But believe me, even if it were harder to make it would be worth it. The marinade it’s steeped in, after it’s fried, makes it meltingly tender and flavoursome without being heavy scented. I get the butcher to slice the pork loin leaving the fat on, as that’s what gives this its wonderful flavour, but if you’re buying the meat from the supermarket just get any piece of loin you can find and slice it thickly yourself. Simply served with a salad and some baked potatoes, it makes a wonderful low-key, evocatively sunny Saturday lunch at any time of the year.
625g boneless pork loin, cut into 2.5cm slices
Maldon salt and black pepper
250ml plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of half a lemon
quarter of a teaspoon dried thyme
3–4 sprigs fresh rosemary, needles finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Season the pork with salt and pepper, and brown in a pan with the 2 tablespoons of oil. Lower the heat once the meat has a good colour and cook for a further 15 minutes or until the pork is cooked through but still juicy.
Put the meat into a shallow dish – preferably earthenware – big enough to hold the pork all in one layer, and pour over the remaining olive oil, along with the juices from the pan. Add the remaining ingredients and make sure the meat is immersed in the marinade. Cover with foil and leave overnight at room temperature. If it’s very hot, though, it might be better off in the fridge.
When you are ready to eat, cut the meat at a diagonal (and if it’s been in the fridge take it out a good 20 minutes beforehand so it isn’t unyieldingly cold). Arrange the slices on a large plate and spoon over some of the oily marinade. Fabulous.
Serves 4–6.
LAMB KEBABS
You could use any of the marinades for the barbecued loins , but this is how I most often make kebabs, either to go with the za’atar chicken or instead of, to go with the accompanying fattoush. The nutty, deeply resonant thyme mixture is just perfect with the sweet cubes of lamb.
500g lean lamb, cubed
for the marinade:
juice of 1 lemon, plus skins thrown in
125ml olive oil
2 cloves garlic, bruised
2 tablespoons za’atar
1 medium onion, quartered
Put the cubed lamb in a large freezer bag, then add all the marinade ingredients. Tie a knot, making sure any air is expelled first, then squeeze the bag about a bit to let the marinade squelch over the lamb. Leave this in the fridge overnight (or for up to a couple of days) or, out of the fridge in some cool place in the kitchen, for at least a couple of hours.
Let the meat come to room temperature, and soak about ten bamboo skewers in water for about half an hour.
Either heat a grill, or a griddle (or the barbecue of course), then thread three or four pieces of meat on to each skewer and slap on the heat.
These are also wonderful with a cooling mound of the cacik .
Makes about 10 skewers.
BULGAR WHEAT SALAD WITH PINK-SEARED LAMB
This bulgar wheat salad is loosely based on tabbouleh, only using coriander in place of the parsley, lime in place of the lemon and omitting the tomatoes and adding the chilli and some raw, diced courgettes. Coriander is so much more headily aromatic than parsley that I’ve made the ratio to herb and grain skewed differently from traditionaltabbouleh: that’s to say, this is a herb-flecked grainy salad, rather than a herb salad into which a few grains have been tossed. Because the bulgar wheat is so strongly flavoured and aromatic you can leave the lamb as it is: no marinade, no nothing, just sweet and pink and warm against the green-flecked cracked wheat. If you want to serve the lamb on top of the salad, I find that two loins of lamb are plenty, but if you want to serve the meat on a separate plate, then I’d go for three. This may sound mad, but really it does seem to make a difference to how people eat.
250g bulgar wheat
2-3 lamb loins, approx. 300g each
very large bunch fresh coriander, weight of leaves, without stalks, approx. 50g
large
625g boneless pork loin, cut into 2.5cm slices
Maldon salt and black pepper
250ml plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of half a lemon
quarter of a teaspoon dried thyme
3–4 sprigs fresh rosemary, needles finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Season the pork with salt and pepper, and brown in a pan with the 2 tablespoons of oil. Lower the heat once the meat has a good colour and cook for a further 15 minutes or until the pork is cooked through but still juicy.
Put the meat into a shallow dish – preferably earthenware – big enough to hold the pork all in one layer, and pour over the remaining olive oil, along with the juices from the pan. Add the remaining ingredients and make sure the meat is immersed in the marinade. Cover with foil and leave overnight at room temperature. If it’s very hot, though, it might be better off in the fridge.
When you are ready to eat, cut the meat at a diagonal (and if it’s been in the fridge take it out a good 20 minutes beforehand so it isn’t unyieldingly cold). Arrange the slices on a large plate and spoon over some of the oily marinade. Fabulous.
Serves 4–6.
LAMB KEBABS
You could use any of the marinades for the barbecued loins , but this is how I most often make kebabs, either to go with the za’atar chicken or instead of, to go with the accompanying fattoush. The nutty, deeply resonant thyme mixture is just perfect with the sweet cubes of lamb.
500g lean lamb, cubed
for the marinade:
juice of 1 lemon, plus skins thrown in
125ml olive oil
2 cloves garlic, bruised
2 tablespoons za’atar
1 medium onion, quartered
Put the cubed lamb in a large freezer bag, then add all the marinade ingredients. Tie a knot, making sure any air is expelled first, then squeeze the bag about a bit to let the marinade squelch over the lamb. Leave this in the fridge overnight (or for up to a couple of days) or, out of the fridge in some cool place in the kitchen, for at least a couple of hours.
Let the meat come to room temperature, and soak about ten bamboo skewers in water for about half an hour.
Either heat a grill, or a griddle (or the barbecue of course), then thread three or four pieces of meat on to each skewer and slap on the heat.
These are also wonderful with a cooling mound of the cacik .
Makes about 10 skewers.
BULGAR WHEAT SALAD WITH PINK-SEARED LAMB
This bulgar wheat salad is loosely based on tabbouleh, only using coriander in place of the parsley, lime in place of the lemon and omitting the tomatoes and adding the chilli and some raw, diced courgettes. Coriander is so much more headily aromatic than parsley that I’ve made the ratio to herb and grain skewed differently from traditionaltabbouleh: that’s to say, this is a herb-flecked grainy salad, rather than a herb salad into which a few grains have been tossed. Because the bulgar wheat is so strongly flavoured and aromatic you can leave the lamb as it is: no marinade, no nothing, just sweet and pink and warm against the green-flecked cracked wheat. If you want to serve the lamb on top of the salad, I find that two loins of lamb are plenty, but if you want to serve the meat on a separate plate, then I’d go for three. This may sound mad, but really it does seem to make a difference to how people eat.
250g bulgar wheat
2-3 lamb loins, approx. 300g each
very large bunch fresh coriander, weight of leaves, without stalks, approx. 50g
large
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