Smoked Pork Chops Stuffed With A Cranberry Stuffing & Zesty Cranberry Sauce

Category: Main Dishes | Blog URL: http://datenightdoins.com

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Photo: Ken & Patti Fisher

Ingredients

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 Hour

Grill: Traeger

Pellets: Mix of maple & onion

Ingredients: Zesty Cranberry Wine Sauce

1 can of cranberry sauce (we like the whole berry)

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup red wine, any kind you like to drink is perfect to use for cooking

3 tablespoons red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons Country Bob’s all purpose sauce

Ingredients: Cranberry Stuffing

1 bag stuffing cubes, seasoned

3/4 stick butter

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup onion, chopped

3 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Country Bob’s Season Salt

2 cups chicken broth

Ingredients: Chipotle Mashed Potatoes

1 pound red potatoes, unpeeled

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

6 garlic cloves, divided, mince 2 cloves

Pinch of Country Bob’s seasoning salt

1/2 pound bacon, crumbled

1 large sweet onion, diced

2 tablespoons chipotle chili powder, divided

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons coarse black pepper

Ingredients: Pork Chops

4 inches double thick pork chops, bone

Preparation

Directions: Zesty Cranberry Wine Sauce

Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until it thickens.

Directions: Cranberry Stuffing

Sauté veggies in butter. Add seasonings, broth and stuffing, stir to mix. Spoon stuffing lightly into pork chops.

Directions: Pork Chops

With a sharp knife cut a slit in the pork chop. Patti likes the bone in so she knows when to stop cutting. Make your cut all the way back to the bone. Make as large a pocket you can for the stuffing.

Directions: Chipotle Mashed Potatoes

Wash and cut potatoes. Place in pot and cover with water. Add 4 of the garlic cloves, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. In a skillet, fry the bacon with the chopped onion and minced garlic. Add tablespoon of chipotle chili powder. Cook about 5 minutes.

When potatoes are done, drain and mash. Add sour cream, cheese, bacon, onions and 1 tablespoon of chipotle chili. Mix well and serve.

For variety you can top with more cheese and chipotle chili powder. Put it on the smoker for an hour or so to pick up the awesome flavors from the grill. When we put these on the grill Patti lines the outside of the dish with foil to make clean up easier.

Cooking Directions: Traeger

Open the lid and set the dial to “smoke”. After about five minutes, shut the lid. Give it about 10 minutes to heat up. Patti has lined the drip pan with foil for me, it makes for easier clean up.

Place everything directly onto the grill and just let it hang out in the smoke and get happy for 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, turn the digital control up to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. You should have a temperature around 310 at the stack or dome thermometer.

When the meat reaches an internal temp around 130 pull it off. Cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. This will be medium rare. Keep in mind that the meat will continue cooking for another 10 degrees after you pull it off the grill. So for medium pull it at 140 and overdone 160.

Note: I use a spray bottle when cooking on the grill filled with a Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke mix that keeps things moist and adds tons of flavors. (Mix is 3 parts Worcestershire with 1 part liquid smoke)

Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like.

Directions: Gas Grill

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 14 Minutes

Grill: High Direct Heat

Preparing Grill: High Direct Heat

Preheat your grill to High heat (400-500). Add your wet hickory chips to the fire and oil the grill. A cooking spray is easiest for this.

Note: you can add your hickory directly to the grill or you can use foil smoke packets.(Two handfuls wet chips and one dry, fold foil into a packet, poke holes in it with a fork and you’re good to go.)

Your cooking times and temps will be the same as above. If you want to let it set in smoke for awhile use LOW INDIRECT HEAT. Then do the same as above…

Preparing Charcoal Grill

Get the Grill ready, you will want your temperature of around 400-500 degrees. Remember, you are going high heat here for about 14 minutes. Bank your coals over to one side of your grill. Add your “drained wood chips” and you are good to go…

Your cooking times and temps will be the same as above.

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About

Smoked Pork Chops stuffed with a Cranberry Stuffing & Zesty Cranberry Sauce

These were something special Patti dreamed. Literally she had a dream about these. We went to see Jacob at T & H Meats and told him what she had in mind. He came up with these chops that were almost 4 inches thick and sweet and tender on their own. Then, Patti made a cranberry stuffing and a zesty cranberry sauce.

All I can say is “OH MY”, these were so good that you could serve them for any special occasion and everyone will sing praises. I am looking forward to my next special occasion: another Date Night with Patti.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour
Grill: Traeger
Pellets: Mix of maple & onion

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste.
Take it and run with it….
Enjoy,
Ken & Patti