Pork Loin with Honey Mustard Glaze

The closest we have to a picture of the pork loin! (Thanks for modeling it for us, John.)

We grilled this pork loin last weekend for Alexis' bachelorette party weekend, and it came together beautifully, considering Andy and I didn't have a specific plan for the loin. Luckily Alexis brought a generous jar of her homemade mustard, which reminded me of an article I read a month or so ago in Bon Appetit magazine about homemade mustards, and how they are delicious with pork. Because we assembled everything on the fly, I don't have exact measurements, so use your best judgement.

What's in it

one pork loin (size depends on how many people you are feeding)

equal parts: homemade mustard, honey, olive oil

salt to taste

homemade mustard for serving

How it's made

Whisk together enough glaze (mustard/honey/olive oil/salt) to cover your pork loin, which is probably about 1/4 C per pound. You'll want the glaze to be thick enough to spread over the roast without running off, so please adjust as necessary. Place the loin on a pan or plate, and brush on the glaze, covering the entire surface evenly. Let marinade 30 minutes.

Heat up your grill (BBQ), and clean it as necessary. Using high heat, sear the pork loin on all sides, in order to keep the juices in. Then turn the heat to low/medium low and cook for about 30-60 minutes, depending on size, turning every so often for even cooking. You can use a thermometer to check temperature to decide when it is done cooking, or use the jiggle test if you have experience BBQing. Jiggle test: With your tongs, poke at the loin, and if it gives only slightly, or doesn't jiggle a bunch, it is probably done. If it jiggles quite a bit, then it needs more time. When you poke the loin, it should feel like the part of your palm below the thumb.

When done grilling, remove the loin from heat and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. This will allow the loin to keep cooking a bit, and the juices will have time to reabsorb back into the meat fibers, so they don't run out when you slice it.

Slice the loin in 1/2" slices, and serve with homemade mustard on the side.

Recommended side dishes: Broccoli Salad, Baked Beans, Cornbread

The New Egg Salad Sandwich

I am inspired and reminded by Alexis' New Tuna Salad Sandwich Recipe post. I personally love egg salad sandwiches slightly better than tuna salad, but that may be due to the fact I always have eggs lying around, and never tuna. They make a great lunch to bring to work as well.

As Alexis indicated, there are several ways not to make a tuna or egg salad sandwich, with a very fine line separating good from bad. I consider a not so tasty egg salad sandwich to look like a heap of yellow mayonnaise looking mush between two pieces of white bread. It gives me shivers just thinking about it.

A great egg salad sandwich would look very much like one they serve at The Bagelry Co-op in Santa Cruz. The key is to treat your hard boiled egg whites separate from the yolks, and add a very tasty ingredients to spice it up. Egg salad is great between to pieces of toasted wheat-style bread, or toasted bagels. Yum.

The New Egg Salad Sandwich

~Print Recipe~

What's in it (all approximates)

4 eggs

1 Tbl homemade spicy mustard

1-2 Tbl mayo or plain greek yogurt

2 tsp dill

1 stalk finely chopped celery

1-2 Tbl poppy seeds

salt and pepper to taste

optional: 1 Tbl pickle relish

optional: curry powder

optional: 1/4 C shredded carrot

optional: 1 small can diced olives

How it's made

Begin by setting your eggs out so they come close to room temperature, or run them under warm water to bring their temp. down. The less cold they are when they go into the hot pot, the less likely they will crack. Bring a small pot of water to boil. Place the eggs gently in the pot and bring it to a simmer. Simmer on low for 10-12 minutes. Immediately put the eggs in an ice bath to cool them off. This will ensure they are easy to peel.

Peel your eggs and put the yolks in one small bowl, and the whites on a cutting board. Chop your whites coarsely, to about 1/4"-1/2". Add the mustard and mayo/yogurt to your yolks and mix until fluffy. Add in the rest of your ingredients, except for the egg whites, and mix well. Gently fold in your chopped egg whites.

Toast a bagel or bread, and enjoy your egg salad!

The New Tuna Salad Sandwich

There's your typical tuna sandwich, and then there's this tuna sandwich. We're really going to blow your mind with this one. Well, I mean it's only a tuna sandwich, but just think: whole grain mustard! Curry paste! Hummus! Greek yogurt? Feta? Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. This here is a bit of a tuna sandwich revolution. Best get ready.

So, my mom never made tuna sandwiches for me when I was little. She didn't like canned foods. Or mayonnaise. I specifically remember having one or two tuna sandwiches as a kid, eaten tentatively like a foreign food while at a friend's house. I kinda liked them. Still, something about tuna is a just little funky. Tuna sandwiches sure taste good, but they'll never be cool. Tuna just smells a little too fishy to be hip.

That being said, there is still something very satisfying and delicious about a tuna sandwich. I'm not sure exactly what it is. Something brilliant happens when you get the alchemy of all the different flavors just exactly right. It is a complicated balancing act. If there's not enough of just one ingredient---not quite enough salt, or a little short on the mustard---the whole sandwich is thrown off. Usually it's close, but you can taste it---it doesn't quite taste like your Platonic ideal of a tuna sandwich (you know, like the ones you remember from your childhood.)

Like many recipes, tuna salad preparation requires constant tasting and adjusting. Wait for it.... You'll know when you've gotten it just right. Trust me.

I don't know how Mark came upon the pure, solid genius of adding feta to a tuna sandwich, but he did. Now I am reaping all the rewards. Bwah, ha ha hah. Ah ha hah ha! (Oh, and by rewards, I just mean really, really ridiculously good tasting sandwiches.) The curry is all mine, though, because I like a hint of curry in pretty much anything. Greek yogurt is just a fantastic creamy addition to anything that needs to be creamier (and low fat, too!). In fact, you could replace all of the mayo with Greek yogurt if you were so inclined. (I am, Mark's not.)

New Tuna Sandwiches

~Print Recipe~

• 4 slices of bread
• Hummus
• Lettuce 
• 2 oz. feta, crumbled*
• 2 cans of tuna in water
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion*
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery*
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise*
• 3 tablespoons whole grain mustard*
• 1 or 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt*
• 1/2 teaspoon curry paste (such as Patak's Vindaloo)*
• 1/4 teaspoon dill*
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix well tuna and all subsequent ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Lightly toast your bread and spread all four slices with hummus. Divide tuna salad evenly between two slices. Sprinkle each sandwich with feta, top with lettuce and remaining bread slices. Prepare to be blown away.

*More, or less to taste. As you can see, this is not an exact science. Do whatever tastes good to you!

Serves 2

Spicy Mustard

For the first 26 and a half years of my life, I never once thought about how mustard was made. It never, ever occurred to me that I could or should make mustard myself. In fact, for the vast majority of my life, I didn't even like mustard.

But, now that I think about it, I wasn't really exposed to good mustard until recently. There was an abundance of French's yellow mustard at cookouts when I was young--no one brought the equivalent of Sierra Nevada's Porter mustard to those things. Well, like a lot of things I didn't like when I was a kid, I've since discovered that mustard is really quite wonderful. Especially if it is coarsely ground and usually made with beer. And a little spicy.

The first time I realized that I actually liked mustard was at a local pizza restaurant. I ordered the stromboli which comes served with marinara and a house-made beer mustard. It blew my mind, and I've been into mustard ever since. (Mostly I've been importing a stock of Sierra Nevada mustard to Oregon every time I am near the brewery.)

Then last summer, I came across a recipe in Gourmet that began, "mustard couldn't be any simpler to make." What?! Why didn't anyone tell me about this?! Paradigm shift. I cut out the recipe and added mustard seeds to my shopping list, where they stayed for the last 4 months. I finally found out that New Seasons carries mustard seeds (yellow and brown) in their bulk spice section. And enough seeds to make this recipe will set you back less than a dollar! I personally find this truly mind blowing and exciting. (But maybe I'm easily impressed...) And there are so many different mustard possibilities!

Here is my version of the basic recipe. But, be warned, it is quite spicy!

Spicy Mustard

~Print Recipe~

• 1/2 cup brown mustard seeds (use yellow if you do not want it spicy)
• 3/8 cup red wine vinegar (I mixed the vinegars to equal 3/4 cup. You could use one or the other.)
  
• 3/8 cup distilled white vinegar 
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Soak mustard seeds in vinegar and water at room temperature for 2 days. Make sure all seeds are submerged. 
2. Puree mixture in a food processor with sugar and salt until almost smooth. Thin, if necessary, with water to the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt.