Pork chop recipe

I made this awesome pork chop recipe the other night. The original is at All Recipes. This includes my substitutions and tweaks.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large, maple grilling plank (only if grilling)
  
• 4 (6 ounce) boneless pork loin chops, about 2 inches thick (or thin ones.)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 cups fresh spinach leaves (or 1 c frozen)
  
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth (you may have extra)
  
• 2 cups garlic seasoned croutons (or 4 slices bread, toasted with garlic powder. I used 2 slices pumpernickel and 2 whole wheat, because that's what we had. Could use stuffing mix as well)
  
• 1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (or mozzarella)
  
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped (I used dried)
  
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat outdoor grill for medium-high heat. Prepare a maple grilling plank by soaking in water according to manufacturer's directions.If you are baking, which is what I did, preheat oven to 350 degrees. While it's preheating, cut the bread slices into cubes and throw them in to toast.
   
2. Place the pork chops on a clean, flat surface, and cut from one side through the middle to within one-half inch of the other side. Open the two sides and spread them out like an open book. Season inside and out with salt, pepper, and rosemary or other seasoning of your choice. Set aside until needed. (Next time I do this, I will probably not stuff the chops. I don't normally buy thick cut chops anyway. I would use thin ones, or cut the thick ones in half.)
   
3. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion, garlic, and celery; cook and stir until the onion is soft and transparent, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach, and cook until wilted (or defrosted), 3 to 5 minutes. Add the croutons (or dried bread product of your choice). If using bread, I would add some seasoning like poultry seasoning to give it some more flavor. Slowly, pour in the chicken broth, about 1/3 of a can at a time. Only use as much as you need to moisten the stuffing. Stir until croutons absorb the broth. Remove from heat, and stir in the Italian cheese blend and the Parmesan cheese.
   
4. Spoon the vegetable-cheese mixture into the pockets of each pork chop. Close one side of the pork chop over the filling. Can use toothpicks to secure. If using thin ones, just put the stuffing on top of the pork, about 1 inch thick. (Or less I guess. I like stuffing.)
5. Place pork chops on the prepared grilling plank. Sprinkle with fresh rosemary, and season with salt and pepper to taste. If baking, put them in your preferred roasting dish. You can pour some of the extra chicken broth in the pan as well.
   
6. Cover and grill, turning once, until pork chops are no longer pink in the center and juices run clear, about 30 minutes.Or bake at 350 degrees, 30-40 minutes, until done.
7. You have extra stuffing you say??? EXCELLENT!! I put mine in my little silicone muffin cups and baked them with the pork until hot. If you don't have silicone cups, just put it in a muffin tin or other baking dish.
   

This sure was a tasty meal. It warmed up nicely too as a leftover. We served it with twice baked potatoes. But a baked or mashed potato option would be good too. There is quite a bit of juice in the pan when you are done cooking the pork (I cooked without added chicken broth) so you could make a gravy if you are talented like that. I am not. You could probably also use this stuffing for poultry, or a pork tenderloin, or just as stuffing for Thanksgiving. It is really tasty. (Much better than that crap we made for Thanksgiving last year. Blech.)