Pork Loin Roast Heaven

From the City...

I can honestly say that there is nothing better than having farmers in your family. As a christmas present this year, Mark and Laura gave us a meat gift certificate and with this certificate came a gorgeous porkloin roast. The winter was busy having Theo and I also forgot about it tucked away behind all the frozen casseroles and soups but this pass week I finally got around to making it and it was definitely worth the wait.

Seeing as I've never cooked a pork roast before, I wanted to cook it the perfect way so I called up Mark to get a little direction. This was the marinade/paste that he toldme to use on it.

• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp mustard
• salt and pepper

Smear it all over and then let it all marinate. I started it at 400 degrees for the first 5 minutes and then turned it down to 325 for the remainder. My roast took about 80-90 minutes and then I let the meat rest for an additional 15 minutes.

Seriously so good and so tender. We also had lots of leftovers so Simon took it for lunch the next day and I made egg fried rice with pork for dinner. It was literally the roast that just kept on giving.

Our dinner tonight.

From the City...

I frequent this butcher shop near my house called Vince Gasparro's meat market, at least once a week and I just love it. It's completely family owned and run and on a good day you'll see the older generations making fresh sausages (all sausages are made in house). All the meats are ontario grown on small scale farms, grain fed, good quality stuffs and Matt Galloway, a local toronto CBC celebrity, shops there and plugs it as one of his favorite spots in Toronto. Deep down, I also shop there in hopes that one day we'll both order the last sausage and have to share it a la Lady and the Tramp. A girl can dream can't she?

So I bought this incredible 2lb pork tenderloin and found a recipe online that sounded pretty delicious. Here is it:

2 cloves garlic, minced

juice of one lemon

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper

Mince garlic and add to cumin. Rub well over tenderloin.

In a separate bowl add lemon juice, honey and a little salt and pepper. Glaze the tenderloin during the last ten minutes of cooking.

Barbeque tenderloin for about 20 minutes or until just a hint of pink remains on the inside.

I served it with ontario asparagus that I also barbecued with a little salt/pepper and olive oil and a potato salad with avocado (not local but still delicious). Here's the recipe for the salad.

1 lb.Cooked potatoes, cooled and cubed

1 half an avocado

2 tbsp mayonaise

1/3 cup plain yogurt

whatever herbs you have and love, on hand (I had rosemary and chives)

1 clove of garlic

salt and pepper taste

Throw everything except the potatoes in the food processor. Blend and season to taste.

Pour over potatoes and allow to chill in the fridge.

enjoy.