Do I mind? Hell NO!

When pork loin is concerned, I only know one preparation and that is to braise it and serve it with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, vegetables and crusty bread.

If you would like the recipe, click on the photo

When I knew a certain recipe yields a tasty dish, I will use it over and over again. Go ahead and roll your eyes and shake your heads. Yes, I have to break out of my comfort zone in order to learn more new recipes and try to improve my cooking and baking skill further. However, we all have a comfort zone where everything feels safe and familiar but it is when we are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable that we learn new things. Please correct me if I am wrong.

One evening recently my Quay Lo saw me taking a piece of pork loin out of the freezer to thaw. He asked me what I was going to do with it? I said, "Braised lor." He smiled and said to me, “Honey, how about making something different with the it tonight instead of braising?" (Do you think this is a polite way of saying, I am tired of the same old dish? LOL!).  He continued to ask, "Do you mind I prepare it in a different way?” Mind? Hell, NO!  So, this is what he did with the pork loin. OH MY!!  he stuffed the pork loin with aromatic stuffings made from scratch and roasted it. When it was in the roasting, the whole house was filled with fragrance of spices. I knew we were going to have a succulent piece of meat that is flavorful and delicious and I was right. There was an awful lot more work involved by comparison but it was all worth it. Of course it was. That is because I did not do any work, my Quay Lo did! I did not even need to wash dishes. What a treat!  Have I made it sound exciting enough for you to be eagle to want to try his recipe? There you go!

Stuffed pork loin with country stuffing

A recipe from my Quay Lo

Ingredients:

1 (1 pound) pork tenderloin

3/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped carrots

½ apple, cored and chopped

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

2 cups soft bread crumbs

4 – 5 cloves chopped garlic

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage

1  tbs chopped fresh rosemary

1 tbs chopped fresh thyme

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

Method:

Trim off the fats and the skin if you have one like mine. I suggest you buy those without the skin and fat.  Make a lengthwise slit about 3/4 of the way through tenderloin; open tenderloin so it lies flat. Flatten to 1/4-in. thickness; set aside. Melt butter in pan, saute onion and carrots until tender. Add bread crumbs and saute until they are golden brown. Remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley, sage, rosemary, salt, pepper and enough egg to moisten the ingredients. Spread stuffing on one long side of tenderloin to within 1 in. from the edges. Close meat and tie with kitchen string. Place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 180C or 350F for 50-60 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 72C or160F. Let stand for 5 minutes. Slice and serve with mash potatoes, and your favorite green vegetables, gravy and crusty bread. 

Here is the link to how to slice the pork loin to prepare for stuffing. Have some baking string handy for retying the pork roast after it is stuffed and re-rolled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eCpL6cj7Rw&feature=relmfu

Link to show you how to tie the stuffed pork loin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0TpBA7BybM&feature=relmfu

Note: You will have stuffing leftovers. Keep it and make another one later because I know you would.

Pork loin roast with Crackling - Co-star Christmas dish

This would be an artistic and delicous roast to set on the dinner table on Christmas day. To enjoy this dish, I suggest you forget all about how sinful this is. (I can do that, can you?) Just enjoy this alluring, luscious piece of roast pork loin like there is no tomorrow and have a Merry, and full, Christmas!

Serving: 4

Ingredients:

1 piece 500gm pork loin with skin

2 cups water

(A)

1 stalk celery, cut into 1 inch pc.

1 medium onion quartered

(B)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs chopped rosemary

1 tbs chopped thyme

1 tbs chopped garlic

1 tsp minced young ginger

¼ onion from quartered onion (retain the balance for another step)

Ingredients for the gravy:

Drippings and cooked vegetables in the pan

1 cup full cream milk

1 cup whip cream

1 tbs dry white wine

½ cube bullion chicken stock

¼ tsp ground black pepper

Method:

To get the crackling just right, this is what you need to do:

First, prepare a deep roasting pan and add (A) in and spread them out in the pan. Add 1 cup of water and set aside. Score the skin crosswise at about 5mm intervals. Rub items from (B) into the pork loin. Make sure some of the rub gets into the cracks of the skin. Place the pork on a rack and place the rack into the roasting pan. Put them in the oven at a very high temperature, 220 degrees C (420 degrees F) for the first 30 minutes to ‘crackle’ the skin. After that turn the oven down to about 175 degrees C or 350 degree F for the remainder of the cooking time, (about 25 to 30 mins. but keep your meat thermometer handy). Baste with liquid in the pan every 10 mins. Keep an eye on it as you don’t want to burn the skin – if it blackens in patches lay a sheet of aluminum foil, shiny side out, across the top of the roast. When the pork is cooked, (thermometer should read 70C / 158F) remove it from the oven. Use a sharp knife to carefully separate and lift the crackling and return it to the oven on a rack at 175 degree C (350 degree F) for around 15 minutes. While you do this, wrap the pork in foil, shiny side in, and leave it to rest as you would any other roasted meat. While the pork is resting and the crackling is getting its extra ‘crackle’, you can make the gravy.

Method to prepare the gravy:

Transfer the drippings and cooked vegetables from the roasting pan into the sauce pan. Add milk and bring to boil, add chicken bullion cube and white wine and turn heat to low. Let it simmer for 1 min and add whip cream. Simmer for another 1 min and transfer gravy to gravy boat to serve with the roasted meat and the crackling.