This Wednesday is girls night, and I have successfully avoided hosting, until now. The reason? Because I have to “bring it,” so to speak, when it comes to the food. There is no way that the Market Director of Dishing can feed a group of gals on anything less than perfection.
So, I’m going to share the recipe I will be making for my dearest of girlfriends. Why did I chose this recipe? Simple. This was an Ask For It in our most recent summer magazine for Savoury Kitchen’s stuffed pork loin. And, my friend Patti beat me to the punch by offering to make a fresh peach cobbler for dessert. Peach and pork pair oh-so-well together. A little tip: I’m also making a watermelon and feta cheese salad with watercress and mint. Most likely, you will see some photos to follow.
Cheers and happy cooking!
Ingredients
- For the pork:
- 1, 3- to 4-pound pork loin
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- Salt and pepper to taste
- For the brine:
- 2 quarts water
- 1 pint apple cider
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup salt
- For the chutney:
- 1/4 yellow onion
- 1 cup small diced apple
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup dried apricot
- 1 cup golden raisin
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- To make the brine, heat water to a boil and stir in the rest of the ingredients.
- Cool liquid, then soak pork loin in prepared brine for 18-24 hours.
- To make the chutney, sweat onion in a bit of canola oil in a medium-hot pan until translucent.
- Add apples and lightly coat with the sugar. Cook another 2-3 minutes.
- Add apricot, raisin, cider vinegar, salt and water. Simmer until thick.
- To prepare pork loin, remove from brine and pat dry. Using a chef’s knife, butterfly the loin.
- Once the loin is butterflied, lay plastic wrap over the loin and use a meat mallet to pound the meat to an approximate thickness of 3/4 inch. Place approximately 3/4 cup of prepared chutney evenly on the pork loin.
- Roll the pork loin and truss, using butcher’s twine (you can use skewers to close off the loin once rolled as well) to keep securely closed. Coat the pork loin in salt and pepper to your liking.
- Sear all sides of the loin in a hot sauté pan with canola oil.
- Once pork loin is seared, brush on the pure Vermont maple syrup and place in 375 F oven.
- Cook for 30-40 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 F.
- Let rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
