Pepper Pork Loin

Hi out there :-)

Last night's dinner was supposed to be made on Saturday  but because this weekend was freaking insane, I made it last night and learned a new trick to boot.

I had bought a piece of pork loin (3 lbs for $7.60) at Shoprite and I defrosted it on Saturday. Since I didn't cook it that night, and I really didn't want it to go bad by putting it back in the fridge, my aunt gave me a useful tip that saved my meat. (*wink*)

I put the pork loin in a pot and seared it on all sides for a few minutes, let it cool down, and stuck it in the refrigerator with its juices. So today, when I was ready to cook it, I didn't have to worry about whether or not I would die from eating bad pork. ;-) (The only drawback I found with this little tip was that the pork came out a little drier than normal, probably because it had already cooked a bit during the searing.)

This recipe is pretty easy, like most of the stuff I make.

Get some pork loin, defrost if frozen, and wash it off in a colander. Put some Pam in a baking dish, and place the pork in the center. Cut slits along the top of the meat and stuff garlic cloves in the slits. This serves to give the meat some extra flavor and you get an extra roasted garlic treat when you eat.

Chop up some more garlic, slice up some onion and a few peppers, open up a can of mushrooms and throw everything into a large bowl. Mix everything up and add some olive oil and your spices. I used salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano and some garlic powder. Mix it all up and add some lemon juice to the mix as well.

Pour your veggies on top of the meat, cover your baking pan with aluminum foil and put it in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for two hours. After that time has passed, unwrap, set your oven to 390 degrees  and bake for another 30 minutes so the meat gets some color and any water from the veggies can evaporate.

Depending on your oven, cooking times may change so keep an eye on your food and when you feel it it good to go, eat it :-)

Pair it up with some salad or a side or broccoli and enjoy :-)