What to do with pork loin

CCP

A couple of weeks ago I bought a big piece of pork loin, with the intention of cutting it into portions, using one immediately and freezing the rest. In the event, I was unwell and ended up putting the whole piece in the freezer before it went off and was wasted, but I'm now a bit stuck on what to do with such a big chunk of pork!

It's nice, lean meat, enough to serve four or five people, or more if done OS-style and stretched - I'm a one-person household so something that can be frozen and / or used for packed lunches would be best. Something fairly healthy would also be appreciated (just in case any of my friends from the weight-loss thread are reading this! ).

I'm not a fussy eater - about the only things I don't like are chocolate, fennel and cauliflower, none of which seem relevant here. So... any ideas, helpful peeps?

Any

Sorry CPP, nothing to advise... pork loin in my opinion is not really "freeze cooked" type of meat to me, it is very fragile meat ideal for quick minute meals, like a beef steak.. you know, something you fry quickly to retain tenderness and juiciness.
If you cook it of too long it can go dry and tough, so I wouldn't use it for stew's or anything like that.. and it would be waste.

You can always defrost it and eat it 3 days in a row (every day done differently though) or invite friends to dinner.

aliama

Is it a roasting joint? If so, I would probably cook it in one piece as a roast, make one leftover dish (soup or cold cuts) then measure out portions of the remainder to stick in the freezer.

aliama

Further to my post, have you looked on the BBC Good Food website?

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/pork-loin

The pot roast with celariac and pancetta might be suitable, or maybe the Guinness glazed one?

CCP

Thanks for suggestions so far. :T

aliama wrote: »

The pot roast with celariac and pancetta might be suitable, or maybe the Guinness glazed one?

The Guinness one does indeed look good, particularly as I have a bottle of stout, won at a pub quiz, sitting around waiting for me to find a use for it. I think I now have!

meg72

I am also a one person household and I love pork loin, you say it will do 4 or 5 people, so that's 4 or 5 one person meals, I would defrost it and slice 3 steaks off it, wrap these in foil with 1, mushrooms, onion and sliced new potato. 2 wrap this one with carrot onion and potato. 3 with this slice I would add a ring a pineapple and a dash of tomato sauce.
Wrap the remainder in foil on its own, this should give you 2 portions of plain roast pork, one I would have with potatoes and veg, the other I would have cold with chips and pickle. Just put all your parcels in the oven and slow cook, once cold you can freeze and just defrost and microwave your meal.

jackyann

Although Meg's idea sounds lovely, with such an expensive piece of meat, I would make sure it is well wrapped, and leave it in the freezer until I could invite some people round to share it.
Not sure how you usually do things, but I would contact a few single friends and ask one to bring pudding, one to bring drink etc. and have a lovely meal together.
If there are any left-overs, heat up carefully in the gravy, also heat stuffing and make a big sandwich!