Ingredients
Filling
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large shallot, peeled, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 cups dried apples (packed)
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pork Roast
- 2 1/2 pound boneless center-cut pork loin roast (short and wide – about 7-8 inches long and 4-5 inches wide)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Before starting on the pork, put the pork roast in the freezer for 30 minutes to make it easier to cut. While the pork is chilling, you can make the filling.
2 Bring all the filling ingredients to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until apples are very soft, about 20 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving the liquid. Use a rubber spatula to press against the apple mixture in the sieve to extract as much liquid out as possible. Return liquid to saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, set aside and reserve this liquid for use as a glaze. Pulse apple mixture in food processor, about fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.
2 Preheat oven to 350°F or prepare your grill for indirect heat. You will be “double-butterflying” the pork roast. Lay the roast down, fat side up. Insert the knife into the roast 1/2-inch horizontally from the bottom of the roast, along the long side of the roast. Make a long cut along the bottom of the roast, stopping 1/2 inch before the edge of the roast. You might find it easier to handle by starting at a corner of the roast.
Open up the roast and continue to cut through the thicker half of the roast, again keeping 1/2 inch from the bottom. Repeat until the roast is an even 1/2-inch thickness all over when laid out.
If necessary, pound the roast to an even thickness with a meat pounder or Jaccard.
Now spread the ingredients on the top evenly, roll up and tie with butchers twine.
Smoke or indirect grill for long enough to get the center to at least 145 degrees.