Recipes

Cooking Comfort Food With Apples

Posted 11/12/2010

(NAPSI) - Apples are hard workers and cooking with apples and cheese can be a breeze!

JARLSBERG PORK TENDERLOIN

WITH APPLES

4 ounces diced Jarlsberg

1 tablespoon dried breadcrumbs

1 1-pound pork tenderloin

1 teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon peanut oil

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 cup diced onion

3 peeled, sliced (¾”) Granny Smith apples (3½ cups)

½ cup apple brandy and ½ cup chicken stock (or 1 cup chicken stock)

Preheat oven to 400º F. Mix Jarlsberg with breadcrumbs and set aside. Cut tenderloin lengthwise in four equal strips. Mix pepper, thyme and salt; sprinkle on pork, wrap and set aside. Heat large ovenproof pan or skillet on medium-high. Add oil, swirl to coat and sauté garlic with onion 2 minutes. Add apples, cover and cook 8 minutes or until soft. Off heat, remove ½ the apple mixture and, using spatula, create four 4-inch pancake rounds with remaining apples. With each pork strip, make a donut circle, creating 2-inch hole in center; secure with toothpicks. Place pork rounds atop apple “pancakes.” Fill pork center with cheese-breadcrumb mixture and cover with reserved apples. Bake 20 minutes. For doneness, cut into 1 round to check if meat is white. For well done, bake 5 minutes more. With spatula, carefully move rounds to serving plates. Reheat skillet on stove, pour in apple brandy and boil 2 minutes, scraping up brown bits. Add chicken stock and boil to reduce by half. Drizzle on pork rounds.

SPICED SAUSAGE SLIDER

1 12-inch skinny baguette or 6 slider rolls

Honey mustard

Relish (Sweet India or dill pickle style) OR sliced bread and butter pickles OR cornichons

½ pound thin-sliced, roasted spicy sausage: chorizo, Italian or kielbasa

1 large Fuji or Gala apple, cored and sliced thin

6 slices Jarlsberg cheese or try a premium aged Gouda, like Old Amsterdam

Tip: To roast sausage, preheat oven to 425º F. Spray a roasting pan with olive oil and cook sausage until well browned, about 25 minutes.

Slice bread or rolls horizontally to open. Place on foil-lined baking sheet and toast. Spread layer of mustard and relish on top and bottom halves. Arrange sausage, apple and cheese on bottom half. With roll (or baguette) tops to the side, broil 3−5 minutes until cheese begins to melt. Cover with tops (slice into 2-inch sliders if baguette) and serve.

Visit www.norseland.com for more information.