Boneless Pork Loin

We travel by car or by plane to our vacation home for a total of three times a year.  Both modes of transit have their pros and cons with respect to length of time and what we can bring with us from home.  Car trips are less restrictive to what we can bring but take a considerably longer period of time.  Air travel while restrictive as to what we can bring, means we are usually at our vacation home and settled in by late afternoon with a morning flight.  Our mode of travel is determined by flight costs for the desired time using driving as a back-up plan if we can't get a good price but other factors influence our choice as well.

We flew for our spring 2013 trip, May 6 through May 29.  After reaching the airport and picking up our rental vehicle, our first stop is at the Publix near our resort.  We have tried other grocery stores in the area but the Publix is our favourite even though it is a bit higher priced.  The meat and fish counter there is quite nice!  What we really appreciate is the wide variety of organic and natural products available at Publix.

A pork loin roast is always included with our first grocery purchases at our vacation home.  Publix has all natural, fresh never frozen pork loins that have no preservatives or artificial ingredients and are minimally processed.  This is comparable to the quality of pork we buy at home.  We bought a 4.13 lb boneless pork loin for $11.17 ($2.69/lb).

Pork loin is a versatile cut of meat.  A four pound pork loin will comfortably give a yield of five meals for the two of us with left overs.  I cut the pork loin in half.  One half was cured for peameal bacon while the other was cut into pork loin chops.   Pork loin chops can be grilled as is, breaded and baked, or they can be cut into cubes or strips to be used in casserole dishes and stir fry.  Peameal bacon is our must have taste of home, a true southwestern Ontario delicacy.  This versatile home cured meat has a five day cure time so is the first thing to be set up at our vacation home.

I could not find Morton's Tender Quick in the nearby grocery stores so ended up bringing a 2 lb bag with me one trip.  I routinely buy Morton's Tender Quick in Michigan and have never had a problem at the border.  However, airport security did do an extra check even though it was in the original, unopened bag.  Next time I need specialty food products at our vacation home, I will either send them ahead or take them with us when we drive.

We saw the first signs of local asparagus the day we left for our Florida home.  That was enough to trigger cravings for asparagus!  We picked up asparagus along with our other grocery purchases.  Our second home cooked dinner at our vacation home was grilled boneless pork loin chops with baked potatoes and asparagus cooked on the grill.

The chops were grilled on medium heat to form well defined hash marks.  They were generously coated with Sweet Baby Ray's barbeque sauce  then allowed to cook until the sauce started to caramelize.  It was a simple, delicious meal enjoyed on the lanai listening to the sounds of evening setting in.  After dinner we took a ride in the golf cart so capture the sights and sounds of wildlife, chatting about what we would do the following day.  It was a beautiful end to another day in paradise!