Yummy in your tummy!
Kelly Rossiter
Weekday Vegetarian: 5 Vegetarian Recipes + Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin
Here are some suggestions for your weekday vegetarian meals:
I'm folding two series into one this week. I'm continuing providing you with recipes for Weekday Vegetarianism, and add a hint of maple from my series on maple syrup. If there is one meat that really goes well with maple syrup it is pork.
Buy your pork loin at the farmers' market, or from a butcher who sells organic and sustainable meat. If you can afford it, try some Berkshire pork or Tamworth pork, which is an absolutely fabulous breed, and it is on the Slow Food Canadian Ark of Taste. Both are heritage breeds that are endangered. The hope is to bring these breeds back by increasing the demand for their meat. I didn't have the money for either of them, but I did buy an organic pork loin that is antibiotic and hormone free.
This is a great Sunday dinner. It's very easy to make and you just put it in the oven and forget about it for over an hour. Don't worry if you forget to brine it the night before, it would still be delicious.
Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin
8 cups water
1/3 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup (Grade B or amber)
1/2 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
2 sprigs fresh sage
1 large garlic clove, smashed
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 (4- to 4 1/2-lb) boneless pork loin roast, trimmed
For roasting pork
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
3 tablespoons maple syrup (Grade B or amber)
16 bacon slices (about 1 lb)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon water
1. Combine all brining ingredients except pork loin in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan and heat over high heat, stirring, until salt is dissolved. Pour brine into a deep 4- to 5-quart pot; cool to room temperature, uncovered, about 2 hours. Add pork to brine, making sure it is completely covered by brine, and marinate, covered and chilled, 8 to 24 hours.
2. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Pat pork dry (discard brine) and remove any strings, then transfer to a roasting pan. Stir together garlic, sage, and 1 tablespoon syrup in a small bowl and rub all over pork. Lay bacon slices crosswise over loin, overlapping slightly, and tuck ends of bacon underneath loin.
3. Roast pork until thermometer registers 140°F, about 1 1/4 hours. Stir together 1 tablespoon syrup and vinegar until combined. Brush vinegar mixture over bacon slices and continue to roast pork until thermometer registers 150°F, about 10 minutes more. Remove from oven and let stand in pan 15 minutes. Transfer roast to a cutting board with a lip, reserving juices in pan, and let roast stand, uncovered, while making sauce.
4. Skim fat from pan juices and discard, then transfer jus to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir together cornstarch and water and whisk into jus. Simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in remaining tablespoon syrup. Serve pork with sauce.
Difficulty Level: Easy
From Gourmet, March 2006