Parmesan-Sage Pork Loin

 Arrgghh. This blog is a full 24 hours late. I made the dinner last night but I got super involved in watching the season premiere of "RuPaul's Drag Race" and blogging fell to the wayside.

I f*cking love this show.

Then I woke up this morning with a horrendous cold that is threatening to ruin everything. I'm trying extra hard to get rid of it by Friday.

Remember when I said it took me 7 months to even attempt cooking pork? I am happy to say that that was the day I overcame my fear. It was not without mishaps, oh no. There were plenty of those. The biggest one being that I hadn't allowed enough time to defrost the pork and foolishly guessed that cooking it at the suggested time and temperature would take care of the rest of the defrosting. Nope. That resulted in a beautifully cooked pork roast that wasn't edible until nearly midnight (we ended up ordering a pizza for dinner, to say the least).

Now, I know better. This time I'm letting my slow cooker do the work. Luckily, this recipe is awesome because it gives you the option of doing it in the oven or in a slow cooker. So for those of you who still haven't gotten their hands on a crock pot, there is still hope!

If you do decide to do this recipe in the slow cooker, be advised it takes 6 to 8 hours. In the oven, it's only 45 minutes.

PARMESAN-SAGE PORK LOIN, courtesy of TheNest.com
YOU WILL NEED:
2 lbs pork tenderloin, trimmed of silverskin
2 cups diced red potatoes, unpeeled
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 tablespoons dried sage
1 tablespoon salt-fee garlic-and-herb seasoning
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and black pepper to taste

Mise en Place

I didn't have any garlic-and-herb seasoning, so I used plain old garlic powder.Of course, the potatoes were soaking in cold water. Because I forgot to do it the night before, I simply added a dozen ice cubes to a bowl of super cold water and let them sit for about 3 hours.

1. Arrange potatoes, onion, celery, and carrots at the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour the sherry and broth over them.

2. Season the pork all over with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with the sage and garlic-and-herb seasoning.

3. Place the pork on top of the vegetables and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese (press it into the meat). Cover and cook in crock pot on LOW for 6 to 8 hours (alternatively, follow the directions above, except arranging the ingredients in a large roasting pan. Roast at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes).

4. Let the pork rest for 10 minutes before serving. Cut crosswise in 1/2-inch thick slices and serve with the vegetables and brothy sauce

Well, what can I say about this recipe other than I LOVE MY CROCK POT?! Seriously. I spent about 30 minutes in preparation and threw it all in a crock pot for an entire day. The pork was flavorful and the cheese was not overpowering. fell apart when cut with a fork, and the vegetables were well-flavored. As you can see, I served it also with some steamed broccoli. It was a well-balanced meal.


Overall, it was delicious,  but I wasn't truly excited by it. I don't know why. I don't think I will be making this recipe again. However, the other two people who ate it - my fiance and our friend Colleen - could not get enough of it, and polished most of it off.

Coming up next week, I have two meals planned: Shredded Beef Sandwiches with Au Jus and a "healthified" version of Shrimp Scampi. Fiance surprised me with a gigantic cookbook of nothing but crock pot recipes, so expect to see way more of those on here!