Festive Pork Roast

Now that the weather is starting to cool off it's time for roasts, soups, chilis and all of that good stuff! The other night I made this Festive Pork Roast that I got out of my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I have gotten a ton of good recipes from this book, if you have a chance pick it up.

Here's what you need:

• 1 5lb boneless pork top loin roast (I actually just had a 2.2lb roast and just adjusted the cooking time)
• 3/4 cup of dry red wine
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (I actually used a freshly cracked pepper blend, maybe like 2-3 turns)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

What to do:

• Place your roast in a large plastic bag and set it in a large deep bowl
• For the marinade, combine wine, brown sugar, vinegar, ketchup, water, oil, soy sauce, garlic, curry powder, ginger and pepper
• Pour marinade over the meat and seal the bag
• Marinate in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 hours or overnight, turning the bag several times. (I marinated mine for about 7 hours)
• Drain meat and reserve 1 1/4 cup of marinade (I reserved all of it)
• Cover and put marinade back in fridge
• Now it says to pat the meat dry, you can, I didn't
• Place meat on a rack in a shallow roasting dish
• Insert an oven-going meat thermometer into the center of the roast (this way you don't overcook it)
• Roast in a 325 degree oven for 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 hours or until meat thermometer registers 155 F (I only had to cook mine for an hourish)
• About 25 minutes before the meat is done pull out the reserved marinade and place in a saucepan with the 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
• Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, then cook 2 minutes more
• Brush meat frequently with the sauce during the last 15 minutes of cooking
• Cover meat with foil and let stand for 15 minutes
• Bring remaining sauce to a boil and serve with the meat

It seems like a pretty involved recipe at the end, but it is so worth it. This roast was really yummy, Scott had to force himself to save some for leftovers to see if it would be even better the next day (it was). I served garlic green beans and chive mashed potatoes with this.

For the green beans I just snapped and cleaned them, but them in a pot with water and then put 2 cloves of minced garlic and a pinch of sea salt in the water. Then just boil them until they are done, drain and serve. No additional seasoning required.

For the potatoes you want 4-6 potatoes (I recommend Yukon Gold or Russet), peeled or unpeeled. Cut them up and place in pot filling water to cover. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and place into water. Bring to boil and cook until they are well....cooked. Drain potatoes and put in a container of chive flavored cream cheese and whip with hand mixer. (If you like blue cheese mix in some crumbled blue cheese, it's crazy delicious)

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!