Niman Ranch, Rosemary Sausage Stuffed Pork Chops with Sweet Potato Hash

I'm home visiting my father for the weekend after having to come home to do somethings. I always enjoy being able to visit my father's house, for the obvious reasons of seeing my father, but he also has a gigantic kitchen, compared to my studio size kitchen. I also get to watch quite a bit of television as well, but that's for another blog.

Although the grocery stores here have nothing on the ones in Boston, I still have a few places I can get some decent ingredients. Last night I made pot roast with a chuck roast, while tonight I made a stuffed boneless pork chop dish with a sweet potato hash. I figured I would share the recipe for the latter dish with all of you.

I had ordered some pork products from Niman Ranch, which arrived when I got to my dad's house. So these ingredients just made the dish that much better. The ingredients I used from them are linked below in the ingredient list. Niman Ranch's products can be a bit expensive, but WELL worth the prices for not only flavor, but the pride they take in taking care of their animals. Many farmers claim free-range and talk about humane animal raising, but as I have said in past posts, there is a reason why I don't eat a whole lot of meat, because of the horrible conditions most animals that are raised for food exist in during most of their lives. If you are going to partake in the consumption of other animals, you should at least do it in a respectful manner whenver you can.

Sadly, there is no picture as ummm we ate all of the pork chops already and forgot to take pictures...

Rosemary Sausage Stuffed Boneless Pork Chops
Serves Four

Ingredients:
4 boneless pork chops (Niman Ranch, 1 1/2" thick cut)
1 lb. ground pork (Niman Ranch, 80% lean)
1 tablespoon rosemary, minced
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 teaspoon thyme, minced
4 slices bacon ( Niman Ranch, dry cured, Applewood smoked)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper as needed

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut a pocket in each pork chop from the non fat-capped side of the chop.
3. In a medium bowl, mix ground pork, rosemary, Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.
4. Stuff sausage mixture into pork chops, leaving enough room for the pocket to close.
5. Wrap bacon around the edge of pork chop and fasten in place with a tooth pick. Season each side off pork chop with minced thyme, salt, and pepper.
6. Heat a heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to pan, then pan-sear each side of pork chops until they are browned well. Place pork chops in a roasting pan and place into oven for 40-50 minutes, or until cooked through.
7. Remove pork chops from oven, allow to rest for 6-8 minutes, remove toothpick and serve on top of sweet potato hash (recipe below)

Sweet Potato Hash

Ingredients:

6 slices bacon, diced medium (Niman Ranch, dry cured, Applewood smoked)
2 large, yellow onions, large dice
8 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
2 large, sweet potatoes, peeled, large dice
4 medium, red skin potatoes, peeled, large dice
1 tablespoons, minced rosemary
1 tablespoon, peppercorns, cracked
salt as needed
1 cup chicken stock

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add bacon to pan and saute until crispy. Add onions to pan and saute until soft and then add garlic and saute until golden brown. Add both types of potatoes, along with rosemary, cracked peppercorns and season with salt. Toss to coat throughly and saute for 8-10 minutes. Add stock to pan and cover, simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Pour hash out onto a sheet tray or into a roasting pan and place into oven for 15 minutes.
4. Remove pan from oven and serve.