It’s officially Fall! In South Florida, that means it has cooled off from the mid-90s to the high 80s during the day. *sigh* At least I don’t have to rake leaves. Gotta look on the bright side. But in the spirit of the season, I decided to look for a recipe that uses apples. I know they’re available year-round, but they make me think of the Fall season. This Juicy & Tender Roasted Pork Loin sounded delicious, and it’s been a minute since I’ve blogged a pork recipe. So grab a cup of tea, sit back, and read on to find out how this week’s main course recipe worked out.
When you don’t want deja vu turkey for another holiday dinner, hit the reset button with an easy-yet-stunning juicy roast pork loin. You won’t believe how succulent and savory a slice of roasted pork can be with just a simple garlic paste and sprinkle of pepper.
The Ingredients
A week or two ago, I made the 30-mile (round trip) journey to my favorite local grocery store chain for meat and fish. One of my finds was a big, beautiful 4-pound boneless pork loin for about $6. I love a good deal!
The rest of the ingredients were all easily found at my regular grocery store (Whole Foods these days). The fresh herbs were probably the most expensive at around $2 each, $6 for all three (sage, rosemary, and mint), but that’s not too bad in my book.
This recipe did give some leeway on the apples, and I chose Fuji and granny smith. I baked the Fuji apples with the pork roast and used the granny smith for the sauce.
The Process
This roasted pork loin wasn’t a quick recipe, but it also wasn’t very difficult. Here’s how my time was spent:
- 10 minutes to prep the pork roast
- 30 minutes to marinate
- 17 minutes to brown the pork
- 50 minutes to roast
- 20 minutes to rest
- 2 hours 7 minutes total
Making the garlic paste is the first step. I have to admit I didn’t have much luck following the instructions to make it. Instead, I gave up and used my mortar and pestle–the knife method described just wasn’t making a paste.
Once I made the garlic paste, I tied the roast with some kitchen twine. Then I rubbed on the paste, set the pork aside to marinate for 30 minutes, and finished the prep work. This recipe doesn’t include instructions on how to tie the roast, and it’s completely optional. I decided to because I had a Marth Stewart moment LOL. You can find a super tutorial here if you want to know how it’s done.
Everything went according to the instructions from then on, and I had a really easy time making this recipe. My cast-iron pan was perfect for this recipe. It allowed me to brown the pork roast on the stove, add the apples, onion, and herbs, then roast everything all in the same pan. Super convenient!
My only mistake was not watching the meat thermometer and letting the roast cook to 170℉. I read somewhere that the temperature can increase as much as 10 degrees while the roast rests, so it was well-done (I prefer my pork slightly pink in the middle).
It wasn’t dry–just no pink at all–and this was completely on me. The recipe does say to roast for about 1 hour. I’m guessing 30-40 minutes would have been enough for this roast, so keep an eye on yours.
