Easy and Delicious Pork Loin

I made this as a challenge for my husband. Generally, for one reason or another, my husband has not really been a fan of Pork Loin. I said "I bet that I can make you a fan of this, and if, at the end of dinner, you still don't like it, I will never make it again".

I win.

Since it was just the two of us for dinner, I purchased one package of Pork Loin, containing two loins (appx 2 lbs), which gave us leftovers when all was said and done.

What you will need is the juice of 4-6 lemons to constitute 3/4 - 1 cup of lemon juice, 1/2 of good extra virgin olive oil, 6 cloves of garlic, chopped, a few fresh sprigs of Rosemary and Thyme. (NOTE: in all instances here, make sure your ingredients are fresh. It makes a huge difference, since anything in a shelf container generally tastes nothing like the fresh version. The herbs should be stripped from their stems, and minced as much as possible, but don't kill yourself over it.)

Combine all ingredients into a large, sealable Ziplok bag, and then add your pork loins. Seal the bag, and then mush the bag to evenly coat. Refrigerate and turn every so often for at least 3 hours, and up to 24 hours. I marinated for about 8 hours, and it turned out great.

When you are ready to cook, remove the meat from your bag, but do not wipe it down. Leave whatever clings to the meat. Set your meat into a dish, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Generously salt and pepper all sides of your pork loins while heating an oven-proof pan with a few drags of olive oil in it on medium high heat.

I know you are all confused and like, "are we cooking it on the stove or in the oven?".

Both.

When your pan heats up (generally when the Olive oil starts to shimmer), brown your loins on all sides. When that is done, and your oven has reached temperature, put your pan (with the loins) straight into the oven. This sears the outside of your meat, ensuring a nice juicy and tender interior (as long as you don't overcook it). You will want to leave your meat in the oven until a meat thermometer registers a temperature of around 137. Because it is pork it cooks fairly quickly, and you will find that if you leave it in the oven for any period of time beyond this, it will overcook.

Once it has reached temperature, remove it from the oven, tent with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes while you finish your other meal preparations. Like I've said previously, this is really important because it lets the juices settle back into the meat.

Enjoy!