MMMMMMM..."Andouille Stuffed Pork Chops with Maple Bourbon Sauce"
Yes, I WILL be making this recipe...and SOON. I need to make a decision RE: appropriate side dishes. Any suggestions would be welcome.
http://www.aidells.com/recipe/208
Yield: 6 servings
Prep time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
Pork Chops
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 T olive oil
Andouille Stuffing
1 T unsalted butter
1 stock celery (finely chopped )
1 large onion (chopped )
1 c coarse fresh breadcrumbs
4 links Aidells Cajun Style Andouille Sausage (finely chopped )
2 T white wine
1 egg (lightly beaten )
Maple Bourbon Sauce
1/2 c onion (finely chopped )
1/2 c chicken stock
1/4 c bourbon whiskey
1 T cider vinegar
2 T maple syrup
Pinch ground ginger
1 T cold unsalted butter
Instructions
Cut a large pocket into each chop and season the meat with salt and pepper. Set the chops aside.
Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy skillet. Add the celery and onion and cook, covered, until soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer the celery and onion to a bowl and mix in the breadcrumbs, sausage, white wine and egg. Knead and squeeze the stuffing until all the ingredients are blended. Divide it into 6 equal amounts and stuff into each chop, molding the stuffing with your hands against the side.
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until the oil begins to haze. Brown the chops 3 at a time for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove the chops from the pan and set aside while you assemble the sauce.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan and add the onion. Cook for 3 minutes, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in the stock, bourbon, vinegar, syrup and spices, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes, return the chops to the pan, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the chops 5 minutes per side. The chops are ready when the internal temperature reads 150°. Transfer the chops to a warm platter and cover with foil.
Degrease sauce and reduce until syrupy. Whisk in the cold butter, season to taste with salt and pepper, pour over chops and serve.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I may go the plain French bread route...I want the chops to take center stage and I don't want any strong flavors getting in their way. I love garlic bread too...just maybe not with this specific dish.
It was for a pot luck group of about 8 people. If it were for a more intimate dinner with close friends I probably would have skipped the Zatarain's and made it with the Aidell's and scratch ingredients, but it DISAPPEARED, and everybody who ate it LOVED it.
There was definite heat...not third-degree burns, just a nice, sustained hotness that didn't overpower the flavor.
That's why I think the Aidell's will be a good choice, and will let the sauce shine.
I love bread pudding too. The local Cosentino's market (now gone, sadly) had an in-house bakery and used to have fresh bread pudding (and tiramisu) available ALL the time. I especially like the scoop of vanilla ice cream on the top...I imagine it really lights up all of the other flavors.
A friend once turned me on to the Creme de Cassis trick. For those who don't know what that is, it is a black currant liqueur.
You take strawberries (they HAVE to be FRESH...NO frozen) and slice them up. You then marinate them in the fridge for a few hours in Creme de Cassis and spoon them over TOP-QUALITY vanilla ice cream (preferably home made with vanilla beans, not extract, or my recommendation is to get the Hagen Dazs Vanilla Bean flavor. The taste is ELECTRIC, just UNBELIEVABLE.
Never had hominy (I'm a Yankee by birth...what is a "grit," anyways?)
