Sweet and Spicy Cherry Glazed Pork Loin recipe is a collaboration with the National Pork Board #PorkNowSweeps #TasteOfNow
Sweet and Spicy Cherry Glazed Pork Loin
Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to treat yourself and your boo to a delicious sweet and spicy meal of pork loin glazed with cherry preserves and apple cider vinegar.
Pork loin is a lean, quick cooking cut of meat that is the perfect healthy choice for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. Well, ours won’t be too romantic because we’re dining with the kids but that’s okay. We’ll still celebrate with this delicious dinner at home.
Since pork loin is so lean and tender it doesn’t require much cooking time. I start by cutting a 4 pound pork loin into 1-inch slices.
Marinate the pork loin
I made a marinade of soy sauce, orange juice, black pepper, red chili flakes and smashed garlic. Place this all in a zip top bag and let it sit in your refrigerator for a few hours or for half an hour at room temperature before cooking.
Brown the pork
Drain the pork from the marinade and pat it dry. Then sear it in a hot skillet for about 2 minutes on each side. This will not cook the pork all the way through, we’ll finish cooking the pork in the glaze. Sear the pork loin in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. I’m able to fit four pieces of pork loin in one layer in an 10 inch skillet. Remove the browned pork loin to a sheet pan and brown the rest.
Make the glaze
Remove all of the pork loin pieces from the pan and drain off any remaining fat. Add some sliced shallots to the pan along with apple cider vinegar, a sprig of rosemary and cherry preserves.
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Stir this around until the preserves melt and add the pork loin pieces back to the pan. Turn the pork loin over in the glaze every minute or so and cook until the pork loin reaches 145-150 degrees and the glaze has thickened. Here’s a link to the digital thermometer I use, you can even set it so an alarm goes off when your food reaches the right temperature.
Garnish the pork loin with some orange slices, serve with sauteed greens and maybe a little wine to sip (just a little because you have to go to work in the morning) and enjoy your romantic Valentine’s Day dinner at home.
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Sweet and Spicy Cherry Glazed Pork Loin
Ingredients
- one pork loin about 4 pounds
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes to taste
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 oranges - one for 1/4 cup orange juice one for garnish
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon canola or vegetable oil
- 2 sliced shallots
- 1 sprig of rosemary about 3 inches long
- 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup cherry preserves
- one sliced orange for garnish
Instructions
- Slice the pork loin into 1 inch slices
- Season the pork loin slices with pepper and red pepper flakes
- Place the pork loin slices in a zip top bag
- Pour the soy sauce and 1/4 orange juice into the zip top bag. Smash the garlic cloves and add to the bag, refrigerate for up to 6 hours
- Remove the pork loin from the marinade and pat dry
- Heat a skillet with 2 teaspoons of canola oil over high heat
- Brown the pork loin for 2 minutes per side, in batches, removing them to a platter after browning. The pork loin will not be cooked through.
- Pour the oil out of the pan
- Add the shallots, apple cider vinegar and cherry preserves to the pan and simmer over medium heat until preserves have melted
- Add the pork loin back to the pan with the preserves and simmer, turning frequently to coat.
- Cook until the pork loin reaches 145 -150 degrees and the glaze thickens
- Serve the pork loin with oranges slice to garnish