Citrus Fennel Crusted Pork

Ahh, Pork, the other white meat. Loooovely. God knows you’ve all probably had your fill of turkey so I figured we’d give him a rest for a bit. Pork loin is one of the leanest cuts of meat out there and when done right is damn tasty. A lot of people have a tendency to over cook pork as they’ve been told to never serve it pink and in doing so, they end up cooking the living daylights out of it. We call that version ‘tough as leather’ and if this is the case I’d almost prefer to wear them as a pair of shoes than to eat the well done dry pork! When cooked right it should be moist and have buckets of flavour. My cooking technique will guarantee that you don’t end up with another pair of shoes in your closet (although we know how you laaaadies likey the shoes).

You’ll love the toasted nutty fennel flavour here. It really is good.

RECIPE:

Serves 4

1 lb sustainably farmed/ local organic pork loin

1/2 cup fennel seeds – toasted & ground

1 lemon – zested

1 tbsp black pepper

Agave nectar

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup broth (veg or chicken)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Preheat skillet on medium heat for 1 minute. Add fennel seeds and toast until fragrant, 4 minutes approx. Do not burn. Add to a mortar and pestle and add a pinch salt. Ground. Once ground add the lemon zest and pepper.

Lay the pork loin on a cutting board and season with salt on all sides. Roll the loin on the board to absorb all the seasoning. Drizzle agave on all sides of the loin then roll the pork in the fennel mixture, rubbing it in so the mixture sticks. Make sure you coat all sides.

NOTE: The agave is to help the spice coating to stick to the loin.

Preheat same skillet on medium heat for 2 minutes and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Once hot add crusted pork and sear on all sides until golden approx 2 minutes each side.

Once seared lay on foiled sheet pan and add broth to the pan. Pop in oven for 10 minutes approx or until internal temp 125*F.

TIP: Adding broth is my special technique for all lean proteins to keep them beautifully moist while roasting.

Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before carving. Don’t be afraid to cook the pork to medium rare. Pork loin, being a very lean protein, shouldn’t be over cooked. By letting it rest you’re allowing time for the juices redistribute into the meat, which should be a perfect moist medium rare/medium when ready to carve.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.