Scandinavian Recipe #6: Lingonberry-glazed Pork Loin with Potatoes

     For the second main dish experiment I wanted to try my hand at a pork dish again. The first one came out so well, and I was hoping this one would be just as good. It uses lingonberries, dried cranberries, and dried apple slices together to create a mildly sweet flavor that melds with the roast pork. This is a relatively easy dish to make and I recommend buying an entire pork loin. Even if you get a 9 or 10 lb loin it will be worth it in the end. You save a good bit of money, and pork loin freezes fairly well, but that's another blog entry for a later time.

The ingredients.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 4-pound boneless pork loin
• 2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 cup dried cranberries (orange-flavored if you can get them)
• 1 cup dried apple slices
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 10-15 new potatoes (multi-colored if available)
• 2/3 cup lingonberry preserves
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350º. Remove pork loin from web netting (if present) and slice length-wise. Sprinkle ground allspice over length of each piece, and then spread the dried apples and cranberries on bottom layer. Cover with top layer, season with salt and pepper, and either push back into web netting or tie with string. 

     

Layers of Apples, Cranberries and Allspice.

Place stuffed pork loin in large roasting pan and bake on center rack of oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse and halve the new potatoes. After 30 minutes, add potatoes to roasting pan. Bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Whisk together the lingonberry preserves and orange juice into sauce consistency, then drizzle over the pork loin and potatoes. Bake for a final 15-20 minutes (until pork reaches an internal temperature of 150º to 155º). Cool slightly, remove string, and slice pork loin into 1/2 inch slices of possible; serve with potatoes and a fresh salad.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings 

     I purchased a 10 lb pork loin to attempt this recipe. Which meant I was increasing the ingrediants by 2.5 times. The only issue I had was slicing the loin in half. I decided to cut it into two 5 lb sections and then slice each one in half. Each half then went into the oven separately. The final product as you can see resembles a giant meat hoagie (sub, grinder, sandwich). I opted not to tie is as directed in the recipe, because I felt it wasn't necessary in this case. It held together very well in the end.  I cannot recall having issues with this recipe. It is as simple as it is written. I made it a bit more difficult by more than doubling it, but that was no trouble at all. 

This is now the second and what I believe will be the final pork recipe I try for Thanksgiving 2.7. I was very fortunate this past week to have around 6 people try this dish with me to help determine if it's worth making. In general I am not a huge fan fruit mixed/cooked/served with a meat of any sort. The flavors do not meld to me. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed this dish so much. It became a much better experience once I made sure to get a bit of apple, cranberry and pork onto my fork. I will have to try this technique in the future when I encounter another meat fruit combo.

Finished Loin. 

   Since this is such a departure from what I normally serve guests I was not expecting overly positive reviews. I served each guest about a 1/2 an inch slice making sure to scoop some of the lingonberry sauce onto each one. I had made the recipe a couple days before the guests were able to try it. This worried me a bit because I would be re-heating each slice. Thankfully, pork loin is a forgiving piece of meat as far re-heating goes. All of the tasters claimed to really enjoy it. The most surprising part of the whole night was the 2 requests that were made for the recipe. 

    I have now successfully attempted 2 Danish pork dishes this month, with plans on doing an Icelandic cake in the next few days. I am desperately trying to make up for the last 2 months in which I neglected to recipe test. If I can keep up this pace I will have fleshed out my entire Scandinavian menu by October. It is a good place to be. 

     Next time look for Icelandic Vinaterta (Striped Lady Cake). It should be interesting.