Blackberry Ale Glazed Pork Loin & Scallion Spoonbread

Tried an experiment today.. Turn out was fairly lucrative, I’d say. Further rifts can be made off of this one. Pork plays extraordinarily well with many fruits, especially red and tropical fruits. If you don’t fancy the idea of using beer, you can always use juice and jams/marmalades instead. Figure those ones out by internet searching and trial and error. This is my satisfying reward born of curiosity..

Blackberry Ale Glazed Pork Loin

2-3 # Pork Loin
Olive Oil
1 Bag Frozen Blackberries
1 Bottle Ale (I used Sam Ad’s Blackberry Witbier (whitebeer) here)
1 c. Brown Sugar
** And after talking with one of the souschefs @ work, a tablespoon or two of light vinegar would be the extra oomph I think this dish was lacking - although it was good enough as is. Needs a little acid to stretch the flavors out

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. In a large saucepan, combine blackberries, ale and brown sugar over high heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a rigorous simmer. Reduce this down for about 20 minutes.
3. Coat a large sauté pan with olive oil and set over high heat. Season pork loin with salt and pepper on all sides. Sear all 6 sides of pork loin in the sauté pan, approx 2 minutes each side.
4. Place seared pork loin in a roasting pan and pour the blackberry ale reduction over the loin. **Bake in the oven for approx. 18 minutes per pound. Baste the loin with the reduction liquid about every 20 minutes.
5. When loin is cooked to desired doneness, remove from pan and let rest on a cutting board for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, pour liquid from the pan into a saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce this mixture further as your loin rests.
6. Slice loin, pour reduced glaze over top and serve immediately.

**Some people prefer a loin that is more well done that it needs to be. A pork loin is safely done when it reaches an internal temp of around 150. You may choose to cook the meat a bit longer until it hits 160 but I don’t suggest going any higher than this. Pork loin is a lean meat, that dries out easily if you aren’t careful with it.

(There is a double batch here because I feed a crowd..)





Btw, I just love how this picture came out ☺

We’re goin’ in..


I served this with Scallion Spoonbread and a side salad of Spinach, Shredded Carrots and Heirloom Tomatoes


See mah tomatoes? Aren’t they booootiful?!?




And the super easy spoonbread I made tonight.. It was a little dry because I fear I overcooked it. It also needs the addition of maybe 2/3 c. half and half or light cream. And to anyone about to be horrified by my masterful use of jiffy cornbread mix..




In-A-Jiffy Spoonbread

2 pkgs Jiffy Cornbread Mix
2 c. Sour Cream
4 Eggs
1 C. Butter – Melted
2/3 c. ½ & ½

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish
2. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients til most of the lumps are gone. Add in shredded cheese or chopped scallions if you so wish. Pour into greased casserole dish. Bake for 30-40 minutes until firm (not jiggly anymore). Serve hot with butter.





‘Tis All ☺

Violet! You're turning violet, Violet! (pt. 2)

A juicy Smithfield Ham + Spiced Blueberry Glaze = Angels crying heavenly tears of meat, directly into your mouth.

And since the first course is already a starch, a potato starch at that, I decided to serve this alongside some southern spoonbread (with spring onions).

The glaze you can make ahead of time and keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.......


Spiced Blueberry Glaze

1 bag frozen Blueberries
2/3 c. Brown Sugar
1/3 c. Red Wine (a port would be ideal but you can use whatever you have *cough cough*)
2 Cinnamon sticks
1 T. Whole Cloves
Dash or two of Ground Nutmeg

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool. Discard Cinnamon sticks. Done! It's that easy..



Non-Alcoholic wine! Yay!! It's “Fre” but pronounced like “free” (can you sense the written equivalent of eyerolling?). This basically tasted like sour grape juice but again.. doing my best with what I have to work with. At least it's made by Sutter Home.. Yeah, or not.


Finished glaze..



How to Cook a Ham

For a bone-in Ham, cook in a 350*F oven for anywhere between 20-30 minutes per pound. A fully cooked ham should register 160*F on a meat thermometer. Glaze the ham during the last hour-30 minutes of cooking time.

After having cooked for about 3 hours


Finished



Southern Spoonbread

2 c. Boiling Water
1 c. Cornmeal
5 T. Butter – plus extra for greasing and serving
1 t. Salt
2 Eggs – well beaten
1 c. ½ and ½

* Preheat oven to 375*F. Grease a casserole with butter.

* Bring water to a boil and slowly add in the cornmeal, stirring until thickened and smooth. Add butter and salt and let cool.

* Once cool, add eggs and ½ and ½ – beat for 2 minutes. (From here you can fold in any additions, like chives, spring onions, bacon bits, shredded cheese, corn etc).

* Pour into casserole dish and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Spoon out while hot and pass around the butter! (Serves 8)





And do I think I have enough meat, you might ask? No.. No I don't. Ham is my Jello baby!


Source(s):
http://www.smithfieldhams.com/aboutus
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-specials/mom-sampsons-spoonbread-recipe/index.html