The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (189 page)
Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
MAKES
1¹⁄
2
CUPS, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
PAN-SEARED OVEN-ROASTED PORK TENDERLOINS
10 | dates, chopped into ¹⁄ |
¹⁄ | cup malt vinegar or apple cider vinegar |
1 | tablespoon unsalted butter |
1 | small onion, chopped fine |
2 | tablespoons water |
1 | tablespoon grated fresh ginger |
1 | garlic clove, minced |
1 | teaspoon curry powder |
1 | large ripe banana (10 ounces), peeled and cut crosswise into ¹⁄ |
¹⁄ | small jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced |
1 | tablespoon packed light brown sugar |
Salt and pepper | |
3 | tablespoons chopped fresh mint |
1.
Immediately after placing pork in oven, combine dates and vinegar in bowl and set aside. Add butter to still-hot skillet and set skillet over medium heat; when melted, stir in onion and water and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in ginger, garlic, and curry powder and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute; set aside off heat.
2.
While pork is resting, set skillet over medium heat; add date mixture, banana, jalapeño, and sugar to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until dates are tender and banana begins to break down, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in mint.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Sweet maple syrup, with its delicate flavor notes of smoke, caramel, and vanilla, makes an ideal foil for pork, and maple-glazed pork roast is a New England classic. But this dish often fall short of its savory-sweet promise; dry pork is a problem, yes, but the real issue is the glaze, which is usually either too thin or overly sweet. We found that searing the roast (tasters preferred a blade-end loin roast) first on the stovetop ensured a crisp, caramelized crust before reducing the maple syrup in the skillet used to sear the pork. Roasting the pork in that same skillet was the best way to get a beautifully glazed roast. The smaller surface area of the skillet prevented the glaze from spreading out and burning, and allowed the roast to sit right in the glaze for the entire roasting time.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Note that you should not trim the pork of its thin layer of fat. The flavor of grade B maple syrup (sometimes called “cooking maple”) is stronger and richer than grade A, but grade A syrup will work well, too. This dish is unapologetically sweet, so we recommend side dishes that take well to the sweetness. Garlicky sautéed greens, braised cabbage, and soft polenta are good choices.
¹⁄ | cup maple syrup |
¹⁄ | teaspoon ground cinnamon |
Pinch ground cloves | |
Pinch cayenne pepper | |
1 | (2¹⁄ |
³⁄ | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | teaspoon pepper |
2 | teaspoons vegetable oil |
1.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Stir maple syrup, cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne together in measuring cup or bowl; set aside. Pat roast dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper.
2.
Heat oil in 10-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking, about 3 minutes. Place roast fat side down in skillet and cook until well browned, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, rotate roast one-quarter turn and cook until well browned, about 2¹⁄
2
minutes; repeat until roast is well browned on all sides. Transfer roast to large plate. Reduce heat to medium and pour off fat from skillet; add maple syrup mixture and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds (syrup will bubble immediately). Off heat, return roast to skillet; using tongs, roll to coat roast with glaze on all sides. Place skillet in oven and roast until meat registers 140 degrees, 35 to 45 minutes, using tongs to roll and spin roast to coat with glaze twice during roasting time (skillet handle will be hot). Transfer roast to carving board; set skillet aside to cool slightly to thicken glaze, about 5 minutes. Pour glaze over roast and let rest 15 minutes longer. Snip twine off roast, cut into ¹⁄
4
-inch-thick slices, and serve.
Substitute 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary for cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne.
Add 1 tablespoon grated orange zest to maple syrup along with spices.
Add 4 star anise pods to maple syrup along with spices.
Add 2 teaspoons smoked hot paprika to maple syrup along with spices.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Roast stuffed pork loin could be an impressive centerpiece to a holiday meal, if only it didn’t suffer time and again from the same problems: meat that is tough and dry by the time the stuffing is done; stuffing with a dull flavor and poor texture; and a sloppy appearance, with stuffing oozing out the ends of the roast. To ensure that our pork loin would have moist meat and a flavorful stuffing in one cohesive package, we first brined the boneless pork roast for improved flavor and texture and then butterflied and pounded it to an even thickness, increasing the meat’s surface area to maximize the amount of stuffing we could use. For the stuffing, we used fresh bread as a base and flavored it with dried fruit, nuts, and herbs, adding eggs as a binder. Prebaking the stuffing before stuffing the roast raised the stuffing’s temperature so that we didn’t have to roast the pork until it was dry and overcooked.
See “STUFFING A BONELESS PORK LOIN” illustrations that follow recipe.
SERVES 8 TO 10
If the pork is enhanced (injected with a salt solution), do not brine in step 2. Timing is important; coordinate brining and stuffing so that the pork is out of the brine and ready to be stuffed when the precooked stuffing comes out of the oven. To achieve this, begin preparing the stuffing ingredients immediately after setting the pork in the brine. Bamboo skewers, available in supermarkets, are our favorite way to fasten the roast around the stuffing. Alternatively, use poultry lacers.
PORK AND BRINE
1 | (4¹⁄ |
³⁄ | cup sugar |
6 | tablespoons salt |
10 | garlic cloves, lightly crushed and peeled |
3 | bay leaves, crumbled |
1 | tablespoon allspice berries, lightly crushed |
1 | tablespoon whole black peppercorns, lightly crushed |
STUFFING AND GLAZE
7–8 | ounces baguette (not sourdough), torn into rough 1-inch pieces (5 cups) |
¹⁄ | cup dried apricots |
1 | garlic clove, peeled |
Pinch ground cumin | |
Pinch ground coriander | |
Pinch ground cinnamon | |
Pinch cayenne pepper | |
2 | tablespoons grated onion |
¹⁄ | cup dried figs, halved lengthwise |
¹⁄ | cup shelled pistachios, toasted and chopped coarse |
2 | tablespoons minced fresh parsley |
2 | teaspoons minced fresh thyme |
1 | teaspoon salt |
Pepper | |
2 | large eggs |
¹⁄ | cup heavy cream |
¹⁄ | cup apricot preserves |
1. FOR THE PORK AND BRINE:
Using sharp knife, slice pork open down middle, from end to end, cutting about two-thirds of way through meat. Open pork loin like book. Carefully slice along initial cut just until pork lays flat, being careful not to cut all the way through. Pound pork loin to even 1-inch thickness.
2.
Dissolve sugar and salt in 2 quarts cold water in large container.
Add garlic, bay leaves, allspice, and peppercorns; stir to combine. Submerge pork in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 1¹⁄
2
to 2 hours.
Remove pork from brine, pick spices off meat, and thoroughly pat pork dry with paper towels
.
3. FOR THE STUFFING AND GLAZE:
Once pork is in brine, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Process half of bread pieces in food processor to crumbs with few pieces no larger than about ¹⁄
4
inch, about 45 seconds; transfer to large bowl and set aside. Repeat process with remaining bread pieces (you should have about 4 cups crumbs total).
4.
In now-empty food processor, process apricots, garlic, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cayenne until finely ground, about 30 seconds; add mixture to reserved bread crumbs. Add onion, figs, pistachios, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper to taste to bread-crumb and apricot mixture; toss until well distributed, breaking up any apricot clumps as necessary. Beat eggs and cream in bowl; pour over bread-crumb and apricot mixture and toss with hands until evenly moistened and portion of mixture holds together when pressed.
5.
On parchment paper–lined baking sheet or inverted rimmed baking sheet, form stuffing into log shape equal in length to butterflied pork. Cover stuffing with aluminum foil and bake until firm and cooked through and butterflied pork has been removed from brine and prepared for stuffing, about 45 minutes. Remove stuffing from oven; increase oven temperature to 450 degrees.
6.
While stuffing bakes, heat apricot preserves in small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted but not liquefied, 5 to 7 minutes. Strain through small strainer into bowl (you should have about ¹⁄
3
cup) and set aside; discard solids in strainer.
7. TO STUFF AND GLAZE THE ROAST:
Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet (or shallow roasting pan) lined with foil and set aside. Spoon stuffing onto center of pork. Bring sides of roast together to encase stuffing and tie with twine at 1-inch intervals. Place stuffed roast on rack, brush half of apricot glaze evenly over exposed surface of meat, and roast for 20 minutes. Remove roast from oven and, with tongs, rotate roast so that bottom side faces up. Brush exposed surface with remaining apricot glaze; return roast to oven and roast 25 minutes longer (glaze should be medium golden brown and internal temperature of both meat and stuffing should register 140 degrees). Transfer roast to carving board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut off twine, slice, and serve.
Substitute ¹⁄
2
cup dried tart cherries for figs and ¹⁄
2
cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans for pistachios in stuffing mixture.
Substitute ¹⁄
2
cup pitted prunes, halved lengthwise, for figs and ¹⁄
2
cup coarsely chopped toasted pine nuts for pistachios in stuffing mixture.