Description
Pork loin roast – good-looking, lean, and attractively priced (under $25) – makes a memorable, no-fuss meal for holiday entertaining.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 16 whole peeled garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic cloves
- 1 (8 pound) whole boneless pork loin, patted dry, at room temperature
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary (snip with scissors), divided
- 16 dried apricots (or similar amount of your favorite dried fruit)
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup apple jelly
- ¼ cup port
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons apple jelly
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add whole garlic cloves and cook
- stirring occasionally
- until soft and golden
- about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon; reserve oil.
- Turn pork loin fat-side down. Slit lengthwise
- almost but not quite all the way through
- to form a long pocket
- leaving a 1/2-inch border of unslit meat at each end. Brush cavity with some of the reserved garlic cooking oil
- and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and 1 Tb. of the rosemary. Line cavity with sauteed garlic and apricots; sprinkle in cranberries. Tie loin together with kitchen twine or heavy-duty string at 1 1/2-inch intervals.
- Brush with remaining oil
- and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Set roast
- fat-side up
- diagonally or curved (so it fits) on a large
- lipped cookie sheet or jellyroll pan. Warm 1/4 cup apple jelly along with the minced garlic and remaining rosemary. Brush mixture onto meat.
- Roast until a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 125 to 130 degrees. (Start checking at about 1 1/2 hours.) Remove from oven; raise oven temperature to 400 degrees. Brush loin with pan drippings
- return to oven
- and continue to roast until the loin is golden brown and a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 145 degrees F (63 degrees C)
- about 20 minutes longer. For even more attractive coloring
- broil until spotty brown
- 3 to 5 minutes.
- Let roast rest 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to a carving board. Stir juices around pan to loosen brown bits. Pour through a strainer into a small pan
- and stir in port
- chicken broth and remaining 2 Tbs. of jelly; bring to a simmer. Mix cornstarch with a couple of tablespoons of cold water; whisk into sauce. Simmer until lightly thickened. Slice pork and serve with a little sauce.
Servings: 16