Nectarine and Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops

Nectarine and Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops

 Sometimes a great idea comes from what's handy or something you pick up at the Farmer's Market.  In this case, some blue cheese crumbles, fresh corn, some fresh basil and some great local nectarines!











 Ingredient List is easy:

• Farmer John Thick Cut Boneless Pork Chops - 4 pack
• Blue Cheese Crumbles - 8oz tub
• Fresh basil - 1 bunch
• 2 Nectarines - a little under-ripe is best
• 2 Ears of corn
• Your favorite dry rub

Medium dice the nectarine.  Using a lightly under-rip nectarine will help the fruit maintain it's pieces without getting too mushy during the cooking / prep process.





Chiffon cut the fresh basil.
















 Add the basil, 1/2 of the diced nectarine, and the blue cheese.  You can add some salt and pepper if you want but the blue cheese already adds some salt and we can get some more flavor on the meat itself with the dry rub.





 Using a sharp knife, cut a pocket out in the side of the pork chop keeping the entry hole as small as possible so the stuffing doesn't leak out during the cooking process.  Take your time and make the pocket as large as possible without poking through the sides so you can maximize the amount of stuffing used.





After stuffing the chop, you can use tooth picks to help keep the hole closed if you need to.

Liberally dust both sides of the chops with your favorite dry rub.  I used Big Poppa Smokers Money Rub.  This is a great product that can be used on all kinds of meats and vegetables!  I highly recommend their products!

BPS also carries a huge selection of BBQ rubs, sauces and lots of BBQs!  I would check them out at https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com


 Put the pork chops on the smoker at 225F and smoke for about 60 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork is at 145F.

Put the corn on the hottest part of your grill - every grill has an area that is hotter than the rest - for 30 minutes.








After 30 minutes, the corn should be mostly cooked and have a nice smokey flavor.  Cut the kernels off the cob.










Now we can make a quick sauce that will add some sweetness and some crunch and another layer of flavor that accentuates the nectarine to the dish.  Add 2 tablespoons of apple juice and the remaining diced nectarine to a sauce pan over a medium heat.  When the nectarines start to break down and liquify, add in the corn.  Continue to cook for another 10 minutes over a medium heat until fruit is broken down and liquified.




I plated up the stuffed pork chop with some home made chicken and dumplings.  Too much?  I don't think so.


Let's eat!








 You can find Big Poppa Smokers at https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com/
You can find the Big Poppa Smokers Money Rub at https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com/store/rubs?manufacturer=180

Big Mista's Perfect Pork Chops!

Big Mista's Perfect Pork Chops!

Neil Strawder - aka - Big Mista is a Southern California BBQ icon.  He has been on BBQ Pitmasters, cooks demos for Fresh & Easy and runs a very successful BBQ business serving thousands of SoCal faithful from his various stops at Farmer's Markets.  He's also a top competitor in the KCBS Competition BBQ Scene and also one of my friends and hero!  Neil has a new product line of BBQ Rubs and when my shipment arrived, I rushed to the store and got some pork to try out the new Perfect Pork Rub.  Thick cut boneless chops sounded perfect.


My wife says that I can't just eat meat (not sure why yet) so I made up some vegetable hash to top off the pork chops and made some farfalline pasta as a side.









Let's start with the pork chops.   A heavy coating of Big Mista's Perfect Pork Rub on both sides.

The thin chops on the left are coated with Simply Marvelous Cherry Rub for the kids.  They tasted the Perfect Pork rub but they really love the Simply Marvelous - so they got it!




 The Perfect Pork Rub is a fairly fine ground rub with a simple ingredient list - salt, sugar, garlic, black pepper, and Spices.  It has a really nice complex flavor profile.  It starts out sweet, then a nice heat builds, and then the salt and heat mix and linger.  It coats really nice and after about 10 minutes seems to melt into the meat.




I put the chops on my Royall 3000 Pellet Grill at 250F and let 'em rip!   I love using pellet smokers because you turn it on, set the temp, put the food on, and go do something else.  The Royall is built like a tank so it can really cook efficiently.  A truly amazing unit.






Now back to the vegetable hash.  Simple ingredents that will accent the pork chop.  Red Bell Peppers, Green Onions, Chopped cashews, and apple.



Course chop the red bell pepper.  Slice the green onion, and grate the apple.  I had whole cashews so I pulsed them in a food processor a few times to get them more chopped / crushed.



 

 I had a little fun cooking up the vegetable has.  Started out with some Strawberry Boones Farm, added in a 1/4 tspn of minced garlic, 1/2 tspn of lime juice and as soon as the garlic was heated up, I started adding the vegetables.









I cooked the onions for about 5 minutes in the garlic then added in the red bell peppers and grated apple together.





After about 3 - 4 more minutes - really just enough time to get the apple and pepper warmed up, I added in the chopped cashews.  The hash was really flavorful with some sweetness from the pepper and the strawberry wine and had a nice nutty crunch from the cashews.  It went with the pork chop perfectly.





I cooked up the farfalline.  Farfalline is kind of like a mini bow tie noodle.  It mixes easily with other ingredients.   This time I added in some shaved Parmesan and then when it was plated, added a sprinkle of Italian Herb Seasoning for some color.

 I cooked the pork chops to an internal temp of 145F and let them rest for a few minutes on the counter.  I put the farfalline on the side and topped the pork chops with the vegetable hash.  It was an outstanding blend of flavors and the rub did NOT disappoint.  The sweet and the heat balanced the pork perfectly.

I recommend this dry rub for any type of pork.  Please visit Big Mista's on line store and get you some.  This product made me cook like a pro!  It will be my new go to rub whenever I'm cooking pork!

Let's eat!  Perfectly!