Wednesday, December 7, 2011

FFwD: Chard-Stuffed Pork Roast

I wonder if something went wrong with my Chard-Stuffed Pork Roast (pg 276 of Around My French Table). I keep reading through the recipe, wondering if I accidentally omitted something, but nothing jumps out at me.

This roast showed all promise of glory. The pork is butterflied, filled with a pre-cooked mixture of onion, garlic, raisins, swiss chard, and red pepper flakes, then tied shut. The outside of the pork loin is rubbed with crushed black peppercorns and coriander seeds.

For whatever reason, this tasted flat. Bland, bland, bland. This surprised me, because even though my loin was half the size the recipe called for, I didn't halve the measurements for the seasonings. Beats me.
I still like the idea of raisins and onions and chard in my pork, and maybe I'll try this again some day. Not soon, though.

Conclusion: Just okay.

18 comments:

  1. Maybe it just needed more salt? I seasoned my filling fairly aggressively while it was cooking (as well as the meat itself) & thought it had good flavor.
    It looks good though!

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  2. I'm having to sit this one out (at least for a Friday posting) because it's my office party. Sorry this didn't work out for you.

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  3. This is why it's so interesting to read other people's takes on the recipes. I thought this roast was full of flavor, but it sounds like you double-checked and didn't omit anything. Who knows?

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  4. I used lots of salt and seasonings, but I had a larger roast...we enjoyed the flavors and thought it was all quite good.

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  5. Sorry to hear that. I hate that feeling, when I know that what is on my plate is not at all what the cookbook author intended. Mine didn't turn out either, but I know exactly what went wrong with mine, I overcooked it. Annoying, but I can't ever seem to get pork right.

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  6. Aw - that's terrible. I tend to over-salt (at least to some people) so I didn't face that problem. I didn't really measure out the peppercorns/coriander but rather eyeballed them based on the size of the cutlets. I'm sure you'll rock it next time if the seasoning was the issue.

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  7. I added stuff to mine - including salt - and I still thought this was one bland dish. So you are not alone!

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  8. I know it shouldn't make me feel better that someone else found this bland, too, but it does.

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  9. I found the meat part of this recipe really bland too - as long as each bite had a bit of the filling, it was good. But otherwise? Meh. Yours looks good though!

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  10. You're the second one to comment on the blandness of this recipe. My pork had a nice coating of fat on top...maybe that made it more flavorful! Hope next week is better :)

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  11. I don't think you did anything wrong at all. Mine tasted good, but we needed to add salt at the table, so I think there should be salt added to the peppercorn/coriander mixture. It looks like it turned out well except for that.

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  12. Seems like this week's recipe is a polarizing one. It's too bad it turned out bland for you after all the work in cooking it to specification! I hope next week will be a better experience.

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  13. Oh no! I hate it when that happens. It looks stunning, so I am not sure what happened either.

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  14. Thats too bad! Maybe some more salt and pepper? I put some white wine in my chard and it gave it a bit more flavor... you might want to try that.

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  15. I think pork needs a lot of seasoning. A sauce of some kind would be nice.

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  16. I put in extra salt, no exta pepper. It tasted good for us, but I Made it with Spinach, so maybe that's the clue.

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  17. It looks great though!
    We loved it but I'm not sure how excited we would have been without the pork crackling I went with. The kids love crackling and that made the stuffing bearable to them!

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