Pork to the Rescue

Welcome to the pork fat rebellion. We rally for the cause. We will stand and fight the scourge of the low-fat diet. No longer will we suffer the indignity of salads with lite dressing, steamed vegetables and skinless chicken breasts. We will rise up and eat what we want; the fatty, savory, unctuous good stuff. We will laugh in the face of our skinny oppressors. We may not live long, but we will live well. How noble a death the rebel shall have. As the chest pains strike we will defiantly raise our fists in the air, clenching that meat which made all the sacrifice worthwhile: PORK!

OK, so it wasn't quite like that, but I did break the diet blues with a little porky goodness. It wasn't even something substantial like a pork butt or spare ribs. I dare say that it might even have been somewhat lo-cal. I'm still working on getting rid of all the frozen meat that is taking up room in the freezer. My close call with a good sized thresher shark on Friday drove me to free up more space. Sometime in the next few trips I know I'm going to catch something big. I can feel it. I just want to have some room for it in the fridge when it happens.

The first thing to tumble out of the freezer when I was getting my frozen bait was automatically selected to be the main course. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding; winner winner, pork loin dinner. Glad I didn't have to think that one out for too long. I've gotten hooked on the Korean red pepper marinade, so that was a no-brainer. I thawed the loin and whipped up a batch of the marinade. It was at that point that I did the stupid thing that I so often do. I started thinking about other ways I could marinate the loin. Rather than wait for another day to try out something new, I pulled another loin out of the freezer and got busy on the marinade. I don't know why I do this all the time. I guess I'm afraid that I'll forget whatever I just thought up if I wait until later to cook it. It really doesn't matter. I forget to write down my recipes 90% of the time anyways. Pretty much every time into the kitchen is a reach into the deep, dark recesses of my addled brain to try and figure out how I made some dish the last time.

Back to the marinade. This one was a chipotle chile and garlic concoction. I mixed a 7.5oz can of San Marzano chipotle sauce with about 1/2 cup of sherry. I added another 7.5oz can of chipotle chile en adobo, which I finely chopped. (I'll probably discard the seeds next time I do this) I finished the marinade with about 2/3 head of garlic-minced. Both loins went back in the fridge for a good, long soak.

That evening I brought the loins out to let them come up to room temperature. I wiped all the marinade off each of the loins in preparation for searing. I decided to try different cooking methods for each one. I brought my big cast iron pan up to high heat to sear the Korean-style loin. A little pork lard was added to the pan before the meat went in. I gave it a good sear on four sides and the ends. The pan was removed from the burner and I added about 1/4" of beef stock to the pan. I figured this would deglaze the pan and keep the meat moist while it cooked uncovered in the 350F oven. I wanted to cover the loin with the marinade, but I couldn't do so early in the cooking. There is too much mirin in the marinade and it would burn onto the pan before the meat was done. It took about 30-40 minutes to get the loin up to desired temperature. During this time I turned it twice and added a little more beef stock. When it reached 120F I covered it with the remaining marinade. I took it out at 129F. I know this is a little low for pork, but I don't like letting it go to 140F. Most of these pork loins are so lean they get dried out if you let them get above 135F. While the loin rested, I added more beef stock and a splash of mirin and Korean apple vinegar to the pan juices. This was reduced and served over the loin. Yummy goodness as expected.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

I made a cauliflower side to go with this pork loin. The cauliflower was cut into small florets and seared in a hot pan. After the florets had some color on each side, I deglazed with about 3/4 cup of sake. The sake was almost completely reduced and then 1 cup of beef stock was added. I went for the same Korean flavor by adding a splash of fish sauce, Korean apple vinegar and mirin. I used a couple of spoons of Hunan chili-garlic paste for some heat. As there was a lot of liquid in the pan, I cooked the cauliflower with the lid off. Once the sauce was reduced to the consistency I was looking for I covered the pan for the rest of the cooking time. Just before the cauliflower was at the desired tenderness, I added about a tablespoon of butter to the pan. The richness of the butter softened the heat of the chili nicely.

The pork loin and cauliflower was served with white rice. All in all, not such a bad meal. You could almost say it was lo-cal and healthy.........almost.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

The chipotle pork loin was seared in my Le Creuset Dutch oven. I'll tell you; that will open up your sinuses. I removed the loin from the pan and added a sliced red onion. After a quick sweat on the onions, the pork loin went back in the pan. I poured the marinade over it and topped with some of the onions. There was a lot of marinade, so I didn't have to add much liquid; just a bit of stock. I put the lid on the Dutch oven and it also went in the oven. As expected, it took a little longer than the loin that was roasted in the open pan. I misjudged the timing a little and didn't get this one out until it was already at 136 degrees. It was not a problem, as there was plenty of moisture in the pan. The marinade and pan drippings were used for sauce. I just added some extra stock and reduced it down until it was nice and thick.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Lupe and I tried to limit how much we ate. We each tried a little piece of the chipotle pork loin; just to taste. We ended up having pork loin in sandwiches, salad and a variety of other dishes throughout the week. I even made Lupe a chipotle pork and egg sandwich for breakfast one day. I fried an egg with a little of the chipotle sauce added to the pan. The toasted bagel was served open face with thin pork loin sliced topped with the egg and melted cheddar cheese.