I often hum in the kitchen, especially when the meal prep is for a special gathering. For this delicious pork loin dish–with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme all fragrantly present, the tune had to be Simon & Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair.”
I first encountered a version of this recipe 17 years ago, in acclaimed chef Suzanne Goin’s James Beard Award winning cookbook, “Sunday Suppers at Lucques.” Goin’s Los Angeles restaurant Lucques lasted for nearly 21 years, closing in 2020, but the beautiful recipes in her cookbook live on! The New York Times did a version of the loin 16 years ago, replacing spring onions and haricot verts with shallots, grapes and fingerling potatoes, which I liked very much. To give the dish a holiday slant that goes very well with the pork, ours has a tart/sweet sauce made with fresh-pressed pomegranate juice and white wine.
Honoring Goin’s practice of using best possible ingredients, I make this with farm-sourced produce, and use French Dijon for the mustard marinade (Maille is good—Bornier, even better!) I use champagne grapes, but seedless red grapes (choose small, firm ones) works as well. Continue Reading…
