Potluck at the Pedernales

Pork Loin Stuffed With Cranberry Chipotle Relish (Photo By John Anderson)

Pork Loin Stuffed With Cranberry Chipotle Relish

The inspiration for this dish came from two female chefs whose work I admire greatly. Several weeks ago, Alma Thomas-Alcocer prepared a rack of lamb with cranberry chipotle sauce for our photo essay issue (www.auschron.com/issues/dispatch/2000-11-17/portfolio18.html ), and ever since I saw the picture of her dish, I've wanted to make something with that fruit/pepper combination. On December 2, I attended Oaxaca cooking teacher Susanna Trilling's class at Central Market, where she prepared a pork loin stuffed with a fruit and chile mixture, and the two ideas suddenly came together for our Cuisines section holiday dinner bash. The chipotle in the stuffing/sauce doesn't overwhelm everything else -- it adds an earthy depth and some welcome spicy tingle on the palate.

3 lbs pork loin, butterflied by butcher so it can be laid out flat, filled and rolled up

Butcher's twine

Relish

2 cups orange juice

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

2 cups dried cranberries ("Craisins")

2 tbsp butter or oil

1é2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tbs minced garlic

8 oz ham, chopped

2 chipotle chiles en adobo, seeds removed, chiles and some adobo sauce mashed to a paste

1 tbs chopped cilantro

1 tbs chopped chives

1é2 tsp black pepper

1é2 tsp salt

2 tbs butter or oil

1 cup orange juice

In a small saucepan, bring the orange juice to a boil and pour it over the apricots and dried cranberries. After about 15 minutes, drain the fruit and reserve the liquid. In a medium skillet, melt the butter (or oil), and sauté the onion until it is clear. Add the garlic and ham and cook about 4-5 minutes more. Add the drained fruit, chile paste, herbs, and spices. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. If the mixture dries out, add some of the reserved fruit liquid. Remove from heat and set aside. Lay the pork loin out on parchment paper or tinfoil, fat side down, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Spread 3é4 of the filling mixture over the meat to within about 1é2 inch of the edge. Roll the meat over the filling, starting on the long side with the least fat. Secure the roll with butcher's twine with the fat side out. Preheat oven to 350ö. In an ovenproof pan, heat remaining 2 tbsp of butter or oil and brown meat on all sides, using meat fork and tongs to turn it as necessary. Pour 1 cup of orange juice over meat, cover it with tinfoil and place in oven for 15-20 minutes. Prepare sauce.

Sauce

Reserved fruit liquid or one cup orange juice

2 cups dried cranberries

2 tbsp bourbon

Reserved stuffing mixture (in heavy pan)

Bring the reserved liquid (or orange juice) to a boil and pour it over the cranberries. Add the bourbon. When the cranberries have plumped, add the fruit and liquid to the reserved stuffing mixture and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Let some of the liquid reduce, about 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the oven and carefully remove the butcher's twine with kitchen shears.

Pour sauce mixture over the meat and return to oven for another 20-30 minutes, until the meat reaches your desired level of doneness. Remove meat from oven to a platter and let rest 10-15 minutes before slicing. Serve sauce remaining in the pan on the side.

Wes Marshall's Recommended Wine: 1998 Huntington Merlot, $15.99

Merlot is the classic mate for cranberries and one of the best for pork. Huntington's version is an intense, food-friendly offering that is big enough to handle the delicious sauce in Virginia's intensely flavored recipe. But this wine is not just a one-dimensional fruit bomb. It has enough multilayered flavor to enrich and enhance this already complex dish.