Eat Drink Man Weblog

On Saturday I went to Baltimore’s 32^nd Street Farmer’s Market. I made out pretty well – I picked up a head of Boston Lettuce, a pound of Russian red kale, asparagus, and some strawberries so sweet you could smell them half a block away.

Asparagus is best when young; its stalks grow thicker and stringier as they age. Young stalks are thin and tender. The market had the thinnest asparagus I have ever seen.

I had a pork loin resting in the fridge in Alton Brown’s lime-chili marinade. Asparagus and pork play well together. (Bacon-wrapped asparagus is an hors devours classic.) Throw in some curried rice to provide a starch and dinner is served.

I started by tying and drying my pork. A butterflied pork loin presents more surface area to the marinade. And the added step of tying the meat back into a roast takes only a few seconds. And since oil helps transfer heat into the pork during a sear, I patted the roast dry with paper towels.

Next I seared the roast over high heat in a skilled with a tablespoon of olive oil. Once I had a golden brown exterior, I put the roast into a 350 degree oven with a probe thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat.

Sear your meat to get the most flavor out of your investment.

While I was waiting for my pork to reach 135 degrees, I deglazed my skillet with some sherry. I tossed my asparagus in the pan to coat with the resulting flavorful liquid.

Never neglect pan drippings: they offer supper-concentrated flavor. I used mine to coat the asparagus.

I transferred the asparagus and liquid into a microwave safe container for steaming.

Curried rice requires comes together easily – just make a normal batch of rice, but add two tablespoons of curry powder right to the water.

I had a little time left before my roast was ready. I decided to fry some bacon. I wanted to toss crumbled bacon over my asparagus in homage to the classic appetizer. When the bacon was crisp I softened some minced onion in the drippings.

When my pork hit 135 degrees, I let it rest for five minutes. While resting, it reached the desired 140 thanks to carry-over heat. I steamed my asparagus in the microwave on high for three minutes. When it was done I tossed it with the onion and crumbled some bacon on top.

Then I was done – roast pork with steamed asparagus with curried rice. Simple and delicious. I highly recommend Alton Brown’s marinade — the pork was juicy, tender, and just tart enough to make your mouth water.

Dinner is served.