"Did you slaughter an entire pig?"

As promised, here is the recipe for Maple-Glazed Pork Chops with Sweet Potato-Bacon Hash that I made last night. And yes, it is all cooked in bacon grease, hence my friend Lauren's comment in the title of the post. Completely terrible for you, but oh so delicious.

Maple-Glazed Pork Chops with Sweet Potato-Bacon Hash
from America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers (this was something I bought last December - it wasn't really a magazine, just a set of 96 full-color tear-out cards with a bunch of winter recipes)

Serves 4

1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 large), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
6 slices bacon, chopped fine
4 bone-in rib pork chops, about 1 inch thick (see notes below)
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1. Place potatoes in large bowl and microwave, covered, until tender, 4 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to power towel-lined plate. Pour off bacon fat, reserving 2 tablespoons.

2. Pat chops dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon reserved bacon fat in skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown chops, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plate and tent with foil.

3. Add remaining reserved bacon fat and potatoes to empty pan and cook, turning occasionally, until browned all over, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in thyme and crisp bacon. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl.

4. Add maple syrup, mustard, and vinegar to pan and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Add chops, and any accumulated juices and simmer, turning often, until glaze coats chops, about 2 minutes. Serve.

Test Kitchen Note: To keep chops from curling, slit the fat and connective tissue on the sides of each chop at 2 inch intervals.

My notes:

- I had 5 small thin-cut pork chops (they were on sale), and it wasn't quite enough meat - that is, I had plenty more glaze, and Brandon commented that with how thin the chops were and the sweetness of the sauce, a thicker chop would've worked better (I agreed). But if thin-cut chops are all you have, they're totally doable. Also, mine weren't bone-in, but I don't think that made much of a difference.

- I totally forgot to season the hash with salt and pepper, but it was still delicious. The sweetness of the sweet potatoes with the saltiness of the bacon is perfection (especially if you sop up a little of the glaze with the hash), so I'm not sure how much more seasoning I'd want to add, but I'll probably try a little bit of salt and pepper next time I make it just to see what it's like.

- Things you can do ahead of time: peel and chop the sweet potatoes, microwave the sweet potatoes (I did this a few hours before cooking and they stayed perfectly good), cook the bacon (ditto - just don't wash the skillet after you pour off the fat, because the little bits left stuck to the bottom will help season the hash).

- I crumbled the bacon with my fingers, rather than chopping it, and I don't think it made much of a difference.

Seriously, y'all, go try this NOW. Yeah, it's a heart attack on a plate, but what a way to go!

(I will probably post more of these recipes soon, because pretty much every single one has been a home run.)