RCP: Pork Loin with a Coriander & Garlic Crust

This recipe was inspired from a dish once sampled at the Healthman Hotel in Portland Oregon. This recipe is taken from Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Loomis.

Ingredients:
2.75 lb. pork tenderloin
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup EVOO, (more if needed)
fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup water

Place the coriander seeds in a food processor and process until they are finely crushed (30 sec.) or more. There may be seed hulls still uncrushed but that is O.K. Add the garlic and bread crumbs and process again until combined. With the processor running, add the salt and EVOO and process just until the mixture is combined and moist enough to stay together as a paste. Add 1 T. more EVOO if is not moist enough.

Put the pork on a rack and season with pepper. Cover top and ends of tenderloin with the coriander paste. Some of it may fall off when you press it on the sides, gather it back up and press it on top. Paste should be thickest at top.
Cook in a preheated 400 deg. F oven for 60-70 min. Ours began to get a little too hot, as in smoking. (the paste was smoking) so I would lower the temperature a bit after the initial hot start. When done ( 150 deg. F on a meat thermometer) it should still be slightly pink in center. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Slice into 1/2 inch pieces to assure juicyness.

This sounds awesome...but do you really measure your roasts to the quarter pound? Either way, it really does look good.

Oh, gotta ask: do you brine your pork loin? I've found it makes a discernible difference.

And, since we're on a wine forum: serve any with it?

This recipe was inspired from a dish once sampled at the Healthman Hotel in Portland Oregon. This recipe is taken from Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Loomis.

Ingredients:
2.75 lb. pork tenderloin
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup EVOO, (more if needed)
fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup water

Place the coriander seeds in a food processor and process until they are finely crushed (30 sec.) or more. There may be seed hulls still uncrushed but that is O.K. Add the garlic and bread crumbs and process again until combined. With the processor running, add the salt and EVOO and process just until the mixture is combined and moist enough to stay together as a paste. Add 1 T. more EVOO if is not moist enough.

Put the pork on a rack and season with pepper. Cover top and ends of tenderloin with the coriander paste. Some of it may fall off when you press it on the sides, gather it back up and press it on top. Paste should be thickest at top.
Cook in a preheated 400 deg. F oven for 60-70 min. Ours began to get a little too hot, as in smoking. (the paste was smoking) so I would lower the temperature a bit after the initial hot start. When done ( 150 deg. F on a meat thermometer) it should still be slightly pink in center. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Slice into 1/2 inch pieces to assure juicyness.

Jim, I have to ask. Is this a pork tenderloin as advertised, or is it a pork loin. 2.75 pound tender would be one heck of a large tenderloin. Tenderloins usually come in two pieces per package, and a 1.25 pound would be large size. Just clarifying though. Thanks.

Bob, this is a pork LOIN in one piece, sorry for the confusion. Tom, I served a New Zealand P.N. (Felton Road 2008) with this and it went great and a 2008 Ohio Rhone blend ( Kinkaid Ridge 55% Viognier/45 % rousainne). No I did not brine the meat prior to cooking (just rinsed it) and we actually used a 4-5 lb. loin so we doubled all the ingredients. Hope this answers all your questions. Jim

It does! Thanks for the time and patience it took to answer them

Bob, this is a pork LOIN in one piece, sorry for the confusion. Tom, I served a New Zealand P.N. (Felton Road 2008) with this and it went great and a 2008 Ohio Rhone blend ( Kinkaid Ridge 55% Viognier/45 % rousainne). No I did not brine the meat prior to cooking (just rinsed it) and we actually used a 4-5 lb. loin so we doubled all the ingredients. Hope this answers all your questions. Jim

Thanks for the comeback Jim. The recipe looks good enough to eat, so I wanted to know how to proceed.

I neglected to add what to do with the 1/2 cup of water. After the pork is done cooking, it is removed from the rack and the water is added to the drippings and falled pieces of crust/paste in the pan and brought to a boil. This can then be used as a sauce to pour over the cut pieces of pork. We did no do this but it may add to the flavor and moistness. I hope someone trys this and reports back.

Jim, this sounds great. I've got a couple of friends that really love cilantro (I noticed you tried to sneak this recipe by the cilantro haters by using the term coriander ) and I will have to make this for them soon.

Quick question...where did you find the coriander seeds? Is that something I could find at an Asian grocery store? I have never seen them. Thanks for the recipe and wine notes.

Coriander seed doesn't taste like coriander leaf, to me. (But I don't have that genetic problem.)

Coriander seed doesn't taste like coriander leaf, to me. (But I don't have that genetic problem.)

Interesting! I've never had the seeds but sure like the leaf.

[Jenise]

Sounds delicious, Jim, thanks for posting. I love crusted meats! A tip, though: a light dusting of corn starch or flour on the raw meat before applying the paste will help the paste adhere.

David, the coriander seeds were in our spice shelf (probably old)and I have no idea where they came from. I'll ask my wife. Jenise, that corn starch idea is a good one. Our coriander/garlic paste did adhere to the meat rather well.

David -

Not sure where you live, but coriander seeds have always been readily available at grocery stores here on the East Coast for as long as I can remember. No need to go to a specialty shop. They're right in the spice aisle nestled in among the rest of the McCormack staples.

They have a more pronounced lemony flavor than the leaves/stems of the plant (cilantro) and are good to use in any dish where you want that sort of note but without an acid component. Like most seeds, I find that toasting them for a bit in a dry pan brings out more flavor. You do have to make sure you really pulverize them fine before adding to a dish (unless you're leaving them whole in stocks, or pickle/brine solutions, of course) as the little buggers can be physically sharp if not ground down to nearly dust.

I really like their flavor, and often use them as an accent note in everything from curries to roasts to cookies. If you see a bottle you should pick it up and play around. And it doesn't seem to have the same effect on people who are genetically predisposed to retching on the very same plant's leaves, which is a good thing

Coriander seed doesn't taste like coriander leaf, to me. (But I don't have that genetic problem.)

My tortured Olfactory nerve tells me the same thing! They do taste quite differently.

[Jenise]

I'll second Tom and Carl. Coriander, listed just that way and not usually followed by the word 'seeds', is a common baking spice as well as a staple in Indian cooking. Little round guys.

Just like me! No wonder I like 'em.

Tom Coriander.

[Jenise]

LOL!