I bought a small pork roast the other day. I used a bit of it to make my Hot and Sour Soup and had a nice chunk left over. We thought it would be a good Sunday dinner that we could eat after watching the Patriots play the Bills. (The Patriots won, but it had to be one of the more boring games so far this season.) We had all the fresh herbs from our little garden so that was no problem.
Laura made a delicious Potato Gratin with Cream, Onion and Gruyere’. She used a left-over baked potato, half of a red onion we had sitting in the fridge, some shallot, some left-over Gruyere’ and left-over cream. She cooked the onions until they were very dark and crisp, then layered potato slices, butter, onion, cheese and cream in a souffle dish. We baked it along with the pork roast.
Here is the recipe for the Pork Roast:
Ingredients:
4 lbs pork loin
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp fresh thyme, stripped and chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, stripped and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp black pepper, or to taste
6 or 8 whole cloves of garlic, unpeeled
For Gravy
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil with the thyme, rosemary, garlic, red pepper flakes, parsley, salt and pepper.
3. Coat a cast-iron skillet with olive oil. Place the pork loin in the skillet and rub the pork with the rosemary garlic rub thoroughly.
4. Sear the pork over high heat on all sides until nicely browned. Add garlic cloves to skillet.
5. Roast uncovered for 70 to 80 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork is at least 150F.
6. Remove the skillet from the oven and place the pork on a cutting board. Cover the meat completely with aluminum foil and let it rest for 15 minutes before cutting it and serving it. Garnish with a spring of Rosemary.
For Gravy
Add 2 tbsp of butter to the skillet and melt. Sprinkle about 2 tbsp of flour and whisk it all together with the butter. Pour about 3/4 cup chicken broth to the skillet and bring to a boil, whisking until smooth and cook for a couple minutes. Stir in about 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Strain the gravy and smash garlic cloves through strainer.
