Roasted Pork Sirloin with a Creamy Mustard and Onion Sauce

The closest I've ever come to having to worry about Valentine's Day was a few years ago when a professor jokingly, and unsuccessfully, attempted to set me up for the 14th with the girl sitting in front of me. Back in elementary school the day used to be like a little version of Halloween. Everyone in the class exchanged valentines and the ones from the kids with the cool moms always had candy. But at some point boys began to realize that there might be more to girls than cooties, and Valentine's Day went swiftly downhill.

Yet despite my cynicism, I still wanted to do something to commemorate the 14th, so pictured above is my attempt to cut one of the pieces of pork into the shape of a heart. These cuts are from the sirloin, which is considerably less lean than the center loin. The herb rub looks simliar to two weeks ago, but this time it was simply dry mustard, salt and pepper, and rosemary. The pork was browned on both sides, just about 30 seconds each, and then the whole skillet went into a 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes.

Pulling it out of the oven, I removed the meat and began to sauté some onions and scallions, managing to both burn my hand on the iron-cast skillet as well as set off the fire alarm. The pan sauce was finished by deglazing with chicken stock and adding dijon mustard, letting the sauce reduce, then stirring in some sour cream at the end.

I thought the sirloin was more flavorful than the center loin, but the sauce was just fantastic. It's somewhat simliar to the sauce for beef stroganoff, only with enough djion mustard to clear your sinuses for a week.