Skip to main content

David Tanis' Tuscan pork roast. Memories of a fine dinner in LA



I was thinking about what to cook and I came across this recipe from David Tanis' book 'Market Cooking'. We made it when we were in LA last year. My good friend Peter and I got the meat from the coolest, and possibly most expensive, butcher in the world, I think it was called 'A cut above' in Santa Monica but I might have got that wrong.
Anyway we made this deceptively simple recipe for a crowd and it was delicious. I seem to remember that we served it alongside the now legendary 'Roast potatoes and fennel from Lucca' from Ruth Rogers at the River Cafe.

The recipe

  Ingredients
1 boneless pork loin (not tenderloin), about 4 pounds
1 tablespoon salt
8 garlic cloves, grated or minced

½ cup roughly chopped fennel fronds, preferably from wild fennel
2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed in a mortar or spice mill
1 teaspoon fennel pollen (optional)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons roughly chopped rosemary, plus a few extra sprigs
2 tablespoons roughly chopped sage, plus a few extra sprigs
2 tablespoons roughly chopped marjoram, plus a few extra sprigs
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper






1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Method
Season the pork on all sides with salt. 
In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Rub and pat the mixture all over the meat. Press the extra sprigs of rosemary, sage and marjoram against the roast, and use a few lengths of butcher’s twine to secure them. Cover the roast with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours, or preferably overnight. 
Bring to room temperature before roasting.
Heat the oven to 200 deg. Place the roast in a shallow baking dish and cook, uncovered, for about 1 hour, until the meat is nicely browned and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roast registers 55 deg. 
Let it rest for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing.
Make a jus
Serve the loin, thinly sliced, warm or at room temperature.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast f...
1 comment
Read more

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind...
1 comment
Read more

Sea Bass on mushroom potatoes with salsa Verde

I felt the overwhelming need to cook something new on Saturday night. I didn't want the tired and tested I wanted to explore new culinary waters. However combined with this desire was an equal and opposing force, driven by being absolutely knackered, that meant it had to be simple too. I returned to one of Jamie's early books, to a recipe that IO had meant to do on countless occasions but never quite got round to. I have done several versions of Sea Bass on a bed of potatoes, some that I have written about on this blog. The one question I would have is about the thickness of the potatoes and the length of time they need to be cooked through ... in my oven I reckon they need about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggests. I would suggest a bit of a trial run if you are going to do it for a dinner party ... however once you have given it a whirl I think this makes for a very easy recipe for a crowd. Here's the recipe. Roasted slashed fillet of sea bass stuffed with herbs, bak...
1 comment
Read more