New Jersey - The Garden State, State flower: Purple Violet

1. Applejack Pie
2. Spinach Salad
3. Roast Pork with Cinnamon Apples
4. Boiled Radishes

Roast Pork with Cinnamon Apples - Serves 8

Preheat oven to 325º.

5 lb pork loin roast, chops cracked
¾ cup applejack brandy
1 Tbsp coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
2 or 3 allspice berries, crushed
6 medium potatoes
6 large tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
½ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Marinate pork in applejack for at least 4 hours, or overnight, sponging liquid over meat several times.

About 3 hours before dinner, drain and save marinade.

Rub pork on all surfaces with salt, a generous amount of black pepper, a liberal grating of nutmeg, the ground cloves and allspice.

Put the meat on a rack in a roasting pan and roast in oven for 2 hours.

About 1 hour before serving, peel potatoes and boil in salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain, cut into quarters and pat dry.

Pour of fat from roasting pan into a shallow metal pan, toss potatoes in fat, then spread them out in roasting pan and let them roast in the oven alongside the pork.

Remove pork from pan and spread apples around the bottom of the pan; sprinkle them with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Warm the marinade, add a little extra applejack if you choose, set it aflame and pour over apples. Return pork to bed of apples and continue roasting for 45 minutes or so, until the pork is tender.

If the meat appears to be getting dry, cover with foil.

Turn potatoes about 30 minutes after they begin to roast; if they are not really crisp, turn oven to 500º, remove tender roast and apples to a hot serving platter and cook potatoes for 5 minutes while the pork rests.

Add potatoes to platter or serving bowl. Serve all hot.

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