Roast Pork Loin with Black Eyed Beans

This is a fabulous recipe from Jamie Oliver, and I knew I had to make it after my boss talked about it last weekend.  He came in with a magnificent French-trimmed loin of pork from Hedges, the organic butchers in Oxford's Covered Market and described the recipe to me.  It is simplicity itself - in a roasting tin, prepare a bed of lots of sliced red onion, red and green peppers, celery, bay leaves, garlic, chilli (some wonderful fresh ones from Riverford), chorizo, tinned black-eyed beans and tinned tomaotes, along a with a couple of glasses of wine.  Nestle the loin of pork on top, cover really well with strong foil, and roast slowly for 3 hours at around 160C.  Towards the end, remove the foil and turn up the heat to 220C to allow the skin to crisp and the liquid to reduce.  Being French-trimmed, you still have the bones attached, and this helps keep the shape and adds depth to the delicious sauce.  To serve, cut through the bones to give each person a tender, melthing chop and serve with generous spoonfuls of the beany vegetables and fresh green veg - runner beans and spinach in our case.  I don't think it needs potatoes, but don't let me stop you.  Marvellous recipe - thanks Jamie!  (Oh, and thanks Graham for alerting me to it)

Roast Pork Loin with Onion and Marsala Gravy [#181]

Another lovely pork roast from Nigel - instead of the leg he suggests, I went for a boned loin. I also didn't make the gravy separately, as he suggested, but used the pork juices from the roasting tin and deglazed with the Marsala (and a little Madeira) and water. Lovely with a big dish of baked root vegetables and Delia's most wonderful Braised Red Cabbage - absolutely delicious, especially with an Italian Barbaresco to wash it down.

Roast Pork with Grapes, Juniper and Vin Santo [#173]

Another one that went straight into the Top 10. We roasted a lovely free-range pork loin with good crackling, and the resultant sauce, made from the pan juices, roasted Italia grapes, garlic, juniper berries and a mixture of dry Madeira and Marsala (Vin Santo is just too expensive, sorry, Nige!) was totally delicious. We made this round at our lovely friends', Jonathan and Jess, and it was a perfect dinner party dish. We drank a delicious light, fruity Barbaresco with this, which matched the slightly sweet sauce and the succulent pork marvellously. This is a definite candidate to make again, and is special enough for Christmas, I think. Sorry, no pics taken so I have 'borrowed' one to give an idea of what it looked like. photo courtesy of tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com