BAKED PORK LOIN WITH CRANBERRY STUFFING

I had always preferred the easy way as I see no point stressing over the cooking for any party. So what's wrong with buying instead of cooking it yourself?  I intended to buy the Glazed Pineapple Ham  for the Christmas party but was deterred by my daughter. I ended cooking this Pork Loin  and am pleased and glad that I did managed to cook it right and that it was well received at the end of the day. 

 

I had done this recipe before - only on a smaller scale -just for the 3 of us then.

So I followed the same recipe - using a sauce of whole grain mustard,  mustard sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar/honey/golden syrup, salt and pepper to cover the pork loin before wrapping it with streaky bacon.

For the Christmas party, I bought 2 big pieces of pork loin.  As it was a bigger piece, I was afraid that after baking, it will become tough and dry.  So I decided to stuff the pork loin with a moist fruity filling to minimise the dryness. 

 

Had to use my sharpest knife to carefully and slowly "open" up the pork loin into a flat piece. Also using the back to cleaver flatten the meat as well as to tenderize it.

Since it is Christmas, the best choice of fruits could be cranberries.  I use dried cranberries soaked in orange juice and  chopped green and red apples. These goes into a pan and boil till soft but not mushy. Smear the meat with the same mustard sauce before topping with the stuffing

Rolled the meat into a loaf. I tied both ends to make it easier to handle.

Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and smear more sauce over the whole loaf.

 

Place streaky bacon -each piece overlapping another over the loaf. Tie with strings to make a neat roll.
Place the rolls in a roasting pan and pour in about 1/2 to 1 cup of white wine. This will help the meat to stay moist as they bake at the same time adding more flavour to the meat.
I baked the pork loin at 180C for almost half hour.

Remember to allow the meat to rest for at least an hour before serving.

The pork loin was served with a Roasted Pumpkin and Beetroot salad with the mustard sauce as well.