Difficulty 1/5
Pork is one of my favourite proteins to work with. I thinks it’s very versatile, flavourful and really juicy if cooked properly. This time I bring you a recipe for a piece of loin rubbed with brown sugar and garlic. This then caramelizes and we bathe the pork with it in the oven, what else can you ask for? Potatoes, of course! These are tiny oven baked with fresh oregano (oh the smell!) and lime, contrasts really nice with the sweetness of the pork. This recipe is really easy and it’s one of those “pop it in the oven and forget about it for at least half an hour” and because he potatoes are also oven-baked, they’re two for one! And btw, this pork makes great sandwiches, too!
Portions: 6
Ingredients
– 2kg pork loin, mine was also tied
– 10ml vegetable oil
– salt and pepper to taste
– 200g brown sugar
– 5 garlic tooths
– 1kg potatoes
– 2 limes
– 100ml olive oil
– salt and pepper to taste
– 5g fresh oregano leaves
Procedure
1. Chop the garlic really fine and season the loin quite heavily. Remember that only the outside will have seasoning.
2. First we seal the pork in the pan with very hot vegetable oil. This helps keep the juice inside the pork when it goes in the oven. Seal even the sides.
2. Let it cool and then rub the brown sugar and garlic all around
3. For the potatoes, cut them in half, add the oregano leaves (no stalks) and juice of 1 lime. Then I also cut slices of another lime to develop the aroma. Add olive oil, salt and pepper and mix with a spoon.
4. These then go to the oven at 180C. The potatoes for me took 40min and the pork took 60min. This however depends on the thickness and size of your pork, so really, the best is to have a thermometer. When the temperature at the core reaches 73C or 163F, it means all possible bacteria are killed and the pork can now come outside of the oven and be eaten safely. I took both out every 20min. I gave the potatoes a mix and added olive oil if dry (they can burn otherwise) and basted the pork with the juices.
5. Once it comes out of the oven, let it rest for at least 15min so that the meat absorbs the juices back and it doesn’t completely come out when you cut it.
That’s it! Cut, serve pretty and enjoy!
