Brined pork loin, roasted with an onion cardamom crust and served with a mushroom cream sauce.
There are two, no make that three, secrets to making an excellent pork roast.
The first is tobrinethe roast; brining helps the roast retain moisture when it cooks.
Elise Bauer
The second is to not overcook the pork.
Much higher and you have shoe leather.
But the sauce really takes this roast out of this world.
Elise Bauer
Creamy, mushroom-y, cardamom-y.
The recipe is adapted from one in an oldBon Appetit.
Who knew that cardamom would work so well in a mushroom cream sauce?
This savory sauce is one that I will be making again soon, perhaps next time over chicken breasts.
Pork Roast with Cardamom Mushroom Sauce
This recipe is adapted from a November 2001 Bon Appetit recipe.
Submerge pork in the brine solution and chill for 1 to 2 days.
Even if you are using a bag, place in a bowl just in case the bag leaks.
Rinse the roast thoroughly of the brine solution before cooking, pat dry.
Toss remaining 1 cup of chopped onion with mushrooms and 4 tablespoons olive oil in a bowl.
Place pork roast in the center of the roasting pan.
Sprinkle the roast with salt and pepper.
Rub roast with onion garlic puree.
Surround the roast with mushrooms and onions.
Roast pork 1 hour at 350F.
Remove from oven after one hour and remove the mushrooms, placing them into a large saucepan.
Add 1 cup stock and 1/2 cup water to roasting pan.
Transfer pork to platter; tent with foil.
Scrape the drippings from the roasting pan into the pan with the mushrooms.
Add the cream, remaining cup of stock, and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom to pan; bring to boil.
Blend flour and butter in small cup; mix into mushroom sauce.
Cook the sauce, stirring often, until reduced enough to coat spoon.
Season sauce with salt and pepper; serve with pork.
Recipe (barely) adapted fromBon Appetitmagazine.
