Farm Family Recipes

Saute the bacon until almost crisp. Add the garlic and cook to soften. Add the apricots and herbs de Provence, mix in and remove from the heat. Drain off any extra bacon fat (reserve) and cool to room temperature. Cut the pork loin into 4 nice cutlets then with a long narrow bladed knife make a pocket in the side of each cutlet. Keep the entry hole as small as possible. Mix the goat cheese into the sauteed bacon mix. Pipe the cheese filling into the pocket of each cutlet using a pastry bag with plain tip. Season each cutlet with salt and pepper and a bit of herbs de Provence. Heat the reserved bacon fat with the olive oil over high heat and sear both sides of each cutlet well. Move cutlets to a 375 degree oven to finish while you make the pan sauce. Saute the shallots lightly in the pan drippings from the cutlets. Deglaze the pan with zinfandel scraping up all the little brown bits into the sauce. Cook to quickly reduce the liquid by 70% to about 3/4 cup of a cup remaining. Add the stock and return to a boil.