Roasted Pork Loin with Wine and Herbs

Brutal cold on the East Coast this day. My instinct was to make a cassoulet, but I don't have the time nor the half-dozen friends present to make it worthwhile. Alas. I dove back into Elizabeth David's classic French Provincial Cooking and adapted one of her recipes for a roast pork loin.

Ms. David calls her dish Carré de Porc Provençal, which my feeble brain translates as a square of pork prepared in the style used in Provençal, but which can reliably be translated as a pork loin with wine and herbs.

To begin with, use a boneless pork loin. Salt and pepper the meat, slice up a few cloves of garlic and rub the loin with them. Put the loin and the garlic cloves into a ziploc bag and add a few sprigs of fresh thyme (from the porch, even in this weather) then add a glass of white wine (I used a French chardonnay), and stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Ready to go into the bag and in the fridge. 

Preheat your oven to 350F. Put the loin and the marinade into a baking dish and cover with foil. Put the dish into the oven for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Check it pretty regularly and if the marinade dries out, add some water or more white wine. You're trying to bring the temperature up to about 120F.

Going in.

Meanwhile, chop about half a cup of fresh parsley and mix that with an equal amount of breadcrumbs. When the loin reaches 120F, pull it out and rub it all over with the parsley and breadcrumbs mix. Lower the heat in the oven to about 300F and put the loin back in, uncovered, for probably 15-20 minutes.

Just added the breadcrumbs. The loin at this point, because it has been covered, looks unappetizing.

Baste the loin with its own juices (yes, over the breadcrumbs) every few minutes, this helps the crust form. You might have to add some wine or water because the bread crumbs that slide off the top will soak up lots of juice. Monitor the temperature pretty closely. When you get to 140F, pull it out and let stand covered for about 10 minutes.

Now it has great color and even better flavor. 

At some point during the baking, you might have started some Potatoes Lyonnaise and a salad.