Roasted Pork Loin & Pork Fajitas the next night

Roasted Pork Loin

8 servings

This is another thing I had never cooked before but I bought the meat because it was $1.99/lb. It was really pretty easy and good too. I served it with a seasoned rice and broccoli.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 pounds boneless pork loin roast
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Crush garlic with rosemary, salt and pepper, making a paste. Pierce meat with a sharp knife in several places and press the garlic paste into the openings. Rub the meat with the remaining garlic mixture and olive oil.
3. * Place pork loin into oven for 2 hours or until meat reaches 160 degrees, turning and basting with pan liquids. Remove roast to a platter. Heat the wine in the pan and stir to loosen browned bits of food on the bottom. Serve with pan juices.

* I didn't have wine on hand so I used chicken broth. 2 hours is probably WAY too long. Apparently pork gets dry in a hurry. The best way to cook this meat is to use a meat thermometer and if you're like me you've never used one. So here is what to do.

Step1
Push the meat thermometer into the thickest section of the meat you are cooking before you place the meat in the oven.

Step2

Make sure the thermometer is not touching bone, but is embedded deeply in the meat itself.

Step3

Put the meat in the oven at the recommended temperature.

Step4

Leave the meat thermometer in the meat throughout the cooking process.

Step5

Check the meat thermometer as soon as the recommended cooking time for the cut of meat you are preparing is almost finished. The reading on the thermometer - check the levels for the kind of meat you are cooking - will indicate when the meat is cooked throughout.

Pork Fajitas

The next night there was a lot of meat left over. So I sauteed green pepper and onion with some olive oil until it was tender, added some garlic and a tablespoon taco/fajita seasoning. Then I thinly sliced the meat and added it to the skillet long enough for it to heat up. For a yummy sauce I mixed plain yogurt (Sour cream would work too. I didn't have any.) and green salsa. We put it all together on our tortillas and boy was it good!