Loin Of Pork With Bay Leaves Recipes

BAY-LEAF-CRUSTED PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a chef's knife, finely chop garlic and bay leaves together. Gather into a pile; sprinkle with 2 teaspoons coarse salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper. Using the flat side of the knife blade, mash mixture into a paste. Set aside.
• On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss onions with 2 tablespoons oil; season with salt and pepper. Push onions to the edges of baking sheet.
• Place pork in center of sheet, fatty side up; rub top with remaining tablespoon oil, and press on garlic mixture, coating evenly.
• Roast, dabbing occasionally with pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of meat (avoiding bones) registers 140 degrees (temperature will rise 10 to 15 degrees as roast rests), 65 to 75 minutes. (If browning too quickly, tent loosely with aluminum foil.) Transfer roast and onions to serving platter; let rest, loosely covered with foil, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a food processor, blend parsley and mustard until smooth; season with salt and pepper.
• Cut roast into chops, and serve with mustard sauce.

LOIN OF PORK WITH BAY LEAVES

Steps:

• In a small bowl mix the olive oil, garlic, salt, peppercorns, and crumbled bay leaves and rub the mixture all over the meat. Put the pork on a large dish or in a large plastic bag and cover the dish or tie up the bag and leave in the refrigerator if you've got steeping time; otherwise - if you're about to start cooking it - just leave it out.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a roasting pan with the onion. Strew over the onion 10 whole bay leaves. Place the pork, including its marinade, on top and the bones all around, if they fit and if you've got them. Roast in the oven for about 1 3/4 hours or to an internal temperature of 150 to 155 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, basting regularly.
• Remove the pork, scraping burnt bits off, to a plate or carving board and let it sit. On the stove at moderate heat, pour the wine and 1/2 cup boiling water over the bones, bay, garlic, and onion. Let it bubble up and reduce by about a third, and then remove the bones gingerly and strain the liquid contents into a saucepan. Heat, correct the seasoning, and add liquid as you like to make a good, thin, not-quite gravy.
• Carve the loin, put the slices on a big warmed plate, sprinkle with salt, and pour over a little of the juice-gravy, then tent with foil and leave in the turned-off oven while you eat the starter. It is a bit prinky, I know, but it will look fabulous if, when you take it out, you arrange, Napoleonically, some more bay leaves around the edges of the dish with the bay-scented pork.