Stuffed Pork Chops!

This has been one of my son's favorite dishes since he was a little boy.  It's something my mother always made and since he loved it so much, I made it a lot also.  These stuffed pork chops just seem like fall and cooler weather to me.  I guess it's the stuffing and the fact that they have to bake in the oven for an hour so we don't make them much in the hot summer months here.  

This is a actually a simple recipe, but if you serve it for company or a special occasion they will think you really fussed over it.  The main trick to this is learning to butterfly your own chops.  You can buy them butterflied already, but you will save so much money if you do your own and you can control the thickness of the cut also.  

This will make about 8-9 stuffed chops.  If you don't need that many for one meal, you can freeze half of them for future use.  Just make two dishes and under bake the one you are freezing by about 15 minutes.  Then when you reheat it in the oven and it won't be dry.   Here is what you will need:

3-4 lb pork loin cut in 1" chops and then butterflied or 8-9 butterfly cut chops

1 box stuffing mix for pork  (with ingredients required for preparing)

1/2 stick butter

salt

black pepper

seasoned salt

1 cup apple juice, divided

If you are using a whole pork loin (3-4 lbs.), with a sharp knife cut it into 1" chops and then butterfly by making a pocket in each one as shown in the picture.  Don't slice all the way through.   Prepare the stuffing mix according to the package directions, adding 1/2 cup apple juice to it in addition to the water and butter required.  The stuffing needs to be a little more moist than called for due to the baking time required or it will dry out.  Melt the butter in a pie plate or pan and dip the chops in the butter, then stuff each one with about 1/4 cup of stuffing mixture.

Seal the stuffing into the chops and sprinkle each chop with salt, black pepper, and a little seasoned salt.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and arrange the chops in the pan. Pour the other 1/2 cup of apple juice around the pork chops.  You don't want much liquid at all in the pan.  Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Uncover and bake at 375 degrees for 15 more minutes just to brown the tops of the pork chops. Spoon some of the cooking juices over the tops to moisten.   These are great served with mashed potatoes or rice and can be served plain or with a little pork gravy.   Fried Apples also go great as a side with these!