This was a special Easter for Steve and me, it was our 10th one together. I wanted to make it extra special so I made my Garlic And Fennel Bone-In Pork Loin. Served Family-style with my Garlic Roasted Potatoes With Sautéed Peppers and Lemon Pepper Asparagus.
I’ve made links to my other two recipes available at the bottom of this post.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Yields: 4 servings (@ 2 chops per person)
Equipment: Roasting pan with a rack, food processor, plastic meat cutting board, Chef’s knife, whisk, large glass measuring cup
Ingredients:
1 5-pound bone-in pork loin, bones French cut
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup of rosemary leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons of lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 tablespoons of Creamy Caesar dressing
1 heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of Kosher salt
1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
Ingredients For Pan Gravy:
1/4 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups of unsalted chicken broth
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) of the pan drippings
2 tablespoons of Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400-degrees F.
Note: Pork loin needs to be at room temperature. Allow the meat to sit out for 30 minutes before cooking.
Place the pork, fat side up, in a roasting pan just large enough to hold it comfortably. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the garlic, rosemary, and fennel seeds until roughly chopped. Add the Caesar dressing, olive oil, Kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper until it becomes a smooth paste. Transfer the mixture to a small mixing bowl, add the lemon zest, mix to combine.
Rub the mixture all over the top of the pork and roast for 1 to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature is between 140 and 145-degrees F. Remove from the oven, transfer to a meat-safe cutting board and cover tightly with foil. Allow the pork to rest for 30 minutes. Slice between the bones and serve immediately.
While the pork is resting start the pan gravy.
Carefully pour the hot liquid from the roasting pan through a mesh sieve into a measuring cup. This will allow you to see how many pans dripping liquid you have.
Place the roasting pan on top of the stove on medium-high heat. Add the butter and allow to melt. Once the butter’s melted, add the flour, whisk to combine until a smooth paste (*roux) forms and is blond in color. Still whisking slowly add the pan drippings and chicken broth, bring to a simmer. Continue to whisk, the *roux will cause the gravy to thicken. Add the parsley, stir to combine. Transfer the gravy to a large glass measuring cup.
*Roux is a 1:2 ratio of fat to all-purpose flour.
