Fig Stuffed Pork Loin- Jen's Savory Summary

Preview of me stuffing the pork

Hi Sunday Supper People!  I'm going to start off the post by saying I really struggled with this recipe.  When I was stuffing the pork I felt like I was feeding an infant who kept on spitting up the food (gross visual but very accurate description).  Anyway I digress...

Finally getting some use
 out of this cookbook

I decided to try this new butcher shop in Somerville called M.F. Dulock Craft Butcher.  This shop is amazing the butcher is very passionate about what he does.  He was extremely knowledgeable on the meat as well as tons of recipes.  The walls of the shop had stacks of cook books there, including Ad Hoc.  He immediately knew what I was cooking, which was extremely helpful. I decided to go with a bone in pork loin with a nice fat cap on it, I was dreaming of crispy crunchy cracklings all Saturday night.  He was also helpful in cutting the cavity for me, which came in handy since my knives are in desperate need of sharpening.

Pork scored and ready to
sit in the refrigerator

Saturday night, I poured some warm water over top of the fat cap and scored it.  It sat out in the fridge uncovered to get some air circulating over 
it to pull the skin away from that fat. 

On Sunday afternoon, I took the pork out to get to room temperature and start prepping the stuffing.  This is when I began to get nervous, mine was extremely runny.  This was when it was hot right off the stove.  The further it cooled the more thick it became.  Next, is where I think I made my misstep.  I pureed the filling the food processor.  

Stuffing straight from the stove

I was left with a thick-ish consistency.  It tasted amazing on its own.  I started to stuff the pork and I'm unsure if it was because of the extra weight with the fat cap and bone but it just started to ooze back out.  I got a fair amount in and began to brown the pork.  After browning, I stuffed some more stuffing inside the cavity and popped it in the oven.

Pork resting 

My pork took about an hour and a half, but I was cooking a 4 1/2 lb pork loin.  I took the reserved stuffing and reduced it down to serve as a sauce over top.  I also broiled the pork loin for about 2 minutes to get the skin extra crispy.

Even though I struggled with stuffing the pork, the result was a delicious, moist, and flavorful pork loin.  I think this was as much a product of the stuffing as it was of the pork itself.  I will definitely be returning the M.F. Dulock in the future to buy some more delicious meat products.

I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did.  I may take a break from Thomas Keller recipes for a few weeks, but I still think my first attempt went pretty well!

Completed pork loin over some charred brussel sprouts

                                                   

Happy Eating!
Jen