Athena's Pork in Orange Sauce

This was the main course of Athena's Greek Dinner, and what a delicious course it was. Athena has been in the United States for a very long time, but she still has family in Greece. She returns to Greece with her girls Georgiana and Nassy at least once a year to visit her sister. She said that every time she goes home, she comes back with a ton of new recipes because her sister is a great cook. Athena, Georgiana, and I had the most wonderful day cooking together...it was so much fun!

Get out there and cook with your girlfriends!!!!!

This past summer, she said that her sister made this delicious pork roast, and she called her sister this week for the recipe. It was so easy to put together and so scrumptious! (It was even better left over the next day.)

Athena's Pork in Orange Sauce
Athena Avramidis

1 five to six pound boneless pork loin
1 five to six pound pork loin with bones still attached
2-3 oranges
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 - 3/4 cup honey
2 cups of orange juice divided
1/2 cup into the dressing mix and 1 1/2 cups poured directly on the meat
1/4- 1/2 cup olive oil
Extra olive oil to drizzle over the top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the salt, pepper, mustard, honey, 1/2 cup of orange juice and 1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil in a blender or mixer of some type, and blend until thoroughly mixed. Slice the oranges very thinly. Place the pork loins in a large casserole pan. Pour the 1 1/2 cups of orange juice over the pork. Drizzle some olive oil over the top of the meat. Pour the orange juice dressing mix over the pork loins. Place the orange slices on top of the loins. Roast for about 3 1/2 - 4 hours until tender. Baste frequently. The meat will virtually fall off the bone when you slice it. It was so tender and delicious.

NOTE: If you are using a bigger piece of meat, you can easily double the dressing mix.

This is what you will need for the recipe:




Athena's Pork in Orange Sauce
Athena Avramidis

1 three to four pound boneless pork loin
1 four to five pound pork loin with bones still attached
2-3 oranges
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 - 3/4 cup honey
2 cups of orange juice divided
1/2 cup into the dressing mix and 1 1/2 cups poured directly on the meat
1/4- 1/2 cup olive oil
Extra olive oil to drizzle over the top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the pork loins in a large casserole pan

Place the salt, pepper,

mustard,

honey,


and 1/2 cup of orange juice

and olive oil in a blender or mixer of some type,


and blend until thoroughly mixed


Slice the oranges very thinly

Pour the orange juice over the pork.



Drizzle some olive oil over the pork loins


Pour the dressing mix over the pork loins



Top with orange slices.



Cover and

Place into the oven


Roast for about 3 1/2 - 4 hours until tender
basting frequently

It looks like this after about 1 1/2 hours



After about 3 hours


Done!


The meat will virtually fall off the bone when you slice it.
It was so tender and delicious.

Filet Mignon

I usually make a prime rib for Christmas Dinner but because it was just the four of us, I opted for a filet mignon.  Again, I wanted it simple, so no Wellington, it was to cold to grill, so I asked my butcher, Bob Mondi, from Price Chopper Markets to cut me a filet and tie it together like a roast.  It was the most delicious piece of meat I have ever eaten.  I served it with Béarnaise sauce.  Bob was my butcher for years and them decided to slow down and work for Price Chopper.  No one knows meat like he does, he could rival the Lobels!  I am trying to convince him to let me take pictures of him for the blog on carving techniques.

Recipe:

Filet Mignon Roast

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Garlic salt to taste

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole

Make slits into the filet and cut the cloves of garlic into 2-3 pieces.  Place the pieces of garlic all over the filet, top and bottom.  Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper and a little garlic salt. Spray a roasting pan with a rack with PAM. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. 

Place the roast on the pan and then into the oven.  Roast for exactly 30 minutes and then cover loosely with foil.  Lower the heat to 400 degrees F and roast for another 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and wrap the foil a little tighter.  Leave covered for about another 30-45 minutes.  Your meat will be rare to medium rare, and so tender and delicious.  If you prefer it more cooked, adjust your cooking time and additional 15 minutes for medium, and additional 25 minutes for well done.  I must say I used to eat my meat like shoe leather, but I am surrounded by a houseful of men that like their meat mooing.  This meat was perfect, it had rare slices for those that like it really rare, and yet on the ends, there were pieces that were perfect for me, medium and delicious.

Ingredients: 1 (5 pound) filet mignon tied into a roast

Here is what you will need:

Here is how I prepared it:

Peel and set your cloves of garlic aside

 Cut them into 2-3 pieces per clove.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.

Spray a roasting pan with a rack with PAM

With the tip of a sharp knife make small holes in the meat by

 rotating the tip of the knife just a tiny bit

It should make  a nice pocket for the garlic

Insert a piece of garlic into each slit you made.  

This particular piece of meat was so tender, the garlic just slipped in.

Continue making the pockets on all sides of the meat

until you use up all the garlic

Sprinkle the meat with a little garlic salt on both sides

Sprinkle with salt

and 

pepper

The meat is now ready for the oven

Place the roast on the pan and put into the 500 degree oven.

  This will sear the meat and keep it moist and juicy.

Roast for exactly 30 minutes and then lower the heat to 400 degrees F.  

Loosely cover the meat with foil.  

(This is a good time to put your potatoes in the oven if you are roasting them)

Bake an additional 20-25 minutes and then remove from the oven and tighten the foil around the meat.  While the potatoes finish cooking, let the meat sit wrapped in the foil. The potatoes will take about another 30 minutes and the meat will be perfectly done!

You can at this point, separate the two halves of the filet and cut them into steaks as thick as you like, or slice it about 1-inch to 1 1/2-inches like a roast they way I did.  No matter how you slice it, it will be outstanding!