Pink of Perfection

When we were still in the darkest days of February, Sebastian and I threw a Scandinavian-themed dinner party. Ever since I read this this, I’ve been wishing I were born Danish. Perhaps this would mean I were tall, effortlessly cool, and blond, but it would certainly mean my home was a white canvas of zero clutter punctuated by bright bursts of color. Without a plane ticket to take me to Copenhagen or a time machine to travel back and screw with the family tree, the only way I know how to access the culture of another place is to eat their food. And what more visceral method is there, really?

Our dinner party didn’t give grant me blondness, but it was a chance to drink Aquavit with some of our dearest friends, eat smoked salmon, and revel in one of my favorite dinner party dishes of roast pork with apples and prunes in a mustard cream sauce. My clutter problems didn’t magically evaporate, but we did have a good laugh at the pictures of Max von Sydow demonstrating a skoal in my fantastically musty-smelling copy of The Cooking of Scandinavia procured in a church basement (along with the rest of the complete Time Life cooking series — the find of a lifetime). What more can one really ask from a dinner with friends?

Pork Loin with Apples, Prunes, and Mustard Cream Sauce
from Gourmet
Serves 8

1 (4-lb) boneless pork loin roast
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 Granny Smith apples
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup packed dried pitted prunes, quartered
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons coarse-grain mustard
1/2 cup dry white wine

Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.

Pat pork dry and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat oil in a very large heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown pork, turning occasionally, 6 to 8 (you may need to cut pork in half crosswise and do this in batches if you don’t have a large enough skillet). Transfer to a small flameproof roasting pan (do not clean skillet) and roast pork until no pink remains, about 40 to 50 minutes. If you have one, an instant read thermometer inserted diagonally at least 2 inches into meat should register 150°F.

While pork roasts, peel, quarter, and core apples, then cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet, then cook onion in skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add apples, prunes, broth, and water and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in cream and mustard and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and keep sauce warm, partially covered.

Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand 10 minutes. Add wine to roasting pan and boil over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir pan juices into cream sauce along with remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 3/4 teaspoon pepper and heat sauce over moderate heat, stirring, until hot. Slice pork and serve with sauce.