Tonight I felt like being a bit creative in the kitchen, but I also wanted to continue working on cleaning up the images, categories, and tags here on the blog. I decided to throw together some pork chops with a twist and they were a hit. If you try them, leave a comment on any modifications you make and how your family likes them. Be honest, as that is how I know if these are something to serve to guests or keep for our family.

Ingredients

Disclaimer: I don’t measure, which makes me awful at sharing recipes, but here’s my attempt!

• 1 package fresh Rosemary (the kind you get in the herb section; use less based upon preference)
• 3 tablespoons minched garlic (we used the Stop & Shop pre-cut kind, but you could do your own and it would probably be an entire bulb – you can change this based upon your preference)
• 3 shakes Chili Powder
• A couple shakes of salt
• 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 Pork Chops, boneless
• 2 apples, peeled and shredded
• 3 shakes cinnamon

Directions

Use a large casserole pan to make this most effective, as you can transfer it from the fridge to the over when it is done marinating.

• Cut the Rosemary into fine pieces so that it covers the bottom of the pan.
• Add the minced garlic and some of the juice if you bought the preminced kind from the store. This allows the flavor to really get inside the meat.
• Shake the Chili Powder and Salt over the mixture.
• Add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and mix until it is well blended. It should coat the bottom of the pan.
• Add the pork chops and cover them in the mixture by spooning it over the chops once in the dish. This will allow the tops and bottoms of the pork to take in the flavors of the spices.

Have the kids help with the apples, they love shredding things and if you have certain kitchen gadgets you can make it really fun and safe for them. As a note, one of the apples shown above was for the pleasure of eating it while dinner was marinating in the fridge.

• Peel and chop the applies.
• Shred the apples over the pork chops so it looks like you are making hash browns.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon over the apples and place in the fridge for 2 – 4 hours.

Set the over to 400 when ready to cook them.

Within 35 – 50 minutes they should be ready to eat, based upon thickness. I suggest setting the timer to 30 minutes so you can make your sides and check the meat temperature and whether it is done. Ours was not yet ready at 30 minutes but by the time all the sides were cooked and/or reheated, all of our meal was ready and served hot.

Results

My father doesn’t eat fruit or vegetables and he not only ate his first serving but came back for seconds! I call that a success for our family!

You can serve the chops with your choice of sides. We chose to serve it with some leftovers from Thanksgiving: Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes (see recipe in this post), Garden Veggie Mix, Stuffing, Brussel Sprouts (well done), and Acorn Squash with Chickpeas & Chimichurri (see recipe here). The kids had it with macaroni & cheese and Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits at their request.