Honey Lavender Pork Loin with Caramelized Bananas

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By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by National Honey Board and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I received a gift card to offset the expense of my ingredients.

Honey.

Just the name invokes images of sweet desserts and savory dishes with a hint of something extra. This natural sweetener has been used for thousands of years (take that, HFCS) and can be substituted for other sweeteners in holiday and entertaining recipes. Like the honey lavender pork recipe below, of course. I served this dish last evening at a dinner party and was rewarded with thumbs-up all around. Isn’t it nice when recipes just work?

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To develop this recipe, I dug into my trusty Flavor Bible (one of my five most influential cookbooks) for foods that pair well with honey.  I quickly discovered that honey is the chameleon of the culinary world: the list of compatible foods went on for two pages. Good luck narrowing down that list, Jessie!

‘Tis the season for fresh herbs, however, and with the knowledge that we had an abundance of lavender growing two steps from the kitchen, I put together the following recipe without too much trouble. I will admit it was rather brave foolish unusual of me to serve this dish at a dinner party without having made it before, but I needn’t have worried. It was a hit.

Crushing lavender leaves in our piggy molcajete, Watchpig (dicing the lavender leaves works just as well):

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The recipe looks complicated, but fear not! The length is due to the two different ways you can prepare the recipe: roasted or sous-vide. Either cooking method will produce delicious results. If you’ve read this blog for a while, you’ll know which method we chose.

Honey Lavender Pork Loin with Caramelized Bananas

  Prep Time: 10 minutes

  Cook Time: 40 min (roast), 2 hours 15 min (sous vide)

  Keywords: roast sous-vide entree pork honey lavender

Ingredients (4 servings)

    Pork

    • 1-1/4 lb. pork loin
    • 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil
    • 2 tablespoons honey
    • 1 tablespoon lavender leaves, mashed
    • 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

    Honey-Lavender Sauce

    • 3 tablespoons honey
    • 1 tablespoon lavender leaves, diced
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt

    Caramelized Bananas

    • 3 large bananas, sliced
    • 1/2 tablespoon butter or coconut oil (optional)

    Instructions

    Roasted Pork Version: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil. Once butter or oil melts, sear pork loin on all sides, about 2 to 3 minutes per side (8 to 12 minutes total). Removed loin and place into foil-lined baking pan. Add chicken stock to skillet and deglaze by scraping brown bits from bottom of pan. Add 2 tablespoons honey and 1 tablespoon lavender and stir. Pour over pork loin and bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or internal temperature is 145 degrees F. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Proceed with sauce and caramelized bananas.

    Sous Vide Version: Vacuum seal pork loin in bag with butter/oil, 2 tablespoons honey, and 1 tablespoon lavender. Cook sous vide for 2 hours at 135 degrees F. Remove pork from bag and reserve liquid. Heat skillet over medium-high heat and sear loin on all sides, 30 seconds a side, using additional 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil if necessary. Set aside. Proceed with sauce and caramelized bananas.

    Honey Lavender Sauce: Combine 3 tablespoons honey, 3/4 cup chicken broth (if sous vide version), 1 tablespoon lavender and salt. Add roasting pan juices (roasted pork version) or reserved sous vide liquid (sous vide version). Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened.

    Caramelized Bananas: While sauce simmers, add butter/coconut oil to medium skillet over medium heat (if using nonstick skillet, can skip oil). Add banana slices and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes, or until slices soften and turn golden brown.

    Finish: Slice pork loin into 1/2-inch slices. Spoon banana slices on plate and arrange pork medallions over banana. Drizzle sauce over all. Garnish with additional lavender leaves and serve immediately.

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    Q: What’s your favorite way to use honey?

    14 Comments

    1. What a fun post! Love that you used lavender…I’m always looking for way to use it beyond soap and a pound cake recipe I make. your “take that HFCS” made me laugh! Pinning now!

    2. Whenever you mention The Flavor Bible, I think I need it! 🙂 The dish sounds great!

      I like honey in tea. Since we are doing a cleanse right now, we drink lemon water with a little honey and cayenne pepper. I didn’t think I’d like it when I first heard about it, but it’s actually not bad and growing on me a lot.

      1. I love lemon water! Not sure about the cayenne, but I’m sure you get used to it 😉 Hope you’re doing well!

    3. I really like honey but I’ve always eaten it in simple ways, like on yogurt. Honey lavender sauce sounds luxurious and delicious!

    4. Nina King says:

      All parts of this dish look great and promise culinary delight.I think it is a winner! I will try your recipe since I have lavender growing in my garden.To bad you are not coming to the wedding, I was looking forward to meeting you. Good luck with your entry!

      1. Thanks! We’re disappointed we can’t go, too 🙁 Have a beautiful time and say hi to Melissa for us!

    5. So fun! I really wanted to take part in this but only joined Recipe ReDux two weeks ago so there just wasn’t enough time. Sigh. I am LOVING your recipe. So inventive! And I’m sure crazy delicious.

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