Herb Crusted Pork Loin Roast with Fig and Vermouth Sauce

When I want to make a special dinner for Jim and myself, it usually is a toss up between his favourite chicken dish,

our ‘anniversary chicken’ Pepper Crusted Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Chevre and Herbs, or a good pork roast.  Pork roasts are just so easy to prepare, with lots of bang for your buck.  The ROI is through the roof.  Now, I’m not referring to pork tenderloin.  I actually don’t really like that cut of meat.  Like plain deboned chicken breasts, the tenderloin has a tendency to dry out, and doesn’t really have a lot of flavour.  That’s not to say that if you stuff it and coat it and do all sorts of fun things to it, that it won’t turn out magnificently, I just don’t usually want to do all that (except for that chicken recipe up there).  Now, give me bone-in, skin on chicken thighs, or bone-in pork chops, and we can talk.

So when it comes to pork roasts, I always look for a bone-in cut.  The pork loin with the bone attached is my favourite pork cut.  It roasts amazingly, and can be elevated to company worthy status without a lot of sweat.  And if you can’t find a bone-in roast, at least get a pork loin roast vs a tenderloin.  It will take longer to cook up, but the flavour makes up for it.  So much better than a tenderloin any day! Just check out my Roast Citrus, Fennel and Thyme Pork recipe.  I often turn to this recipe for company.  It is so easy, and the flavour is memorable!  Now now now, I will concede that there a probably some epic tenderloin recipes.  Just not a huge fan over here.

My other favourite pork roast is this one I’m sharing today.  What makes it amazing is the sauce at the end.  Not that the pork roast itself isn’t already fantastic.  It is thickly coated in a medley of freshly chopped herbs, and after a good rest, it roasts for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, creating a yummy crust but juicy interior.  While it is roasting away (and filling the kitchen with the best aroma) the sauce is getting started already.  And what a sauce it is.  It starts with dried Mission Figs.  Yes, figs and pork go swimmingly together.  They start off soaking in a bowl with warmed through sweet vermouth.  You could also use sherry or marsala if you wanted.  And if you wanted to go the non-alcoholic route, apple juice or grape juice would work great as well.  But sweet vermouth is such a lovely addition to your liquor shelf, that I would wholeheartedly recommend picking up a bottle.  Or surely you already have one, just for the Negronis and Manhattans you make on the weekends. A classic red Cinzano and soda with a lemon twist is one of my favourite summer drinks, which I got introduced to on my first visit to England back in the late 80’s.  They call it a Cinzano and lemon (I guess like a Sprite or 7-UP to us here in North America)  Anyway, I digress.

The dried figs are soaked for about an hour.  You will save the  liquid for the final sauce.  Once the roast is out of the oven and is resting, you can start on the stove-top sauce.  It will be a combination of the soaking liquid, some chicken stock, a little veal demi-glace, and balsamic vinegar.  So here is where you can play a bit.  You will only need about 1/2 cup of chicken stock, so why not pull out that trusty jar of Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder you have in the fridge.  I told you this was going to come in handy pretty regularly!  Don’t have a small container veal demi-glace sitting in the bottom shelf of your fridge (or in the freezer)  Then try this instead: Use 1 tsp of ‘Better Than Bouillon’ Beef Concentrate (or other beef concentrate paste) mixed into 1 tbsp of red wine. It’s a pretty decent substitute for what you will need here, because the recipe only requires 1 tbsp of demi-glace.  I wouldn’t suggest doing this for larger amounts as an acceptable substitute.  At that point you would need to purchase the real thing from your grocer or butcher.  all the sauce ingredients will simmer and then cooked on a higher temp to reduce and thicken the sauce to a velvety goodness.  The dried figs are added and they also plump up with these flavours.  This all becomes the crowning glory for the roast.

That’s it.  Two main components.  Roast and sauce.  But they are both of the utmost flavours that they can be.  This dish is amazing for date night.  Therefore this dish is also completely smashing for a dinner party. Because there is so little hands-on time needed, you will have the luxury of giving attention to other areas to make the evening a success.  You will totally impress your guests when you bring this platter to the table.  Scatter fresh rosemary and thyme all over the sliced pork and sauce, and you will make them think you were slaving away all day.  Speaking of company, I suggest purchasing a 4 rib pork roast for this recipe.  However, this can be easily doubled.  You can purchase a 6 rib, two 4 ribs etc.  All you would need to do is double the fresh herbs and then the sauce recipe.  One rib per person allows for a very generous cut.  I purchase a 4 rib roast, so that we can have leftovers later in the week.

Because the roast is a pretty rich dish, I like to keep the sides pretty light.  Naturally you could serve a mash of some sort: potato, cauliflower, turnip, parsnip etc, or combo of any of these.  The mash makes another lovely bed for that unctuous sauce!  For a green, why not sauté or roast up some broccoli or broccolini?  A lovely braised celery or leek would be amazing.  Lately I have been grilling frisée lettuce.  Just halve a lettuce, keeping the root intact to hold the leaves together.  Bring oil to medium high heat in a sauté pan and grill gently on all sides, till just beginning to char.  Remove to a plate.  Add two finely minced shallots to the oil and sauté till softened.  Sprinkle these over the frisée.  Drizzle olive oil, some sherry or champagne vinegar, salt and pepper and maybe some chilli flakes, and you have a lovely warm salad to serve alongside the pork.  This is what I made for the meal that these photos were snapped of.  On the side are roasted parsnip spears sprinkled with sumac.  Just add a good Barolo, and you’re all set!

Make this dish now, while it is still roast season.  This dish is amazing from September through till April.  At that point you will probably be putting the roasts aside till the weather cools off.   But what a lovely dish to be looking forward to come Autumn again! 

Love Jen