German Pork Chops

I can honestly thank Chef Robert Irvine for inspiring this delicious recipe that I have made numerous times. I adore this man! He is actually in the top 5 of my Food Network chefs and very near the top! I love his show Restaurant Impossible. In fact, I love it so much that it has earned a spot on my automatically record for my DVR. Believe it or not, very few shows have that privilege. On one of his shows, he was working with a restaurant that used frozen pork chops and boxed mashed potatoes which were then topped with a very disgusting powder based gravy. While speaking with the owner of the restaurant, he mentioned 3 ingredients that the owner could partner with the pork chops which were apples, onions and bacon. A little light went off in my head and this recipe was the result. Partner this with commercially prepared spaetzle. I have tried homemade spaetzle but felt the noodles/dumplings were too tiny to support the strong flavors of this dish.  I prepare my own Paula Deen's House Seasoning (Revamped) utilizing 1/2 cup salt; 1/4 cup COARSE pepper and 1/4 cup garlic powder. This is a staple in my kitchen.

So, here we go!:

Ingredients:

6 Thin Cut Pork Chops
1 cup flour
1 Tablespoon Paula Deen House Seasoning, revamped (recipe in notes section)
4 red apples (preferably a Gala or Macintosh) peeled, cored and chopped in large chunks
1/2 pound bacon cut into approximately 1 inch chunks
1 large onion chopped
1/2 T. rosemary
1/2 T. thyme
1 cup white wine, optional
1 bag spaetzle
1/2 stick butter

Directions:

1) Place flour and PDHS in a large Ziploc bag and shake pork chops. Place on cooking rack and allow coating to "dry" for a few minutes.
2) Preheat ELECTRIC SKILLET to 350 degrees and liberally spray with non stick cooking spray
3) Cook pork chops in skillet until browned and cooked thoroughly.
4) Remove to plate and keep warm in a 170 degree oven.
5) Next comes making the compote, liberally spray skillet again and add bacon, onion and apples. Utilizing skillet safe utensils, stir ingredients making sure to include get the pork chop drippings incorporated. Allow this to cook down until bacon and apples are cooked. Add rosemary and thyme. Add wine if desired. Allow flavors to blend and the wine to cook out.
6) While cooking the topping, cook spaetzle according to package directions. Drain, add butter, cover and set aside.
7) Presentation should be a layer of spaetzle, layer of compote and then place the pork chops to the side.