glorious pork

i have this vision that i will wake up tomorrow morning and learn to be the woman that uses my copious amount of natural light to take pictures of the amazing food i cook right after i finish up with a day full of crafting with the kids in my beautifully clean house. i have that vision in a world where i don't start a blog with a run-on sentence, too, but that would be counter to the point. or something. i have that vision and then i remember that my little apartment doesn't actually have much natural light. and that my house is only half clean because the children i would like to craft with were monsters yesterday. and that i don't have time to be that person because i am too busy living in the real world. still, visions.

i did manage to snap a picture with my iphone of the glorious lean pork roast i made last night.

see all that juiciness? me, too. i could also taste it in every glorious bite. we expected our little pork loin to last for two meals - i am planning on a new dinner tonight because we forgot to stop once we started eating.

and it's easy! super easy! i put the loin in a zip lock bag and added balsamic vinegar, a bit of olive oil, dried rosemary (the last of which i have from my previous new mexico home - tastes like beautiful desert. sniffle.) (also, make sure you rub it between the palms of your hands to open up the flavorness), pepper, salt, obscene amounts of crushed garlick (obscene. period.), and red pepper flakes (also from new mexico. double sniffle.) make sure everything is all happy and marinating together and stick that baby in your fridge for a few hours, or until you are ready to cook.

take your loin out 15 - 30 minutes (30 is better) before you are ready to cook it and place it in a shallow roasting pan. could you use foil for easier clean up? sure, you could, but i don't like easy things. no offense to my old neighbor. preheat your oven to 450 and ignore your husband telling you to stick with your regular method of cooking pork because his mother was a terrible cook who always dried pork out and you finally brought him back from the nightmares with your ability to not dry out pork and he doesn't want to go back to the days of oyster stuffing. IT WAS BLUE.

side note. i looked all over the internet for advice on how to make this dinner. i took advice from almost everything i read and turned it into our own personal vanishing loin. so kuddos to the intertubes for my success.

anywho. with the oven preheated it is time to put the pork in (that's what he said.) (you know it was bound to happen.)  before i placed mine in the oven i gave the top of it a healthy dose of black pepper and salt to create an even spicier crust. depending on your love for spice i would strongly suggest this to be a choice you make as well. in fact, you should probably do that part back at the step where you take the loin out of the fridge and put it in the pan. i am a little all over the place this morning. FIBER! CHERRY PIE! now you know what it is like to live with my four year old. FART FACE!

cook your pork loin uncovered at 450 for 20 minutes until it has a beautiful looking crust and your house smells amazing. drop the oven down to 375, tent your loin with foil, and continue cooking until the internal temp is at least 145. i got talking to the husband at this point and cooked mine to 152 - it was still amazing, but 145 is optimal so don't let anyone distract you. tell them there is only room for you and you pork in the kitchen and that they will thank you later. or don't be completely selfish and weird. whatever.

make sure you let your pork loin rest for at least 10 minutes before you cut into it. redistribution of meat liquids is a very important step in the awesomeness of this beauty of a dead pig. while you wait you can apologize to the person you kicked out of your kitchen during the quest for the perfect internal temperature. or poor yourself a glass of wine and enjoy your domestic bliss in silence.

i paired this with basil and herb pearled couscous. mostly because that's what i had on hand, but it turned out to be a nice side. a salad would also work. something green and / or herby is a nice compliment. or just eat the pork and drink your wine. no judging here. PIE FACE! SOCKS ON YOUR HEAD! CHICKEN STRIPPERS!!