Pecan Maple Pork Chops

I am finally back in the swing of things in the kitchen after a looooooooonnnnngggggg time away.  I'm finally back to enjoying cooking, which I was afraid might never happen again.  I'm pretty happy about that and I think Steve is too (although Caleb is having a rough time adjusting to not eating raisins, nuts, yogurt, fruit and peanut butter sandwiches I think! He didn't seem to mind that menu a whole lot).

I even ventured making a new recipe the other night and we really enjoyed it so I thought I would share. That and I have a tendency to forget my recipes so if I type it up, I'll have it for safe keeping.  I know several readers have mentioned they like when I post recipes (and if I'm honest, I stalk all ya'lls blogs and facebook pages too - to see what's on your dinner table.  I love seeing what other people are cooking)!

I found my inspiration for this recipe from here.

I hope you enjoy!

- Remove 4 Pork chops (I found some *kind of* pork chops at Costco that I used...they sadly didn't have a bone)

- Fill a shallow dish with several Tablespoons real maple syrup (I mixed some honey in as well to make it go further because real maple syrup is really expensive here and a special treat).  Add a little bit of juice from an orange and a little bit of all spice and cinnamon.

- Take about 2 cups of pecans and finely chop them (I did 1.5 cups in the blender super fine and then hand chopped half a cup a little chunkier).  Add with some salt and pepper into a second shallow dish.

- Add several tablespoons ghee (or you could use oil or butter if you wanted) to a pan and start heating it on low

- Dredge the pork chops in the maple syrup mixture and then in the pecan mixture (as if you were breading chicken).  And add to the pan, turning up the heat to medium.

- Chop up an apple into small pieces (I left the skin on and used a green apple but use whatever you want!)

- Flip the pork chops over and add the apples around them, let cook.

- Drizzle the left over maple mixture over everything and if you have any left over pecans, you can pile them on top of your pork chops.

- If it gets dry, add a little more ghee or a little more orange juice or both

- Cook until done, turn as needed.

We really, really enjoyed these.  Maybe it was just because we haven't eaten many good meals in a while but I hope you enjoy as well!