BIL loves his pork loin..

Do with that information whatever you will.. The point is, while the ILs were in town for the 4th, I wanted to be a good Sis-in-law and cook him his favorite meal since he was staying with us.
Trouble is, it is COMICALLY easy to dry out a pork loin by following the instructions on the little vacuum sealed packages they come in.. And I had no clue if he liked any of the pre-marinated ones or not, so I just got two plain loins (to feed 9 people) and searched for a good marinade recipe..
Nothing was EXACTLY what I wanted, to so I just kind of winged it... I mixed 3 tablespoons of brown sugar with 2 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce, then added 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons of ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper - I stirred all of this into a thin paste and rubbed it on all sides of both the loins (heh heh heh -"loins" - Bevis and Butthead moment) and let them sit out of the fridge coming up to room temp for about half an hour with the rub on them.

Then (and this is the step that alot of packages don't include that makes all the dif, I bet) I browned each of them on all sides just to seal everything in, and finished in a foil-lined, covered roasting pan at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes (letting sit sealed up out of the oven for about 5 minutes just to let the juices settle back into the meat.

I also made an absolute MOUNTAIN of oven roasted potatoes (my mom, MIL, and BIL's GF ALL asked how I made the potatoes like it was some new-fangled thing... I swear my mom used to do that when we were young, but she acted like she never had.. Selective cooking memory!)

MIL brought a "coke salad," which I believe my Great Aunt Helen used to make, but it seemed to involve walnuts IN jello, so I didn't really care for it; and her homemade mac and cheese (The Hub's fave) which seems to have improved a bit, actually... it seemed more saucey than I remember... and of course I bought BIL some cranberries in sauce to put on his pork (his fave). My mommy brought a giant veggie tray (to rescue us from all those carbs!) and we all ate ourselves silly.

The pork turned out perfect, if I may toot my own horn (did some one say "toot"? Sorry, I have the mind of a 7 year old boy today) - It was juicy and the rub made it flavorful and it was a nice switch from more typical 4th of July meals.

Maybe the pork loin is no longer banned from my Kitch after that experience. (After all, I do like to rub a good loin).

tee hee hee