One-Pot Wonders

Pork Loin, the Julia Child way (sort of)

October 11, 2011
3.8
4 Ratings
  • Serves 4-6 (depends on the size of loin and appetites)
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

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Ingredients
  • 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
Directions
  1. 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.
  2. Take out the pork to allow it to warm up a little. Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF.
  3. 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.
  4. Roast, covered, for 30 - 35 minutes. Uncover the tenderloin and continue to roast until the internal temperature is 145-150ºF.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
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2 Reviews

Pat E. February 8, 2014
The picture is a pork loin...not a tenderloin which would be much smaller. The term tenderloin seems to be used interchangeably. Be not confused...although this would probably be great with a tenderloin, the timeing and amounts are for a lovely full loin.
luvcookbooks October 15, 2011
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.