This is Big Joe's ultimate complete German dinner

Big Joe’s German Pork Tenderloin with Jersey Fresh Apple Cranberry Chutney with German Red Cabbage and Warm German Potato Salad

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I have had the pleasure of going to Germany several times. From Munich to Herzogenaurach to Frankfurt and Bonn, I enjoyed the beautiful landscape, architecture, and history but the bier halls were my favorite part of each trip.

At every German town and city, I had the pleasure of visiting, whether on business or pleasure, I would enjoy a stein or two or three of Germany’s finest beers. So, between my passion and love for German bier and cuisine, I came up with the following recipe.

I wanted to create the flavors of Germany while utilizing the Jersey Fresh ingredients we’re privileged to have here in New Jersey. I use the same cranberries that you’ll find in your Ocean Spray cranberry cocktail grown proudly in South Jersey and Jersey apples in my recipe. I knew I wanted to pair this pork tenderloin with German red cabbage and warm German potato salad.

Enjoy the dish and have yourself a nice cold beer! Raise a glass to me too. Thanks!

Serves 4-6

Big Joe Note…read all the notes before you prepare this meal so that you can adequately prep and time out your dinner service.

Ingredients:

2 lb Pork tenderloin

Rub: Can be prepared ahead of time and left overnight in the fridge to marinate.

1 ½ Tbl of Brown Sugar

1 Tbl of Nutmeg

1 Tbl of Coleman’s Dry Mustard

1 Tbl of Fresh Sage

1 Tbl of Fresh Thyme

Salt and Pepper (generous course)

Apple Cranberry Chutney:

1 ½ Apples (Fuji) diced (sprinkle with lemon juice to hold color)

4 Cups of fresh Jersey Cranberries left whole

1 Cup of Orange Juice

2 Tbl of Honey

¾ Cup of Brown Sugar

1 Tsp of Cinnamon

1 Tsp of Ginger

¼ Cup of Cider Vinegar

Pinch of cloves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Take pork loin out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Prepare rub…Salt and Pepper the entire pork loin first. Mix all rub ingredients in a bowl…generously rub the pork loin so that the entire pork loin is covered…let rest or you can cover it with plastic wrap and set it in the fridge overnight to marinate.

Place tenderloin on the rack and put in a 425-degree oven. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 140 – 145 degrees. After cooking let rest uncovered for 10 minutes.

Make the Chutney. In a large saucepan add orange juice, honey, vinegar, and brown sugar. Over medium high heat, stirring constantly bring to a boil once boiled add the cranberries, apples, ginger, cinnamon, and pinch of cloves. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a rolling simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally. Should reduce nicely in about 25 minutes…cook more if you want it thicker…let rest and serve warm over pork.

Once the pork is rested serve slice into ½ inch slices fan pork on a plate and serve chutney on top of the pork.

Big Joe’s Authentic German Red Cabbage

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This is the real deal I have had this recipe while on my visits to Germany. Like any other recipe, some regions of Germany or individuals vary this recipe by an ingredient or two but I think this recipe represents the true German Red Cabbage that’s both sweet and sour and is going to go great with our pork loin. I thought I may add a little caraway to this dish to add a “rye bread flavor” to the mix and I was almost beheaded at the thought of using a Mediterranean spice in a German dish. Oops! So no caraway. Just a note this takes time to cook, over two hours, so if you have time you can make this a day ahead and it will taste better as the flavors will have blended.

Ingredients:

1 Medium head of Jersey Fresh Red Cabbage (very thinly sliced suggest using a mandolin slicer to cut down cooking time)

1 Medium onion (sweet or Spanish is good) finely sliced

1 Large Jersey Apple Fuji or Red Delicious peeled cored and diced

¼ Cup of Cider Vinegar

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter

2 ½ Tbl of Cherry Preserves or Red Currant Jam

½ Cup of Vegetable Broth

3 Whole Cloves

1 Whole Bay Leaf

1 Tsp of Sugar

Generous Salt and Pepper

1 Tbl of All Purpose Flour to thicken

2 Tbls of Water

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven, over medium-high heat add butter, when melted, add medium onion, and cook until almost caramelized add apples, and sauté’ for about 5 minutes, then add cabbage continue to sauté’ add the bay leaf, sugar, and cloves, salt and pepper. Stir and sauté’ for 5 minutes. Add the preserves/jam and cider vinegar stir and sauté’ for 3 minutes. Add broth then bring to a boil. Keep at a boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Simmer for at least 2 hours. Check on cabbage every half hour stirring mixture. At about the 1-hour mark, taste and if

necessary add more vinegar, spices, etc, also at this time mix water and flour, making sure there are no lumps. Add the flour mixture to the dish stirring generously then cover and continue cooking.

Big Joe’s German Warm Potato Salad

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German potato salad is a great side dish. It’s simple and pretty easy to make. As with all “authentic” recipes there are variations. This is my pretty close “authentic” take on a dish I think you’ll enjoy. This takes about an hour to make and can be made ahead of your dinner day. I don’t recommend you make it the day before because it shouldn’t be refrigerated until stored for leftovers. Trust me, you’ll love this and there’s a good chance there won’t be any leftovers.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

5 Medium to large Red Skin potatoes, peeled and large diced

5 Slices of thick sliced bacon (I like Applewood smoked)

1 Medium white onion diced

3/8 Cup of white vinegar

¼ Cup of sugar

3 Tbls of water

2 Tbls of Fresh parsley (I like Italian leaf parsley)

Salt and course ground pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot, place peeled potatoes filled with cold water so that potatoes are covered. Add salt to water and bring to a boil. Cook potatoes for 10 – 12 minutes or until tender to fork. Remove potatoes drain and set aside. In a large frying pan cook bacon until crispy and brown. Drain bacon on paper towels and set aside. To the bacon grease add onions, and cook over medium heat until they start to caramelize, to that mixture add vinegar, sugar, water, salt, and pepper bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes while stirring. Add potatoes to the frying pan with half of the cooked bacon and half of the parsley mix thoroughly. Cook for 5 – 7 minutes making sure that potatoes are covered in sauce. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and sprinkle the remainder of the bacon and parsley on top. Serve warm. Enjoy!