The ingredients called for were:
- 4 pork loin rib chops, cut 1 1/4" thick
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
- 1 tbsp. margarine or butter
- 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
- 2 tbsp. chopped pecans
- 1/4 tsp. dried sage leaves
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 20 Keebler Town House Original crackers
- 1/3 cup apricot spreadable fruit
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
I only had two chops, and they were a bit thinner than 1 1/4" - but, they would work. I didn't have dried apricots - but I did have Sun-maid Fruit Bits. The only pecans that I had were left over from Christmas and were glazed. I didn't have any Sage but had some fresh Rosemary. And I didn't have any apricot spreadable fruit - but I had some locally made Apple Butter.
So I started out by trimming the fat from my chops and cutting a pocket in each.
Next, I finely chopped the onion and the celery - then cooked in a medium saucepan with the butter until tender.
I chopped the fruit bits and pecans.
I chopped up the fresh Rosemary and added it to the pecans along with the pepper.
I removed my onion mixture from the heat and stirred in the fruit, pecans, Rosemary and pepper. The crackers came next. I put approx. 20 crackers into a zip-lock bag and crushed them coarsely. The crackers were then mixed into the onion mixture too. Ummmm - the smell at this point was wonderful!
I stuffed the pocket of each of my chops with the onion mixture and secured with toothpicks. The chops were then placed on a rack in a shallow roasting pan and baked, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.
While the chops were baking, I mixed 1/3 cup of Apple Butter and a teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce.
When the chops were just about done, I spooned this mixture over the top of the chops and continued to cook for another five minutes.
I served the chops with some of the remaining stuffing on the side. My husband loved it :)
Enjoy!!
