Thursday, November 18, 2010

Pork Loin, Recipe of the Week(s)

We haven't posted any recipes for a while, so I thought today would be a good time to post this one. It's snowing outside this morning, and this main meat dish is very tasty on a cold late autumn day. First you buy a nice pork loin, just plain, which has not been marinated. This is usually pretty big, so I take mine and cut it up into four parts, and freeze them until I need them. Each quarter will feed 4-5 people, or 2 with leftovers : ) Then you make your own marinade and place the pork loin in a bag, along with the marinade, and let sit for 24-48 hours in the refrigerator. In the above photo, I was having a good sized group for dinner last week, so used two of my cut up portions.
Then you take the pork loin out of the marinade and put it in a shallow pan on a rack, and discard the remaining marinade.

You place the pan in a very hot oven, which you turn down immediately to seal in the juices, and roast until 160-170 degrees.

Slice and serve to hungry people, and there's not much left!
Pork Loin Recipe
2-3 lb. (or any size) Pork Loin
Marinade: (cut in half if you are only cooking 1/4 of the pork loin)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1 t. salt
1 t. thyme
1/4 t. fresh ground pepper
1/2 t. rosemary
1/2 t. marjoram
1/2-1 t. Italian seasoning
Add all ingredients for marinade in a bowl and mix. Place pork loin in a plastic zip-lock bag and add the marinade. Place in refrigerator and marinate for 24-48 hours. Remove tenderloin from the refrigerator, and place on roasting pan with a rack in place. Put the chopped onion and garlic on the top of the pork loin, then discard the remaining marinade. Put meat into a pre-heated 450 degree oven, then immediately turn the oven down to 350 degrees, and roast until a meat thermometer shows 160-165 degrees. Take the pork loin out of the oven, tent it with foil and let stand 10-15 minutes before slicing, to set and finish cooking to 170 degrees.
This is basically a no-fail dish, and it has become my go-to meal of choice for company. I even roast it on the barbecue in the summers. Enjoy!

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