Dinner in Alcatraz: Mrs. Delmore’s Stuffed Pork Chops
Dinner in Alcatraz, from the top: Mrs. Kaeppel’s Cucumber Salad, Mrs. Langley’s Quickie Apple Pie, and Mrs. Delmore’s Stuffed Pork Chops
City/Region: Alcatraz Island, United States of America
Time Period: 1952
It turns out that Alcatraz, one of the toughest and most notorious prisons in the world, had some pretty good food. Good enough that it was also served to the guards. But it wasn’t about wining and dining the inmates, but rather because quality food lowered the chances of riots and troublemaking. One of the most coveted jobs in the prison for inmates was to work in the kitchens where they made things like these stuffed pork chops.
The pork chop part of this dish is very simple, with a stuffing is quite like Thanksgiving stuffing. The original recipe says to cook the chops for an hour, which is far too long. I only cooked mine for 30 to 35 minutes and even that was too long. All hail the modern oven!
“Four servings
4 pork chops, 1” thick
Cut pocket in chops and fill with a mixture of 1/2 cup chopped apple, and 1 teaspoon minced onion. Season with salt, pepper, and sage. Fasten with picks. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) about 1 hour.”
Ingredients:
- 4-6 pork chops, at least 1” thick
- 1/2 cup (56 g) dried breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup (65 g) finely chopped apple
- 1 teaspoon minced onion
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.
- Carefully cut a pocket into each pork chop, not quite slicing it all the way through.
- Mix the breadcrumbs, apple, onions, sage, salt, and pepper, then stuff the mixture into the pork chop pockets. Fasten the pork chops closed with toothpicks, then place them on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve them forth with Mrs. Kaeppel’s Cucumber Salad, Mrs. Langley’s Quickie Apple Pie, coffee, and bread.