We’ve been focusing on cooking more at home lately (except of course when we travel for work) and teaching the kidlets their way around the kitchen more and more. Over the weekend our oldest, who will be twelve in a month or two, actually made an entire batch of cookies all on her own with no physical help from either of us…just the occasional question. She’s been helping more and more with making dinner and it’s been a big help in overcoming her picky eater tendencies!
In fact, tonight she even helped with making dinner and didn’t balk at the addition of spinach to the stuffing in our stuffed pork loin and even sampled the brandied cranberry sauce I made on a whim without complaint. This is a very simple and elegant dish that only takes about an hour to prep and cook. I’ll admit, I cheated a bit and used (gasp!) a boxed stuffing mix, but when you’re under the gun for time, it’s a shortcut I’m willing to take on occasion. We topped the finished stuffed pork loin with a delicious brandied cranberry sauce that I made from scratch while we waited for everything to finish baking. To round out the meal, we made homemade yeast rolls and steamed broccoli. Yummy!
Stuffed Pork Loin
2 lb Pork loin
1 box stuffing mix plus the ingredients it calls for
1/2 C chopped fresh spinach
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
Heat oven to 350F. Make the stuffing mix according to the instructions on the box, or substitute your own stuffing if you desire. Once the stuffing is off the heat, add a 1/2 C chopped fresh spinach. Butterfly the pork loin and pound it out with a mallet if you’re using a tough cut. Spread the prepared stuffing and spinach mixture evenly on the pork loin. Starting with one of the long sides, roll the pork loin up and secure with a wooden skewer or use kitchen twine to tie it. Heat a skillet with the EVOO and sear the stuffed pork loin on all sides. Place on a foil lined cookie tray and back in the oven for about 45 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160F. Allow meat to rest 15 minutes before slicing to serve. Slice into 1″ thick servings and serve with brandied cranberry sauce.
Brandied Cranberry Sauce
1 bag of cranberries
1/2 C orange juice
1/3 C water
1/3 C brandy
1 1/2 C sugar
Wash and sort cranberries. Combine cranberries, orange juice and water in a saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately ten minutes. Add sugar and brandy and reduce until the sauce begins to thicken. Serve over the stuffed pork loin or with warm rolls. Brandied Cranberry Sauce will keep in the fridge for approx two weeks.
