Bacon: The Other Other White Meat

Let me start by saying that I’m not that into pork. I mean sure, every southern mom has a good pork roast recipe in her back pocket, and so did mine, but frankly, a big hunk of pork is frequently somewhat inferior to its cured cousins—bacon, sausage, salted ham, salami, prosciutto. Moreover, a pork loin is big…and I’m usually just cooking for two or three. So when I’m at the store and there’s already organic, thick-cut bacon in my basket (which there invariably is; J’s influence has made bacon a staple in my fridge), purchasing a pork roast is something I rarely consider.

Until the Tompkins Square Green Market this past Sunday. I was waiting in line to get my bacon, and a selection of pork roasts were displayed on the checkered table for the inspection of the customers ahead of me. They were beautiful cuts of meat—organic, local, free-range, and so fresh and colorful they could have been painted. So I got a small one, brought it home, split it, and froze half for later. (Hint: look for this half to turn up in a later post!)

Having no idea how to prepare a pork roast (and speculating that since it isn’t a regular part of The Boy’s diet, he might approach it with some skepticism), I searched for recipes what were exciting and palatable. When I was a kid, Mom made a sweet-and-sour-glazed pork loin that I have appetizing memories of, so I looked for recipes that combined sweet and tangy flavors. Lo and behold, I found just such a recipe, and for pork swathed in the ultimate ambassador to J’s palate:

BACON-WRAPPED MAPLE PORK LOIN

INGREDIENTS

For brining pork:

8 cups water
1/3 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup (Grade B or amber)
1/2 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
2 sprigs fresh sage
1 large garlic clove, smashed
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 (4- to 4 1/2-lb) boneless pork loin roast, trimmed

For roasting pork:

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
3 tablespoons maple syrup (Grade B or amber)
16 bacon slices (about 1 lb)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon water

DIRECTIONS:

Brine pork:

Combine all brining ingredients except pork loin in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan and heat over high heat, stirring, until salt is dissolved. Pour brine into a deep 4- to 5-quart pot; cool to room temperature, uncovered, about 2 hours.

Add pork to brine, making sure it is completely covered by brine, and marinate, covered and chilled, 8 to 24 hours.

Roast pork:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Pat pork dry (discard brine) and remove any strings, then transfer to a roasting pan. Stir together garlic, sage, and 1 tablespoon syrup in a small bowl and rub all over pork. Lay bacon slices crosswise over loin, overlapping slightly, and tuck ends of bacon underneath loin.

Roast pork until thermometer registers 140°F (if you’re not in college and do have an instant-read thermometer), about 1 1/4 hours. Stir together 1 tablespoon syrup and vinegar until combined. Brush vinegar mixture over bacon slices and continue to roast pork until thermometer registers 150°F, about 10 minutes more. Remove from oven and let stand in pan 15 minutes. Transfer roast to a cutting board with a lip, reserving juices in pan, and let roast stand, uncovered, while making sauce.

Skim fat from pan juices and discard, then transfer jus to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir together cornstarch and water and whisk into jus. Simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in remaining tablespoon syrup. Serve pork with sauce.

(Recipe from Gourmet, courtesy of Epicurious.com)

NOTES FROM THE CHEF:

1. Brine is so cool! Wow. I brined for about 20 hours, and it definitely didn’t overpower the flavor of the meat.

2. The garlic-sage rub is delicious and imperative…I made one mistake here, which is that I didn’t think it sounded like enough maple, so I added some. Not necessary; this dish would have been plenty sweet and maple-y without it.

3. Even though my roast was more like two pounds, I still cooked it for a little more than an hour, just to make sure it was cooked through (because it was short but thick)…it probably didn’t need that much time, but I brined it so long that it wasn’t going to dry out, and it came out perfectly.

RESULTS:

Beautiful presentation, delicious dish! Every single flavor was present—the maple, the bacon, the garlic, sage, and even bay leaves came out. The gravy/glaze with that cider vinegar tang is smashing. All in all, this required a little forethought with the brining, but was relatively easy and delectable.

I served it with sautéed broccoli rabe and roasted baby potatoes—a mix of little yukons, reds, fingerlings, and purples, which J cut into little nibble-sized pieces and I tossed with olive oil, bay leaves, oregano, fresh thyme, rosemary, and sea salt, and roasted alongside the pork loin for about forty minutes.