Moist and tasty, with just a hint of spice, and almost not needing the glaze called for, this is not my father’s roast pork!
A deal at our market has once again left me with various roasts in the freezer, and I needed some options. The roast beast turned out well, but my normal pork options were out – I happen to make a fine pulled pork, but it’s a bit too acidic for Rich’s diet just now, and we had just recently had Thai pork stew for a game night dinner.
A quick trip to da Google provided me this quite nice solution from Janice Christofferson via allrecipes.com, easily as good as the honey-soy pork roast I made in December, but without all that tedious mucking about with marinating and basting.
INGREDIENTS
Pork:
•2-1/2 tsp chili powder*, divided
•1/2 tsp salt
•1/2 tsp garlic salt
•1 (4 pound) boneless rolled pork loin roast
Glaze:
This was OK – I list a more better option below**
•1 cup apple jelly or apricot jelly
•1 cup ketchup
•2 tbsp white vinegar
*Chili Powder:
•1 tsp paprika
•2 tsp ground cumin
•1 tsp cayenne
•1 tsp oregano
•2 tsp garlic powder
Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.
**Glaze Option:
•1 cup apple juice, reduced
•2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
•1 tbsp honey
Heat oven to 350º.
Combine 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, salt and garlic salt in a bowl and rub over roast. Place roast fat side up on a rack in shallow roasting pan – I lined the pan with foil, and added some coarsely chopped onion, carrot and celery.
Bake, uncovered, for 1-1/2 hours.
Make the glaze:
In a saucepan, combine the jelly, ketchup, vinegar and remaining chili powder. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until the jelly is melted and mixture is smooth. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. OR – 
reduce 1 cup of apple juice and combine with some nice Dijon mustard and maybe a tbsp of honey. This roast needs a LITTLE something, but not all that fussiness (in my humble opinion) of jelly and ketchup and stuff.
Brush 1/4 cup of your glaze mixture of choice over the roast and bake 10-15 minutes longer, or until a meat thermometer reads 160º. Remove to a carving board and let stand for 10-15 minutes.
If you WANT to have a sauce; skim any pan drippings at this point, stir into remaining glaze mixture and heat through.
Slice roast and serve with sauce (or not).
Nice.