Tom says "2 thumbs up", me, I'm just not a pork gal

This was very lovely in a rustic French kind of way, the bleu cheese-walnut-fig stuffing was terrific, and the quince-persimmon-ginger spread oozed off the top of the loin and contributed to a very yummy sauce. T was quite enthusiastic about dinner as a whole; I was reminded that I'm just not a real pork girl. Pigs are smart and cute, and I don't ever really enjoy eating them, except for the random piece of well-done bacon, or bacon as a flavoring. I actually really struggle with this, morally, and Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals is prominent in my to-read pile. For now, I eat pork maybe two times a year and cooked this one tonight for my dear hubby. With dinner, I opened a bottle of the Qupé 2006 Bien Nacido Syrah. Delish!! T thought it was a perfect pairing. And we're off.

"Just on ya leg"

Friends, I feel fortunate to have had such a great day before about 5p. At that point, both boys always start going a bit batty but today, O went down to the basement, attempted to feed Percy a second dinner (he's on a vet-mandated diet), took off his diaper and came back upstairs where he started pestering J who was practicing "Mary Lamb" on the violin. I pulled O up onto my lap to hold him in place while J practiced and when I let him down, I saw a little mound of poop on my thigh. Thank god I had on pants. People, this was gross. I said, "Oliver, did you poop in the basement?" to which he replied, "Nope, just on ya leg, Mom." Eff.

It's a'cookin

I cut the loin down the middle but not all the way through so that I could open it like a book. Then, I mixed together bleu cheese, crumbled walnuts and chopped dried figs, seasoned the pork well with salt and pepper, and spread the cheese mixture on top leaving a 1" border at one end. Then I rolled the loin up, tied it shut and cut 7 slits all around it, into which I inserted 2 slivered garlic cloves. This is an old trick of my mom's and it infuses the meat nicely with the scent and mild flavor of garlic. Next you want to brown your loin well, so I heated up some canola oil in a skillet with a cover and browned the loin well on all sides.

Following the browning, I removed the loin to a work surface and topped it with the quince-persimmon-ginger spread. I poured out all the excess fat from the pan and then into it put slivered onions, the lady apples and the stuffed loin. 

Next, I poured some chicken stock in, covered the skillet and popped it into the oven at 375. So far, so good!