Cranberry Glazed Pork Roast

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I love the taste and flavor of pork, as well as the ease with which it can be prepared. Chops and tenderloins are perfectly sized for today's smaller families and even the larger loins can be cut to prevent endless leftovers. Pork is also inexpensive. Our warehouse store sells large single loins for about $2 a pound. Most of the loins weigh 8 to 9 pounds each and can be cut into meal size portions that are more appropriate for today's families. I usually divide these loins into thirds and freeze them for later use as whim dictates. Unfortunately, I usually spend the money I save buying meat this way on ingredients with which to sauce it. When I prepare a loin for roasting, I tie the meat into a cylinder of uniform size and brown it before roasting. I cook my pork loin to an internal temperature of 140 degrees. When I take it out of the oven, I tent it in foil and let it sit for another 15 minutes. The roast continues to cook and at the end of the rest period it will reach 150 - 155 degrees, a perfect temperature for pork. I've been experimenting with cranberries lately and I wanted to use them to make a glaze that could be used for pork or chicken. I finally have come up with one I think is acceptable and a somewhat different than standard fare. It is a bit pricey, but it is wonderfully flavorful and will give your palate a joyful jolt. I've left the berries whole for the photograph, but the sauce can be strained and you may actually prefer to use it that way. Here's the recipe for cranberry glazed roast pork.

Cranberry Glazed Roast Pork...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
Glaze
1 (12-oz.) bag fresh cranberries
1/3 cup chopped fresh ginger
Zest and juice of 1 large orange
1 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups cranberry juice
1/4 cup orange liqueur
Roast
1 ( 2-1/2 to 3 pound) center cut boneless pork loin
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided use
4 teaspoons coarse garlic salt
2 teaspoons coarsely cracked fresh pepper
2 teaspoons dried marjoram

Directions:
1) To prepare glaze: Combine cranberries, ginger, sugar, orange zest and orange and cranberry juices in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and cook until cranberries burst and sauce thickens, about 5 to 10 minutes. If you wish, strain through a fine mesh sieve and allow to cool. When cool add orange liqueur.
2) To prepare roast: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using kitchen twine, tie roast at 1-inch intervals to form a cylinder of uniform circumference. Rub all surface of roast with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Rub cylinder with all of salt pepper and marjoram. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large, heavy ovenproof skillet. Add pork and sear all surfaces well. Brush pork with glaze. Transfer skillet to oven and bake for 15 minutes. Brush again with glaze and cook for another 20 minutes, or until pork reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees. Remove from oven. Brush again with glaze, tent with foil and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Yield: 6 servings.

You might also like these recipes:
Maple Rosemary Glazed Pork - What's Cookin, Chicago?
Pork Tenderloin with Honey Glazed Apples -Food and Whine
Pan Roasted Pork Chops with Cranberries and Swiss Chard - Dinner Du Jour
Slow Cooker Pork Chops - The Hungry Housewife
Roast Pork Tenderloin with Pears and Figs - Verses from my Kitchen
Pork Milanese - Bored Cook in the Kitchen

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Years ago this succulent pork roast would have been considered proposal food. The recipe for it was developed for Fine Cooking Magazine by Tasha DeSerio and was judged by their staff to be one of their best recipes of 2009. You can find their list here. I'm always a bit suspicious when recipes come with such high praise. Taste is a very subjective thing and I have a problem with anything that purports to be the "best" of class. Every once in a while, I come across something that really is outstanding and this recipe is one of those instances. It makes an amazingly tender roast with very little effort, though there is significant wait time required to produce the results you want to see. I like to start this process several days before I plan to serve the pork. The roast is rubbed with salt and pepper and is refrigerated for 1 to 3 days before being slowly cooked in the oven at a very low temperature. The end result is a fork tender roast that remains moist without being stringy. You also have an assembly of vegetables so meltingly good that you'll wish had doubled or tripled the quantity of them you prepared. The pork is wonderful and can be served with vegetables for a meal, but it also makes amazing pulled pork sandwiches that are so flavorful that no additional sauce is required. I hope you'll try this almost effortless meal. Here's the recipe.

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Fine Cooking Magazine

Ingredients:
1 6 to 7-lb. boneless pork shoulder roast
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 large yellow onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rings
3 medium carrots, cut into sticks 1/2 inch wide and 2 to 2-1/2 inches long
10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup dry white wine

Directions:
1) Combine salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub mixture over all surfaces of pork shoulder. Place the pork, fat side up, in a 12 x 16 x 3-inch pan. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 3 days.
2) When ready to proceed, remove pork from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.
Position a rack in center of oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Uncover pork and roast until tender at the margins but center still offers some resistance, about 4 to 4-1/2 hours. Add onion, carrots, garlic, wine, and 1 cup water to roasting pan and continue to roast, stirring vegetables occasionally, until the pork is completely tender, about 1 hour more.
3) Remove roast from oven and raise oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Using tongs, separate the pork into 8 to 10 large, rustic chunks and spread out on pan. If most of liquid has evaporated, add a splash more water to create a little more juice. (It shouldn’t be soupy.) Return pork to oven and continue to roast until nicely browned on newly exposed surfaces, about 15 minutes longer. Remove pan from oven, transfer meat and vegetables to a serving platter, and tent loosely with foil. Let rest for 20 minutes. Skim excess fat from juices and serve warm with vegetables and meat. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Crockpot Pork Roast - Annie Bakes
Smoked Pineapple Pork - Coconut and Lime
Dimitri's Pork Roast - Tobias Cooks
Cajun Pork Roast - The Teacher Cooks
Garlic and Herb Crusted Pork Roast - Almost Slowfood
Arista: Tuscan Herb Roasted Pork Roast - One Perfect Bite