Cajun Pork Loin Roast

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (ZReduction) recipe. My husband declared this one of the top 3 dishes I have ever made. The man loves flavor-filled food and Cajun is it. The gravy is wonderful and the roasted veggies bring out a ton of flavor from what sometimes are boring peppers and celery. Be sure to scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan in the cooking process. The picture here shows this one is hot out of the oven before the gravy is made.

Serving Size: Serves up to 6 with possible leftover meat

Ingredients:

  • 4 lb pork loin roast. You can get a smaller roast too. Just adjust the servings.
  • ½ tsp of cayenne or less if you want this milder
  • 1 tsp of dried oregano
  • ½ tsp of black pepper
  • ½ tsp of dried thyme
  • 1 tsp of ground mustard
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • olive oil spray
  • 1 orange, 1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper chunked
  • 1 large onion cut into chunks
  • 3 stalks of celery cut into 1” chunks
  • 1/3 cup of heavy cream
  • 1 Tbl of cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbl of water
  • 1/2 cup of organic chicken broth

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a small container mix the dry spices (items 2 – 5) add the garlic and stir again. You’ll have a paste. Spread this across the top of your roast. Spray with olive oil. Spray a large oven-proof dish with olive oil too.

Put in your roast and surround it with the veggies.

Rule of thumb with roasts: I roast my pork for 30 minutes per pound. So this one will take 2 hours. If you buy a smaller roast you can adjust your cooking time. If you do 2, 1 lb roast you are only looking at 1 hour to cook if you keep them separated in the pan. Or for a crowd you can do more than one larger roast. I roast pork to 155 – 160 degrees. This gives you a roast with a hint of pink left in it and juicy. If you go to 165-170 degrees the roast will still be juicy but all pink will be gone. Pork is clear to eat at 135 degrees or more. The old days of cooking it til it’s stiff and gray are gone.

When the roast is done, remove it from the pan and tent with foil. Don’t remove the veggies or the good juices that have accumulated on the bottom of the pan. If you are not using a pan that you can now put on the stove, sorry, but you’ll have to transfer the veggies and juices and bits on the bottom of the pan to another one. And then continue. If you use cast iron you can just transfer to the top of your stove.

The veggies will now be cooked down. Some lumps and pieces will remain. Add the cream and the broth to the pan to start making gravy. Bring to a boil and begin to cook it down. Just for a few minutes. Then add the corn starch mixed into the water. This will really thicken it into a nice gravy with the veggies swirled in it.

Serve 6 ounces of meat per person with a side of veggies. You can slice the meat thinly so you get more pieces or make yourself a thicker slice or two. Up to you. Keep in mind the veggies took up a lot more room when they were whole than they do now. Account for that when doling out your portion.

You can also have a plain salad on the side but I found this to be plenty of food. This is a very flavor-filled dish. Not too much spice but it’s definitely there. It’s Cajun food.

Enjoy!

Cheers,