While at the Kadena Commissary the other day I found a great deal on a smallish pork loin roast. At just under $3.00 for a 2.28 pound pork loin I couldn't just go off and leave it there! I always check the meat bargain bin when I'm at the commissary. I know some people have an aversion to purchasing "bargain bin" meat. But not me!
They can only leave the meat on the shelf for 2 days. If it is not sold, they freeze it and reduce the price. Since I'm going to bring the stuff home and put it in the freezer, I don't see a problem with reduced price meat. I've been doing this for years and never ever had a bad piece. Sometimes there are great deals in there for awesome cuts of meat such as a package of 2 Ribeye steaks for $6.00 and ground beef for $.90. How can I leave that stuff there and pay full price for something that I'm just going to bring home and stick in the freezer anyway.
So, back to the pork loin. Here it is.
After reading a friend of mine's post on Facebook about her choice of BBQ Pork Loin for dinner I decided that we would also have pork loin for dinner. I gathered my ingredients and and began the preparations.
Here are the ingredients I used.
Pork Loin
2 or 3 cloves garlic pressed or minced. Use the real stuff, the stuff in the jar comes off sweet.
1/2 teaspoon course salt
1/4 teaspoon course ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage (or poultry seasoning if your out of sage like I was)
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 - 1/2 olive oil
1/2 onion cut into ribs length wise. Put this in the bottom of your roasting pan to rest the roast on.
I start out by setting the oven to 325 degrees.
Cut that onion up and put it in the bottom of the roasting pan so that your roast is not sitting directly on the bottom.
It's a good idea to tie the roast to ensure even cooking. So, if you have cooking twine, tie that baby up. If not, don't worry about it,. I've done it both ways and it's been okay.
In a small bowl combine the garlic spices and olive oil and then rub it all over your roast.
Place the roast in the roasting dish, on top of those sliced onions, with the fat side up. Put it in the oven on a middle rack. Roast to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. My roast was done in 1 1/2 hours. I have an instant read thermometer and I checked the temp in the center of the roast at about 1 hour. We were at 110 degrees Fahrenheit at 1 hour. I checked it 30 minutes later and it was right at 150 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point I switched on the broiler for about 5 minutes to give it a bit of color.
Be sure to let it rest for about 15 - 20 minutes before slicing. This ensures that the juices remain in the meat and not on the cutting board.
Marc has always told me that pork makes his stomach hurt. He said he has really bad stomach cramps about 2 or 3 hours after he eats it. I remember hearing, or reading, that if you eat apples with the same meal you consume the pork that the apples will aid in digestion. I decided tonight would be the time to test this theory with Chunky Baked Apple Sauce.
After I got the roast in the oven I started working on my home made chunky applesauce. This sounds difficult, but it's not.
You will need a couple tart apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.
2 tart apples
3 Tablespoons brown sugar (or white sugar) If you have sweet apples you might reduce the sugar a bit.
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Mix the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla in a small bowl.
Peel the apples and remove the core. Chop the apples and place in a small baking dish. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the top and cover and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 - 40 minutes.
I baked mine along with the pork loin. Therefore, they were in the oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour. When it's finished mash the apples with a fork to create the sauce. Try not to stand at the stove and eat it all before dinner!
Before I started on the broccoli I made a sauce with the pan drippings and some chicken stock. Start by discarding those onions that are on the bottom of the pan. Add about a cup of chicken stock or water with bullion dissolved in it. Scrape all the brown bits off and place the liquid in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Thicken with 1 Tablespoon corn starch dissolved in about 2 Tablespoons water. Add this gradually to achieve the thickness of sauce you desire. When it's time to plate the food just drizzle it over the meat.
Now for the Broccoli!
I found this recipe a few month ago and it can't be beat!
Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews.
Ingredients
I like to steam my broccoli in the microwave with those steamer bags. Unfortunately I am out of those and I have not picked up any more. So, I just put it in a gallon size ziploc type storage bag. Close the zip top on the bag leaving about 1 inch open so that steam can escape. Put it in the microwave and cook on high for about 3 minutes. Turns out perfect!
While the broccoli is doing it's thing in the microwave melt the butter in a small sauce pan.
Add the other ingredients except the nuts. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat. Add the chopped nuts at this time. I was out of cashews so we used peanuts. Marc measured out the nuts but I forgot to tell him to chop them. So, we had big whole peanuts in ours. You could easily leave out the nuts.
When the broccoli is finished carefully remove it from the microwave and put it in a bowl and drizzle the sauce over it.
I always plate our food in the kitchen. If I allow Marc to fix his own plate there will be nothing left for me. So, we try to practice portion control by me plating the food and him waiting for it to be done!
