Before the holidays I hosted about 40 people for a party and thought it was only appropriate to make an 8 lb pork tenderloin in addition to everything else being served. Prior to that day standing in the Costco Meat Department, I didn’t even know a tenderloin of that size existed. Well, it does, and a word to the wise, you will need to brine it in a garbage bag since chances are you don’t own any containers this large.
Banking on the fact that you’ve purchased a more reasonably sized tenderloin, here is a fantastic recipe from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc At Home Cookbook. Enjoy!
Fig-stuffed Roast Pork Loin
adapted from Ad Hoc at Home
Pork Brine
One 2.5 lb pork loin roast
Canola oil
½ cup of ½ cubed ciabatta bread
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of finely chopped shallot
1 cup of Fig & Balsamic Jam (click here)
¼ cup of chicken stock
½ teaspoon of chopped thyme
Kosher salt
Brine pork loin for 10 hours max.
Remove pork from brine, rinse with cold water and pat dry
Slit a lengthwise cut the whole way down the loin. Careful not to cut all the way through.
Heat canola oil in a pan and toast the bread cubes (I did this the night before and stored them in a ziplock once cooled)Cook garlic in shallot in a bit of oil
Stir in jam and heat through
Add bread cubes, chicken stock, thyme and salt to taste
Transfer to a bowl and cool
Preheat oven to 350 with a roasting pan and rack in the oven
Take the pork loin and spread open the cavity for stuffing
Pipe the filling into the pork loin with a pastry bag and large plain tip. DO THIS. I did not and it was really hard to do by hand!
Tie loin with butchers string being careful to not tie too tightly or the filling will be squeezed out.
Season loin with salt and pepper and brown on each side in a large frying pan. 2-3 minutes per side.
Place in roasting pan and roast for 30-40 minutes until the internal temperature is between 135 and 140.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes.
Slice and serve
