Blood Orange Pork Loin With Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

 

The leftover turkey has been devoured and all that remains is some sausage stuffing and sweet potato souffle. There's a crispness in the air and I'm nostalgic. As Thanksgiving day heralds in black Friday, my mind is filled with memories of Christmas decorating, cookie baking and shopping - all with my mom. I do these things without her, since she isn't here to celebrate with. The bitter-sweetness of mourning has turned into acceptance. After celebrating almost 7 Christmases without her, the holiday has returned to being festive. For this I am thankful!

When my mother died, I hung up my paint brushes and sketch pad and headed to a place I knew I could survive without her - that was the kitchen! She dreaded the kitchen but I've embraced it. There's solace in stirring sauces, concocting frosting and roasting meats. I am fortunate to have two  friends who continually change my life. We laugh, share cooking techniques and our food. Their companionship is most rewarding. This recipe (or lack thereof) is dedicated to them. Both these women cook with love and not with recipes. I hope I've written the recipe in a way you can follow along.

A note about cooking oils:
Food is all a matter of taste and one secret to changing a "flavor" is to change the oil you cook with. Certain oils, like vegetable and canola are almost flavorless. They're great for letting the other flavors in your dish take a starring role. Olive, sesame, walnut and other oils have their own flavors and will dramatically or subtly change the flavor of the dish. In this dish, blood orange olive oil is the star of the show.

Now the recipe:
Rinse and pat dry a 2 pound pork loin. Slice 3 cloves of garlic into slivers. Cut slits into the meat and place the slivers of garlic into the slits. You should have slits filled with garlic on both sides of your meat. Then drizzle the loin with approximately 2 teaspoons of blood orange olive oil. Rub the oil onto the whole loin. Season the pork with salt and pepper on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When ready to roast, preheat the oven to 350. Slice fingerling potatoes lengthwise (enough to fill 1/2 of a 9x13 inch rectangular pan). In a 9x13 inch rectangular pan, measure out 1/2 c of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, 2 t garlic powder, 2 t dried parsley. Mix 1 t of blood orange olive oil with 3 T olive oil into the bread crumbs. Add enough white wine (I used pinot grigio) to transform the breadcrumbs into a crumbling paste. Toss the potatoes into the bread mixture and place the pork loin (fat side up) in the center of the pan. Push the potatoes around the loin so they're not underneath. Sprinkle some Italian seasoned breadcrumbs onto the top of the pork loin and drizzle a touch of oil over the bread crumbs. Then drizzle a little more white wine (approx 1/4 c) over the potatoes and pork loin. Put the loin in the oven and roast. In about 20 minutes, turn the potatoes and add a little water (if potatoes look dry). Test the pork at the 35 minute mark to see what temperature it's at. If it's almost there, watch carefully. Overcooked pork means dry pork. Remove the pork from oven when the temperature reads 160. Let rest 10 minutes and then slice.
                                         

Before cooking.

Finished!