Roast Pork Loin

When we cleaned out the freezers yesterday, we found items that we had forgotten about. Among those were a half pork loin, figs I had put up last summer. and a bag of the little white peas that we all enjoy so much. They were to become the backbone of our lunch today.

For the pork loin, I decided to modify Frank Stitt's recipe, Roast Pork Loin Stuffed with Rosemary, Bacon, and Onions. I wanted to use the figs in the stuffing.

I had frozen the figs in a sugar water mixture, so I simply cooked them until the liquid was gone. At the same time, I cooked diced onions and celery in another pan until they were translucent. I added some finely-diced smoked sausage, minced garlic, and salt and pepper, and then I added it all to the fig mixture. Here's how that looked:


I also crumbled some of the cornbread that I made yesterday and added it to the fig mixture. Then, it was ready to stuff.

To prepare the roast, I assembled our tools:




We use a 1" pvc pipe with a notched end (Tom made in the shop) to bore the hole through the middle of the pork loin. I hold the roast steady, and Tom gently twisted the pipe back and forth until he reached the other end. We used the dowel to pack the stuffing in the roast. After we packed the stuffing in, I wrapped the roast in kitchen twine and plugged each end of the roast with a 1/2" piece of the tenderloin that we removed from the roast---to keep too much of the stuffing from cooking out. Here's how the roast looked before cooking.


The recipe said cook at 450 for twenty minutes, then 325 for thirty minutes. I had to cook it about twelve minutes longer. Here's how it looked as we sliced it.



I also cooked the little white peas. Mother ate lunch with us, and one of the things she likes on her peas is a fresh relish of diced tomatoes, onions, and sweet peppers with a little vinegar and water added. It really is good. Here's a peak at the peas and relish.