As I promised (because I am sick to death of chicken) this is a pork loin recipe, and because it's from me, it's 1) done in the crock pot 2) super easy 3) the most delicious thing I have ever made EVER. Seriously. I think I'm in love.
The Check List.
Sounds delicious? You have no idea how delicious this is.
Simple ingredients? Mostly all pantry ingredients
Simple to make? Yup!
The beginning
I brainstormed this recipe with a few people (The Brother and Wise One), Very Merry Cranberry Pork Loin was born. Using mostly all pantry ingredients, it took me about 10-15 minutes to prepare and dump the pork loin and sauce into the crock pot and an additional 2 minutes to make gravy with the juices. The hard part was waiting 6 hours.
The characters
I know this looks like a long list, but I swear it's not that bad.
For the pork
1 pork loin
Salt, pepper, thyme
Olive Oil
The star!
The entourage
1 jar of whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup of cinnamon applesauce
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 orange
The adoring fans
Optional extras
One onion, chopped in large chunks
1-2 granny smith apples, chopped
Several tablespoons of flour to make gravy
The plot
Season your pork loin with a generous amount of olive oil, pepper, salt, and thyme. Place in skillet to brown each side. This is optional, but I highly recommend it. This shouldn't take very long, about 4-5 minutes. While pork loin browns, chop the onion up into large chunks so that it doesn't disappear while cooking. After browning, place pork loin into the pot (I had to cut my pork loin in half to fit in the crock pot) and dump onion on top.
For the sauce, dump the can of cranberry sauce in a bowl with the applesauce, apple cider vinegar, and squeeze the orange on top. Stir and place on top of the pork loin and onions. Cook on low for 6-7 hours. In the final hour of cooking, add your apples on top. It should take about 6 hours (you don't want your pork to dry out) and when done (registers at 160 degrees) take out and place on a plate to rest (cause it's tired). Spoon out the onions and apples and place them in a bowl with about 1/2 cup of the juices. Dump the rest of the leftover juices into a pot and spoon in several tablespoons of flour. Whisk on high for about 2 minutes and instant AWESOME gravy.
Season that baby.
Brown that sucka.
While it browns, chop onion.
After browning, place in crock pot. I had to chop mine in half to fit.
Cover with onions.
Mix all the sauce ingredients.
Dump in crock pot and wait....
6 hours later....
In the final hour of cooking, chop up your apple.
Dump in pot (which now smells like heaven).
1.5 hours later...
HUZZAH!
Using juices leftover in the crock pot you can make gravy in 2 minutes. Do this. It will be the best decision you made for days.
The conclusion
Words cannot describe. This is hands down, the most delicious thing I have ever made. I served it with rice and apple sauce, but I suggest using mashed potatoes. You must make this... and don't skimp out on the gravy.
Moral of the story
I like pigs.
OH MY YUM!
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