Herb and Orange Marinated Pork Loin Roast

Ah goodness. I’m going to start out 2016 by posting the pork loin (Porchetta Style) roast that I made for a dinner with my sister and brother in law. It wasn’t exactly how I would have liked it to turn out but I definitely believe in the potential of this recipe. If anyone still believes that one can ‘turn over a new leaf’ at the beginning of each new year, then that is what I am doing here. Not every recipe turns out exactly how I think it will and believe me, there’s always room for improvement.

First things first, the cooking method I used did not match the cut of meat. Plain and simple. I think this is something I may have caught on to sooner if I wasn’t so tired from already having a week of company. I mindlessly dumped this gloriously marinated pork loin roast into the slow cooker where I proceeded to cook the $hit out of it. Holy cow. I mean, pig.

Here was that marinade, by the way:

I thought this roast was off to a really great start after I butterflied two pork loins and coated them in the marinade.Then I rolled them together (in opposition, like a yin yang) and tied them with cooking twine. Things were still looking pretty damn fine at this point. I actually did all the prep work for this roast before the holidays began. I froze the roast, marinade and all, then thawed it the day before I was going to use it. The marinade works it’s magic during the thawing process. Then here’s where it all fell apart…I put this very lean cut of meat in a slow cooker for 7 hours. I have actually had great success with doing a pork roast in the slow cooker but that was using a pork shoulder which has much more fat interlaced with the meat. What resulted after 7 hours, was some incredibly delicious, but bone dry tenderloin.

So…if I had really been paying attention, instead of cleaning the house and Netflix binge watching House of Cards, this is how I would have cooked it:

1. sear each side of the roast in a hot pan.
2. finish in the oven at 375 F until the meat thermometer proclaims an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).
3. Let the roast rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

As you can imagine, I have no ‘after’ pictures of this monstrosity. We did eat it for dinner that night and the leftovers were lovely on sandwiches. I will give this recipe another try because I like the marinade so much.

Porchetta Style Pork Tenderloin Roast Marinade

• 2 similar sized pork tenderloins; butterflied
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary; finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic; minced
• 2 tbsp fresh sage; finely chopped
• zest of one orange
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

Season the meat first with salt and pepper. Mix the herbs, orange zest, garlic, and 1 tbsp olive oil together (you can use more olive oil if you wish) and rub all over the tenderloins.