Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin with Apples and Sage

 Got this recipe from the Autumn LCBO magazine, the Ontario Liqour store periodical.  A great winter dish!

 The smoked thick cut bacon came from the Meat Lady at the Hamilton Market.  It cost as much as the tenderloin!

 Prepare the bacon slices to wrap around the tenderloin.

 Season the tenderloin with the chopped garlic, the sage and salt and pepper!

 Wrap and tie the pork ready to brown in the Dutch Oven!

 Brown on all sides and pull out and set on a wire rack in the roasting pan.

 Pop it into the hot oven for 30 minutes.

 Meanwhile prepare the apple sage sauce in the oil left over in the Dutch Oven!

 Pull the pork at 145 F, tent with foil and let it rest for twenty minutes, the meats internal temp will rise to the correct finished temp!

 Cook some Salmon for the non pork eaters as a courtesy...... lol

 The Tenderloin comes out of the tinfoil and onto the cutting board!

 Looks good with the steam rising off the roast!!!

 Roasted beets on the side and some garlic mashed potatoes!

 Plate and serve!

This dish was very very tender, the pork was melt in your mouth and the bacon was crisp and flavourful.

BACON-WRAPPED PORK LOIN WITH APPLES & SAGE
AUTUMN 2010
BY MARILYN BENTZ-CROWLEY

Choose bacon well-streaked with lean meat as well as fat and purchase it from the butcher’s case, as it tends not to be as watery as the bacon in the 500 g packages. For incredible flavour, seek out a dedicated butcher shop, such as Kingston’s Brothers Quality Meats, which smokes bacon on the premises.

2 large pork tenderloins,
total about 2 lbs (about 1 kg)
10 fresh sage leaves, very finely chopped,
or 1 tsp (5 mL) dried rubbed sage
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly ground
black pepper
9 to 10 slices thick-cut bacon
Kitchen twine
3 to 4 large apples such as
Cortland or Spy
1 large cooking onion
2 tbsp (25 mL) all-purpose flour
1½ cups (375 mL) chicken broth or stock

1. If any silver skin on loins is present, cut away and discard. Sprinkle sage, garlic, salt and pepper all over loins. Place loins closely together lengthwise, with thick ends meeting thin ends, to even out roast thickness.

2. Lay out slices of bacon snugly together on a cutting board, forming a rectangle. Place loins across bacon so bacon ends emerge from each side. Beginning at one end, lift a bacon end up over loins at a 45° angle. Then, alternating sides, continue lifting bacon ends down the length of roast forming a chevron pattern of bacon on top.

3. Cut five 12-inch (30-cm) lengths of twine and one 30-inch (75-cm) length. Place 5 shorter lengths of twine under loins widthwise. Working out from roast centre, firmly (but not causing deep indents to form) tie up each piece of twine, spacing evenly apart. Then tie up roast lengthwise with longer piece of twine. Trim twine ends; discard. (Roast can be prepared, covered and refrigerated for up to half a day. Add 10 to 15 minutes to roasting time.)

4. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Lightly brown roast on all sides, about 15 minutes in total. Transfer to a baking pan lined with a rack. Place in oven; set time for 30 minutes. Check and continue roasting until a meat thermometer reads 145°F (63°C). Remove from oven: transfer to cutting board. Cover roast with foil; let rest 15 to 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, peel core and slice apples. Thinly slice onion.

6. Drain most of fat from frying pan; place back over medium heat. Add onion; cook 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth; add apple slices. Bring to a boil; simmer, covered, 5 to 10 minutes or until apples are tender and sauce is lightly thickened. Add more broth if too thick; keep covered and hot.

7. To slice pork roast, snip off lengthwise string. Then slice about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick, removing crosswise strings as they are encountered. Place a few saucy apples on each warm serving plate, top with a couple of slices of roast and drizzle with more sauce. Serve with mashed potatoes and a steamed julienne of carrot and kohlrabi.

Serves 6 to 8

The Bain-Marie

Found a great vintage copper Bain-Marie at the local Thrift Store.  This beauty was just sitting there waiting for me I guess..... !!  Looks like a two quart enamel container with nice brass handles and great barely used copper pan and lid.  Today it was pressed into service to make a cheese sauce for some eggs on potatoe  patties.  Worked perfectly, a nice gentle boil warming the sauce instead of overheating it directly on the gas burner.

The bain-marie comes in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and types, but traditionally is a wide, cylindrical, usually metal container made of three or four basic parts: a handle, an outer (or lower) container that holds the working liquid, an inner (or upper), smaller container that fits inside the outer one and which holds the material to be heated or cooked, and sometimes a base underneath. Under the outer container of the bain-marie (or built into its base) is a heat source.

Typically the inner container is immersed about halfway into the working liquid.

The smaller container, filled with the substance to be heated, fits inside the outer container, filled with the working liquid (usually water), and the whole is heated at, or below, the base, causing the temperature of the materials in both containers to rise as needed. The insulating action of the water helps to keep contents of the inner pot from boiling or scorching.

When the working liquid is water and the bain-marie is used at sea level, the maximum temperature of the material in the lower container will not exceed 100 degrees Celsius (the boiling point of water at sea level). Using different working liquids (oils, salt solutions, etc.) in the lower container will result in different maximum temperatures.