This last Thanksgiving,my family had gone to go see my brother, and I got left at home to watch my doggy. At first, I was very upset because I look forward to making a Thanksgiving turkey every year, but then I got over it and actually grew quite fond of living in a quiet house. Fortunately, I wasn’t completely alone. I actually got to spend Thanksgiving with the bf and still got to cook a nice meal.
When we went to the grocery store, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the menu. I couldn’t cook a 20-lb turkey since there just wasn’t the man-count to eat it. As I scanned the protein aisle, I saw that there was a special on pork. When I reach for a protein, I tend to shy away from pork. My comfort foods tend to be more fish and chicken. I think growing up a heavier kid, I was steered away from pork a lot so I’m not as familiar with cooking them. Nevertheless, I was up for the challenge and it was well worth it. In fact, it worked so well that I actually used it for Christmas dinner. This was such an easy recipe with minimal clean up!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp of canola oil
- 1 (4-lb) boneless pork loin roast or I used pork loin slices
- Salt and pepper to taste
- All-purpose flour for coating
- 3/4 cup of maple syrup
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup water
- 5 cloves of minced garlic
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium- high heat until smoking. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper and coat in flour. Be sure to shake off excess
- Sear in hot oil until brown on all slides ( 1 minute/side). Place onto a large aluminum foil set on top of a baking sheet
4. Make the sauce! Mix together the maple syrup, ketchup, water and garlic
5. Pour 3/4 of the sauce over the pork and fold the foil over the pork and fold so it looks like a packet
6. Bake in the oven until the internal temperature reaches about 170 degrees (~2 hours)
7. Carefully open up the foil packet and let broil for a few minutes
8. Serve with remaining sauce.
Personally, I loved this recipe. A big fear I have with pork loins is overcooking the meat. The annoying thing with pork is that if you overcook it, it becomes dry. On the other hand, if you undercook it, you can possibly give yourself heart worms, which is why it is absolutely crucial for the internal temperature of the pork to be >170 degrees Fahrenheit. However, sealing the meat in the packet really helps the pork loin retain its flavor and really allows it to soak up the juices. As a side, I actually served it with baked potato and roasted asparagus. Hope you all enjoy! I promise it won’t be so crazy long before I post again!
Aww…Now, who can resist that cute face
Food for Pennies... 