Apple-stuffed Lamb Chops

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 3 cups apple wood chips
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon onion salt or 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
• 1/4 lb bulk italian lamb sausage or 1/4 lb bulk turkey sausage
• 1 apple, cored and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup cornbread stuffing mix
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley
• 1 -2 tablespoon apple juice
• 4 lamb loin chops, cut 1-1/2 inches thick (about 3 lb. total)
• apple butter
• grilled sliced apple (optional)

Recipe

• 1 at least 1 hour before cooking, soak wood chips in enough water to cover. drain.
• 2 for the rub, stir together the black pepper; onion or garlic salt; cloves; and, if desired, red pepper.
• 3 for stuffing, in a saucepan cook the sausage, apple, and onion for 5 minutes or until sausage is cooked through. drain fat. stir in stuffing mix and parsley; add enough of the apple juice to moisten. remove from heat; set aside until cool.
• 4 trim fat from chops.
• 5 cut a pocket in each chop by cutting a slit in the meat and working the knife inside to cut almost to bone, keeping original slit small. spoon stuffing into pockets.
• 6 if necessary, secure with wooden toothpicks. sprinkle the rub evenly over both sides of the lamb chops; rub into meat.
• 7 drain wood chips. prepare grill for indirect grilling; test for medium heat above the drip pan.
• 8 place chops on the lightly oiled grill rack directly over the drip pan.
• 9 cover and grill chops for 35 to 40 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center reads 165 degree f, turning chops once.
• 10 add more wood chips every 15 minutes. brush with apple butter every few minutes during last half of grilling.
• 11 if using wooden toothpicks, remove them before serving. serve with grilled sliced apples, if desired.
• 12 test kitchen tip: make a double portion of the stuffing mixture and spoon the extra into an ovenproof baking dish lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. cover and bake in a preheated 350 degree f oven for 45 minutes. pass hot stuffing with lamb chops.
• 13 nutritional facts per serving.
• 14 calories: 448, total fat: 17g, saturated fat: 6g, cholesterol: 125mg, sodium: 366mg, carbohydrate: 21g, fiber: 2g, protein: 48g, vitamin c: 9%.