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Friday, December 10, 2010

Slow Sweet Heat Roasted Pork Loin and "Salsa" for sandwiches, etc.

I think I'm going through one of those phases.  You know the one I'm talking about right?  Sort of like over-exertion...stress...blank-mind...overflowing-mind...no motivation to write...type of phase.  I want to sit down and bang out a fun, interesting, delicious post...yet I sit in front of the keyboard and draw a blank.  Ugh.  So much I want to share, yet...  So, I may let the food do the talking for a few posts not that that's a bad thing.  Does anybody else feel it?  Bueller?  Bueller?  Well, at least feel this pork in your mouth...it's rock 'n roll.


Slow Sweet Heat Roasted Pork Loin 
w/ "Salsa"
from the kitchen of girlichef

~3½ lb. Pork Loin

rub:
1 Tbs. sweet paprika
1 Tbs. dried, minced onion
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano leaf, crushed
1 tsp. fennel seeds, pounded in mortar
1 tsp. garlic salt
½ tsp. ground mace
½ tsp. ground allspice
½ tsp. black peppercorns, pounded in mortar

Olive Oil

4-5 smallish tomatillos
2 smallish onions, halved
1 head garlic, halved
2 c. gingerale, divided

If your pork loin has a good layer of fat, score it in a diamond pattern with a sharp knife.  Combine all of the rub ingredients and rub evenly around the pork loin.  Set it on a rack in a roasting pan and let sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
Preheat oven to 475° F during last 15 minutes that the pork sits.  Throw the tomatillos, onion, and garlic in the bottom of the pan.  Drizzle a good amount of habañero honey all over the top of the pork, then drizzle with olive oil.  Pour 1 c. of gingerale in bottom of pan.  Place on middle rack of oven.  Once you've shut the oven door, immediately lower heat to 350° F.  Roast for ~1½ hrs.

Remove roast from oven, drizzle with some more habañero honey and pour last cup of gingerale into pan.  Put back in oven and roast for another 30-45 minutes, or until done to your liking.  Remove from oven and let rest for ~10 minutes.
Remove pork from pan, then pour all of the pan juices and veggies into a blender jar and blend to combine.  This will form the "salsa" for dipping or spreading, which is an fabulous mixture of slightly sweet and low, creeping heat.
The crust on the outside has that same slow creeping heat...so if you peel off a piece from the outside...have a glass of milk ready to wash it down...it can be pretty fiery (depending on how much habañero honey you used).
Our favorite way to eat this was to take some good, crusty buns and spread them with a good layer of the "salsa", then heap on the pork once we sliced it very thinly, and pile on any veggies and cheese we felt like...lettuce, avocado, manchego, and pickled banana peppers was an especially delicious combo!  We also used it in quesedillas.  It is such a great pork for slicing and layering.
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Would you like to comment?

  1. With food like this, you don't need any words!

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  2. Well you know I'm loving this! Your sandwich combination sounds wonderful Heather! What a great recipe.

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  3. I currently have some loin love going on! So delicious looking, I do love pork.

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  4. Your Pork looks amazing! Our family would love your recipe. It is a great combination. Thank you for sharing and you have a wonderful week end!

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  5. Awesome preparation of pork, so many amazing flavors here!

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  6. Oh yeah! Looks awesome Heather. I love the habanero honey. I was telling Rebecka that I freeze my habanero's or dry then in my dehydrator. We grow our own so that honey sounds great. Your dishes are just so tempting. Have a great weekend and thanks.

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  7. Pictures like that definitely speak for themselves!

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  8. I've been going through a phase like that for a couple months now. The bad part is that it's starting to get me cranky, which doesn't help either!

    I remember seeing that habanero honey before on the bloghop and just loving that idea. It must be 10 kinds of wonderful on top of that pork. No doubt it made for some fantastic sandwiches!

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  9. Blame it on the cold weather. That's what I always do.

    Besides, this pork is good enough that it doesn't even NEED words. Delicious.

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  10. this looks so perfect! I haven't been as verbose either this week; it must be December :) The little sandwich you put together sounds delicious and I have been craving avocados so hard.

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  11. There's nothing like a sweet bowl of roasted pork lion with salsa, on a cold winter's day.

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  12. love the use of habaneros in there, YUMMY! i love pork, it's so versatile.

    i have days like this often, especially around the holidays!

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  13. Hey sweets, I'm a firm believer that not every post has to be fun and witty. Nothing wrong with letting delicious vittles speak for themselves. Did I just say vittles? Just call me Granny Clampett! Hang on, I think Granny and I actually have a few things in common...

    Gotta love that habanero honey :)

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  14. Yummy,yummy,yummy!!! This is going on my list of things to make asap!!!

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  15. Heather I'm exhausted! And I've never been less attracted to food in my life. LOL. Not your food, of course. Just food in general. I'm reserving all of my energy and hoping to put together goodie gift bags for neighbors and family. That will at least get me cooking again.

    Just continue to let the food speak for itself. It's doing a pretty damn good job in that regard. Your lack of inspiration has clearly not got in the way of your awesome culinary SKILLS! =)

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  16. oooh wow how my mouth waters!!! i think this would be for dinner.. that's it... i gotta get myself in the kitchen...

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  17. Num num num nummies in the tummy!

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  18. That's me pretty much everytime I sit down to write. Call me Ms. BORRRRR -ING. I'll tell you what isn't boring! That D- LISH pork. Pork my favorite white meat. :)
    ~ingrid

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