Make the weekend meal something special with seared pork loin served over creamy Carolina Gold Rice risotto. Chanterelle mushrooms, roasted garlic, Parmesan, thyme, and Dr. Cowan’s Garden Wild Ramp Powder bring layers of savory flavor to this hearty dish.
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1 Pork Loin – let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes at a minimum
Salt and pepper for seasoning
2 tsp ghee for searing (as little as possible)
1 tbsp butter
1 whole bulb of garlic, separated and smashed, skins left on
2 sprigs of thyme, washed
1 pint Chanterelle mushrooms, chopped lengthwise
1 cup Carolina Gold Rice
1 quarts + 1 cup chicken bone broth
1 shallot, finely minced
2 tbsp butter
¼ cup dry Marsala
2 sprig thyme, washed, dried and leaves pulled off
1 bay leaf
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Coarsely grated Parmesan
Dr. Cowan’s Garden Wild Ramp powder to taste
Heat the chicken stock in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan until it simmers. Pull the saucepan to the outer periphery of the burner, or, if your range is electric, lower the heat setting and keep the stock just below a simmer throughout cooking.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan over low heat until it foams. Add the shallots and sauté, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the shallots are translucent and have nearly melted into the butter, about 5 minutes. Add the rice, increase the heat to medium, and sauté, stirring, until the grains are coated with butter and have turned opaque, about 2 minutes.
Add the Marsala, stir, and reduce to a glaze over medium-low heat. Ladle in 1 cup of hot stock and add the thyme, bay leaf, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper; stir once to make sure the grains are just covered with liquid. Cook the rice, uncovered, at the barest simmer, until the liquid has nearly evaporated and the rice begins to look dry.
Add another ladle of hot stock. Continue to cook the risotto in this fashion, adding stock as needed, until the rice grains have expanded and no longer have a hard starch center, about 20 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan. The risotto should look creamy but not wet.
Begin searing the pork loin after the first ladleful of broth is absorbed in the rice. Seasoned with salt and pepper, sear until browned marks appear on all four sides adding the garlic after the first turn. Once all four sides show sear marks, add the butter and thyme and reduce heat to low. Baste with a teaspoon tilting the pan to collect the butter in the side of the pan. Continue basting consistently until the pork loin is cooked through. To tell this, do the poke test. When slightly more firmed to the center it is done. Once finished cooking, put the pork loin and thyme sprig on a plate and tent with aluminum foil to rest at least 20 minutes.
Continue cooking the garlic in the same pan and add the mushrooms. Once cooked through, set aside for plating later.
Make sure there is at least 1 cup of broth left for the sauce. Add the butter, garlic, and thyme mixture into the remaining broth stirring until emulsified and then reduce until thickened, up to 20 minutes.
To plate, put a large spoonful of risotto in the middle of a clean plate with no streaks or smudges of rice. Cut the tenderloin into ¾” coins and line up on top overlapping slightly.
Put peeled garlic and mushrooms on the side and then streak the top of the pork loin coins with the thickened sauce. Sprinkle the plucked and dried thyme leaves over the top of it all along with extra Parmesan cheese.
