I’m trying to break out of my beef-chicken treadmill. Love both beef & chicken but I need to cook something else at times. So when I saw a beautiful boneless loin of pork at Smith’s supermarket I bought it.
The first thing I did was to brine the loin for one day. The brine had water, salt, sugar, cloves and oranges in it. And I submerged the loin and refrigerated it. This will ensure that the pork loin stays moist—no matter what I subject it to.
The next day I pulled the pork, and butterflied it.
I pounded it between two sheets of plastic wrap to thin it out a little and seasoned both sides.
Fruit and pork go well together so I made a stuffing of dried apricots, garlic, fresh apple, onion, parsley and Parmesan. This got spooned down the center of the loin and I rolled the loin around the stuffing and tied it with kitchen twine.
To give it color and caramelize it, I pan-fried it briefly.
Browning before the grill
Then it was grilled for about 20 minutes and just rested for 20 minutes before slicing.
Salad w/ Orange Vinaigrette
I had some left over Christmas Day salad dressing which had orange juice as one of the flavors so I used that on my salad.
A pan of macaroni & cheese that I made for dinner had a topping of fresh minced herbs and toasted breadcrumbs and this baked in the oven for 30 minutes while I was setting the table and slicing the pork.
Macaroni & Cheese Casserole
I had some of the Mount Nelson 2008 Sauvignon Blanc left from the “After Christmas Dover Sole” dinner, so that’s what we drank. Not a perfect match but….
The Pork was crusty/salty on the outside and sweet with the fruit filling on the inside. Went beautifully with the mac & cheese and salad.
The finished plate
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