The past couple of weeks have been a busy time, and it has been great. We have had lots of company, and along with that comes lots of eating.
My sister from Pennsylvania arrived the last day of Hanukkah, for a 2 week visit, my niece from New York drove up with her friend whom she was visiting in LA, cousins from San Jose drove down and, all of us celebrated the last night of Hanukkah with a steak and latkes dinner!
A couple days later my son and his girlfriend came for a few days , and we sat down to a dinner of the roast pork you see pictured at the top of this post. And of course, I made sure that they had some latkes as well!
The rack of pork was delicious, and having never prepared this particular cut before I was really pleased with the result. It was extremely flavorful, moist and juicy.
I had originally planned to follow a recipe from Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa) which called for a green peppercorn sauce to be served alongside it.
My sister and I went out that afternoon to pick up a jar of green peppercorns in brine which was a main ingredient of the sauce. Much to our dismay that is not an easy ingredient to come by on the spur of the moment.
After exhausting our search of all the local shops, and groceries, and markets we returned home without the green peppercorns.
I decided to omit them and simply add some fresh rosemary from the plant on my balcony, and some crushed garlic to the mustard rub.
I went ahead and prepared the sauce without the peppercorns, and it was a huge success. Here is the recipe…
Rack of Pork Loin Bone-In Roast
(adapted from Loin of Pork with Green Peppercorns, Barefoort In Paris, Ina Garten)
Ingredients
1 pork loin, bone-in (about 5 pounds, 8 bones)
2 tablespoons good olive oil
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard, divided
4 teaspoons whole-grain mustard, divided
1 teaspoon ground fennel seed (use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to grind the seeds)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Several sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped
5 to 6 garlic cloves, smashed
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup good white wine
3 cups good chicken stock or chicken broth
To Roast
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Allow the pork to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Place the pork, fat side up, in a roasting pan just large enough to hold it comfortably.
Sprinkle fresh rosemary over the fat side and underside of the roast.
Press the smashed garlic cloves randomly on top of the roast.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, 2 teaspoons of each mustard, the fennel seed, 2 teaspoons salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
Rub the mustard mixture on top of the pork and roast for 1 to 1and ¼ hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.
Remove from the oven, transfer to a cutting board, and cover tightly with aluminum foil for 20 minutes. (Don’t allow the pork to rest under the foil for more than 20 minutes or it will overcook).
For the Sauce
Remove all but ¼ of the fat from the roasting pan. If there isn’t ¼ cup, add enough butter tot he pan to make ¼ total.
Over medium heat, whisk the flour into the fat in the pan and cook for 1 minute.
Add the wine and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add the chicken stock, the remaining 2 teaspoons each of mustard, 1- 2 teaspoons salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened.
Slice the roast between the bone, place on a platter, and serve with the warm sauce.
