Out of all the food I made for the wine tasting, this is the
only one that made me think, “Wow, this is kind of fussy.” Looking at it again –
it’s so clearly NOT (perhaps the fact that I was cooking 7 dishes skewed my
perspective a bit…?). With a little advance planning, this makes a fantastic
grilled dinner, nice enough for company but easy enough for a weeknight. The key
is to remember to start the marinade the night before; you can also make the basting
sauce in advance and keep it in the fridge until you need it.
A word about pomegranate molasses: This is pomegranate juice
which has been reduced to a thick, molasses-like consistency. You can find it
in the ethnic food section of some grocery stores, though we get ours from the
local Middle Eastern market. This is such a great ingredient to have on hand – it
makes its way into all sorts of sauces and salad dressings and marinades. We
also mix it with a little simple syrup and add some sparkling water for a tart
iced drink, and add it to lemonade for extra color and a pop of flavor. I
blogged a recipe from the marvelous Tori Avey a couple of years ago with
roasted Brussels sprouts drizzled with pomegranate molasses. Honestly, it’s so
good – go buy some. You’ll use it everywhere.
This is another recipe from Perfect Pairings, which is one
of the very few cookbooks that’s made me want to cook every single recipe in
it. I’ve modified it slightly to make more basting sauce, since the original
recipe didn’t have nearly enough to suit me. I also didn’t include cooking
times, since it’s going to depend on whether you have a pork roast or pork
tenderloins (and yes, this would also be brilliant on pork chops, which will
cook even faster).
We tried a couple of different wines with this and they were
all very good, so I feel like you can really go with whatever makes you happy.
In love with a Riesling right now? It would be very good. Have a nice lighter
Pinot Noir itching to make an appearance? Bust it out. In the end I went with
my I-can’t-decide-what-to-pour/go-to wine: a rose, specifically Chateau deLeelanau Cabernet Franc Rose, which I think is the most perfect springtime wine
ever. Here's a picture of me at work, posed with it. I didn't see it for sale on CDL's website, so you'll just have to come visit me at work and buy some there if you'd like to try it. Pomegranate and Orange-Glazed Pork
MARINADE
½ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons hot mustard
Grated zest of 1 orange
2 teaspoons finely minced garlic
BASTING SAUCE
1 cup fresh orange juice
6 tablespoons honey
6 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons reserved marinade
1 3-lb pork roast or 2 1 ½ pound pork tenderloins
Combine the marinade ingredients and reserve 4 tablespoons
to add to the sauce. Coat the meat with the marinade (a large Ziploc is perfect
for this) and refrigerate overnight. Let the meat come to room temperature for
30 minutes before you start cooking.
Whisk together the basting sauce ingredients. Set aside ¼ cup
of the sauce.
Grill or broil the pork loin, turning and basting
frequently, until the internal temperature reaches 140. Obviously the time for
this is going to vary quite a bit depending on what kind of meat you’re using,
but it took less than 15 minutes to do the tenderloins under the broiler.
When the meat is done, transfer it to a cutting board and
let it rest for 10 minutes. While the meat is resting, put the reserved basting
sauce into a small saucepan; bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until
the sauce is reduced by half and is a nice syrupy consistency (you can also do
this in advance and just heat it a little bit before serving, but at this point you're probably in the kitchen finishing up your side dishes anyway).
Slice the meat thickly and spoon the reduced sauce over it.
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