A Hungry Bear

I didn’t grow up eating a lot of pork, and on those rare occasions I remember dry bone-in pork chops grilled with barbeque sauce. Only in the last year or so have I realized that I’ve been missing out. This particular recipe may take 2 hours to cook, but it’s very hands-off. The meat is so tender it falls apart under your fork, due to roasting with a simple mix of leeks, a pat of butter, and white wine. This is one of my staple dishes, and it hasn’t disappointed me yet.

Grocery list: 2-3 pound center cut pork tenderloin or center cut roast, 2 pounds of leeks (3 or 4 big ones), butter, white wine.

Start by cleaning the leeks. Chop off the tough green leaves (approximately the top half of the stalk), and the tip of the root end. Slice lengthwise. Run under cool water, separating the leaves gently to rinse out all the dirt in between them — but don’t pull apart the leaves entirely or it will be a lot harder to chop. Next, chop the leeks into 1/2 inch pieces. Place in a big bowl of cold water, and crunch the chopped leeks with your hands to release any little particles of dirt remaining. Rinse one more time to be sure.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large dutch oven, over medium heat. Add the leeks and 1/2 cup water and cook for 10 minutes until softened. Season with salt and pepper, and remove the contents of the dutch oven to a separate bowl. Increase the heat to medium-high and add another tablespoon of butter to the pan. Season the pork loin with salt and pepper, then sear for about 1 minute per side.

Pour 1/2 cup white wine into the pan, and stir around the pork loin to help loosen the brown bits. Dump all the leeks back on the top and sides of the pork, turn the heat down to just-barely-on, cover and cook for 1 hour 45 minutes (or longer, if you use a single center cut roast instead of 2 tenderloins, it may take 2 hours). Slice the pork and serve with the leek sauce on top.