Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Honey Glazed Pork Chops

At my girls wine and cheese party a couple of weeks back I stumbled upon my new favorite cheese, Stilton Apricot.  I drizzled little bites of this amazing cheese with honey and paired it with chopped dates for the perfect bite!

After that night, I knew I had to do something with this amazing combination of ingredients. The simple thing to do would be to fill the dates with the cheese, wrap them in bacon and drizzle them with honey, very similar to the Bacon Wrapped Dates I prepare on a regular basis.  But that was too easy.

I knew I wanted to incorporate bacon into the ingredient list and what goes better with pork than… more pork.  That was when I decided to glaze pork chops with honey, then stuff them with the delicious mixture of Stilton Apricot cheese, chopped dates and bacon.

The result was a completely amazing lunch for me and my friend Ruby!

Ingredients

• 2 pork chops
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped dates
• 4 slices bacon (fried until crisp and chopped)
• 1/4 cup Stilton apricot cheese

In a small bowl, combine the honey, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar.

Cover the pork chops in the salt, black pepper and mustard powder on all sides.

Preheat a cast iron skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the seasoned pork chops to the skillet and sear on each side for 2 minutes.

Brush half of the honey balsamic brown sugar mixture on the pork chops, then transfer them to a preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes in the oven, remove, flip the pork chops and baste with the rest of the honey glaze.

While the pork chops are in the oven, prepare the stuffing mixture in a small bowl by combining the dates, bacon and cheese. I also drizzled an additional teaspoon of honey into the mix to help bind the ingredients and for a little extra honey flavor.

Once the pork chops have been basted with the honey glaze on both sides and cooked for 15 minutes each, remove them from the oven and place on a cutting a board.

Allow them to cool enough to handle or use a pair of tongs to hold the pork chop in place while slicing through the center to stuff. Slice the pork chop through the middle while keeping the edges in tact..

Stuff with the bacon, cheese mixture.

Place the pork chops back into the cast iron skillet and into the oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is slightly melted.

Remove the pork chops from the skillet. Heat the honey glaze in the bottom of the skillet on the stove top over high heat to reduce.

Once the glaze comes to a boil and reduces by half, brush the mixture on top of the pork chops and serve.

These were the most juicy and flavorful pork chops I’ve ever eaten and made for a perfect lunch paired with sautéed kale and fresh lemonade!

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