For quite a fancy spread, this elegant dinner comes together in not much more than an hour. The sweet Vidalia onions break down into luxurious softness, while the apple slices (we used Ruby Frost) and garlic render down and provide additional layers of flavor to the onion mixture.
Served with garlicky mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, it was a complete and satisfying meal. We had plenty leftover so we plan to get two additional meals from it. One, a pork fried rice dish, and the other we’ll just simply reheat the leftovers as they are, and enjoy the meal all over again!
Roasted Sweet Vidalia Pork Loin
Ingredients
- 1 center-cut pork loin, (3 lbs.)
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 3 Vidalia onions, sliced into thin half-moons
- 1 apple, sliced thick
- 1 tsp. caraway seeds
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup hard apple cider, or beer
- 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Generously sprinkle all sides of the pork loin with salt and pepper. Place a braiser or shallow Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and heat until shimmering. Carefully put the pork in the pan. Sear until deeply golden on all sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan.
- Put the onions and apple in a large mixing bowl. Add the caraway seeds, dried thyme, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat. Transfer the mixture to the bottom of the braiser and nestle in the garlic cloves. Pour in 1/4 cup of the chicken stock and place the pork back on top. Put in the oven.
- About 20 minutes into the roasting time, turn the apple and onion mixture, leaving the pork loin alone. Continuing cooking the roast until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, about 30 minutes. (Ours took 40 minutes to come to temperature.)
- Transfer the pork to a cutting board to rest while you make a pan sauce. Remove the apple and onion mixture to a platter
- Return the braiser to the stove over medium-high heat. Pour in the hard cider and remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock. Cook, scraping with a spatula to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Whisk in the mustard. Allow the sauce to simmer until reduced slightly, a couple of minutes. Add the butter, whisking until melted. Cook just until the sauce is shiny and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Slice the pork and arrange the slices over the onion and apple mixture. Top with sauce and chopped parsley.
Adapted from a recipe by Trisha Yearwood
Accounting for Taste 
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