I remember images from long ago of large groups of people celebrating in a massive hall of a castle. Whether it was a holiday or a victory or some other important event it always centered around a table laden with food. The centerpiece of that table would be a large platter with a whole roast pig holding an apple in its mouth.
What is it about pork and apples that have always seemed perfect compliments of each other when cooked together. We eat our share of pork and I’ve prepared full pork roasts with cornbread dressing and all the fixings in my time raising a family. Generally that included an apple pie for dessert.
Now that it is down to the two of us, I’m always looking for interesting things to prepare for dinner that are healthy, filling and delicious. One dish I play with often is a favorite of my husband. I change up ingredients and spices to keep it from always being the same.
This recipe involves apples and pork loin. I core and slice up two very large baking apples such as gala or fuji. These go into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish spraying with cooking oil. Tonight I added thinly sliced celery, onion, carrots and several garlic cloves. Spices included lots of sage, garlic powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a good sprinkling of coriander. Lay the pork loin on top of it all with more sage, garlic and cinnamon.
I use lots of infused balsamic vinegars of all different flavors. They are a great flavor enhancer in meat, vegetable and sweet dishes. I’ll have to write about my amazing baked apples using blueberry one day……. but back to tonight’s meal. I used raspberry infused balsamic vinegar. I gave a heaping dash of it all over the pork and apple dish. Generally I don’t measure things when creating dishes and this is one of those.
Toss the pan into a 390 degree oven for about half an hour. The result is a taste I can’t describe other than delicious and interesting with the varied spices mingled together with the tart raspberry vinegar. Randy loves it and always looks forward to my cooking it.
I added some of our favorite crackers to lend a bit of crunch to the meal and called it done.
My World 
Leave a comment