Roasted Pork Loin

I tried a new Pork Roast recipe out last night with a bunch of friends. It's in the latest Fine Cooking issue (Jan 2008): Roasted Pork Loin with Maple-Mustard Crust.

It really is an excellent recipe. Everyone enjoyed it and it's pretty simple to make. The only gripe I have is the cooking time - it took almost twice as long to get the roast to 145F than the recipe called for.

I recommend picking up this issue. In addition to great recipes for the pork left-overs, there are great recipes for bread pudding and gnocchi.

Below is the recipe I used (their recipe plus some tweaks).

Brine
8-10 C apple juice
3/4 C salt
1/4 C brown sugar
6 cloves garlic crushed
6 sprigs of thyme

Glaze
1/2 C maple syrup
5 tbsp whole grain mustard (PC brand works great)

Roast
1 4-5 lb Pork Loin, boneless and tied up.
1 large fennel/anise bulb, sliced
2 large apples (granny smith worked well), cored, peeled and diced
3 tbsp veg oil.

Step 1 - Make the brine and brine the roast (do the previous day)
Bring 3 cups of the apple juice to a boil and add the rest of the brine ingredients. Stir until salt and sugar are dissolved and remove from heat. Add remaining apple juice and let cool. In a large ziplock bag add the pork loin and the marinade and let sit for 18 hours.

Step 2 - Make the glaze and prep the roasting pan (preheat to 375F)
Make the glaze by mixing the maple syrup and mustard.
Put the apple, fennel, and oil in a roasting pan (a dutch oven works great). Toss.

Step 3 - Roast
Drain the Roast from the marinade and pat dry with paper towel. Place roast on the apples/fennel mix. Pour glaze over top.
Stick an instant read thermometer into the centre of the roast. Put the roast into the oven and roast until the temp reaches 145F (between 90 and 120 minutes)
Remove the Roast and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve.

That's it. I promise next time to take pictures of the roast.