Pork Roast with Plum Sauce

This is from this month's Simple & Delicious. I liked it because it has this recipe, then another one that you can use for the leftovers. I like that, because then I don't feel as shocked at the price of the meat, because I know I'll be getting 2 meals out of it. However, the meat in this one is supposed to be a 4 pound boneless whole pork loin roast. It cost $20. I couldn't do it. Instead I bought 4 pounds worth of boneless pork shoulder, in 3 different packages, and it ended up being just over $10. It's going in the crock pot anyway, and they always say you can use cheaper cuts of meat in the crock pot and they turn out good. So we tried it. We had friends over for lunch, who incidentally have never been here before, so normally I would try to make something I've made before and really like, but I already had these ingredients so they were unknowingly co-guinea pigs. The magazine serves this roast with brussel sprouts. I think you know, without me having to say, that we did not have those. We had rice and green beans.

Pork Roast with Plum Sauce
1 boneless whole pork loin roast (4 lbs)
2 tbsp canola oil
1 cup sherry (or chicken broth, that's what I used)
2 tbsp dried thyme (this seemed like a LOT when I added it...)
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp ground mustard
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup plum jam (or apricot...the note after this recipe says "apricot preserves also work well" and I already had some of those, so that's what we used)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Cut roast in half (if you bought pieces of roast, like me, you will be ahead of the game here). In a large skillet, brown roast in oil on all sides; drain. Transfer to a 4-qt slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the sherry or broth, thyme, soy sauce, garlic, mustard, ginger, garlic salt, salt, and pepper; pour over pork. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160. Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. In a small cup or bowl, combine cornstarch and water and stir until smooth; set aside. Add jam to cooking juices. Bring to a boil. Add cornstarch; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice roast and serve with gravy.

Okay did you know this crock pot trick? You can put everything in there the night before (brown the roast and everything) and then stick it in the fridge (just the inside stoneware, if yours separates). In the morning when you wake up, tell your husband to take it out of the fridge and put it on the counter. Then when he finally drags you out of bed, about 30 minutes later, put it in the crock pot pluggy thing. Then you don't have to get up extra early to brown the roast, etc. I can't remember who told me this trick but I am glad they did...it might have been Terri or Lisa. Okay now on to recipe results...

Everyone liked it! Yay! Nathan even had seconds (mmmmm, good chicken, Mom). Our guests also had seconds. I always pay attention to that, because that's how you can tell if they really like something or they're just being polite. Nobody takes seconds if they don't like it. So this is definitely one to keep. I thought the sauce turned out a tad bit salty, and I was thinking that maybe I should have only used the garlic salt and not the regular salt. But, I don't know. It was still really good.