For us, this dish is a fall and early winter favorite. Usually we make it after going to our favorite apple orchards or picking our own apples. It is super easy to make, basically slicing, chopping and baking. It is also a good way to use up some of your damaged “ugly” apples.
We use a 5 qt “everyday pan” or 6 quart deep skillet for this. You want a covered pan that is a bit on the deep side to contain the stuffing on top of the pork. The stuffing will shrink down by half while it bakes. It would also be interesting to try in a dutch oven over a camp fire.
Pork
2 lbs pork roast. We use the smaller rib end toasts which have a bit more fat and break down better than a pork loin roast. You can substitute pork loin roast or boneless pork chops or pork tenderloin (cut cooking temp and time). Exterior fat is trimmed off and the meat is sliced about 3/4″ thick. This should yield about 8 slices. Each slice is one serving for us.
Dredge in flour – about 3/4 c with a good grind of pepper, 1/2 tsp granulated garlic and a bit of salt (1/4 tsp).
Brown well on one side in bacon grease and lightly on the second side. leave the lightly browned side down when adding the stuffing. This dish is one of the reasons we save our bacon grease.
Stuffing
3-4 apples chopped into 1/4 ” slices
2-3 medium onions sliced to match the apples
1 fist full of fresh thyme and 10-12 leaves of fresh sage chopped (if dried about 1 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp of sage) but this dish is one of the reasons to grow your own.
3/4 bag of stuffing / stale bread cubes to fill the pan
Baking
Pour the stuffing mix over the pork
Add 1/2 bottle of apple, pear or your other favorite sweet white wine
Add 1 can chicken broth
Bake covered 90 min at 350F. At 60 min pull it out and turn over the stuffing so the top does not dry out. Pull the cover off for the last 10-15 minutes to let it brown a bit. Teal has reminded me that the pan needs to go on a jelly sheet pan or cookie sheet to catch the inevitable dribbles of juice that otherwise makes a mess of the oven.
Serving
Serve with the same wine you used to cook it (unless it has magically disappeared in the meantime). The pork will be fork tender. I like about a dozen rinsed capers on my slice. This will serve 8. A small side salad is nice. Of course, apple crisp is the favored desert.
For those of you that live in Wisconsin, my favorite orchards are Ski Hi and Brighton Woods with Aepple Treow winery as well as my back yard.
Mark Bronkalla