Pork Roast with Cardamom Mushroom Sauce
Brined pork loin, roasted with an onion cardamom crust and served with a mushroom cream sauce.
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There are two, no make that three, secrets to making an excellent pork roast.
The first is to brine the roast; brining helps the roast retain moisture when it cooks.
The second is to not overcook the pork. Take the roast out at 140 to 145°F; the internal temperature will still continue to rise 5 or 10 degrees. Much higher and you have shoe leather.
The third tip is to pair the roast with a wonderful sauce, as pork is rather mild and fares well with a good sauce.
Okay, now that we've established the fundamentals, this pork roast with a cardamom onion crust and mushroom sauce is I think, the best pork roast I've ever had.
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Much of this has to do with the fact that the pork was brined overnight and it was cooked to a perfect temperature, the inside still a little pink. But the sauce really takes this roast out of this world.
Creamy, mushroom-y, cardamom-y.
The recipe is adapted from one in an old Bon Appetit. Who knew that cardamom would work so well in a mushroom cream sauce?
This savory sauce is one that I will be making again soon, perhaps next time over chicken breasts.
Pork Roast with Cardamom Mushroom Sauce
This recipe is adapted from a November 2001 Bon Appetit recipe.
Ingredients
- Brine:
- 3/4 cup coarse kosher salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 gallon cold water
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- Roast:
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium sized onions), divided into 3 x 1/2 cups
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom, divided, 2 and 1/4 teaspoons
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 4-pound center-cut boneless pork loin roast
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups chicken broth, divided, 1 cup and 1 cup
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 1 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Method
-
Brine the pork roast:
Whisk together the salt, sugar, and water until the salt and sugar have completely dissolved. Add the pepper.
Submerge pork in the brine solution and chill for 1 to 2 days. Note that thick, gallon-sized freezer bag is great for brining; if you use one, you probably only need half as much brine solution. Even if you are using a bag, place in a bowl just in case the bag leaks.
Rinse the roast thoroughly of the brine solution before cooking, pat dry.
-
Preheat oven to 350°F
-
Make onion garlic cardamom rub:
Purée 1/2 cup chopped onion, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 teaspoons ground cardamom, and garlic in a food processor or blender.
-
Rub roast with onion purée, surround with mushrooms and onions in roasting pan:
Toss remaining 1 cup of chopped onion with mushrooms and 4 Tbsp olive oil in a bowl. Place pork roast in the center of the roasting pan. Sprinkle the roast with salt and pepper. Rub roast with onion garlic purée. Surround the roast with mushrooms and onions.
-
Roast pork, remove mushrooms, add broth and water:
Roast pork 1 hour at 350°F. Remove from oven after one hour and remove the mushrooms, placing them into a large saucepan.
Add 1 cup broth and 1/2 cup water to roasting pan.
Return roast to oven and roast pork until thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 140°F-145°F, about 15-20 minutes longer. Transfer pork to platter; tent with foil.
-
Make mushroom cream sauce with pan drippings:
Scrape the drippings from the roasting pan into the pan with the mushrooms. Add the cream, remaining cup of broth, and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom to pan; bring to boil. Blend flour and butter in small cup; mix into mushroom sauce.
Cook the sauce, stirring often, until reduced enough to coat spoon. Season sauce with salt and pepper; serve with pork.
Recipe (barely) adapted from Bon Appetit magazine.