This is an easy to prepare, delectable Pork dish to serve up to your family for New Year’s Day Dinner, or for any dinner when yo have the whole family around.
The sweetnes of the dates and cranberries marries well with the savouriness of the pork providing a tremendous blend of tastes and textures in your meat entree’.
1 Pork Loin about 4 to 5 pounds
Ingredients:
3/4 pounds Pitted Dates
1/3 cup of Dried Cranberries
1/4 to 1/2 pound of either Goat Cheese or Feta Cheese
5 strips of Bacon
1 teaspoon of Rosemary
Sea Salt or Table Salt and ground Black Pepper (to taste)
1 cup of Panko Bread Crumbs
3 or 4 average sized Potatoes (peeled) Cut the potatoes with 1/8 inch slices making sure not to cut all the way thru.
1/2 a Lemon
1 Cup of beef broth
Preparation Instructions:Lightly rinse your loin under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel
Place the loin fatless side down on a sheet of plastic wrap on your cutting board
You are going to “Butterfly” the loin which is a simple thing to do.
Cut down horizontally through your loin being careful not to cut all the way through then angling your knife carefully cut horizontally again through each side from the inside edge to the outer without cutting thru all the way.
Then using the tip of the knife make tiny slits into the meat. These slits will permit the flavours of the dates and the cranberries to be absorbed into the meat itself.
Using a mallet or a rolling pin hit the loin to flatten it out. Once flattened set aside.
In a frying pan on medium heat fry up 2 strips of bacon until crisp. Once cooked remove to a paper towel to drain off excess fat.
Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Roasting Instructions:
Get your Pork Loin and season the inside with salt and pepper to taste, then lay in your goat or feta cheese. Lay in your dates and dried cranberries together down the middle of the butterfly cut. take the fried bacon strips and lay them over top of this combination.
Carefully fold the outside portions toward each other and lay the remaining uncooked bacon strips around the roast.
Then using some butcher’s twine tie the roast three or four times to lock together the folds forming a simple roll.
Rub the fatty side of the roast with the lemon half. Gently brush the top of the roast with a little olive oil and then season the outside with salt and pepper and your Rosemary.
Lastly gently and carefully roll the roast in your Panko breading top and bottom and sides making certain that all sides get a coating. Doing this will lock in the juiciness and flavours. It also gives an added texture to the meat when you bite into it.
Place the roast into your roasting pan fat side up. Pour in the cup of beef broth cover and roast your meat for 30 minutes.
Roll your potatoes in either some melted butter or some olive oil sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper and paprika and place them around your roast. Uncover your roast and return to the oven insert your meat thermometer at this point and allow everything to roast.
Doneness: The roast is cooked when you achieve an inner temperature of 140 to 145 degrees F.
Remove the roast from your roasting pan and let it sit to rest for about 10 minutes, then remove the string and serve with your roasted potatoes.
When serving slice into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices.
If you have some, a little cranberry sauce on the side will add to your taste experience.