Roasted Pork Loin Stuffed with Apples, Dates and Goat Cheese

Pork loin is a tasty, easy, and inexpensive protein to serve your family any day of the week. But, when you stuff the pork loin with thinly sliced, tart Granny Smith apples, sweet, gooey dates and creamy, earthy goat cheese, you take something ho-hum and turned it into a luscious meal that's good enough to serve to guests.

Whenever I cook, I try to use ingredients I already have in my kitchen and I try to keep the costs low. Each month, I buy a large pork loin at Costco and cut it into three 2-pound portions to be used throughout the month. Buying meat in bulk saves considerable money. I also buy a large chunk of goat cheese every month from Trader Joe's. Priced at around $5, this cheese adds flavor and creaminess to salads, pastas and, of course, meats. Goat cheese used to be difficult to find but, now, it can be located at any grocery store. There's nothing worse than seeing a great recipe in a magazine and realizing the ingredients are so upscale that you can't find them at your neighborhood grocery store. When you finally do locate the item, it's so expensive you question it's value. If you're like me, however, you go ahead and buy the costly item because you don't want to admit you've wasted so much time searching for some rare ingredient imported from France. I am happy to say that this savory-sweet recipe is made of ingredients that are so common, you can easily find them at your favorite supermarket.

Pork Loin Roast Stuffed with Apples, Dates and Goat Cheese

Over the years, I've gone through several meat thermometers. My first thermometer was of the manual probe variety. You can find these at any supermarket. After replacing it several times, I realized that they stopped working after a few uses and weren't very accurate. I was lucky to move into a new home that had a probe thermometer attached to the oven. This Kitchenaid oven was probably my favorite oven of all time. All I had to do is plug the thermometer into the oven, insert the probe into the meat, program the desired temperature and the oven would let me know when it was done. No more guessing.

Unfortunately, we moved from that house and my beloved Kitchenaid was left behind. Last year, my mother-in-law gifted me a digital probe thermometer she bought at Macy's. I must say, it works just as well as the one I left behind. It is made by Martha Stewart and consists of a probe which you insert into the meat while in the oven, a wire that you close in the oven door and stretch to the adjoining counter and a digital programmer. You can set it to let you know when your target temperature is reached or when a certain time has been reached. The best part is, you don't even have to know what target temperature you need. You simply select your meat type: beef, burger, lamb, poultry, or pork. Next you select the desired doneness: rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well, or well-done. After you have made your choices you can walk away. The thermometer will beep loudly when the meat is done. I highly recommend this meat thermometer, or one similar, for those who are not lucky enough to have an oven with one built-in.

©Copyright Denise Mai, June 7, 2012. All rights reserved.

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