A 10-minute play.
Setting: Dinner for 8 at Casa Nova.
Act I. The food gets plated in kitchen
Act II. Everyone gets served and I sit at the table.
Act III. No one picks up their forks, but instead look inquiringly at me.
Dialogue
Guests: (with lifted eyebrows and questioning voices) Aren’t you going to take a photo?
Me: (laughing) No, not every meal I cook is presented on FOODalogue.
Guests: (in unison) But this looks sooo good.
Me: O.K. 
Here then, I present pork loin stuffed with smoked pulled pork and a sweet onion sugar glaze. Side dishes: braised red cabbage and apples; white bean puree and a great, but-too-many-ingredient, grain dish to name (see below).
3 lb. Rib End Boneless Pork stuffed with smoked pulled pork.
• I slit the roast lengthwise leaving one side intact and rubbed the meat with a mix of: ground juniper berries, star anise, part of a cinnamon stick, fennel, oregano, cumin with a clove of garlic and EVVO. It was refrigerated for several hours.
• I got the idea to stuff it with pulled pork because I had some in the freezer and I thought it might work well – and it did.
• The glaze was made with a mix of Dijon mustard, honey, barbecue sauce, red chile flakes.
• Last step before roasting was a sprinkling of Sweet Onion Sugar. 
SIDE DISHES
Since I wasn’t planning to post this dinner, I didn’t take particular note of how I was preparing everything. While not exact, this is an idea of how I made the sides. BTW, the sides were served at room temperature.
White Bean Puree
2 cans of cannelini beans pureed with 1 clove of garlic, s+p, fennel seed and a drizzle of olive oil. Finish with a sprinkle of smoked paprika.
Braised Cabbage + Apples
Sautee 1/2 sweet onion with 1 clove of garlic and some bacon bits. Add head of shredded cabbage and chicken broth. Cook till it starts to soften. Add caraway seed, diced green apple, a little brown sugar, cider vinegar and cook down.
Mixed Grains
Israeli couscous cooked with saffron.
A mix of Texmati white, brown and red rice with red lentils and rehydrated porcini mushrooms cooked in chicken broth.
I mixed the grains when they cooled off and tossed them with toasted hazelnuts, smoked sun-dried tomato, chopped fennel, spinach sauteed w/garlic, orange zest. The dish was finished with white truffle oil, the juice of the orange, and a dusting of porcini salt.
As I write this, I’m looking forward to the leftovers. And as I publish this and have already eaten, I have to say ‘the leftovers were even better!’
24 Comments
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I am glad you posted it Joan – otherwise I would have never known the genius of pulled pork stuffed loin! So good!
I love love love apples and cabbage with pork! Yum…a real comfort food!
You are genious! That is a perfect marriage with the pulled pork! I love how everyone waited, lol!
Cannibal pork..awesome! I’ll bet it tasted amazing!
Joan, that looks and sounds gorgeous–good thing your guests insisted on the photos. You are so creative!
That’s too funny Joan. I can imagine all your friends waiting expectingly for you to take your photo.The meal you came up with is certainly worth a standing ovation.
Looked and tasted terrific. Great meal!
what can I say Joan, you have done it again! The meal looks fabulous!
So funny…people will not touch their food now until I take pictures. Amazing marriage of the two. Sorry I missed it.
Very funny! My family does the same thing. We pause to say a Grace and the second pause is for me to take photos. They are very pleased when I just let them eat and sometimes they make me take pictures. My son cooked his own lunch the other day and wanted me to photo it for him!!
I’m glad you posted this also! Pulled pork stuffed pork loin looks amazing! Your spice combinations are quite clever too!
Gorgeous. I’m so glad you took a picture!
Sam
Too funny. My friends and family DO NOT touch their food in a restaurant until I (discretely) snap a photo.
The whole meal sounds great!
LL
I laughed out loud at your comedy in three acts!
LOL, so you get that too, uh? My family wants me to photograph and post every meal they make. I am so glad you decided to post this. It looks amazing!
Very nice, pork in pork what a great combo!
Fantastic! I think it’s great how you have everyone well trained.
Oh how wonderful…Now I would have loved to be a guest at that table. You are such a good hostess and the food is something to brag about!
All the flavors are delightful and the menu is perfect.
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
That was funny! I guess everybody around you is trained now to expect you to pull out the camera; here it was definitely required, the meal sounds imaginative and delicious.
You’re certainly not shy about getting in there and creating something that more complex than you’d find in so many kitchens. You’ll have to cook for me sometime. Florida – only a 3 1/2 hr plane ride from here
I’d be happy to!
That does look good. they were right. Pulled pork is king.
Pork loin stuffed with smoked pulled pork…holy oinking! First of all thank you to your guests and you for posting this pigtastic idea and secondly I want to be one of your guests.
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