Adventures in Pork: Fifth time's a charm

Thanks to my father, I finally know how to cook pork. I'll just consider my first four tries at cooking this meat practice.

When I went home to Nebraska to visit this fall, we went out and bought a pork loin to cook for dinner. The idea was that he would walk me through how to do it properly.

I learned the following tips:

1. Preseason the pork loin (or tenderloin) with garlic pepper and Lawry's seasoning salt and let it sit for at least a couple of hours before cooking it. Given my propensity for not planning meals ahead of time, this short period of time works for me.
2. Pork does not have to be cooked well-done to be safe to eat. That's good because I have always overcooked pork, and this lessens my chances of doing so.

Had some friends over the other night, and I made a recipe that was a step up from what my dad walked me through: Pork Loin Stuffed with Spinach My dad gave me the recipe, but it's also available at allrecipes.com.

In a word, it was amazing.

And easy.

An added bonus: I got a new roasting pan, which somehow made me feel like a grown-up. Not sure why. I do believe however that the new pan played a big part in my not overcooking this meal.

Ready to throw in the oven. A mixture of frozen chopped spinach, garlic, onion and bread crumbs.
Then basted with a delicious sauce made of ketchup, orange juice and teriyaki. The pork was
also sprinkled with cumin (after it was pre-seasoned earlier with garlic pepper and Lawry's.)

And the finished product, served with roasted potatoes with rosemary, cauliflower and sauteed squash ...

When it comes to pork, I guess the fifth time is the charm for me.