Pork & Apple Skewers

Cooking pork with apples could be one of humanity’s most ancient recipes. This combination appears in some of the oldest known cookbooks. The more recent ancient history of apples and pork is easier to decipher since European cooks began recording their recipes from around the fourth or fifth century AD onward. The continent’s earliest recipe collections paint the history of how cooks stewed apples and pork together, and sometimes crushed the fruit into sauces.

The association of pigs with apples is obvious at one level – pigs were often let to graze in apple orchards, where they could feast on the windfalls, so the fruit was converted by the pig’s metabolism into pork, instead of rotting into compost and being ‘wasted’ as a food source. Apples are ripe in autumn, which was also the traditional time for culling the surplus stock that could not be overwintered. The pig was the victim of choice here as much of it was eminently preservable for winter use in the form of sausages, ham, and bacon. The fresh cuts were enjoyed at the time in a fresh meat feast which would be the last for a long time – and as the apples were ripe and in abundance at the same time ….. apple sauce with pork made sense.

Generally, when I make pork skewers, I like to use pork tenderloin. But when I saw this recipe on the internet, the ingredients and the look got my attention. The idea of wrapping each meatball in bacon and barbecuing them with apple chunks sounded so good. There is something special about the sweet taste of apples and the full flavor of pork that work so well together.

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Pork & Apple Skewers

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Rating: 5
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Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

American

Keyword

pork & apple skewers

Servings

SKEWERS MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 454 gm ground pork
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 apple, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp rubbed sage
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 2 Tbsp water (optional)

Other Ingredients

• 10 slices smoked maple bacon
• 1 1/2 apples, cut in 4, core removed, cut each piece in half again

Course Main Dish Cuisine American Keyword pork & apple skewers Servings SKEWERS MetricUS Imperial Ingredients Meatballs 454 gm ground pork 1 small onion, finely chopped 1/2 apple, finely chopped 1 tsp salt 1 tsp rubbed sage 1/2 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 1/8 tsp ground ginger 2 Tbsp water (optional) Other Ingredients 10 slices smoked maple bacon 1 1/2 apples, cut in 4, core removed, cut each piece in half again

Votes: 1 Rating: 5 You: Rate this recipe!

Instructions

1. Soak 5 wooden skewers in cold water for about 30 minutes.
2. In a bowl, combine all meatball ingredients & form into 18 balls. Wrap each meatball with a half slice of bacon. Prepare apples.
3. Assemble skewers starting with a meatball then a piece of apple, another meatball, apple & end with a meatball.
4. Preheat the BBQ to medium heat & cook the skewers on each side to brown the bacon well.

Recipe Notes

• Brion & I enjoyed this meal with some creamy orzo parmesan pasta.