Or, as I call it, Pork Three Ways!
Pork Tenderloin is easily one of my favorite meats to work with. It easily adapts to any flavor - sweet, spicy, savory, you name it - when you cook it properly it's melt in your mouth tender, and if you're a savvy shopper you can usually get them in packs of 4 for the cost of one steak. This time I went for sweet and salty - probably my favorite combination. If you try this, please let me know how it turns out!
Ingredient list:
Pork tenderloin
1/2 a loaf of bread (or store bought bread cubes)
2 Sausage links
Green apple
Onion
Garlic cloves
Dried Cranberries
Chicken broth
Bacon
Brown sugar
Salt
Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Poultry seasoning
Grapeseed oil
Starting with stuffing - if you are not using store bought bread cubes, preheat your oven to 325, then take half a loaf of bread and cut it into 1/2 inch cubes and arrange on a cookie sheet. Drizzle/spritz with oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, onion and garlic seasonings, poultry seasoning (optional), and italian seasonings. Put into the oven for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the bread is baked and firm.
Remove two sausage links from their casing and cook in a hot skillet until done. Remove and let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes.
Peel and grate 1 tart green apple, dice 1 onion, three garlic cloves, and set aside 1/2 a cup of dried cranberries. You can also add 1/2 a cup of chopped pecans, I didn't for this recipe but I plan to next time I make this!
Add all the ingredients to a hot skillet on medium heat with a turn or two of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper until onions are softened.
Chop the sausage into small bits and add to the onion mix.
Next, add the bread cubes to the mix and pour in a can of chicken broth, then turn the flame to low and cover with a lid.
Meanwhile, get your pork tenderloin and slice it almost in half long ways - stopping about 1/2 an inch shy of cutting through. Drizzle with a little bit of grapeseed (or your oil of choice), cover with a sheet of plastic wrap, and pound with a meat hammer until about 1/2 an inch thick. Season with a little salt and pepper. At this point you're going to check your stuffing mix - make sure that the bread cubes are moist throughout now - if they still seem crunchy add 1/2 a can more of chicken broth and stir well, replace the lid and check in five minutes. Repeat as often as necessary. Once it's ready, spoon the stuffing mix onto the pork loin.
Now roll the loin tightly and set with the seam side down. At this point, to make it easier on yourself, you can place the loin in whatever you plan to bake it in (I recommend something with a higher edge, since this will release a fair amount of juice). Mix about 1/2 a cup of brown sugar with 1/3 a cup of water and microwave (or melt in a pan on the stove, if you prefer) until it's a thin glaze consistency. Spread a small amount over the loin (the bits you see in the picture are pieces of cracked pepper).
Wrap the loin in bacon, tucking each end of bacon under the loin, then cover with the rest of the brown sugar glaze. Make sure all the bacon is covered with the glaze - make more if you need to.
(I ran out of bacon by the 2nd one, but the loin should be covered more like the bottom one looks - from end to end)
Bake in your oven at 350 until an instant read thermometer reaches 145 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer (I strongly recommend you get one!!) you can go by the rule of 20-25 minutes per lb of meat (ie. 2 lb roast - 40 - 50 minutes). Just be careful, a stuffed roast will not take as long to cook as a solid one, and will dry out faster, but you do not want undercooked pork! Remove pork from oven and cover with aluminum foil for about 15 minutes (temperature of pork should continue to rise about 10 degrees).
Then slice into medallions and serve with your choice of sides!
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
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