Well, now, this was disappointing.

It's such a shame when you buy a 4-pound cut of meat, bake it for twice as long as the recipe states because it isn't done, then slice it up and your family decides it sucks.  You decide it sucks too.  And yet it sounded SO good!

This is what happened to us last night.  Nearly 4 pounds of beautiful pork loin rubbed down with salt and pepper, then glazed with a puree of apricots, rum, honey and thyme.  You'd think the rum itself would make it taste better.  But in the end it would being a complete waste of money, both on the loin and the electricity used to run my oven.

Blah.


Roasted Loin of Pork with Apricot-Rum Glaze

This easy apricot glaze will keep up to a week if refrigerated. Try pairing it with chicken, as well.

1 cup dried apricots

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup dark rum

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup honey

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1 (4-pound) boneless pork loin roast, trimmed

Cooking spray

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400º.

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 4 minutes.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add apricot mixture; cook 10 minutes or until apricots are soft. Stir in honey and thyme. Place mixture in a food processor; process until smooth, scraping sides. Reserve 1/2 cup apricot mixture to serve with pork.

Place pork on the rack of a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Brush 1/2 cup apricot mixture over pork. Bake at 400º for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350º (do not remove pork from oven). Bake 1 hour or until thermometer registers 155º, brushing with 1/2 cup apricot mixture after 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with reserved 1/2 cup apricot mixture.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 3 ounces pork and about 2 teaspoons sauce)
CALORIES 235 (37% from fat); FAT 9.7g (sat 3.3g,mono 4.5g,poly 1g); IRON 1.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 73mg; CALCIUM 32mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.1g; SODIUM 261mg; PROTEIN 22.2g; FIBER 0.2g
Cooking Light, APRIL 2004