Giant Pig in a Blanket

Valentines day is a holiday that really doesn't have much of a meaning for me or those I care about. The past few years I haven't been able to spend it with Zach (he works nights) but this year, this glorious 14th of February in the year of 2014, he didn't have to work.

Now you'd think we'd go on some grand romantic adventure. Dinner, desert, wine pairings at a fancy restaurant (which he did our first year dating; gold star to that fellow. He knows how to treat a lady.) but we are home-bodies now that we have our own home. What does that mean? We like our bodies to stay at home. With a relationship based on honesty and blatant mockery of most traditional customs we decided to have a Valentines Day Adventure!

This is where the pig comes in. And by pig I mean pork tenderloin. And by blanket I mean Pillsbury crescent rolls.

Yup.

This happened.

Giant Pig in a Blanket

A Valentines Day Aventure Recipe

Ingredients

• Pork tenderloin
• 1 package crescent rolls or homemade roll dough pre-prepared
• Rub, marinade or seasoning 

1. Prepare your rub or marinade. We used a combination of a grainy dijon mustard with a cute German man smiling on it with some salt and pepper. You could use just about anything with pork: a homemade bbq sauce, a jerk spice or go simple and just salt and pepper the sucker.
2. Lather, sprinkle, cover and/or soak your pork loin. For a deeper flavour marinade in the fridge over night.
3. Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
4. While oven is preheating heat a bit of oil (I don't measure much) in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the pork tenderloin to hot pan, turning occasionally until all sides are browned.
5. Transfer tenderloin to roasting pan or baking sheet (if you're uncluky enough not to have a roasting pan). Cover again with more marinade or another sprinkle of salt and pepper. This is where you can be a bit more creative.
6. Roast in oven for 8-10 minutes or until you reach an internal temperature of 130 degrees F. ***THIS IS UNDERCOOKED PORK, DO NOT EAT AS IT IS. You are putting it back in the oven so you want to be sure you're not overcooking it.***
7. Let pork rest while you unroll your crescent roll dough. Be sure to keep it in one large sheet.
8. Reduce Oven to 375 degrees F (as per packaging). After resting place pork loin on rolled out dough. Wrap dough around loin roast trimming off additional roll dough from ends. We did not trim our dough and it was undercooked inside so this is a minor adjustment. Your pig might have a little less blanket but don't throw away that extra dough! Make a few extra rolls on the side to have with your dinner.
9. Place Pig in Blanket in the oven on a baking sheet (preferably a clean one) for 10-12 minutes or until dough is a golden brown.
10. Enjoy! Well take it out of the oven first, but then enjoy! 

It was wonderful, but like I said remember to trim off excess dough. Our adventure became a little bit more laughable when we peeled it apart and rebaked parts of the dough. The meat, hoooboy, it was perfectly cooked. Still juicy and the bit of a dijon marinade really added an extra umpth. We liked it so much we ended up dipping it in some more spicy dijon. 

You could try this with some cheese in the last stage of blanket wrapping on top, or some cooking bacon to make it extra piggy. Either way this Valentine's day was officially awesome. I think an adventure in cooking is right down our alley for a commercially romantic holiday that now is more about hiding from the crowds and spending time together instead of getting expensive reservations at restaurants we'll never go to again. Boy, am I living the life!