Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Tonight's entry is a joint effort by me and my boyfriend, Eric.  I've never cooked pork before, let alone a stuffed pork tenderloin so he was incredibly helpful in all of this.  Basically this is a lean pork tenderloin butterflied and pounded until it's a rectangular, flat-ish piece of meat.  After that, a goat cheese/cranberry/walnut/chestnut stuffing mix is spread across the meat and the tenderloin is tightly rolled back up, tied with twine, and cooked.  It's then sliced and served with mashed sweet potatoes and I have to say it came out pretty good.  Pork is one of those meats that combines really well with sweet fruit flavors so the cranberry adds a really nice contrast.  The creamy goat cheese, savory bread stuffing, and sweet dried cranberries sort of melt into the pork and the chestnuts and walnuts take on the flavor of the meat.  I think this would make a great autumn dish, maybe with an apple chutney and possiblyyyy a nice sangria :)

Ingredients (serves about 8):

• 1.5 - 2 lb. lean pork tenderloin
• box of bread stuffing (I used Stovetop's Savory Herb stuffing) - 3 cups needed
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup roasted and peeled chestnuts
• 6 oz. soft goat cheese
• 4 medium sized sweet potatoes (or red yams)
• 4 tbs butter (I used Smart Balance)
• 4 tbs fat free sour cream
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
• twine

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F and cook the stuffing according to the directions on the box.
2. In a large bowl, combine the stuffing, cranberries, walnuts, chestnuts, goat cheese, and garlic and mix well.
3. On a large cutting board, butterfly the tenderloin and pound until somewhat flat.
4. Rub the surface of the pork with olive oil and salt and pepper and flip so the spiced surface is now face down.
5. Spread the mix evenly over the exposed meat surface and leave a 1/2 inch border along the sides.  You can pile on the stuffing mix as much as you want, but there's a good possibility (based on the weight and how flat you pounded the meat out) that you won't use all of it.    
6. Tightly roll the tenderloin back up and tie off the ends and a couple of segments in the middle with twine.  You're looking to keep the roll in place when you're cooking the meat as well as keep the goat cheese from oozing out.
7. Put some olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Once heated up, put the tenderloin in and sear on both sides until it turns a light brown.
8. From there, transfer the tenderloin to the oven and cook for about 45 minutes - 1 hour.  Basically, you want the internal temperature to be at least 165*F.  
9. While the pork is cooking, peel the sweet potatoes and cube them.
10. Bring a large pot of water to boil and put the sweet potatoes in.  After 5-10 minutes, change the water and bring to a boil again.  I suppose this isn't really mandatory, I just like getting rid of the starchy water.
11.  Boil the potatoes until they're fork tender and drain.
12. Add the butter, sour cream, and mash until smooth. 
13. Once removed from the oven, allow to sit for a couple of minutes and then slice and serve with the mashed sweet potatoes.

 Approximate Nutritional Info per Serving:

• Calories: 339
• Carbohydrates: 29g
• Fat: 11g
• Protein: 27g