This weekend was a bit cooler in San Diego … the meteorologist mentioned we’d be having fall like weather over Labor Day weekend, which put me in the mood for a pork loin roast. I had apricot jam in my refrigerator and decided to make a sauce with wine, apricot jam and rosemary.  I started with a 1.7 pound pork roast. I poked holes all over the top with a fork and sprinkled kosher salt and pepper over both sides of the pork. I also sliced three cloves of garlic and laid them on top of the pork.

In a small saucepan, I mixed together white wine, dijon course grain mustard, apricot preserves, olive oil, fresh rosemary, a pinch of kosher salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I brought this to a boil, whisking as it was cooking.  After it had come to a boil, I let it sit for a minute and poured it over my roast, which was in a 9×13 glass dish.  I roasted my pork in a 375 degree oven for 70 minutes.

I decided to serve this over crispy parmesan kale.

This was really good and I didn’t even miss having a starch with our dinner.  I hope you like it!

Ingredients

• boneless pork sirloin roast (I used 1.7 pound)

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 3/4 teaspoon pepper

• 3 cloves garlic, sliced

For Sauce

• 3/4 cup white wine

• 1 tablespoon coarse ground dijon mustard

• 1/2 cup apricot preserves

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

• pinch of red pepper flakes

• pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Pat pork dry and poke holes over the top of the meat with a fork. (I do this so any flavoring I use seeps into the meat). Sprinkle the entire roast with kosher salt and pepper (1/2 teaspoon salt on top of pork, 1/2 teaspoon on bottom. Divide the pepper in half for the top and bottom as well). Lay the garlic cloves over the top of the meat.

In a small saucepan, combine wine, apricot preserves, olive oil, dijon mustard, rosemary, salt and red pepper flakes. Whisk together and bring to a boil.  Continue to whisk as sauce is heating. Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let it cool down for a couple minutes. Pour over the pork and place in your preheated 375 degree oven for 50-70 minutes. It took me 70 minutes for my oven.  I took the meat out of the oven at 135 degrees, covered my dish with foil and let the temperature raise another 10 degrees (ten minutes). I went by America’s Test Kitchen’s cookbook for my timing and temperature for the pork. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Crispy Parmesan Kale

• 1 package kale

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• drizzle olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lay kale on a large baking sheet.  It’s amazing, one package of kale will cover your baking sheet before it goes into the oven, and when it comes out, it will cover about a quarter of the pan.  It does shrivel up!! Drizzle kale with olive oil, kosher salt and parmesan. Roast in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes, turning occasionally. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris