January 2021

Dried Fruit Stuffed Pork Loin Paired With Great Frogs Vintners Red 2018

For many years braised pork chops with apples and raisins have been a mouthwatering favorite. This a spin off, which is much easier to prepare for a family gathering or group of friends than the pork chop version. The dried fruits chosen make a lovely compliment to pork. For this recipe I added a spoonful or two of cranberry blood-orange bourbon jam, this was a delicious addition, although you could just pour in a spoonful or two of bourbon. The work is in the simmering of the dried fruit, which is not long, and getting into the center of the pork loin, other than that, its the cooking time of the pork, that it!

Dried Fruit Stuffing

1/4 lb dried apricots (a handful)

1/4 lb dried figs (a handful)

1/3 cup golden raisins

1 apple peeled, cored and chopped

1-1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp dried sage or 4-5 fresh sage leaves

2 Tbsps butter

1 tsp ground ginger

3 garlic cloves

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, simmer until fruit is reconstituted and liquid is reduced by half, 20-25 min. Transfer the fruit mixture to a blender, blend until pureed. Mixture should be thick and smooth. Set aside.

Pork Loin

3-5 lb Pork Loin

1 tsp dried sage or 1 Tbsp fresh, chopped

1 tsp dried Rosemary or 1/2 Tbsp fresh, chopped

1 tsp dried parsley

Salt & Peper

olive oil

Mix herbs, olive oil together with salt and pepper in small dish. set aside.

Rinse Pork Loin, pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

There are several ways to do this, 1- make a tunnel in the middle of the loin with a sharpening rod and widen with your fingers. Next squeeze fruit puree into tunnel using a pastry bag. OR 2- Slice pork 1/2 way down the center lengthwise then lay flat (basically butterfly it so the bottom 1/2 of the loin is still attached & intact). Next spread puree over top of meat. fold back together and secure with toothpicks or skewers. I found the second option to be quicker and less troublesome. You may have extra fruit puree, in that case you may want to save it & blend with meat juices for a yummy gravy!

Rub oil and herb mixture onto the outside of the pork loin.

Place into baking dish, Bake @ 375 oven for 35 min to 1 hour, (meat thermometer should read 160 degrees depending on how many pounds pork loin is. Transfer Pork to cutting board; let rest 10 minutes to seal in juices. Slice as desired. Serve with juices or mix remaining puree with juices for a delicious gravy.

Mashed potatoes are an obvious companion or to mix it up, consider adding a bit of squash in the mash, this is a colorful and easy option. Sprinkle with chopped Micro-greens for a nutritious garnish.

Serve with Great Frogs Vintners Red, 2018 vintage. If you have thought ahead and ordered the newly bottled 2019 Cold Blooded, this is a terrifc alternative. One cannot go wrong with the wine selection available from Great Frogs. They work diligently to bring you hand crafted wines that you can fall in love with!