This recipe was inspired by my visit to Tuscany and the flavors of the autumn season that were so prevalent while I was there. Searing the pork loin to lock in the juices keeps the meat moist, and the rich pan sauce is made using the drippings from the roasted pork along with the earthy mushrooms. I like to put the garlic cloves in the pan with their skins still on so they sort of roast inside their case; the result is tender roasted garlic. --Eric Ripert

Serves 4

Ingredients

PORK LOIN AND JUS
1 (2-pound) pork loin, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic head, cloves separated, unpeeled
3 sage sprigs
2 bay leaves, lightly crushed
¼ cup dry white wine
½ cup chicken stock
– fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

MUSHROOMS
12 ounces assorted wild mushrooms, such as morels, porcini, chanterelles and/or oyster mushrooms
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 small shallot, finely minced
2 teaspoons finely minced garlic
2 thyme sprigs
– fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Using kitchen string, tie the pork loin once lengthwise and then crosswise, spacing each tie 1 inch apart. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Carefully add the pork loin to the hot pan and sear on all sides until golden, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the whole garlic cloves. Lower the heat, cover, and continue roasting until medium, about 25 to 30 minutes. Check the doneness of the pork loin by inserting a meat thermometer into the center of the loin; it should register 150°F (it will continue cooking while resting). Transfer the loin to a cutting board and let rest. Reserve the sauté pan.

Meanwhile, prepare the mushrooms: trim and clean all of the mushrooms. Heat the oil and butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallot, garlic and thyme, and cook until the shallot softens, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are tender and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Heat the pan (reserved from the pork) over medium heat. Add the sage and bay leaves, and deglaze the pan with the white wine. Simmer to reduce the wine by half, then add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer to lightly reduce again. Add the sautéed mushrooms to the sauce and remove from the heat; set the mushrooms and sauce aside for about 5 minutes to infuse.

Slice the pork loin crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices and lay 3 slices on each of 4 plates. Spoon the mushrooms over and around the pork loin, spoon the jus around, and serve immediately.

Gail Simmons: When did you decide that cooking was something that you wanted to pursue?

Eric Ripert: I always had a passion for eating and being in the kitchen and looking at cookbooks. I was a weak student, and my teachers told me that I needed to find a profession that would allow me to build on my strengths. I was fifteen at the time I decided to become a chef.

Gail Simmons: People come to Le Bernardin for the ultimate dining experience, but Avec Eric was created for the passionate home cook. Is there any advice you can give the home cook about how they should approach these recipes?

Eric Ripert: I was thinking like a home cook who invited friends to my home for a simple meal, following the seasons and using those ingredients to create one amazing experience that would allow me to mingle, eat and drink with my guests. The recipes and ingredients always reflect a place and the inspiration I took away from that place. On the show, we talk a lot about respecting the ingredients, the seasons, and the people who are providing those ingredients, from farmers and fisherman to hunters and butchers.

Gail Simmons: It’s one thing when a chef has the opportunity to go out and meet the farmers and place big orders and think locally and seasonally but if I’m cooking at home, how can I embrace those philosophies?

Eric Ripert: It depends on where you live! If you live in New York, we often find that we are disconnected from our food sources, but, even here, there are farmer’s markets available to us. We can establish relationships with these people, who make the effort to come with their harvests, and we can ask them to give us tips about using these ingredients in the kitchen. Even if you go to a big market, you can talk to the butcher and ask him questions that will help you at home. If you can share that special moment, it can be fun and inspiring, with the opportunity to cook with ingredients that you may otherwise have not dared to touch.

Gail Simmons: How did you decide to make Avec Eric? Where did the original idea come from?

Eric Ripert: I wanted to do some television and demystify where inspiration comes from for a chef. When we produced the show with Anomaly, we decided that we would introduce the audience to the kitchen of Le Bernardin and show them the behind-the-scenes work; travel to inspiring locations and share the interaction with growers, farmers, fisherman, and hunters; and finally return to my home kitchen and cook a fresh, simple dish inspired by my travel.

Gail Simmons: How did you come to decide what pieces of your kitchen you would show everyone?

Eric Ripert: For me, the saucier lives in the most sacred place in the kitchen because the combination of knowledge and wisdom makes someone a true saucier. It’s all about displaying the craft, using strong knife skills, learning how to sauté a fish, and more. You don’t measure flavors. They are in the mind, and then they are transformed into a remarkable sauce by the combination of complex flavors. I wanted to show how the saucier is creating complex flavors with different ingredients and maintaining them in a dish with big flavor.

Gail Simmons: What is your favorite recipe in the book?

Eric Ripert: I always go back to ones that remind me of my grandmother and were inspired by her, Tarragon and Citrus-Honey Vinaigrette and Roasted Chicken with Za’Atar Stuffing, among many others.

Gail Simmons: Was it your hope for this book that, for example, if I never get to Chianti or have the opportunity to hunt wild boar, this book could provide a small window of inspiration?

Eric Ripert: If you cannot get to these places, you can dream about them. Someday, you might visit or you might have a similar experience that will remind you about the times that you have used and enjoyed this book in the kitchen. You can create excitement by going into your kitchen and cooking something from your own experience, whatever it is, even if it is not one from far away.

Gail Simmons: It sounds like this book is a template of your stories, along with the instructions for going into the kitchen and creating the stories on your own.

Eric Ripert: Yes, exactly. If you are a beginner cook, I encourage you to follow the recipes and menu suggestions. If you are a more experienced cook, you should feel free to substitute other fresh ingredients for those that I suggest in the recipes. This book should represent the beginning of your culinary adventures in your kitchen. The recipes are simple and can be modified if you don’t have certain ingredients. If you want to make salad and you don’t have Romaine lettuce, then you can use Boston lettuce. Be passionate in the kitchen and let my inspirations guide your own.

Gail Simmons: When you’re away from your home, what food do you crave the most?

Eric Ripert: If it’s on the weekend, I crave meat because I eat fish all week!

Gail Simmons: What’s your favorite way of eating meat? Eric Ripert: The Whole Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Butter Sauce or Seared Skirt Steak and Spinach Salad with Red Wine-Shallot Vinaigrette are two great choices from Avec Eric.

More Recipe Excerpts from Avec Eric

"The 2003 Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef in the United States, Ripert presents this companion to his PBS television show of the same name. The simplicity and balance of flavors in this book are characteristic of the style that has earned Ripert’s Le Bernardin in New York City its reputation. Ripert describes his visits to 12 regions of the Western world and focuses on each area’s culture, natural crops, and local culinary delights. From Los Gatos, CA, to Tuscany, Italy, Ripert shares recipes, agricultural growing methods, and preparation, cooking, and serving ideas. Many recipes include a suggested wine or cocktail pairing. Though most dishes are appropriate for luncheon or dinner, a few breakfast items are included. VERDICT Resplendent with photos of fields, orchards, beaches, farmer’s markets, beautiful dishes, and cheerful people cooking and enjoying food, this book will be a pleasure to browse, read, and use. Readers are left with a desire both to sample the 100-plus recipes and to visit the regions in which they were created. Highly recommended." (Library Journal, October 15, 2010) "Ripert, chef of the famed New York restaurant Le Bernardin and author of On the Line, takes readers on a culinary journey from Italy to California in this companion piece to his PBS series of the same name.... The roasted pork loin with wild mushrooms, garlic, and sage pan jus from Tuscany will tempt even the most faithful of vegans, while heirloom tomato salad with black garlic and white balsamic, and white asparagus with anchovy-herb butter, both from Los Gatos in California, proclaim the supremacy of vegetables ... the array of appetizing dishes that Ripert offers is worth the price." (Publishers Weekly, September 20, 2010) —