I’m addicted to paper. Not sure what it is about it but I think I may be the sole reason book stores will never go out of business. I am probably to blame for 32% of the rain forest being depleted and global warming. Trust me I feel horrible about it, but I can’t pass up a new book or magazine.
Just the other night, a quick trip to the buy-in-bulk shoppe resulted in 4 new magazines and a new cookbook. Shameful.
That all being said, these weren’t gossip magazines or tabloid trash (though the ones about Wolf-boy and alien abductions are hard to pass up). These were the new magazines Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen puts out from time to time. The ones you can’t subscribe to, are only out on the shelves for like a minute, and have a boat load of awesome new quality recipes to try in them. Yeah, I can not walk past one of those without buying it.
The cookbook was one I am going to enjoy too. A new paper back from ATK packed with recipes for the slow cooker. Autumns coming and my readers need me to test out some new crock pot recipes, right? (Go with me on this one guys or I might get dirty looks from Handsome when the pile gets tossed into the cart).
Charcoal-Grilled Pork Loin with Apple-Cranberry Filling
from Cook’s Illustrated Summer Grilling supplement
Ingredients:
For the Filling:
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large shallot, halved lengthwise and sliced thin crosswise (about 1/4 cup)
- 1 1/2 cups (4 ounces) packed dried apples
- 1 tbs grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbs yellow mustard seeds (or stir an equal amount of whole-grain mustard into the filling after the apples have been processed)
- 1/2 teas ground allspice
- 1/8 – 1/4 teas cayanne
For the Pork:
- 1 boneless center-cut pork loin roast (about 2 1/2 lbs)
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 2 (3 inch) wood chunks, soaked in water for 1 hour
- Vegetable oil for cooking grate
Preparation:
For the Filling: Bring all ingredients to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until apples are very soft, about 20 minutes. Push mixture through fine-mesh strainer to extract as much liquid as possible. Return liquid to saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 5 minutes; reserve glaze. Meanwhile, pulse apple mixture in food processor until uniformly coarsely chopped, about fifteen 1-second pulses. Transfer filling to bowl and refrigerate while preparing pork.
For the Pork: Butterfly the pork to an even 1/2-inch thickness. Season inside liberally with salt and spread apple-filling in an even layer, leaving 1/2-inch border. Roll tightly and tie with twine at 1 inch intervals. Season exterior with salt and pepper.
Light a large chimney starter filled with 5 quarts charcoal and burn until coals are fully ignited and covered with thin layer of ash, about 20 minutes. Build modified 2-level fire by arranging coals over half of grill, leaving other half empty. Drain wood chunks and place on coals. Open bottom vent fully. Position cooking grate over coals, cover grill, and heat grate until hot, about 5 minutes. Grill is ready when coals are hot.
Scrape the grate clean with grill brush. Lightly dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate (be sure to start with you arm extended moving towards yourself to avoid flareups). Place roast, fat side up, on grate over cool side of grill. Cover grill and position vent, halfway open, over roast to draw smoker through grill. Grill roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of roast registers 130 to 135 degrees, 55 to 70 minutes, flipping once halfway through cooking time. Brush roast with half of reserved glaze; flip and brush with remaining glaze. (Glaze may need to be slightly reheated to make spreadable again). Continue to cook until glaze is glossy and sticky, about 5 minutes longer.
Transfer roast to cutting board, loosely tent with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes. (Internal temp should rise to 145 degrees F). Cut into 1/2-inch thick slices, removing twine as you go. Serve immediately.
*Gas-Grilled Pork Loin
Follow recipe for charcaol0grill pork loin through step 2, substituting 2 cups wood chips for chunks and soaking them for 30 minutes. Drain chips and place in small disposable aluminum pan. About 20 minutes before grilling, place pan with chips on primary burner (burner that will remain on during cooking); position cooking grate over burners. Turn all burners until hot. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burners. Place roast, fat side up, on side opposite primary burner and proceed with recipe from step 4.
**I made this with a cranberry-cornbread stuffing with a little 1/2 cup diced smoked sausage (I had some leftover from an earlier smoker experiment because that’s how I roll. Get it… ha.
Don’t question my kitchen twine, cuz it’s not. I have no idea what it was, but it served its purpose well.
On another buy in bulk note, we bought new Tupperware because all my seems to have shrank or been absconded with. Do you ever have to throw away the the Tupperware drawer and start new – because that’s what we just did. I won’t even tell you how Handsome had me label them so that we’d be sure to get back any we may lend out this time…
My name is Kita. I am a 20 something girl geek and website/graphic designer who can rock an apron like there is no tomorrow. 
This looks SO wonderful. I love pork!
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Man, how awesome is that! I love pork loin, and that’s a great way to add some big flavor to it.
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Okay first off…there is a tupperware monster. It eats only the lids. I hate it and I want to spear it in the head.
Secondly, we most definitely need slow cooker recipes. As many as you can manage. My family’s life depends on it.
And lastly, holy hell that pork loin is amazing. I reckon I could eat my weight in meat if it was stuffed with this apple filling. Buzzed
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Wow!! This looks fantastic! I don’t often cook pork loin but I might just have to now, this has me drooling…sounds amazing!
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That crispy pork picture is making me hungry and the filling is a great choice of flavor. Yum!
I am trying to cut back on buying books and magazines, but it is very difficult!
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Apple and pork is one of those matches which are made in heaven! And you really got a great looking dish out of it!
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Apple and pork is a winning combination. I think they compliment each other very nicely. Your pork loin looks amazing!
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Oh I just love finding new stuffed pork loin recipes and this apple filling sounds incredible!! Lovely photos!
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That looks amazing!!
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That pork loin looks fabulous! I sometimes do a roasted pork with a sage-apple-chestnut filling in the fall, but now I have a more summer-appropriate recipe I can try… especially since grilling means I won’t heat up the house with the oven, and I get all those gorgeous crispy bits on the outside. Must make this soon. Yippee!
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Kita, this just looks amazing! Simple ingredients, but oh so delicious!
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Addicted to paper? That’s a new one! I think you should apply for that TLC show
Sad that you don’t like tabloid trash mags, I love them…can’t get enough of them…and I can’t get enough of this pork! This looks like a five star meal. You GRILL (grill, not go) girl
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As much as I read on line I love magazines so much more. I know people love there gadgets but there is nothing like having a magazine to flip through. I am leaning towards ebooks for novels but there is nothing like a beautifully illustrated cookbook
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Oops I was so busy yammering about books I forgot to comment. Stuffed loin of pork is one of my favorite roasts and this would be no exception
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Something about pork and apples just makes sense! I am not a fan of fruit in my savory dishes but I make an exception when it comes to apples and pork. This sounds lovely and my hubby would love an excuse to grill a pork tenderloin!
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Holy yum! I can never resist coming out of the store with a few recipe magazines and maybe a cookbook or two! Hubby doesn’t need to know that but I do the grocery shopping after all
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Lovin the Pork Loin Kita! I know how you feel about magazines and cookbooks. I try to convince myself that I’m going to cook from the piles of books and magazines that I have before I buy anymore. Yeah right, who am I trying to fool!
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This looks great Kita! I LOVE pork loin and I bet the use of dried apples in this makes for a really flavorful stuffing.
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Delicious! I love greeting cards and stationary! I have 3 file drawers FULL of the “perfect” card or note….
The pork loin looks so juicy and tasty!
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I want to come for dinner so badly! This looks so delicious. I
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This pork loin sounds so savory. And of course your pictures are beautiful, as always. I keep having nightmares that so many people will be converting to digital books, and then all the bookstores will close, and then I’ll have to switch to digital books. Hopefully you are right and that day will never come.
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