Baked Pork with Apple and Dried Fruit in Orange Glaze
8 servings
120 minutes
A family table dish from our editor Lyudmila Salnikova. Let her speak: "On New Year's Eve, my big family, with children, grandchildren, uncles, and aunts, usually gathered at my grandparents ' . The family was international, so the table would feature stuffed pike, jellied meat, and my Belarusian grandfather's signature pork, which he cooked himself and didn't let women with children near the stove. In my adult life, I don't have the patience for pike, I don't like jellied meat , but pork has somehow grown into my genes, and I always cook it for every holiday. It's a lot of fuss, but it's a gorgeous cold and hot dish at once. And if you make more filling, it can be served as a separate type of appetizer.
1
For the brine, pour 2 liters of water into a pot, add 4 tablespoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar, coriander, peppercorns, and olive oil. Bring to a boil. Let it boil for 5 minutes and cool completely.
- Black peppercorns: 0.5 teaspoon
- Coriander seeds: 0.5 teaspoon
- Olive oil: 30 ml
- Sugar: 2 tablespoons
- Salt: to taste
2
Soak the meat in brine and send it to the refrigerator for 6 hours.
3
Prepare the filling. Chop the onion into small cubes. Heat butter and vegetable oil in a pan, add chopped rosemary leaves and onion, and sauté for 1-2 minutes until translucent. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté for 7 minutes until golden brown. Finally, add finely chopped dried apricots, raisins (cranberries), diced apple, mix well, drizzle with lemon juice and cool down. Add grated cheese to the minced meat, mix well, season with salt and pepper.
- Onion: 1 head
- Butter: 50 g
- Vegetable oil: 50 ml
- Rosemary: 2 sprigs
- Champignons: 150 g
- Dried apricots: 50 g
- Raisin: 50 g
- Green apples: 1 piece
- Lemon juice: to taste
- Feta cheese: 100 g
- Salt: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
4
For the glaze, place the zest in a saucepan, pour in orange juice, add honey, soy sauce, and finely chopped chili pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer on low heat for 5-7 minutes until it thickens into a glaze.
- Oranges: 1 piece
- Honey: 2 tablespoons
- Soy sauce: 1 tablespoon
- Chili pepper: 1 piece
5
Place the rack in the center of the oven and put a high-sided baking tray underneath it. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Wipe the pork loin thoroughly from salt, placing it on the board with the fatty side up. Optionally trim the fat or leave a layer of 0.5 cm.
6
Turn the meat with the fatty side up. Make a cut along the entire piece to a depth of 2 cm, not reaching the edges by 3-5 cm. Insert the knife into the cut and make symmetrical cuts inside the piece at a 45-degree angle on both sides to a depth of about 4 cm to allow more filling to enter.
7
Do not fill the cut with minced meat too tightly. Give the piece its original shape. Tie the meat with twine, wrapping it every 5 cm, place it on a rack cut side up and put it in the oven. After 10 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 120 degrees. Remove the meat and brush it with orange glaze. Cook for 1.5 hours, occasionally taking out the meat and glazing it.