Maple Brined Pork Roast Recipe

Hi everyone!

Sorry in advance for no photos...I wasn't expecting this recipe to turn out (explained below) so I didn't bother. What a pessimist.

Before I jump into the actual recipe, can I tell you about my relationship with roasts? It's a long and boring one but I'll try to be succinct.

Well, I love the idea of roasts, especially in the crock pot! I love photos of roasts being carved...my mouth is literally watering just thinking about them on Pinterest! I love buying roasts and hefting a huge hunk of marbled goodness into my cart.

But....

I am a terrible roast cooker chef person. TERRIBLE. Can I just say it again? TERRIBLE.  They're either overcooked or dry. Or just weird in texture. Or they will be cooked to perfection and have a tough ligament running down the middle. Or they juices smoke up my house as if to threaten spontaneous combustion. Seriously. Thank GOD for a husband who eats just about anything without protest.

So, want to hear a recent roast story? Got a beautiful beef roast. Got it all dressed up. Got it in the oven. Directions say to check it after 90 min for cooking temp. At 90 minutes, we check, and it was THIRTY DEGREES OVER. Yeah, bad. We carve it, and it was like eating leather.

My other half says, "Can we just be honest and not keep the leftovers?" This is the first time I've ever heard him have anything other than nice things to say about my cooking. My feelings, however, are not hurt because my jaw is too tired from eating a tiny sliver of this old boot to care.  (Don't worry, I didn't throw it away....I stewed it, which softened it up immensely!)

So when I sat down to find a recipe for a pork roast that we intended for other things but then had extra, I wasn't feeling that confident. Hah. I was actually feeling like I wasn't allowed to cook another roast ever again.   But, I stumbled upon this Maple-Brined Pork recipe and figured it was worth a go.

I watched the thermometer with an eagle eye. So did dear husband. We were both pretty invested in not messing it up, I think. PTSD from Mr. Leather Boot Beef Roast, perhaps?

Well it turned out great. We ate the entire roast. I'll tell you that it was only a 1.4 lb roast to make myself feel better, but yeah, we pigged out on the pig roast. Delicious!

Here's the link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Maple-Brined-Pork-Loin/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=boneless%20pork%20roast&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

And here's what I did:

Ingredients:
-1.4 lb boneless pork sirloin roast
-2 cups water
-1/3 cup salt
-1/4 cup maple syrup
-1.5 tbsp minced garlic
-2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
-1 tsp dried rosemary
-10 turns of the pepper mill
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1 tbsp dijon
-1 tbsp maple syrup again

Directions:
Mix everything except the last three ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate 8-10 hours. I wouldn't go over 10 or it'll get salty.

Heat oil in dutch oven and brown on all sides, about 10 min total. Preheat oven to 325F.

Use a DAMMED THERMOMETER and pull it out at 100F. Combine the dijon and maple syrup and spoon over roast. Put back in oven until roast reaches 145F. Don't get distracted. Don't forget about it. Just don't.

Remove from oven. Let sit for a few minutes. Carve and pig out!