Bacon and Ginger Pork Loin

from ButterYum

serve 6-8

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 pound pork loin roast

• 12 gingersnap cookies, broken

• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard

• 1 pound high quality thick-cut bacon

• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Lay a 20-inch wide strip of nonstick foil on a work surface.

3. On top of the foil, line up two rows of bacon, shingling each row and overlapping slightly in the middle where the two rows meet.

4. In a food processor, process the gingersnaps to fine crumbs; add dark brown sugar and pulse until well mixed.

5. Coat bottom (side without the fat cap) of roast with 1 tablespoon mustard, followed by half of the crumb mixture; place bottom side down over the center seam of the two rows of bacon.

6. Repeat the mustard and crumb/mixture on the top of the roast (the side with the fat cap).

7. Start wrapping the bacon over the roast, one slice at a time, criss-crossing as you go until all the bacon is used.

8. Sprinkle liberally with freshly ground black pepper.

9. Place a roasting rack in a large roasting pan (I like to use a v-shaped roasting rack).

10. Lift roast by it's foil sling and transfer to the roasting rack.

11. Bring up sides of the foil and fold together to cover the bacon but don't seal them closed so excess steam can escape in the oven.

12. Bake for 45 minutes,0 remove from oven, open foil and continue to bake for 35-45 minutes or until an internal temperature of 155F is reached.

13. Allow roast to rest for 10-15 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 145F; slice and serve.

Note: I noticed the rendered bacon fat didn't drain away from my roast while it was in the oven, which resulted in soggy bottom bacon. Next time I'll pierce the foil a number of times so the rendered fat can drain away during the roasting process.