Saturday, April 19, 2008

Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast & Other Things I Don't Understand

There are some recipes I just don't get. I don't understand the attraction, I don't understand why people are drawn to the food. From time to time I'm going to visit some of these recipes and try and make them better.

One thing I just hate is anything in my Jello. I don't like grapes or cherries or any fruit for that matter. I've even had, no lie, shredded lettuce in Lime Jello covered with sour cream!!! Who in God's name thought that was a good idea? Anything beyond a dollop of Cool Whip is pretentious and preposterous.

It's not just Jello, I don't like anything in aspic. Or head cheese. Or anything floating in any sort of viscous, gelatinous liquid. I'm sure that's a reason I didn't care for Binkley's Fruit Caviar course.

Another "cooking technique" I don't understand is wrapping things in bacon. I love bacon. I love the things usually wrapped in bacon, (e.g., scallops, pork roast). But when you cook those same things wrapped in bacon, they both turn out worse. Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast? Come on, let's take some pork and wrap it in, I don't know, how about some pork? It's porcine genocide; it's a veritable pork jihad. What's next chicken omelets?

Well, as I'm fond of saying, "that which you resist, persists". When it comes to food, I'm daring. I'm a risk taker. I'm a donkey on the edge. So, I will now embrace the enemy, here's my recipe for pork roast wrapped in bacon.



Bacon-Wrapped Pork Roast, the Crabby Way

6 - 8 Cloves of garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp Rosemary leaves, chopped, fresh if possible
1 Tbsp Thyme leaves, chopped, fresh if possible
1/2 cup chopped Italian Parsley
1 tsp Olive Oil
Ground Pepper
1 Boneless Pork Loin Roast approx. 2 lbs.
4-6 Slices of Bacon (for this meal I prefer a thick cut maple smoked version)

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Bring the pork roast to room temperature.

In a bowl combine the garlic, rosemary, thyme, parsley and olive oil. Mix into a paste. Add pepper to taste. Why no salt? The bacon is going to add plenty of saltiness, if it's not enough. add some when you serve, then go call your doctor and explain your high blood pressure.

Have your roasting pan or Le Creuset ready. Rub the entire pork roast with the garlic mixture and then place the roast in the pan. Cover the roast with strips of bacon, slightly overlapping the pieces until the entire top side is covered.

Now, put the roast into the 400 deg. oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn down the temperature to 350 deg. (don't open the oven door!!!). Roast for an additional 45 minutes. After an hour, using an instant read thermometer, check the temperature of the meat at its thickest point. It should read somewhere between 135 and 145 degrees. I remove my pork roast at 140 deg., if you then left it rest for 10-15 minutes the temperature will continue to rise to about 145 deg.

At this temp when you cut the roast it may be slightly pink in the center. This is OK. If you bought your pork from a grocery store or reputable butcher, you're safe. Trichinosis is virtually non-existent in this country. There's nothing worse than overcooked pork, (except maybe overcooked lamb). Now, if you bought your roast from the back of an Amish buggy, that's another story altogether.

The high heat at the start of the roasting process is enough to get the bacon crispy while rendering the fat. Serve this with a nice Gewurztraminer or Petite Syrah.

Enjoy, and remember, you can do it, you can cook.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Try this: Wrap some thinly-sliced pancetta -- NOT prosciutto -- around some fresh asparagus, and grill them. Yum.

Shannon said...

Loved your funny post!!!! I hate fruit in jello too... my mom used to put shredded sharp cheddar and whipped cream in strawberry jello. I just posted a bacon wrapped pork roast to my blog. I liked yours too!!!