Pork Loin Roast with Garlic Maple Marinade

Being a cool and rainy Sunday, it was the perfect day to crank up the oven and make a nice dinner.

I'm not a big fan of pork (except for bacon. Seriously, who doesn't love bacon?) but it was on sale this week so I decided to give it a try. I ended up with a boneless centre loin roast. Since it's a pretty lean cut, I made a marinade for it.

To make the marinade, I mixed the following in a large Ziploc freezer bag:

White Zinfandel wine (use whatever you have on hand) roughly 1/2 cup
Low Sodium Soya Sauce roughly 1/4 cup
Rice Wine Vinegar about 2-3 tbsp
Pure Maple Syrup about 2-3 tbsp
Olive Oil about 2 tbsp
Water about 1/4 cup
Good squeeze of Dijon Mustard
Good sized pinch of pepper
Garlic Power - about 2 tbps

All of the above are just a guess. I pretty much just poured whatever I thought looked right.

 

 

Place the roast in the fridge for a few hours. Flip it every hour or so. Don't worry if the whole thing isn't submerged. Take it out of the fridge an hour before you're going to cook it and allow it to warm up.

Put it in a roasting pan with the fat side up. Throw out the marinade. Do not use it! Roast in at 350 for 30 mins an lb.

 



When it's done, take it out of the oven and place it on a cutting board. Cover with foil and let it rest for 10-15 mins. Carve and eat. The leftovers make good sandwiches.

Enjoy!!

Sarah

Garlic Top Sirloin Roast and a Baked Apple

Another some what chilly fall day and I was back to cooking. After yesterday's soup success, I decided to experiment a little tonight.

For dinner, I cooked a top sirloin roast and made mashed potatoes and mashed turnip with carrots.

1 Top Sirloin Roast (whatever size you need to feed your group)
3 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper
Olive Oil

An hour before cooking, take the roast out of the fridge and let it warm up. When ready to go, pre-heat the oven to 325F. Cut the garlic cloves into several thin slices. Puncture the roast in several places and slip a garlic slice into each over. Generously sprinkle the roast with salt and pepper. Heat a couple tbsps of olive oil in a large frying pan. When hot, put the roast in the frying pan and sear it for about 5 minutes a side. Transfer to your baking dish and put it in the oven.

Cook for 22-25 minutes per pound for med rare. Drop to 18-22 minutes per pound for rare. You can use a meat thermometer and cook to your desired level. When done, transfer to a cutting board and cover with foil. Let it rest for 15 minutes.

For the side dish, I did turnip with carrots. Turnip can be a little bitter so if you add in some carrots, it sweetens it up a bit and cuts the bitter. Just drain and mash with some butter or margarine.

Slice the roast and serve with your veggies and enjoy!

Dessert was the experiment. I didn't have the time to peel applies for an apple crisp, so I decided to attempt a baked apple.

1 large baking apple
1 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp instant rolled oats
1 tbsp real maple syrup
cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
water

Hollow out the core of the apple, leaving the bottom in tact. Use a melon baller or small spoon for this. Put the apple into a small baking dish. Mix all of the above together except for the maple syrup. Put the mixture into the middle of the apple. Put a few tsps of water in the bottom of the dish. Bake at 375 for about a half hour. With 10 minutes left, pour the maple syrup over the top of the apple.
When done, us tongs to carefully transfer the apple to a plate or bowl and then pour whatever liquid is left in the bowl over the top of the apple. Let cool for a few minutes and then enjoy.

I have to say, that  experiment turned out really well!

Sarah