Pork Loin with Garlic, Lemon and Fennel



Wow!  Succulent pork loin with fragrant garlic, zesty lemon and fennel; it made my mouth water, and Bill’s also when it was roasting away!   This is a delicious pork roast!  It is so moist and tender you can cut it with a fork.  If you like the flavor of garlic on roasted pork, you will love the added twist the lemon gives it but, the secret ingredient is fennel seed! 


You need to do this roast just for the aroma alone; the fennel seed emits a wonderful fragrance! The fennel plant looks similar to dill and do not confuse it with anise; they are from the same family, but are not the same.  Fennel seed tastes warm and sweet and ancient peoples believed it promoted good eyesight.  It was also considered to increase strength.  In ancient Greece, fennel was the mighty symbol of success.  In more recent history, the Puritans referred to fennel as the “meeting seed” since they relished chewing on the seeds during their meetings.  Today, fennel seed is used as an after-dinner breath freshener in many countries and is considered to aid in digestion.




I love pork loin because it is a versatile meat and is a snap to prepare.  You can put a rub or paste on it, pop it in the oven and move on to something else for an hour or more.  Everything seems right with the world when the aroma of a nice pork roast is coming from your oven.  Serve it with a baked potato or rice and a vegetable and you will have yourself a hearty, good meal!


Ingredients:

3 pounds pork loin
4 garlic cloves, crushed
¾ teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Method:

Place pork on cutting board or plate.
Combine remaining ingredients and spread evenly over pork.
Set pork loin in roasting pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 1-1 ½ hours, until internal thermometer reads 160 degrees.
Remove to serving plate, let set 10 minutes and slice.
Serve

Enjoy!

Place this on your dinner table and you will have everyone eager for a bite!





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