chopped
• 10 white mushrooms, medium sized, chopped
• 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 cup fresh dill, chopped
• 1 slice feta cheese
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt, pepper to taste
• herbs of your choice (dried thyme, basil, red hot chili flakes, garlic powder)
• 2 toothpicks

Last but not least, I thought you might want to see how those stuffed pork chops look on the inside.

Stuffed pork chops - interior

Yummy, isn’t it?

Ingredients for 2 people:

• 4 pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick, boneless or bone-in (a bit of fat is nice
• olive oil for frying
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
• salt
• other spices according to taste

Cooking directions:

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Season the pork chops with salt and dried rosemary, then fry them for about 4-5 minutes on each side (or until they are as done as you like).

Rosemary pork chops

Fried chops are best when they are hot. Sprinkling some fresh minced parsley on top of them can be a good idea.

Ingredients:

• pork chop leftovers, minced as you wish
• 1/2 pound plums, cubed
• green salad leaves
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 6 toast slices

Cooking directions:

There’s not much cooking to this pork chop recipe. It’s as simple as mixing all things together and serving them with the toast slices by the side. Spread the sesame seeds over the food and you’re done.

Leftover pork chops salad with cubed plums

This salad can be a main dish in itself or serve as a side dish for some other meal. Either way, it’s a nice way of using your pork chop leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops, boneless, about 1 inch thick
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 cups sweet and sour cabbage
• 4 average sized potatoes
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
• sweet and sour red cabbage
• salt and pepper

Cooking directions:

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, then grill them until they are completely done, according to your personal preference. Cut the potatoes in small pieces, boil them, drain the water, add the milk and the butter and prepare the mashed potatoes. A bit of milk and some butter would be of very much help. Peel and crush the garlic, then mix it with the mashed potatoes. In a small pot, mix the mustard with some water and a hint of butter and cook it on the stove top at low temperature until it turns into a sauce.

Mongolian pork chop recipe

Put the pork chops on plates, add the mustard sauce, the mashed potatoes, the sweet and sour red cabbage, then sprinkle fresh minced parsley all over the food.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless pork chops, not very thick
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 4 small size carrots
• 2 average size onions, quartered
• 1 celery, sliced
• 2 parsnips, sliced
• 2 potatoes, peeled, quartered
• honey and rosemary glaze
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Cooking directions:

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and grill them until they are almost done. You can try them with a fork, see if it goes in easily. When ready, add the rosemary and honey glaze and cook it for a few more minutes.

In a baking tray, put salt and olive oil, then put all vegetables and make sure you cover them with a thin layer of olive oil on all sides. Add the pork chops, spread dried oregano all over the food, then bake it for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are done.

Grilled pork chops with baked bell peppers

Serve the food hot. It goes well with a side dish such as rice.

Pork chops with vegetables

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless pork chops, average size
• 2 average sized potatoes, cut in small cubes
• 1/4 broccoli head
• broccoli puree
• 1/2 tablespoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup mango chutney
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt, pepper

Cooking directions:

Fry the pork chops in olive oil for about 6-7 minutes on each side. Cut the potatoes in small cubes and boil them until they are soft but not too mushy. Steam or boil the broccoli. Arrange everything on a plate and put the mango chutney and the broccoli puree on top of it.

Pork chops with mango chutney and potatoes

Serve the food hot, paired with a dry red wine.

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops, bone-in, 1 inch thick
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup allspice, whole
• 2 cans navy beans in gravy
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Cooking directions:

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan, then add the chopped onion. Cook it until it turns light brown, then add the bell pepper and the allspice and cook it for about 3-4 minutes more while stirring frequently. Then add the beans, the tomato paste and the water and continue cooking for about 15 minutes.

Put some olive oil in a pan and fry the pork chops for about 5-6 minutes on each side. Previously to this, season the meat with salt and pepper according to your taste.

Pork chop navy beans recipe

Place the beans and the gravy on a plate, put the pork chops on top of it and serve hot.

Ingredients for four persons:

• 4 bone-in pork chops, about 1 inch thick (boneless is also fine, but bones give a special savor to the dish, so they are better)
• 1 pound sauerkraut, rinsed, drained and finely chopped
• 1 cup olive oil
• 4 bacon strips
• 1 small onion, sliced thin
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 teaspoon whole black pepper

Cooking directions:

Fry the bacon in olive oil until it gets crispy. Add the caraway seeds and the onion, continue cooking until the onion turns golden, then add the sauerkraut and the pepper. Cover the pan and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Saute the pork chops in olive oil for about 5 minutes on each side. The chops need to be just cooked through. Before cooking them, season the pork chops with salt and pepper according to your taste.

Pork chop sauerkraut with mashed potatoes

Serve the pork chops together with the sauerkraut on the same plate. As a side dish you can have mashed potatoes.

Ingredients for two persons:

• 4 thick boneless pork chops
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups white flour (whole grain flour is also fine)
• 2-3 cups olive oil (for frying the meat)
• 1/2 teaspoon red hot paprika (if you don’t like spicy foods, you can use sweet paprika or simply skip it)
• salt, pepper to taste

Cooking directions:

Tenderize the pork chops with a schnitzel hammer until they become about 1/4 inch thick. In order to avoid the meat from tearing apart, you can place the chops between two sheets of plastic wrap before tenderizing them.

In a deep plate, mix the eggs with the flour, the paprika, salt and pepper, until you get a homogeneous mixture. It needs to be thick but still a little fluid, so if needed, you may want to adjust the amount of flour until you get the desired result.

Dip the pork chops in the egg mixture making sure they are completely covered on both sides.

Put the olive oil in a frying pan and preheat it to medium-high temperature. Take the pork chops out of the egg mix, shake them a little to remove the excess and fry them in the pan for about 10 minutes on each side. If your pan is not as large as to accommodate all 4 schnitzels, fry them two at a time.

Pork chop schnitzel

Serve hot with a side dish of your choice. Leftovers make excellent sandwiches for the next day’s breakfast.

Grilled pork chops with vegetables

Ingredients for two persons:

• 4 pork chops, average size, about 1 inch thick
• 4 spoonfuls soy sauce
• 4 spoonfuls water
• juice from one lemon, freshly squeezed
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 red onion, minced
• salt

Cooking directions:

Mix the soy sauce with water, lemon juice, garlic and onion, then put the mixture in a plastic bag together with the pork chops, making sure that the meat is fully covered by liquid. Refrigerate over night or at least for 4-5 hours.

Preheat the grill to medium-high temperature, then cook the marinated pork chops for about 5 minutes on each side. Make sure you don’t overcook them, otherwise the meat will turn chewy and dry. If you are not sure about the cooking time, you can cut one of the chops and see if it’s done. A fully cooked pork chop shouldn’t be pink anymore.

Grilled pork chops with soy sauce and potatoes

Serve hot, with a brown sauce, roast potatoes and steamed vegetables seasoned with a hint of minced parsley.