I feel like a pork loin is one of those foods that feels time consuming to make and so I've put it off and put it off, always telling myself I'd try it eventually. And now that I've finally done it, it was deceptively easy to make. I had originally selected a pork loin recipe off my Pinterest list, but it turned out that recipe used a pre-brined/marinated pork loin, which didn't help me much since I had purchased a plain pork loin. So I made up my own recipe.
I'll share with you my basic process and eventually I'll make this again and pay attention to the actual amounts and write out a proper recipe for you. But I cook like I crochet. I just do my thing and don't write anything down as I'm doing it and then I can't remember exactly what I did.
Step One (The Night Before): My Kroger had pork loins on sale $1.69/lb and I was like, great! Let's try this! (Honestly, the '[insert food] was on sale so I decided to do a thing with it' is going to be a running motif throughout this blog, just fyi). I picked out the smallest pork loin they had since it's just the two of us, but the smallest pork loin was still nearly four pounds. The night before I intended to cook it, I brined it in heavily salted water with crushed garlic cloves, rosemary, thyme, and basil. Super easy. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator.
Step Two: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is warming up, remove the pork loin from the fridge. Rub both sides of the pork loin with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and basil. Place on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Pour about two-two and a half cups of vegetable broth in the bottom of the roasting pan. Bake ten minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook pork loin twenty minutes per pound, so a four pound roast should cook eighty minutes. OR remove pork loin when it reaches desired internal temperature. Medium rare is 145-150 degrees F. Medium is 150-155 degrees F. Medium well is 155-160 degrees F. And well done is 160 degrees F.
Step Three: When pork loin has reached desired doneness, remove from oven and tent the pan with foil and let rest for at least ten minutes. Slice the pork loin and serve.
Optional Step Four: Strain the remaining broth/pan drippings into a large, glass measuring bowl/cup. I had one cup of broth/drippings left. In smallish saucepan over medium heat, melt two tablespoons of butter. Add two tablespoons of flour to the butter and whisk until smooth. Let cook for several minutes, whisking frequently. Add in the broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve gravy over meat and vegetables.
I also cooked vegetables in the same pan as my pork loin but they came out underdone, so this is something I will continue tinkering with. My plan is to toss the vegetables, baby red potatoes (quartered) and carrots (cut into chunks), in olive oil with salt, pepper, and herbs of choice and start the vegetables in the oven on a separate sheet pan before the pork loin. I'll have to experiment with the timing. Once again, eventually I'll get this recipe hammered out and written down properly so it's not just a vague set of directions.
Anyway, I've only ever attempted a pork loin once before and it came out so dry it scared me from trying to cook a pork loin again. But, after reading up on proper cooking techniques I settled on the above mentioned method and holy cow! The pork loin came out so tender and juicy I was paranoid I had actually undercooked it (despite my thermometer telling me otherwise) and that I was subjecting myself and Dear Husband to food poisoning. It's been four hours since we ate and so far no food poisoning symptoms. *fingers crossed*
When all was said and done, this was such a simple recipe to make and very little prep time involved. Also, a four pound pork loin can feed a lot a people. We'll have leftovers forever! But the point is, with its simplicity, it would make a great recipe for entertaining. I'm always on the lookout for recipes like that. I always want to invite people over but I never know what to cook so I just save myself the trouble and never entertain company.
As this is my own recipe I'm very biased and I give the pork loin a solid 5 Wooden Spoons rating. I wasn't able to get an accurate cost analysis and calorie count since I really just don't measure anything when I cook on my own. But maybe tomorrow I'll take another crack at guessing so I can update this post.
It'll probably be a week or so before my next post. My sweet baby sister is getting married so I will be a guest in my mother's kitchen and therefore my cooking exploits will temporarily be on hold. Though keep your eye out. I'm making her wedding cake and I'll share all the details on that! It's going to be so pretty! Much Love, Hailee
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