Adventures in Garlic

Garlic Pork Roast up close

Tonight I made the meal I was planning to make yesterday (before I realized you needed to marinate the meat for a day...READ THE RECIPE FIRST!) I had a 2 lb. pork tenderloin left over from another meal, so I decided to try out another America's Test Kitchen recipe.

One great thing I did here was plan a main dish AND a side. Look at me acting like a grown up. I served the pork with some spinach, and the two worked nicely together. The combination of garlic and red pepper gave the pork a great bite to it, and the spinach was a nice milder flavor.

Note: My recipe here was enough for 2-3 people.  You'd want to buy more spinach if you're serving more--it reduces quite a bit.

Garlic Pork Roast
America's Test Kitchen
Serves 8: Calories 330, Fat 19g, Protein 36g, Carb 2g, Sodium 240g
1 2 lb boneless, center-cup pork loin roast, trimmed
22 garlic cloves (10 peeled and crushed for marinate, 12 unpeeled)
4 t. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
3/4 t. pepper
1.5 t. minced fresh thyme
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1 T. unsalted butter
1/4 t. sugar
Kitchen Twine

Sauteed Spinach
1 bag baby spinach
1.5 T. water
1 t. olive oil
1 clove garlic
salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 t. fresh lemon juice
pepper

The Day/Morning Before:

1. Butterfly the pork roast. Whisk the crushed garlic, 1. t. oil, salt, and 1/4 t. pepper together in a bowl and transfer it and the pork to a ziplock bag. Seal and leave for 1 hr, up to 24.

Day Of (20 minutes prep/1.5 hrs total)

2. Preheat the oven to 325. Toast unpeeled garlic cloves in a skillet until fragrant (8 min). Reserve two cloves for garlic butter, then peel and mash together the rest with 1 t. oil, thyme, red pepper, and 1/4 t. pepper.
3. Remove the roast from the marinade and pat dry, removing marinate items. Spread the inside of hte roast with the garlic paste. Roll tightly into a cylinder and tie the roast in 1-inch intervals with kitchen twine. Season the outside with pepper.
   

   

   My first attempt tying meat..not to shabby

4. Heat 2 t. oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Carefully lay the roast on the skillet and cook until well-browned on all sides (1-2 minutes each). Transfer to a wire rack, held over a baking sheet lined with foil. Place in oven and roast 50-60 minutes.
   

   

   Well-browned, and ready to roast

When 15 minutes remain on the pork, prep the spinach:

5. Place spinach and water in a microwave safe bowl. Cover and heat on high until spinach has decreased in size by half. (1-1.5 minutes)
6. Drain the spinach in a colander, removing excess liquid with a spatula. Transfer to a cutting board and roughly chop. Return to colander and press a second time.
7. Cook oil, garlic, and pepper in a skillet. Once garlic begins to brown, add in spinach, 1/4 t. salt, and toss. Cook additional 2 minutes.
8. Off the heat, stir in lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper (keeping in mind the main flavor is coming from the pork, so you should add sparingly).

Finishing up the Pork

9. Take your final two garlic cloves set aside earlier, and mince. Add to butter and sugar and microwave for 1-2 minutes until garlic browns and butter is melted.
10. When pork is done, remove from oven and transfer to cutting board. Baste the sides with the garlic butter, then let rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove twine and serve in 1/2-inch discs.

The final plate next to the flowers Chris bought me earlier this week!