Friday, January 14, 2011

Honey-Mustard Pork Roast with Bacon

 
If you're looking for something that looks beautiful, tastes delicious, and fills your house with wonderful aromas, then look no further.  Giada's Honey-Mustard Pork Roast is all of those things wrapped into one--plus bacon!  You can't go wrong with that!

Honey-Mustard Pork Roast with Bacon
Adapted from Giada at Home
Serves 6
Roast:
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves (I used thyme)
1 (3-1/2 pound) center-cut, boneless pork loin roast
12 slices (about 1 pound) bacon

Salad:
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
5 cups (5 ounces) baby arugula (I used spinach)

Special Equipment: Kitchen Twine (I don't have any so I improvised)

Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.

In a  small bowl, mix together the Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, honey, garlic, and rosemary (thyme in my case), until smooth.  Spread the mustard mixture evenly over the pork.  Starting at one end, wrap a piece of bacon around the pork.  Wrap another slice of bacon around the pork, making sure to slightly overlap the first piece.  Continue with the remaining bacon until the pork is fully wrapped in bacon.  Using 6-8 pieces of kitchen twine, tied at regular intervals around the roast, secure the bacon in place.

Place the pork in a 9x13-inch baking pan and roast for 1 hour.  Cover the pan loosely with foil and roast for another 10-20 minutes (I didn't cover mine with foil because I wanted the bacon to brown), until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 160F.  Remove from the oven.  Cover the pan with foil again and allow the pork roast to rest for 20 minutes.  Remove the kitchen twine (if using) and slice the meat into 1/4 inch thick slices.

For the salad:  While the pork is resting, in a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and oil until smooth.  Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

Arrange the arugula (or spinach) on a large platter and drizzle with the dressing.  Lay the pork slices on top and serve.

Notes/Results:  This pork roast is fantastic!  The mustard flavor is not predominant, but does lend a wonderful flavor to the pork.  This recipe would be a wonderful choice for a family get together or dinner party because of it's beautiful presentation (plus it really does deliver in the flavor department).  I do have one tip to share.  I had a little trouble getting my bacon to crisp up,both on top of the roast, and underneath the roast.  I placed my roast on a roasting rack so that the air could circulate underneath and hopefully crisp up the bacon, but that didn't work so well.  I ended up broiling the roast on both sides so that the bacon would crisp and everything worked out well.  However, next time I will buy the kitchen twine, wrap the roast with the bacon, and sear the roast with the bacon on it, in a skillet, before putting it in the oven.  The bacon just needs a little help to crisp up a bit.  Other than that, this is a wonderful recipe that I plan on using often.
Now Cooking the recipes of Giada De Laurentiis

24 comments:

  1. This looks fantastic! Pork is a favorite (did I mention I'm Italian??) and double pork, well that sings. I have the same problem with my bacon wrapped shrimp. I just precook the bacon half way, then wrap. Just another way to do it.

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  2. OMG...anything wrapped in bacon is seriously amazing...Looks awesome, Kim!

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  3. You and Natashya are on the same wavelength this week! Well if two of my favorite people gave this a thumbs up then I HAVE to make it.

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  4. this looks seriously good... I did my first honey and mustard glazed ham on New Years Day and the combo was incredible... thanks for the recipe x

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  5. This looks delicious! I was so very glad to read that the mustard flavor wasn't overpowering...I might actually be able to convince my husband to try it! God love him, but he has it in his head that he doesn't like certain ingredients--mustard being one of them! I'm thinking the bacon will serve as a nice distraction...yum!

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  6. anything wrapped in bacon is an immediate favorite of mine. this looks delicious and i love the way you flavored it. have a wonderful weekend!

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  7. Beautiful and bacon wrapped...sounds like it's right up my alley. What a great dish to serve to guests!

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  8. Pork wrapped around pork is win-win. I love any sauce/topping that uses mustard. So you have double pork and double mustard and I am getting hungry. But pleased to have a new recipe.

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  9. Looks wonderful! I did the rack, but yeah, searing first would be awesome.
    A great roast. ☺

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  10. I'm sure the bacon and glaze add a sweet and smokey flavor that must be fabulous!

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  11. Kim, you are amazing. This is simply a beautiful pork roast. I also chose a pork roast for our Giada theme, but boy, having a mustard sauce for pork is a simply a wonderful child-hood pleasure of mine! Being from the pork state of Iowa, I would just lather mustard on a simple fried pork sandwich for foodie bliss . . . . maybe that's when all of this foodie love began; who knows?!? I've got to try this recipe! Thanks for telling us about it! Roz

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  12. Kim, have you ever thought of taking in a lodger - can I be first on the waiting list?!

    Another delicious meal - and I'm not a big fan of pork, but this I'll try!

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  13. That looks so impressive. Your family must have been so happy to see this on the table!
    Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
    *kisses* HH

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  14. Pork + more pork = yum.
    Looks beautiful, Kim!

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  15. You can't go wrong with bacon! Pork on pork is always a good thing. ;-) Great tip about searing the bacon first too.

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  16. I'm definitely loving the pig-wrapped-pig...it sounds and looks wonderful! Thanks for the tips about the bacon, as well. This sounds like one we would probably like!

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  17. This roast looks so decadent and enticing with those strips of bacon draped over it.

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  18. I don't make pork nearly enough. This looks wonderful, Kim. All that lovely bacon draped over your roast. I bet it was delicious.

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  19. Kim, this looks wonderful. There would be few things in life in my opinion that would be better than a pork roast, but a pork roast wrapped in bacon might just be one of them!! I definitely have to give this a try :-)
    Sue

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  20. This looks fabulous Kim! Great save on crisping the bacon up at the end, soggy bacon is so sad.

    Was it difficult to slice with the bacon on it? (i.e. did the bacon break into a kajillion pieces)

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  21. Try putting the bacon length wise

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