Let’s just say that my husband likes pork, a lot. To appease his primal need for flaming hunks of meat, I put a pork roast in the oven last night and made a big salad to offset the damage. I briefly considered a starch but I was lazy and it was getting late. And honestly the pork wasn’t flaming, which is a good thing when it’s inside your oven.
For the pork I whipped into the corner grocery (a Harris Teeter) and picked up a pork loin roast (closer to the blade end but still with a bit of the tenderloin). I didn’t have time to brine it, though that would have been sublime. Instead I rubbed it down with a coffee-ancho chile rub and really watched the cooking time. For the accompanying salad I whipped up my fall pomegranate salad. Recipes follow. Enjoy.
Coffee-Ancho Rub
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1 tablespoon espresso powder or instant espresso chrystals
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 tablespoon ground ancho chile
2 tablespoons muscavado sugar (or dark brown sugar)
Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. You will have enough for about three roasts. Dry the meat with paper towels and rub the mixture in. Pork is best when cooked to 135°F or 140°F, as it’s resting the cooking will continue and it should reach 145°F, which is safe to eat and still juicy.
Vic’s Pomegranate and Avocado Salad
This is loosely based on a salad from Bon Appetit that ran in the December 05 issue.
1 medium-sized head of romaine lettuce, washed, spun and torn into bite-sized pieces
1 avocado, peeled and sliced into 1/3″ slices lengthwise
seeds of one small pomegranate
sections from one orange
3 tablespoons picked cilantro leaves
For the dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of one lime
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
1 small shallot minced very fine
salt and pepper to taste
Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and toss some of it with the romaine. Arrange the dressed lettuce on a platter and arrange the avocado slices and orange sections over the lettuce. Sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds and cilantro leaves. Pass the remaining dressing at the table.
Vic,
That rub for the pig sounds great. I was going to try the coca-cola marinade but yours takes the cake. I will use it with some wild boar though, it’s much deeper meat. I LOVE IT.
I think I’ll try it with some game as well, I intend to eat game instead of regular meat as it’s in season and much lower in fat and in cheaper.
Cheers
Franka