WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
A spicy, savory crust of crushed peppercorns is the perfect adornment for a relatively bland pork loin, but balancing the two elements in our Pepper-Crusted Pork Loin recipe wasn’t as easy as it seems. Since lean pork doesn’t have enough flavor to stand up to a harsh peppery punch, we had to find a way to deeply infuse our loin with spicy pepper flavor while eliminating the bite. Using coarsely ground pepper in our rub lent moderate heat, spice, and texture to our Pepper-Crusted Pork Loin recipe, and the piney tang of fresh rosemary complemented the pepper. Adding brown sugar to the rub helped tame the heat, while adding salt helped carry flavor into the meat, especially when we let the rubbed roast sit for an hour after it came out of the oven.