Bacon Wrapped Pork Chops With Sweet Sliced Apples and Onions

Bacon Wrapped Pork Chops With Sweet Sliced Apples and Onions

 Backstory 

One of the things I’ve tried to do with this publication is to prepare a wide variety of dishes with different ingredients and cooking methods, as I started this weblog to document the process of me learning how to cook. Thus, it might seem odd that I am repeating a main protein here because I have already prepared a pork chops recipe (see Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Raisins). In fact, the pork chops recipe I had written about previously has become one of my favorites. So why fix what ain’t broke? Well, it isn’t really practical on a weeknight due to the brining process. However, on my most recent trip to the supermarket, I picked up a large quantity (about 10 chops) because they were on sale. I’ve prepared it several times since I profiled it and wanted a little variety. (I’ve also agreed to prepare it for several of my friends in the next few weeks, so I will be eating the dish again in the near future.)  

Recipe 

I obtained this recipe from Sydney of Crepes of Wrath. 

Notes 

Sydney does a great job with her photographs in her blog post to the point that I felt that I was not only duplicating the recipe, but also her photography. They were so detailed that it could substitute for a video of a cooking demonstration. 

1. Ingredients. One of the things that attracted me to this recipe was that I had all but four ingredients at home, and I found substitutions for three. I substituted margarine for butter, a red onion for the yellow or white onion, and rosemary for sage. I only had to purchase bacon. I specifically chose rosemary as a substitute after consulting my copy of The Flavor Bible under complementary flavors for pork chops. Sage was highly recommended but so was rosemary. 

Ingredients

2. Preparation Work. In Sydney’s third and fourth picture down, I noticed how she cut her apples. I recently purchased a vegetable peeler that doubles as an apple corer, so I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to use it. Overall, it was easier than I expected, but I was a little off-center. In addition, I also wrapped my pork chops diagonally with bacon, so I only needed two slices of bacon per chop. Finally, I added a little salt on both sides of each pork chop before I wrapped them in bacon after my experience with the Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Thighs which definitely helped bring out the flavor of the pork. 

Cored Apples

Right Before I Put The Baking Pan in the Oven

Baptism Evaluation 

Taste: 6 

Ease of Preparation: 9 

Sophistication: 5 

Bottom Line: Undecided 

If I were to use this recipe for my Baptism, I’d want to go back and re-work the seasoning of this dish. It did not taste bad, but the flavors of the apples weren’t as strong as the other pork chops recipe. 

Final Thoughts 

Despite the issues I had with this recipe, it did accomplish its goal: It made for a better weeknight meal, as the preparation work was minimal and it wasn’t labor intensive at all. In putting all the ingredients in one dish, clean-up was also easy. It was definitely a different variation of the pork chops and apple sauce pairing. Also, this dish was probably judged unfairly, as I was constantly comparing it to the other pork chops recipe. Ultimately, my wife enjoyed the dinner and she happily took the leftovers for lunch the next day. After all, isn’t pleasing the Mrs. what it’s all about? 

Enjoy!