Danish Pork Roulade with Dried Fruit

[taxlady]

I served this for my annual solstice dinner party. I made two 1 kg roulades for 10 people and had leftovers.

Six servings

1 kg pork flank, shoulder, or loin. See cutting directions below. It should be a shape that can be cut to a large rectangle.
100 g dried apricots
100 g prunes
1/2 l water
salt
pepper
1 vanilla bean
OR
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cardomom, freshly ground, if possible
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
butcher's twine

1-2 star anise
OR
1/2 tsp ground anise, or whole or ground fennel

• Soak the apricots and prunes separately until soft. They may take different amounts of time.
• Drain the apricots and prunes and save the soaking water.
• Cut the meat into a large rectangle.
• Start at the long edge about 1/2 inch from the bottom.

Cut as straight as possible, staying at 1/2 inch from the bottom when you get near the end, fold it open and continue.



I hope that made sense. Have a look at the photos here: Picasa Web Albums - rullesteg/por...

Roll the meat up "empty" to make sure it will make a neat roulade. If necessary, trim some of the meat and add it where there is meat missing (If one side of the roll is thinner).

• Mix the cardamom, nutmeg, and vanilla with the prunes and apricots. If using a vanilla bean, cut it in half and scrape out the the beans.
• Put some salt and pepper on the meat.
• Spread the fruit and spices over the meat.
• Roll the meat from a short end.
• Tie it with butcher's twine or fasten with poultry needles.
• Put the meat in an oven proof pan, "seam" side down.
• Add an inch or so of fruit soaking water and water to the pan.
• Add the star anise, anise, or fennel to the water in the pan.
• Put the pan in the middle of a cold oven.
• Bake for approximately 1 1/2 hours at 180 degrees C (~350 degerees F).
• Check if the meat is done by sticking a poultry needle into the meat. The juices should be clear.
• Take the roulade out of the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes covered with foil.
• Deglaze the pan and make a gravy or sauce.
• Carefully remove the butcher's twine or poultry needles from the roulade.
• Slice and serve.

1kg = 1 kilogram, approximately 2.2 pounds.
1l = 1 litre, approximately 1.1 U.S. liquid quarts
100 g = 100 grams, approx. 0.22 pounds, approx. 3.5 ounces

Note, tsp and tblsp are not the standard measures. They are the teaspoons and tablespoons found in your cutlery drawer

[Zhizara]

That looks and sounds so GOOD! YUM.

[PrincessFiona60]

It looks fabulous!

[taxlady]

I made this dish for Solstice, again.

This time I used a single 2 kg piece of pork loin. I added 250 ml (just a smidgen more than a cup) of white wine to the fruit soaking water for braising. I used a bit less of the fruit soaking water. I used vanilla beans instead of vanilla extract. I put the empty vanilla bean pods in the braising liquid, along with the star anise.

I made the potatoes in a separate pan.

The pork was improved a bit by the use of the wine and possibly by the vanilla as bean instead of as extract. The potatoes weren't quite as good. The gravy was really, really good. I just deglazed the pan and degreased the pan juices, then heated with some corn starch that had been dissolved in cold water. I added a teensy bit of salt.

The timing was the same for the 2 kg chunk of meat as for the two 1 kg roasts.

[CWS4322]

Yummm...I happen to have pork loin in the freezer that I cut that way so that I could make either porchetta or ?. I have dried apricots, all I need are the prunes!

[Rocklobster]

Nice one. Looks good and sounds like it would taste even better. I never really know what to do with larger cuts of pork loin. I find they can be fairly dry inside. I'm not a big sauce and gravy fan, so this is a nice way to add lots of flavor to the pork.

It goes on sale here often, so next time they do, I am going to do it this way. Thanks.

[taxlady]

Actually, I think I used 500 ml of white wine. The original recipe calls for 250 ml for the 1 kg piece of meat.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by CWS4322

Yummm...I happen to have pork loin in the freezer that I cut that way so that I could make either porchetta or ?. I have dried apricots, all I need are the prunes!

Have you thought of making Rullepølse - Danish spiced meat roll?

[CWS4322]

Tax:Lady--that is on my list too--I just don't seem to have enough time to do all the things I want to do in the kitchen...funny how other things get in the way...