Pork Loin, the Julia Child way (sort of)
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Author Notes: The first recipe that came out of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and landed firmly in my kitchen collection of go-to recipes was the dry marinade for pork. I've altered it to suit what I have on hand and increased the garlic to massive proportions (we love garlic!). A long marinade in the fridge is key to deep infusion of the earthy-garlic marinade. Julia instructs you to scrape off the marinade before roasting, no way I would waste all that garlic! So I opt to start the roast covered to protect the garlic from browning (and bittering) too quickly. I've also added one of the ways I make gravy out of the pan drippings, pork loin doesn't release as much juice as a turkey so you'll need a bit of stock to create a sauce. Corn starch was chosen to keep this dinner gluten-free!
This was such a smash hit the first time I made it, it's the first thing pulled out when tenderloin is on the menu. - midnitechef
Serves 4-6 (depends on the size of loin and appetites)
- 1 pork tenderloin
- 3 cloves garlic, per pound of pork
- 2 tablespoons thyme, per pound of pork
- 1 teaspoon salt, per pound of pork
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper, per pound of pork
- 2 tablespoons dried sage (total)
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 cup stock, any kind
- Prepare the marinade by combining the garlic (minced of course), thyme, salt, pepper and sage. Rub the mixture all over the pork loin. Place the loin into a resealable plastic bag and put that into a container to prevent spills. Put the loin in the fridge overnight, or up to 36 hours.
- Take out the pork to allow it to warm up a little. Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF.
- Take the pork out of the bag, and not following what the cook book tells you, leave the marinade on the pork as you place it in a roasting pan. Cover the pork loin either with foil or a lid.
- Roast, covered, for 30 - 35 minutes. Uncover the tenderloin and continue to roast until the internal temperature is 145-150ºF.
- Remove the tenderloin from the pan to a resting area, such as a platter. Place the roasting pan on the stove, if it is safe to use on the stovetop otherwise transfer to another pot but that sort of defeats the "one-pot wonder" aspect, over medium heat. Add the stock and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Dissolve the starch in the water and stir it in. Let the gravy bubble for about 30 seconds to activate the starch, then reduce to low for a minute. The sauce should be fairly thin but holds to the back of a spoon.
- As pictured above, the roast is sliced and stacked on steamed green beans. The pan gravy is poured over the slices of garlicy pork and fresh chives serve as a garnish.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Holiday Roast
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over 1 year ago luvcookbooks
Meg is a trusted home cook.
Hi, can I suggest you rename this pork tenderloin? Also, last year about this time I made Julia's Pork Roast with Red Cabbage and Chestnuts-- used a pork shoulder instead of pork loin. It was super easy and super fast-- first Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipe that I made without raising a sweat. Ate it with 14 other people along with Iced Cream of Watercress Soup and Queen of Sheba Cake.