Herb Roasted Pork Loin w/ Mustard Breadcrumbs

Yummy.

Pork is my friend.
It never was growing up, because the only pork my mother bought was Oscar Meyer bacon (which I still love to this day).

I find pork is so easy to prepare, always tastes fresh and lean, and is so inexpensive. The other white meat.

This was a great dinner party entree for a recession.

I took the recipe from Suzanne Goin's Sunday Suppers at Lucques and made it my own by cutting the prep time down from about 4 hours (which is a typical Goin recipe) to about 2 hours! Yes I did. And the results were just as good!

I make a similar dish with chicken legs, so I knew I could do it with pork.

Slather a 3 lb. center pork loin with the following mixture:



1/2 cup of Dijon mustard
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp of chopped fresh thyme,
2 tbsp of chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp of chopped fresh rosemary
a few tbsp of olive oil
kosher salt and pepper

Coat the pork loin with the mustard mixture and let sit on the counter for an hour until it comes to room temperature.

Sear your pork in a dutch oven with some olive oil for about 8 minutes on each side.
The mustard will definitely stick to the pan, so carefully turn the pork with a fish spatula and tongs. I couldn't avoid this problem (Goin warns you about the sticking).



Place your seared pork loin in a roasting pan and top with some sprigs of sage, rosemary and thyme. Use whatever herbs you have.
Sprinkle w/ kosher salt & pepper.



Roast in 350 degree oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let pork rest about 10 minutes before slicing.



Sauce:

In the dutch oven where the pork was seared, add 1/2 cup of chicken stock and scrape up brown bits. Turn off heat and add 2 tbsp of butter. This will be your gravy.

Yummy.



Mustard Breadcrumbs:

1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs (I use Italian bread and pulse in my coffee grinder!)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of fresh thyme leaves

Heat your butter in a heavy frying pan and swirl in your mustard and herbs.
Now add your fresh breadcrumbs and toast in the pan until browning. You can add olive oil if they are too dry.



Slice your pork loin and spoon your pan sauce gravy over the slices.



Sprinkle the mustard breadcrumbs over the top of the pork and the vegetables you are serving.



This was delicious, and of course it made excellent sandwiches the next day for lunch!