January 3, 2011: Sausage-Stuffed Pork Loin
Alrighty folks. So it begins. This recipe comes to us courtesy of Cook's Country's November 2010 issue. Cook's Country is a product of America's Test Kitchen - one of my favorite sources for cooking. They publish Cook's Illustrated as well as a bevy of cookbooks (I own a few of them...).
Small bit of info: they are based in Brookline, MA and I lived down the street from them for about 5 years. After I got my Chef's Certificate from Cambridge School of Culinary Arts I worked in a restaurant in Lexington and learned a TON that is not taught in school. Then, through a great friend, I scored an interview with America's Test Kitchen to be a test cook (Thanks Todd!! And Matthew!) I got to cook in their kitchens and demonstrate my knowledge but in the end, I did not have enough restaurant experience under my belt. It made perfect sense to me but was still disappointing. Since I left the cooking world about 4 months later it was for the best. I can say, however, that two of the chefs I worked with at the restaurant currently work for Cook's Illustrated and contribute to their magazines frequently....as does Matthew, that original connection.
Ok - enough gabbing. Here is how the recipe went.
Small bit of info: they are based in Brookline, MA and I lived down the street from them for about 5 years. After I got my Chef's Certificate from Cambridge School of Culinary Arts I worked in a restaurant in Lexington and learned a TON that is not taught in school. Then, through a great friend, I scored an interview with America's Test Kitchen to be a test cook (Thanks Todd!! And Matthew!) I got to cook in their kitchens and demonstrate my knowledge but in the end, I did not have enough restaurant experience under my belt. It made perfect sense to me but was still disappointing. Since I left the cooking world about 4 months later it was for the best. I can say, however, that two of the chefs I worked with at the restaurant currently work for Cook's Illustrated and contribute to their magazines frequently....as does Matthew, that original connection.
Ok - enough gabbing. Here is how the recipe went.
Ok so the recipe called for a Pork Loin...which is HUGE and since it's just me and Chris I picked up a Pork Tenderloin. That's one of my favorite knives - a small Shun Ken Onion. Oh so sharp....
This is just prior to trimming the edges.
Mise en place. All pretty simple ingredients. A piece of bread (torn), one egg (lightly beaten), extra sharp cheddar (supposed to be 1/2 cup...I did a full cup), garlic (supposed to be 4 cloves, I did about 6) and pork sausage (I was excited to find unlinked sweet italian sausage!)
A chef's most important tool. Just sayin'.
This was the "spread" of sausage, cheese, bread, eggs all done up in the food processor (sausage and garlic were cooked up in a skillet). We used only half in the tenderloin and decided upon tasting that this leftover lump will be *perfect* in some mushroom caps tomorrow.
Seriously. Perfect.
Seriously. Perfect.
Here is the end product, a browned (in a saucepan) and then baked pork tenderloin roll.
The verdict? VERY tasty (on the edge of too salty - probably because of the sweet italian sausage and us adding seasoning) but a bit heavy. The pork was JUICY and delicious. I whipped up some green beans with toasted almonds (a staple here in the George house) and it was a nice complement. Not sure I'd make it again for just the two of us but it may reappear if making a dinner for a crowd (with the full-sized Pork Loin).
Stay tuned for report on mushroom caps!
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