Bratwurst, Apple, Stuffed Pork
Each fall I take out a little time to page through some old cookbooks stacked on my kitchen bookshelf.
Not looking for anything in particular except some inspiration on what I might prepare for a couple of varied gatherings over the upcoming season.
Does a certain food photo, or even the idea of a particular type of recipe ever intrigue you?
This sort of fascination has always occurred to me when thumbing through those heavy, large sized glossy European reference cookbooks whose pages include a culinary history including a taste of some top cultural recipes from each country and a focus on some specialty dishes and products among regions.
One genre popular in the culinary history among many of these European countries includes roasted stuffed meats, typically pork or beef, stuffed with another meat, such as any variety of sausages.
Some may appear fussy but then once roasted and sliced expose colorful round stuffed centers filled with ingredients making the final dish presentation quite lovely for entertaining.
Here we have a center spread with a type of sausage, seasoned Bratwurst.
The bratwurst stuffing provides for that old world style of stuffed roasts displayed in the glossy European reference cookbooks.
Choosing an apple smoked bratwurst complements well with a crisp apple or two on hand from our annual apple picking day out at the Frecon Farms Orchard combined with a lightly sauteed mixture of leftover bread cubes from a stale baguette.
Turns out, it’s really not so difficult or fussy to simply remove the translucent outer casings exposing ground seasoned sausage meat and spread it evenly across the circumference of the roast simply leaving about an eighth inch all around the edges and using kitchen string to hold the combination intact.
You can easily stuff back in any overflow and once cooked and set tented for a bit the stuffed Pork sliced with a sharp serrated knife will provide a very delicious and flavorful grand display.
Served alongside a buttery mash of seasoned boiled butternut squash and potatoes this late fall dish provided no leftovers.
A delightful outcome to a longtime fascination of a roast stuffed with a seasoned sausage meat, from the glossy pages of the old world European cookbooks. Bratwurst, Apple, Stuffed Pork Roast.
Bratwurst, Apple, Stuffed Pork
Ingredients
- 2 1/2-3 pound boneless Pork Loin Rib End Roast
- 3 Bratwurst, approximately, or any other seasoned sausage slit, casing removed
- 2 slices bacon, cut into quarters plus 2 more pieces of bacon, quartered
- 2 tablespoons butter plus 2 more tablespoons
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 cup dried bread cubes
- 1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 1 1/2 -2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup apple cider plus 3 tablespoons for stuffing
- For the Cider Style Gravy:
- 2 tablespoons Wondra, quick mix flour
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- juices collected from the cooked pot roast along with any meat bits
- a couple pinches kosher salt, or to taste
- a couple pinches cracked black pepper
- Equipment Needed:
- Roasting Dish just large enough to fit stuffed pork roast
- Meat Pounder
- Kitchen String
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a small bowl mix together a half teaspoon each of kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried sage
- Place the Pork Loin Rib End Roast onto a large cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut the center of the roast working straight across to open the meat forming a flattened rectangle ending the cut about one inch from the end
- Once the roast is open and lying flat, use a meat pounder to thin the meat somewhat so it will fit the stuffing better upon rolling up
- Rub the spice mixture onto the inside of the pork then evenly spread the bratwurst sausage on top leaving about an eighth inch all around the edges.
- Cook the quartered two bacon pieces in a pan large enough to accommodate the pork roast, add in 2 tablespoons butter as the bacon begins to render fat, scrape the chopped onion into the pan, cook on very low heat for two minutes, tumble in the bread cubes, stir, sprinkle over a couple pinches of salt and pepper, continuing to cook until the outer part of the bread cubes softens
- Topple in the apple chunks, stir, cook a few more minutes, sprinkle in fresh thyme and sage
- Pour three tablespoons apple cider into the stuffing mixture, stir, heat through, check seasoning, adjust to taste, turn off heat
- Transfer stuffing to a bowl and wipe out the pan
- Cool stuffing at least ten minutes then carefully spread the stuffing over the bratwurst sausage
- Roll up the pork roast like a jelly roll then secure tightly all around using kitchen string. Any stuffing or sausage that comes out during rolling may be stuffed back in
- In the same pan, cook the other two pieces of cut bacon adding in 2 tablespoons butter as the bacon begins rendering its fat
- Place the tied, stuffed pork into the pan and brown the stuffed roast all around
- Once browned, pour chicken stock and apple cider into the pan, cover with aluminum foil and cook for approximately one hour, or until just done.
- Remove stuffed pork from oven and place on a cutting board tented with aluminum foil for ten to twelve minutes then slice using a sharp serrated knife
- For The Cider Gravy: Stir Wondra quick flour into a quarter cup of apple cider and cook on medium heat until boiling, pour into the juices remaining in the roasting pan, scraping any accumulated bits of meat, cook on medium heat approximately five minutes or until thickened. Strain gravy, add in salt and pepper, check seasoning and adjust to taste
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