Herb-Roasted Pork Loin

You probably know by now my eternal infatuation with pork.  Truth be told, it’s hard to shake it off especially since pork played such a major part into my upbringing.  Remember the Romanian Christmas traditions and all those elaborate pork dishes?  Yet sometimes, grandma Vicki would just hand me a fat slice of rustic crusty bread, heavily smeared with pork lard (yes, I know, pork lard!) and dusted with salt and paprika.  And I would be out the door and off with my playmates with a smile and messy red smudge on my face and the hunk of bread in my hand.  I’m not advocating pork fat here by any means, although I would have loved to be a judge in the Iron Chef America: Battle Pork Fat challenge a while back.  Anyway, you get the picture!       

 

So, when it comes to pork I like to go all out for big, bold and bright flavors.  This Herb-Roasted Pork Loin recipe stems from a recipe, which my grandma always makes for New Year’s or Christmas or whenever we feel like gobbling down a hulky piece of pork; and a Barefoot Contessa recipe for a tacky and garlicky herb paste.  I meant to tell you about this fabulous Herb-Roasted Pork Loin, last week, and offer you a solid choice for a celebratory Valentine’s Day dinner.  But then pain erupted, followed by an emergency trip to my dentist, and culminating with an imminent root canal.  I’ll spare you the grisly details but I can tell you that the rest of the week was pretty foggy after that.  Anyhow, I don’t think that you need a special occasion to make this fantastic meal.  But if you need one, the Oscars are just around the corner and this pork dish would be wonderful to savor before the awards; followed by a rich and nutty Walnut and Chocolate Cake and a glass of bubbly and fruity Prosecco drink!       

Seasoning the meat with salt and pepper (and maybe a pinch of paprika) would usually suffice to make a mouthwatering dish.  But then I stumbled upon this resinous and flavor packed rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic, mustard and lemon juice mélange, and I was smitten.  The pork is thickly swaddled in the mustard-garlic-herb mixture, prettily browned on all sides, then bathed in a shimmering pool of crisp white wine and roasted to perfection; it’s insanely delicious!  Slice and serve it with Sweet Green Peas or Creamed Corn and Mashed Potatoes, and spoon the pan juices over the pork slices and potatoes and you’ll be in heaven!  This phenomenal herb-roasted pork loin makes for an elegant dinner; and when cold and sliced and sandwiched between two chunks of bread makes for a quick and satiating lunch. 

And another thing – although no bird could ever replace the satisfying pork, a hefty piece of skin-on turkey breast, tied up and generously smeared with the viscous paste over and under the skin is ethereally delicious for a small crowd at Thanksgiving; and it roasts substantially faster than the whole bird.  Just saying...

 

Herb-Roasted Pork Loin

Adapted from my grandma Vicki and Barefoot Contessa

Makes: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

·         1 (2 – 2.5 pound) boneless pork loin roast

·         3 garlic cloves, minced

·         2 teaspoons dry mustard

·         1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

·         1 Tablespoon fresh sage leaves, chopped

·         1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped

·         2 teaspoon salt

·         1 teaspoon black pepper

·         4 Tablespoon olive oil, divided

·         2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

·         1 cup dry white wine

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, dry mustard, herbs, salt, pepper, 2 Tablespoons olive oil, and lemon juice to make a paste.  Smear the paste evenly all over the pork.  Reserve 1 Tablespoon of paste.  Allow the meat to marinate for about 15 minutes.   

In a large skillet, heat 2 Tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.  Add the pork and cook until brown on all sides.  Transfer the pork loin to a roasting pan and place it skin side up.  Pour the juices and oil from the skillet over the meat.  Smear the pork with the reserved 1 Tablespoon of paste.   Pour the wine into the bottom of the roasting pan.  Cover the pan with aluminum foil.

Roast the pork for about 1 hour.  Remove the aluminum foil and roast the meat for 15 minutes longer and until an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F when inserted into the thickest and meatiest areas of the pork.  When the pork is done, cover the pan with foil and allow the pork to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.  

P.S.: I’ll be back on March 19!  Adrian and I are off to Romania to see our families for the next couple of weeks.  I won’t be able to post while away but I’ll return with stories and most certainly new recipes from my grandma Vicki!  Until then…

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)   

Deconstructed Stuffed Pepper Stew

We’re still savoring the comfort food chapter.  I think it’s because of the frigid temperatures that I don’t feel like doing anything but cozying up to the fireplace (if only we had a real one) with a bowl of hot, homey and hearty comfort food. 

I’ve been craving Romanian comfort food, lately; something other than stuffed cabbage or pork goulash.  And to be honest, I’ve been dreaming of Grandma Vicki’s Stuffed Peppers recipe for a while.  This recipe has been on my to make list, but I wanted to somehow avoid the two inconveniences that the recipe entails: first, I wasn’t eager to waste my time in the kitchen stuffing pepper after pepper; and second, those little gypsy peppers traditionally used in this recipe are mighty hard to find in wintertime.  So, how to make a stew without having to spend an outrageous amount of time putting it together?    

But then it happened that a couple of weekends ago, Adrian and I paid a visit to our friends’ house to watch some English soccer games.  After lots of yelling and cheering while watching the games, Gretchen served us a delicious stuffed pepper stew.  The stew had all the ingredients for a stuffed peppers recipe but everything was chopped and blended together; and she called it “a deconstructed stuffed pepper stew”.  And the little lightbulb went off in my head!  Thank you Gretchen for helping me decide how to approach my grandma’s stuffed peppers recipe!  I have to admit that, once I heard the word “deconstructed” I wanted to race home and make the stew right away. 

Before attempting the impossible, I called my grandma and explained how I wanted to transform her beloved stuffed peppers recipe.  Of course, she said that I was crazy and that it would never work.  But, guess what, it worked out beautifully!  Only the aspect of the stew is radically different from my grandma’s recipe but the flavors that I love are all there.  In fact, I would say that there are various nuances and depths of flavor in this dish.  It’s also nourishing and it incorporates everything from proteins to starch and veggies. 

Of course, being a Romanian dish, I was indebted to throw in a smidge of paprika to coat the onions and meat in a mild pungency and give them that beautiful red color.  But the meat, rice, peppers and tomatoes are all able to shine through and add texture despite being engulfed in a sea of sweet, savory and tangy tomato sauce.  And then you sprinkle a few chopped leaves of parsley on top for a lovely green color and much desired freshness.  You could even argue that this stew is similar to a chili; a Romanian chili with rice but without beans.  Ultimately, this Deconstructed Stuffed Pepper Stew is a filling, flavorful and homemade Romanian comfort stew!

Deconstructed Stuffed Pepper Stew

By Simply Romanesco inspired by my Grandma Vicki

Makes: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

·         6 Tablespoons olive oil, divided

·         1 large yellow onion, chopped

·         Salt and black pepper

·         1 Tablespoon sweet or hot paprika

·         1 pound ground pork

·         2 large red peppers, cut into ½ -inch chunks

·         1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes

·         1 15-ounce can tomato sauce

·         2 Tablespoons sugar

·         ½ cup white rice

·         A small bunch of parsley for garnish, chopped

·         Sour cream (optional)

Instructions:

Heat 4 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion, season with a good pinch of salt and pepper, and cook until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the paprika and stir well.  Add the ground pork, season with salt and pepper, and stir well to coat with the paprika.  Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the meat is cooked through.  Add the red peppers and diced tomatoes and give it a good stir.  Cook for 5 minutes.

Combine the tomato sauce with ½ cup of water and pour it over the ingredients in the pan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the sugar and stir well.  Add ½ cup of water and stir.  Bring to a boil.  Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 30-40 minutes.

In the meantime, rinse the white rice in cold water.  Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over high heat in a small saucepan.  Add the rice and stir.  Add 2 cups of water and season with a good pinch of salt.  Turn the heat to low and simmer uncovered until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked.  When the rice is cooked, turn the heat off and cover the saucepan with a lid and let it sit until the stew is cooked.

When the stew is cooked, add the rice and stir well to incorporate. Check the seasonings and add more salt and sugar if necessary, for that perfect balance of savory and sweet.  Simmer for 5 more minutes.  Serve with chopped parsley and a dollop of sour cream on top.

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)        

Oktoberfest – Pork and Sauerkraut, please!

When I was 12 years old, I went to a tennis school in Augsburg, Germany, during the summer. Back then, I was playing professional tennis and my dream was to become the next Steffi Graf.  At that age, I was well on track to achieve that goal; hence, my parents’ decision to send me to a tennis school.  Unfortunately, the injuries just kept coming.  Five years later, my tennis career was over.  

In the summer of 1997, I was playing a lot of tennis, going to long and challenging practices, winning tennis tournaments, playing more tennis, and more tennis, and even more tennis.  It was during that summer, on one of the few breaks from tennis, when my dad took me to a German beer garden for the first time.  There were wooden benches, live music, good traditional German food, and lots of beer. 

It was early afternoon.  The weather was nice and warm, the sky was clear, and we were just in time for lunch.  I remember that both my father and I ordered the Pork Schnitzel with French fries.  Of course, my dad also had the local beer.  I don’t recall specific details about the food, but I do recall the unique and joyful atmosphere.  That was my first experience with a German beer garden.  These days, we love to go to the Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh.      

The pork schnitzel, which we had at the beer garden in Augsburg, was very similar to what my grandmother frequently makes.  German food has always been a staple in our family.  However, today I don’t want to talk to you about the boring breaded pork (maybe we’ll talk about it some other time), and I want to introduce to you a very interesting version of the traditional German Pork and Sauerkraut dish.  This dish is a classic of the German culinary world, but traveling through Austria and Hungary, by the time the dish made it to Romania, it assimilated several local influences.  Furthermore, my grandmother put her own spin on it, and created her own version of this classic dish. 

Szekely-Gulyas (Pork and Cabbage Goulash)

By Simply Romanesco inspired by my Grandma Vicki

Yields 4-6 servings

Ingredients

·         1 green cabbage of 3.5 – 4 pounds (1.5 kilograms)

·         3-4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

·         3 large onions, sliced

·         Kosher salt

·         1 Tablespoon Hungarian paprika (10 grams)

·         2 – 2.5 pounds boneless pork chops, cubed (1 kilogram)

·         2 – 2.5 cups water

·         1.5 cups tomato sauce mixed with ½ cup water

·         2 dry bay leaves

·         Sour cream (optional)

·         Good bread (optional)

Instructions

Cut out the core and slice the cabbage.  Put it in a large bowl and season with 1 Tablespoon of salt.  Mix well.  Let it sit for 1 hour. 

Meanwhile, put a large pan on medium heat.  Add the oil and the onions.  Season with salt and cook the onions until translucent, about 10-12 minutes.  Add the Hungarian paprika and stir.  Add the pork and cook together with the onions and paprika for 10-15 minutes.  Add the water to cover the meat and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer for about 30-40 minutes until the meat is cooked. 

Strain the cabbage between your hands before adding it to the pan with the rest of the ingredients.  When the meat is cooked, add the strained cabbage and stir well.  Add the tomato sauce mixed with water and the bay leaves.  Bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer for about 45-50 minutes, until the cabbage is tender.  Season with salt to taste.   

I love to serve the goulash with a dollop of sour cream on top and with good bread because I really enjoy dipping the bread in the sauce.  Devine!  The best thing about this dish is that it’s even better the next day.  As it sits in the fridge, the flavors will develop further.  You’ll definitely enjoy these leftovers!