Chestnut Pumpkin Stuffed Pork Chop with Brandy Ginger Gravy

This comfort food recipe is great for the fall and winter season.  I've posted a few pumpkin recipes lately for fall season that have nothing to do with pumpkin pie.  Stuffed pork chops are a great American comfort dish.  The warm flavors of chestnuts and pumpkin added to the bread stuffing and the ginger brandy pork gravy are so delicious!
     Recipe:  Saute a small handful each of fine diced celery and onions in unsalted butter over medium heat.
     When the vegetables become soft, place them in a mixing bowl.
     Add stale french bread that is cut into large cube shaped pieces.  (Leave the crust on the bread.)
     Add roasted chestnuts that are cut into quarters.
     Cut a few slices of pumpkin meat into small cube shaped pieces.
     Saute the pumpkin in a little bit of unsalted butter over medium heat till it starts to become lightly caramelized.
     Add the pumpkin to the stuffing mix.
     Add sea salt, black pepper and a couple pinches of ground sage.
     Add a beaten egg.
     Add just enough chicken broth to moisten the stuffing.
     Gently toss the stuffing together.
     Slice a thick, bone in pork chop open so it butterflies against the bone.
     Open up the butterflied pork chop and place the stuffing in the middle.
     Brush a baking pan with butter.
     Set the stuffed pork chop on the pan.
     Brush the pork chop with unsalted butter.
     Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt and black pepper over the pork chop.
     Add a splash of water to the baking pan.
     Bake the stuffed pork chop in a 325 degree oven for about 30 minutes till the fats caramelize and the pork and stuffing become fully cooked.
     Brandy Ginger Gravy Recipe:  Boil some pork broth in a sauce pot.
     Add sea salt, white pepper and a generous amount of minced ginger.
     Cook a blonde roux with equal amounts of flour and unsalted butter over medium heat in a separate pan.  (Constantly stir the roux or it will burn.)
     Whisk enough roux into the pork broth to form a medium thick gravy.
     Add a generous splash of brandy.
     Simmer and stir the gravy till it is smooth and the roux is combined.
     Set the stuffed pork chop on a plate.
     Pour the ginger brandy gravy over and around the pork chop.
     Serve with peeled buttered asparagus spears.
     Garnish with parsley sprigs.
     Absolutely delicious!  All the flavors of this recipe combine to create a welcome comfort sensation.  Chestnuts are a classic stuffing ingredient that are great with the mildly sweet squash flavor of pumpkin.  The bread stuffing is moist yet far from "heavy" feeling.  The ginger brandy gravy is perfect for this recipe.  This is a classic stuffed pork chop entree!  Yum!  ....   Shawna