Recipes by Zola - Grilled Pork Loin Roast with Garlic-Honey Mustard Aioli

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Grilled Pork Loin Roast with Garlic-Honey Mustard Aioli

Zola Gorgon

The New Halloween...

Our Halloween parties used to be "famous". We did 10 years in a row before we decided to retire the event. About 70 people came each year. We'd invite a base of loyalists and then we'd add new folks to the list each succeeding year. We'd meet people during the year, at some point we'd end up talking about that party, so it just seemed natural to add the new folks.

The costumes were amazing. You could always tell the first time folks from the veterans. First year people would come in a standard Halloween costume. At their first party they'd look around at the elaborate costumes and realize these people were in a league of their own. Some folks started their costumes before their invitations arrived. Some left the party planning what they might wear the next year.

We'd hire a DJ and I'd serve dinner at midnight. There'd be about 8 courses of appetizers before midnight just to keep everyone going on the dance floor. Lots of laughing, an amazing decorating job by family and friends. Our house looked more like a night club than a home for that one evening a year.

In Chicago we decided that the 4th of July was going to be our new Halloween. That would be the big party of the year. We have a base of invitees again and each year we add clients and friends we've added to our lives during the year. This year we had about 50 people for dinner on the roof decks.

Halloween is easy to invite folks to. The 4th of July takes on a whole different dimension because so much of the 4th of July is about family to so many. There are traditions they hold to. It might be a trip up north to the lake or a family reunion, so we always expect the 4th of July bash to be smaller than Halloween was. This year I was amazed how it had grown. I guess word is getting around; sort of like the Halloween party. One guy flew in from Albuquerque for this year's party, and thankfully, at the end he told me it was way worth it! Yeah!

What happens in Chicago on the 4th is a site to behold. At dusk the horizon begins to light up. For hours we watch fireworks from every municipality, country club, rich fireworks fanatic and more. They all come out on the 4th to display their fireworks prowess. That's the only part of the 4th of July party that makes me nervous. What if everyone decided not to do fireworks this year? Would the sky be dark? When I don't have control over the entertainment I get nervous. How silly. Who's going to skip fireworks? The only thing I really need to worry about would be really bad weather. A roof deck party is hard to hold in a downpour. This year's weather was better than I could have ever asked for. It was 75 degrees when guests started to arrive. Late at night all you needed was a light sweater and I was even prepared for the women who forgot sweaters with a collection of pashminas laid out. A few got used.

I did the food a little differently this year. Instead of serving several appetizers, then dinner and then dessert, I sort of morphed them all into one parade of food. That way, each person could try the ones they wanted and about the time they got their choice finished another one arrived. There were plenty of things to eat. One of the major hits was a pork roast with a garlic-honey mustard aioli. That will be today's recipe. So simple. Even a novice party-giver can handle this one.

Aioli's are a big hit this year. About a decade ago when I began making aioli's it seemed imperative that you start your aioli by making homemade mayonnaise. This year that's all gone. Doctoring up commercially made mayonnaise is the new aioli base. Sure makes it faster and easier to make! And it makes it safer for parties, without the fear of food poisoning. And on that note, enjoy your roast, your party and the rest of your summer.

Pork Loin Roast with Garlic-honey mustard aioli
Serves 6 - 8 (double or triple for a party)

One pork loin roast (Approx 8" long and 4" in diameter)
Olive oil spray
Italian herb mix, 1 - 2 tsp.
1 cup of mayonnaise
1 Tbl of minced garlic (jar garlic is fine)
3 Tbl of honey-mustard (Or any other mustard you prefer; even horseradish mustard)
Parker House rolls (optional-- if you want to make little sandwiches)

In a 9 by 13 pan set your roast. Spray the whole roast liberally with olive oil spray. Sprinkle the Italian herbs over the top of the roast (the fatty side up). Let sit in a cold refrigerator for up to 4 hours. Then prepare to grill. Heat grill on high to 500 degrees. Oil the grill and put the roast on the grill grate fatty side down. Sear the roast at 500 degrees for 5 minutes. You'll have beautiful grill marks and a good crust on the top.

Turn the roast over. Turn the grill down to 325 degrees and grill until the loin roast reaches 155 degrees. Use a meat thermometer to check. This may take 20 - 30 minutes depending on how your grill behaves. Try not to open the grill too often so you don't let the heat out.

Let the roast sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting. One nice thing about this roast is you can stop here, wrap the roast in foil and put it in your refrigerator until the next day. This is a great way to prepare for a party in advance. The roast can be served hot, cold or room temperature. For the party, I took the roast out of the refrigerator and sliced it very thinly. Then I put it back in a 9 X 13 pan and heated it at 300 degrees. While the roast was heating I poured a cup of white wine over the top to give it more moisture. You can use wine, water or even orange juice. Choice is yours.

When the roast was warm I served it with the rolls and the aioli. People could make little sandwiches using the aioli as a spread or just have pork and use the aioli as a dip.

To make the aioli. Mix the mayo, the garlic and the mustard in a nice serving bowl. That's it! You can also make this a day ahead and just pull it out of the refrigerator a bit ahead of serving it so it's not completely refrigerator cold. This will even make a fun dinner in front of the fireplace in the winter so don't hold back. Enjoy!

Cheers,
Zola

Send email to Zola at zolacooks@gmail.com.

This news arrived on: 07/14/2008

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