Culinary Disasters

Hi my name is Jeff and I am addicted to pork.  I have no clue where my addiction comes from and why I have a desire to try to incorporate pork into everything I do (yes folks consider yourself warned bacon ice cream will be on the menu after Christmas if Santa is good to me).  Speaking of Santa this dish made me realize how small a 12 inch skillet really is.  I had to actually chop 3 inches off of the loin to get it to actually fit into the skillet so uhh..Santa if you are listening bigger skillet please.  Anyways, where I was at….oh yeah love of pork. 

So thanks to a suggestion pork loin sounded good tonight so off to the store I go.  Ok first off living in the midwest means yep had to shovel snow so break my back for an hour and get the driveway cleaned and off I go.  The concept was going to be something similar to the chicken stuffed with prosciutto and blue chese but instead salami sounded and looked good and oh yeah I spy some fontina and gruyere cheese.  I still kept the spinach since it is important to eat your greens daily (I really should delete the healthy category because it never gets used).

For this dish you are going to need:

• 1 pork roast (I believe I used the blade end roast but well I already threw the butcher paper away and don’t know so if anyone knows what cut it is please let me know so I can update this).
• 10 thin slices of salami
• 6 slices of prosciutto
• 1 bunch of spinach
• 1 onion diced fine
• 3 cloves of garlic diced fine
• 1/2 cup of grated gruyere cheese
• 1/2 cup of grated fontina cheese
• 1/2 cup of grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (p.s. when I say grated I mean you get the grater out and do it none of these Sandra Lee shortcuts of buying pre-grated cheese that looks and tastes like crap and has god knows what in it).
• Leaves from 4 spring of thyme
• TB of oregeno diced
• TB of unsalted butter
• TB of extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and pepper (I really should quit mentioning salt, pepper, and butter because they should be in every dish)
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1/2 cup of chicken stock

First things first preheat the oven to a good 275 degrees.  While we are waiting time to have some fun (if you like to listen to music make sure to put a long CD on nothing worse than running out of music while trying to tie a pork). 

Bring a pot of water to a boil with a good hefty pinch of salt in it.  Next to the pot set a bowl with some cold water and ice cubes in it.  Once the pot is at a boil add in a handful of the spinach.  Cook for 30 seconds, remove, and place in the ice bowl.  Repeat this process till all the spinach is done.

Drain the spinach and get as much water out of it as possible (squeeze, paper towels, or whatever trick you may have).  Chop and place in a bowl to rest. 

In a medium skillet over medium heat use a tb of the oil and cook the onions till softened (about 5 minutes).  Add in the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add this mixture to the bowl with the spinach.

Dump in the cheeses, thyme leaves, and oregeno into the spinach-onion bowl.  Stir to combine everything.

Now time to turn your attention to the pork.  Butterfly the pork (basically cut it so it lays flat).

Salt and pepper the inside and layer the salami.

Layer on the prosciutto

Layer on the stuffing.

Roll the loin back up and using butcher’s twine tie the loin together. 

Once the loin is tied in the largest skillet you can find over medium heat melt the TB of butter.  Add in the loin and brown over all sides (about 5 minutes a side).  Do not sweat if some of the stuffing comes out we will not forget about it. 

Once it is browned place in the oven and cook till a thermometer reads 140-145 degrees (repeat after me I will not cook pork to rubber and pink pork will not kill me).  Once it is done remove it from the oven and set the loin on a cutting board or pan to rest.

Dump the fat out of the skillet and over high heat add in the 1/2 cup of wine.  Scrape the bottom to free up any stuck bits.  Let it reduce by 1/2 (about 3 minutes).

Add in the chicken stock and cook till reduced by 1/3 (a couple of minutes).

Slice the pork loin and serve with the sauce drizzled over top (I poured mine over the mashed potatoes with the solids from the pan that fell out while cooking mixed in).

 

 p.s. if your skillet is to small you maybe force to cut some of the loin off. 

Tags: pork, All //