Passport & Plate - Cider Pork w/ Chipotle Sweets and Cinamon Apples
USA | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 4 photos
Apple Cider Brined Pork Loin w/ Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Caramelized Cinnamon Apples
Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes:
1 Sweet Potato (peeled, cut to 2 inch cubes)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 tbsp salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 oz chipotle peppers in adobo, minced
1 lime
Caramelized Cinnamon Apples:
3 tbsp apple cider
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 red skinned apple, cored and cut into 1/4 inch slices
Herby Cider Brined Pork Loin:
3/4 - 1 lb All natural pork loin, sliced into thin medallions
Brine:
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 cup apple cider
2 tsp salt
2 tsp brown sugar
Other:
salt and pepper
Olive Oil
How to prepare this recipe:
The following recipe is from my company’s recipe card for this meal! I have alternate versions if needed but thought this could give you an idea of what we do!
1.) Hi there! We’re scratchDC and we could not be happier to be bringing back the meal that started it all - a seasonal favorite straight from momma scratch’s kitchen. Let’s get cookin’!
2.) Let‘s get the party started by pullin’ out your large pot, and filling her 1/2 way w/ water. Bring to a boil over high heat.
3.) Once boiling, dump in your diced sweet potatoes and your brown sugar and salt mix. Cook the taters for 10-15 minutes or until fork tender.
4.) Once fork tender, drain potatoes in colander. Put drained sweets back into dry pot, turn burner to lowest heat.
5.) Add 1/2 the cream and butter and mix and mash it all up with a mashing implement of choice - masher, fork, clean canned good, fists... (JK, don’t use fists... though it would be badass). Mash in more cream/butter ‘til potatoes are nice & creamy.
6.) Squeeze in lime and add chipotle peppers a lil bit at a time, tasting for heat. Once you hit your perfect spice, add s&p to taste and hold over low heat while you…
7.) Whip out your pan. Place over medium high (7-8) and drizzle in a bit of olive oil.
8.) Grab brined pork loin from the bag o’ cider & spices. Pat dry w/ paper towel then place in hot pan. Sear pork for 2-3 minutes per side. Check for doneness by cutting thickest medallion in half. No pink and white throughout = done! Once cooked, remove to plate, tent w/ tinfoil to keep warm.
9.) In the same pan, set now down to medium heat, add your apple cider, brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Cook for about a minute until it gets a bit gooey, then add your apple slices and cook another 5-8 or until they are as soft as your eyes are beautiful!
10.) Plate all of this deliciousness and add salt and pepper to taste then DIG IN!! Take big combo bites to experience those complimentary flavors and thanks for cookin' with us
The story behind this recipe:
This is the recipe that started it all. My grandmother passed it down to my mom who made it on crisp fall nights as far back as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is coming in from playing in the leaves, my hands stinging from the cold as I grabbed a spoon and dug into a big plate of creamy mashed sweet potatoes and gooey cinnamon apples.
Like most kids of my generation, I did my best eating when I didn’t even appreciate it. After graduating college, I realized how much I missed my mom’s food and how difficult cooking really was. Mom always urged me to cook, always saying “oh, it’s so easy!” then proceeding to blow my mind with complex steps.
It might have been the color of the leaves or the brisk cutting breeze, but one chilly afternoon an inexplicable force came over me – I needed this meal. So in a moment that would literally change my life, I called my mom to ask for this recipe.
I took thorough notes, made a list and ventured to the store past pumpkins and through clouds of my condensing breath. A big bill, hours of peeling, chopping, measuring, brining, boiling and searing later, I had done it.
I felt triumphant, but the process was incredibly difficult. I wanted to eat this well every night, but as a busy young professional, there was just not enough time or money in my bank account. There had to be a more efficient way to make amazing meals.
That (this) meal was the spark that launched my company, scratchDC. We create dinner kits of local ingredients that are fully chopped, measured, marinated, packed with an amazing recipe (many of them Mom’s) and delivered ready to cook – saving people the time, money and food so often wasted when making an amazing meal at home.
This meal was the first meal I beta tested and one of the meals we ran our first week in business. My mom and I cooked this together on our first live TV cooking segment and it is always a crowd pleaser. It is wonderfully delicious and a meal that literally changed my life.
