Pork Roast with Green Peppercorn Crust

Pork Loin stays juicy and flavourful under this spicy crust.  Serve with oven roasted potatoes and squash.  From Food and Drink 2001

Roast:

1.5 to 2 kg boneless pork loin roast

1/4 cup butter softened

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup Dijon Mustard

2 tbsp mustard seed

2 tbsp dried mustard

2 tbsp coarsely ground green peppercorns

2 tbsp coarsely ground black peppercorns

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tbsp dried leaf thyme

Sauce:

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups apple cider or juice

1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 325F.  Heat a large frying pan over medium heat until hot.  Add roast, fat side down, then sear on all sides.  Place in roasting pan.  Make a paste with butter, flour, mustards, peppercorns, sugar and thyme.  Spread over top and sides of seared meat.  Roast uncovered for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 155 to 160 F and juices run clear.
2. Place roast on cutting board.  Skim most of the fat from roasting pan and discard.  Place pan over medium heat and sprinkle in flour.  Cook 1 to 2 minutes.  Whisk in cider, vinegar, sugar, mustard and salt.  Simmer 5 minutes or until thickened.  Serve slices of roast drizzled with sauce.

Serves 8

Pork and Sweet Peppers on Noodles

1 lb (500g) boneless pork loin

2 tbsp sweet paprika, divided

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp butter, divided

2 sweet peppers (red, yelllow, green or orange) cut into thin strips

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth or stock, divided

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 cups milk

8 oz extra broad egg noodles

1/2 cup plain yogurt not fat free

Chopped fresh parsley

1. Trim off fat from pork and cut across the grain into 1/4 inch thick strips.  In a bowl, sprinkle pork with half of the paprika and 1/4 tsp each, salt and pepper.  In a large skillet, melt half of the butter over medium high heat.  Brown pork strips in three batches, adding more of the butter as necessary; transfer to a clean bowl.
2. Reduce heat to medium.  Melt remaining butter in skillet; add sweetpeppers, onion, remaining paprika and 1/4 cup of the broth to a skillet and saute for about 3 min or until onion is softened.  Stir in remaining broth.  Whisk flour into milk and stir into skillet, increase heat to medium high; bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping up any brown bits stuck to pan.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, for about 5 min or until sauce is thickened.
3. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles for about 6 min or until tender but firm.  Drain well.  Return pork and accumulated juices to sauce.  Simmer, stirring often for 2 min or until just of pink remains in pork.  Remove from heat, stir yogurt, then stir into sauce.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Divide noodles among serving bowls; spoon sauce on top and sprinkle with parsley.