Off to inlaws

I thought I'd do a short post before we're off to Per's parents for two days. Tomorrow is Per's birthday and he wants to spend that with his family, so we normally go there this time of year. We'll be back in time for christmas though. Christmas evening - and that's when Swedes celebrate, NOT on christmas day - is my mother's birthday, so I always try to be home for that.

Anyway. I'll just share a recipe that I found over at Kate's Accidental Hedonist, that I made for friends on Friday night. Man, it was SO good! I augmented quantities quite a bit, and used pork fillet instead of pork chops, so here's my version of it: (and THANK YOU Kate, this was really amazing!!)

For four people:
2 small pork fillets (each weighing about one pound)
200 g gorgonzola
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
salt and black pepper
4 Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced into eight wedges per apple
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup applecider vinegar
1 cup Riesling wine (I bet any white wine would work fairly well)
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cardamom (and for a more intense taste, use cardamom seeds rather than ground)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp butter

Heat the oven to 175 degrees Centigrade. (About 350 F) Get out your sharp knife, and score the fillets. Cut almost all the way down on one side, but be careful not to cut through. Flip open. Salt the meat, and set aside. Mix the gorgonzola with the walnuts, and add as much pepper as you'd like. Spread this onto the inside of the meat, taking care to concentrate in the middle and not getting any on the edges. Wrap the fillet back up, and secure with toothpicks. (Or be like me and not have any at home, having to resort for sharpened matches.)

Brown the fillets on all four sides, and then transfer to a roasting rack. Put into oven for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Saute the apple slices until they're a bit brown on both sides - but not mushy. Set aside. In the same skillet, add the vinegars and the wine. Let this reduce. Stir in the spices - and I would probably add a tablespoon of brown sugar at this point. Put in the butter at the very end.

Serve by cutting up the fillets into thick slices - the cheese will run a bit, but no worries. Add the apples, and pour the sauce on top. Enjoy!

We had this with roast potatoes, and it was a great pair. I bet it'd be good with regular rice, too. For dessert, we had a pineapple sorbet, that sadly was made from a slightly overripe pineapple. It lacked in acidity, but was still decent. No pictures - not very picturesque food - but another kitty pic.