If you've only read at three or four posts on this blog, you've surely figured out that I love cheese. Well, not all cheese. I think Velveeta, anything individually wrapped in plastic and monterey jack are the scourge of the cheese world. I love tangy, salty, stinky cheese! So, imagine my delight when I was notified that I was the second place winner in the Belle Chevre recipe contest! The prize is a box of fabulous goat cheese every month for a year! Yay!
Here's the recipe:
Bacon and Goat Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Apple Chutney
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 1-1/2 lb. - 2 lb. pork tenderloin fat and sinew removed.
3 slices of bacon
4 oz. Belle Chevre “Confetti Goat Cheese Crumbles”
1/4 C. flat-leaf parsley coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper to taste
4 8-inch lengths of kitchen twine
1 small red onion minced
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small Fuji apple minced
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a broiler pan with foil.
Fry the bacon in a large skillet, reserving the pan when done. Pat the bacon dry with paper towels and
chop. Butterfly the pork tenderloin lengthwise, slicing it down the center, but not all the way through. Open it up, and cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap. Pound it evenly with a kitchen mallet or heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the inside evenly with the bacon, goat cheese and flat-leaf parsley.
Close the tenderloin back up and tie in four evenly-spaced places with kitchen twine to keep it shut. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper.
Brown the tenderloin in the pan used for frying bacon. When all sides are brown, place it on the broiler
pan and bake it in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until a thermometer says it's 165 degrees inside.
While the pork is cooking, make the chutney. Using the same skillet used for bacon and browning the tenderloin, cook the onion with the butter on medium-high heat. After about five minutes, add the minced apple, cooking for another five minutes, stirring occasionally.
When the apple and onion are soft, turn the heat up and add 1 tablespoon each of lemon juice, honey
and rice wine vinegar. Stir on high for five minutes. The mixture should turn golden brown. Reduce heat
to low and simmer.
When the tenderloin is done, slice it into medallions and arrange on your plate. Top with spoonfuls of the chutney, and put the remainder into a bowl for the table.
