Entree - s'il vous plait

Allrightie, here is the follow up to last week's soup/sal choices for your enter Fall menu


Today we have Pork Chops (sorry, no apple sauce)... but instead they are stuffed with a lovely Cranberry Apple mixture


"These savory pork chops are stuffed with a sumptuous apple-cranberry mixture and served with an apple reduction glaze. They are excellent served with rosemary potatoes and tender whole green beans."

Prep Time: 45 Min

Cook Time: 45 Min

Ready In: 1 Hr 30 Min

Ingredients (serves 5)

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/8 yellow onion, minced
• 1 Granny Smith apple - peeled, cored and diced
• 2 stalks celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 5 (1 inch thick) boneless pork chops
• 1 cup apple juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a Dutch oven, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Cook onion in butter until the onions are very soft and begin to brown. Remove from heat. Stir in apple, celery, and dried cranberries. Season with salt.
3. Lay each chop flat on cutting board, and with a sharp knife held parallel to the board, cut a pocket into the pork, leaving three sides intact. Stuff each chop with apple-cranberry mixture.
4. Melt remaining butter in the Dutch oven over medium heat. Pan-fry chops in butter for two minutes on each side. Cover, and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
5. Transfer chops from pan to a plate, and cover with foil. Place the Dutch oven back on the stovetop over medium heat. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together apple juice, cornstarch, and brown sugar; pour into Dutch oven. Reduce liquid volume by half, stirring frequently. Season to taste with black pepper. Serve this apple glaze over pork chops.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 314 | Total Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 73mg
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To be honest i intended to go with a hearty risotto but this looked just too good to pass up 

Eggplant Stacks with Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Threads on a Bed of Arugula

Serves 4

1 large purple globe eggplant, about 1 pound, cut crosswise into thick slices
3 Tablespoons Tuscan extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
kosher or sea salt
2 large balls, 8 ounces total, fresh mozzarella cheese each cut into 4 slices
6 large fresh basil leaves, stacked, rolled like a cigar and cut crosswise into fine threads
freshly ground pepper

Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill on medium-high.

Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on a large, rimmed baking sheet and brush the slices on both sides with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.

Oil the grill grate. Arrange the eggplant directly over the medium-hot fire, cover, and grill until dark brown frill mark appear, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn, re-cover, and grill until dark grill marks appear, about 2 minutes longer. Place a slice of mozzarella on top of each eggplant slice, re-cover and grill until the eggplant is tender when pierced with a knife and the cheese is hot and melted, about 3 minutes longer.

To serve, place one-fourth of the arugula in the center of each warmed dinner plate. Top with 2 eggplant slices, overlapping them slightly. Scatter the basil threads over the top. Drizzle about tablespoon olive oil over the top of each serving and garnish with pepper. Serve immediately.