Stuffed Pork Chops

I'm a little upset this week as the lovely meal I prepared for this post was eaten before I could get a final product picture. I guess I should be glad that it went over so well with everyone at home. Typically, when I make a savory meal featuring fruit and sweet spices, everyone in the house turns into fast food ninjas that aren't hungry at dinner time. I'm super happy with how well this recipe went down. And, lucky for me, I did get in a nice in the oven shot for this weeks blog post.

I've always had a thing for North African cuisine, especially Maghreb cuisine. I love the use of fruit outside of desserts, and the spice combinations are endless. (Fun Fact: North Africa played a substantial role in the early spice trade and greatly influenced as well as borrowed from French and Spanish cuisine.) It's something that caught my imagination when I first read and article in Saveur about its explosion on the Paris food scene. For those sticklers (like myself) out there, I know that most dishes in Morocco, Algiers, and Tunisia don't really involve stuffing meats but rather pastries. That's why this dish is inspired by Maghreb flavor combinations and not necessarily cooking styles.