Stuffed Pork Loin Chops

Posted by BBQ Resources at 2/23/2009 2:47 PM
Categories: Projects
It's been a while since I've done a project 'worthy' of posting to the blog.  Been in a bit of a rut, perhaps? Anyway, the past weekend created ample opportunity to try something new and I took advantage of it. 

I had a pound of crab meat in the fridge that I bought at Christmas time and never found the time to create a recipe to use it.  Recently I told Hannah that I would use it to stuff some pork tenderloins.  That was at almost the exact moment that tenderloins quit being reasonably priced!  They must have heard me talking! 

I still had a couple of cheap turkeys in the freezer and so my attention shifted to perhaps doing crab stuffed turkey breasts.  But then I got a little lazy and, also, I just happen to like turkey roasted in the oven and all those leftovers and sandwiches and soups that follow.  So off to A&P I went yesterday and managed to snag 6 pretty thick centre cut pork loin chops. Just right for stuffing!

Stuffing number one was the crab blend, with
some grilled shrimp tossed in for a different flavour dimension.  Some green onion and a generous shake of Old Bay Spice and a quick spin in the food processor and we had this stuffing ready to go.  Did I mention that I had put the loin chops into a brine while all this was going on?  No, I didn't. A brine of salt, brown sugar, lemon peel, orange peel, garlic and onion. Had enough time to give them 3 hours in this chilled brine. Since Denise isn't big on seafood ('isn't big' = hates it), I did a second stuffing that consisted of browned mushrooms, ham, onion, garlic and some bread crumb for binder.  Processed that in the food processor as well.  Two stuffings down, pork loin chops in the brine, all is good so far.


Next up is to stuff the chops.  I used a fish fileting knife to work some nice-sized pockets into the side of the chops and then worked in the stuffing;
3 each crab and then the ham/mushroom.

Secured the openings with some toothpicks and then we were ready for the grill.

I put some of our Finicky Bitch rub on the outside of the chops and set them on the Egg to grill at 325°F till they were just over 140°F internal,

about 30 minutes.


In the meantime, it was time to create a sauce for the chops.  I love the taste of bacon, but right now there seems to be a movement to make bacon some kind of culinary punchline.  There are weaves, mats, bowls, baskets, 'explosions', hats and skirts and who knows what the hell else being done with bacon.  The obvious thing here would be to wrap these chops in a crap load of bacon and call it a winning recipe. Rather than do that, I decided to make a sauce from bacon that made a bacony statement without making a joke out of the ingredient.  To that end, a half pound of bacon was rendered and all but a tbsp or two of the drippings poured off.  Into the bacon fat went onion and garlic and sweated out till lightly browned. Bacon goes back in and cream cheese added til melted.  From there some milk was added to create a thick creamy consistency.  Pepper and oregano to taste.  This was the 'bacon sauce' for the chops.
The final result was 'okay'.  It went over fine but it wasn't a culinary home run.  Served it with some grilled French stick and frites with hickory salt.  Not sure what kept this from being a true keeper.  Maybe more time and more care with the seasoning, perhaps?  Not really sure what the problem was, but it's lacking something along  the way.  The bacon gravy was nice, but the chop and stuffing was somewhat lacking.

More external seasoning on the chops before grilling?  May or may not try this one again.

Qfan


 

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  • 8/1/2009 11:24 PM lynn wrote:
    just a tip season the loin inside and out and as plain Jane as it is put pocket in from bottom end of chop season liberally with some tony chach cajun season inside and out stuff with crab and cornbread stuffing roll in shake and bake cook 375 for 1hour to 1hour 15 min then smother with pan gravy with bacon and drippings dont hold a bite above your head your tongue will smack out ya brains trying to get to it
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