Herb-Roasted Pork Loin

Yummmmm! My guests rave about this, I have made it twice now. The herbs that the roast lay on give such a great taste to the pork along with the mustard and the shallots. And the sauce is heavenly! I have used onions instead of the shallots with fine results. From Gourmet magazine.

• Ready In: 1 hr 50 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• For Pork

• 4  lbs boneless pork loin roast, trimmed
• 2  tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1  teaspoon olive oil
• 6  rosemary sprigs, divided
• 8  large fresh thyme sprigs, divided
• 8  sage sprigs, divided
• 1⁄2 cup  finely chopped shallot (4 to 5)
• 2  tablespoons  finely chopped garlic
• 3  tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1  teaspoon pepper

• For sauce

• 1⁄3 cup dry vermouth
• 2  teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 3⁄4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
2. Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper. Straddle a flameproof roasting pan over 2 burners, then heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Brown pork on all sides, then transfer to a large plate.
3. Put a metal rack in pan and arrange half of herbs down middle of rack.
4. Stir together shallots, garlic, mustard, and 1 tablespoon oil and smear over top and sides of roast, then put roast, fat side up, on top of herbs. Roast 1 hour.
5. Toss remaining herbs with remaining teaspoon oil and arrange on top of roast.
6. Continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer registers 140 to 145°F, 5 to 15 minutes more (temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees as it rests).
7. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let rest 15 to 25 minutes.
8. Make sauce while pork rests:
9. Remove rack from pan and discard herbs from rack.
10. Straddle pan across 2 burners on medium heat.
11. Add vermouth and mustard and deglaze by boiling, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until reduced by half.
12. Add broth and simmer 3 minutes.
13. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a 2-cup measure. If you have more than 1 1/2 cups, boil to reduce; if less, add water.
14. Melt butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking, until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Whisk in vermouth mixture and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
15. Serve pork with sauce.