Pork Roulade

Since we had 20 people coming over for thanksgiving dinner and the turkey was only 20 pounds, we decided to do a second meat dish, just to be on the safe side. We decided on trying something new and made a pork roulade.

My husband went out and bought a big old pork tenderloin while I decided on a pear butter, bacon and mushroom filling. I've never tried it, but it sounded like a tasty combo.

The day of, my husband cut the pork loin in half to make it easier to work with. He then butterflied, but in 3 sections, is that still called butterflying? Anyway, he made 3 long cuts length-wise in each half of the pork loin to open and flatten them out. I diced and sauteed the mushrooms, my mom crisped and crumbled the bacon, and then I mixed the filling together and slathered it on the pork. My husband then rolled up the roulades, tied them up to keep them from unrolling and oil, salt and peppered them generously. We then browned them on our griddle and popped it in the oven at 350 for a little less than an hour and then took them out to let them rest.

Unfortunately, it turned out a little overcooked and dry because the turkey had hogged both of our probe thermometers (the turkey is more important after all) and we guess-timated how long it would take. Plus, this was our first time making something like this, so it really wasn't our fault. Especially for a first attempt and with all the other craziness going on in the kitchen, I think my husband did a fabulous job. With a little more practice and access to a probe thermometer, I think this could be a lot juicier and prettier in the future. It's definitely a keeper.

What do you think?


Ingredients:
- Pork tenderloin
- Pear butter
- Mushrooms
- Bacon
- Oil
- Salt
- Pepper

Directions:
- Dice the mushrooms and saute them to release most of the liquid. Set aside
- Crisp up the bacon and crumble it. Set aside.
- If your pork loin is really long, consider cutting it in half to make it easier to work with.
- Make 3 cuts into the pork loin (length-wise), so that it can be "unrolled" into one large piece of pork that is evenly thick the whole way through. (This is much easier said than done and may take some practice).
- Mix the pear butter, mushrooms and bacon together.
- Slather the mixture on the "cut" side of the pork loin, leaving about half an inch to an inch of empty space along the border.
- Roll the pork and filling up and tie it every few inches with kitchen twine to keep it from unrolling.
- Generously coat the outside with oil, salt and pepper.
- In a large pan (we used our griddle), brown each side of the pork roulade.
- Put it on a baking sheet and place it into a 350 degree oven.
- Cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 160.
- Take the pork out and let it rest for at least 20 minutes (you can tent it with foil to keep it warm).
- Cut off the strings, slice the pork and serve. If there are any juices, pour those on top. Cranberry sauce and gravy go well with it too.