Re:visiting Peru | Cerdo Relleno con Manzana

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I made one heck of a dinner tonight, thanks to that old cookbook my mom sent up. "Cerdo Relleno con Pure de Manzana" is a simple dish, perfect for those nights that you don't want getting too complicated.

If you do it right, the pork is tender, the apple sauce is savory, and it's so tasty, you won't even want a side dish (that's all filler, anyway).

To reproduce this dish you'll need-

• 2 lb pork tenderloin
  
• sea salt
  
• freshly ground black pepper
  
• powdered cumin
  
• 1 tbsp of raisins and 1 tbsp of cranberries
  
• 4 tbsp olive oil
  
• 4 tbsp butter
  
• 2 medium-sized onions (small dice)
  
• 2 large apples (peeled, cored, sliced)
  
• 1.5 cups chicken stock (as required)
  
  1. trim excess fat and silver membrane off pork tenderloin; wash and pat dry
  2. butterfly the pork and season both sides liberally with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and powdered cumin
  3. place either the prunes or the raisins and cranberries in pork
  4. dice the onion; peel, core and slice the apples thinly, set aside
  5. sear pork until golden in olive oil over medium heat, set aside
  6. discard the olive oil, add butter to the same pan and saute onions and apples for 5 minutes over medium heat
  7. return pork to the pan and add 1/2 cup of chicken broth
  8. cover pan, adding chicken broth as needed so that the mixture doesn't become dry
  9. cook for 25 minutes (or to your preferred temperature), flipping the pork over halfway through
  10. slice pork in 1/2" thick slices, serve with rustic apple sauce on side
  
  

I took a few liberties with the recipe, substituting cranberries and raisins for the recommended prunes. I also plumped up the raisins and the cranberries by heating them in chicken stock, before placing them in the pork. I added cumin to the list of seasonings, as well - and you can see from the picture that the apple "sauce" isn't, since I prefer apples in their rustic form. I also added some fresh goat cheese (with lemon pepper) as a counterpoint to the sauce's sweetness.

The end result was better than I could have asked for, and definitely a recommended "bucket list" recipe!