“Pavlova” with French Cut Pork Loin
The day before you roast this pork you’ll need to brine it overnight. Simply add the following ingredients in a non-reactive bowl:
4 Cups pure apple juice (not the “drink” stuff!)
Slightly less than a quarter cup of salt (use the cheap stuff and Kosher salt is too good for a brine!)
1/2 cup of fresh minced garlic.
Some freshly cracked black pepper – about 15 turns should do.
Whisk this all up and then add your pork roast to a zip-top bag, add the brine to the bag and put it in a non-reactive bowl in the fridge overnight. The bowl helps as in my case, the bag split at some point and the pork was still fully submerged!
The morning of the roast, take your pork out of the bag, give it a bit of rinse under cold water and pat it dry with a paper towel. Set it aside and get ready to prep the marinade and the garlic into the roast. Here’s what you’ll need:
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced (to insert into your roast)
Your brined pork (of course)
2 tbsp of freshly minced ginger
2 tbsp of freshly minced garlic (yes, more garlic!)
3 tbsp of minced shallots
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves removed from their stalks
2 tbsp fresh sage
2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, also removed from their stalks
3.4 cup of quality olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
First, take a small sharp knife and pierce the roast about 4cm deep all around the roast. Add a sliver of garlic into each one of the incisions you make. Next, truss your roast with some butchers twine. This ensures that the roast will cook evenly and it presents really nicely as a result. Once done, move to the marinade. Combine all of the ingredients listed above in a blender. Pulse about 10 times until you get a really nice paste. If it looks too dry, add a bit more olive oil. Once done, give it a taste and add only a bit of salt as the brine as already done a lot of the salting for you. Put the roast into a clean zip-top bag, add the marinade and give it a bit of a massage. Make sure you coat the entire roast evenly. Now pop it back in the fridge until roasting time.
For your grill set up you’ll need to get the temperature stable at about 325F (163C), indirect heat. Get a drip pan filled with warm water and add a small bit of wood. In my case I used cherry wood, but only a little bit to add a hint of smoke to an otherwise delicate meat. Let the smoke turn from white to a very light blue and then get ready to roast! Get a rack over the drip pan, insert your thermometer into your roast and shut the dome. No peeking until the internal temperature hits 140F (60C). That should take about 90 minutes for a roast this size.
Once you reach your internal temperature, remove the rack and tent it with some aluminium foil for about 10 minutes. When ready, remove the butcher’s twine first and then cut the roast into even chops between the bone. Serve with some roasted vegetables and a side salad and you’re done!
As usual the meal was delicious but again I was trumped by Heather’s homemade Pavlova! I’m not sure she’s willing to share her recipe but let me tell you, it was one of the BEST desserts she’s ever made. Full marks for the Pav babycakes!
Overall Heather Rating: 10/10
Overall Pavlova Rating: OFF THE CHARTS!
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