Sometimes we just like to break with convention. Throw accepted norms out in the compost bin and just cook whatever we feel like.
Well, this October, we gave thanks over a lovely, tiny little pork tenderloin.
I had some fresh thyme, which I shoved in all the places where the sun didn't shine... as well as a few more...
Some smoked sea salt and some fresh green peppercorn as a rub... but the magic really happened with the bacon.
Yah. Pork on Pork action.
We went all out. It was Thanksgiving after all.
What I wanted to do was sear the roast real quick, to get that lovely browned exterior and yummy crispy flavour, so I actually did this BEFORE adding the bacon.
And here is why: if I put the bacon on before roasting, it would just result in crispy bacon wrapped around a moist pork roast. Which would be fine, I guess... but it wasn't what I wanted.
So after the roast got a nice searing, that's when I wrapped a few pieces of bacon overtop.
Sprinkle some freshly ground peppercorns on there, and it's good for the 'long haul'. Of course, by this I mean the long, slow roast at low temp.
The result was the best of both worlds, a nice seared roast with a lot of moisture inside.
But the best part, perhaps, is the gravy. Bacon-infused gravy. Yum!
I roasted some carrots in the pot, and they got nice and moist and sweet, with just the right amount of thyme-infused bacon-y flavour.
But other than that we just had mashed potatoes. Can't have gravy without mashed potatoes. That's something I got from the wife.
All-in-all, it was a VERY simple Thanksgiving for two.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
So good.
We don't do meat all that often, but when we do, I like that it is like THIS:
:)
