Once again I decend upon you with tales of gastrointestinal delight. Today in the form of my
original Rolled Pork Roast with Bleu Cheese and apples (Simply called "Pork Roll with Bleu Cheese) for this node.
Before I get into this
recipe (
see ideath?) I thought I'd take a moment to talk to all of the noders about my
dubious cooking technique known 'round the world as the:
"There's company coming over in an hour? What the hell do I have in the fridge?" technique.
Amazingly enough this has caused me to discover many new and wonderful dishes, playing out my own "
Iron Chef" battle, last Friday's theme ingredient was the Bleu Cheese that was getting dangerously close to becoming a
permanent fixture in my frige. The dish was very well recieved (far beyond my expectations), although I made it with a rather cheap cut of
beef. In hindsight pork would have been a better choice as it matches better with both the apples and the
cheese.
And now ... (vegans please look away) ...
Pork Roll With Bleu Cheese!
Ingredients:
1-1&1/2 pound pork roast or cutlets
about 1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese
One Apple, diced
3 or 4 cloves of roasted garlic
1/4 of a yellow or white onion, diced
1/4 cup of Pork or Vegetable Stock
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Dried Oregano
Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350-375 degrees (Farenheit).
If you are using a pork roast slit it and pound it flat (around 1/2 inch or slightly thinner is ideal), if you are using cutlets you must
shingle them in order to accomplish the "roll" (This is accomplished by slightly overlapping the cutlets horizontally, then rolling from the back).
in a frying pan heat some
olive oil and cook the diced
onion until slightly brown (caramelized), place the onion in a bowl with the bleu cheese, diced apple, roasted garlic and a little salt and pepper. Add a touch of olive oil to moisten the mixture, stir well, ensuring that the roasted garlic is well
smashed and
distributed. Spread this mixture evenly on your flattened roast (or cutlets)
Roll the pork into a tight
cylinder (the pork and mixture should form a nice pink and white spiral) and tie with
butcher's twine.
Rub the outside of the roast with salt, pepper and a bit of dried oregano.
In a
frying pan heat a little olive oil and place your roast in the pan, use tongs and brown the outside of the roast. Remove the frying pan from the burner and place in the oven*. Cook until the pork is done (use a
meat thermometer to check!). Place to roast aside and put the frying pan back on the burner. Deglaze the pan with pork or vegetable
stock (if nessecary add a little cornstarch to thicken this gravy). Cut the roll into medallions and top with the
sauce. This goes well with
Garlic Mashed Potatoes and
steamed vegetables.
* A note about pans: I beg of you, do not buy pans with wooden or
plastic handles, they will (usually) not take dirst insertion into the
oven. It's a bad idea to buy cheap pans in general as you will end up replacing them over and over again. Save your money buy a good pan and you'll probably never have to replace it (indeed many brands of high quality cookware come with excellent waranties)