For
the brine: Heat the water with the salt and sugar until
dissolved, stirring occasionally. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon,
cloves, garlic, peppercorns, thyme, ginger, chili, fennel, and
anise, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Let the brine
mixture cool. When completely cool, butterfly the pork loin by
cutting it lengthwise, leaving it joined at one side like an
open book. Lay it flat in a shallow non-reactive dish and pour
over the brine with its flavorings. Cover tightly with plastic
wrap and refrigerate for 6 to l2 hours, turning the meat once or
twice.
To
roast the pork: Heat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Drain the meat and
pat it dry with paper towels. Strain the brine and reserve it;
tie the seasonings in a piece of cheesecloth. For the fruit
stuffing, cut the dried fruit in chunks. Set half the cherries
aside for gravy, and mix the rest with the dried fruit and a
spoonful of sugar (if the cherries are sweet you will need very
little). Arrange half of this stuffing along the center of the
cut side of pork, reserving the rest to stuff the peaches.
Reshape the meat to enclose the fruit and tie it with string to
form a neat cylinder. Heat the oil and butter in a roasting pan
over medium-high heat and brown the pork on all sides – it
scorches easily because of the sugar cure. Cover the pan loosely
with foil and roast the meat in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
To
bake the peaches: halve them, discard the pits and set them in a
buttered baking dish. Pile the reserved fruit stuffing in the
hollows left from the pits. Put the peaches in the oven with the
pork and bake until they are just tender when pierced with a
knife, 15-20 minutes. Set them aside to keep warm.
When
the pork is done, a skewer inserted in the center of the meat is
hot to the touch when withdrawn after 30 seconds, or a meat
thermometer registers 165°F/72°C. The cooking time is shorter
than usual since the meat is already partly cured. Transfer it
to a board and cover it with foil to keep warm. Pour off and
discard any fat from the roasting pan, set it on the stove to
heat, and add the veal stock and remaining cherries. Simmer,
stirring to dissolve the pan juices, until the cherries are
tender and the gravy is reduced by half, 10-15 minutes. Work the
gravy through a sieve into a saucepan; be sure to push down on
the cherries in the sieve so the gravy is thickened with pulp.
Reheat the gravy, taste, and adjust the seasoning with sugar,
salt, and pepper. Discard the strings from the pork and cut it
in 3/4-inch/2-cm medallions, or in thinner slices, whichever you
prefer. Arrange the meat on a platter, spoon over some gravy,
and add the stuffed peach garnish.
In winter, instead of serving peaches and cherries with the
Half-Cured Pork, I substitute cranberries, which are now quite
widely available in France. In the stuffing for the pork, add
fresh cranberries instead of cherries. Then cook more of the
berries with sugar as a confit (a preserve), using it to thicken
the gravy and to serve as a colorful accompaniment.
Cranberry Confit
Pick over 1 lb/500 g of cranberries and spread them in a baking
dish in a single layer so they all touch the bottom. Sprinkle
them with 3/4 cup/150g sugar and cover with foil. Bake them in a
350°F/175C° oven with the pork, stirring them occasionally,
until the berries just start to pop, 40 to 50 minutes. The
confit is deliberately quite tart, but you can add more sugar if
you like.
This Recipe of the Month
selection comes from Anne Willan's newest release: Anne
Willan From My Château Kitchen (Clarkson Potter/Publishers.
April 2000)
www.randomhouse.com
