Maple Pork Loin Roast with Caramelized Apples and Pears

An oven roasted pork loin rubbed with autumnal spices, drizzled with maple syrup then baked with a medley of pears and apples is a lovely fall dish elegant enough for company yet easy enough for a weeknight family meal.  It will fill your kitchen with the seductive aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin and ginger.  Choose a roasting dish where the pear and apple wedges can be tucked alongside the pork snugly. The roasting juices will meld with the fruit, creating a flavorful spiced sauce.

Candy Pork Loin with Apples and Pears

• Servings: 8
• Time: 1.5 hrs
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

3 lb pork loin

1 red onion, sliced thickly

1/2 c brown sugar

1 c maple syrup

2 apples, cored and cut in 8 wedges

2 pears, cored and cut in 8 wedges

1/2 t nutmeg

1 T cinnamon

1/2 T ground ginger

1/2 T ground cumin

2 bay leaves

pinch dried thyme

pinch dried rosemary

For the sauce:  1T Dijon mustard, fresh ground pepper and 1/2 c heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350F.   In  a 9 X 12″ dish, spread the onion slices then  place your pork loin on top.  Rub the meat with the brown sugar.  Pour half the maple syrup over meat. Smother with fruit wedges all around.   Mix the nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cumin together and sprinkle over the pork and fruit.  Top with bay leaves, thyme and rosemary.  Drizzle the rest of the maple syrup. Bake 1 hour, tossing fruit once or twice and basting with sauce.  Remove roast, onions and fruit from pan and rest, covered on a serving platter.  Place cooking juices in a medium saucepan, scraping any crusty bits from the pan.  Heat to bubbling and reduce to a thick consistency, stirring often.  Add 1 T Dijon mustard and whisk in 1/2 c heavy cream until heated through. Season with freshly ground black pepper, to taste.  Slice the pork across the grain.  Serve with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed green beans with the sauce on the side. Adapted from Sweet Paul.

The spice rub on both the meat and the fruit wedges.

 

The delicious cooking juices which will be collected, reduced and transformed into an aromatic sauce.

The reduced sauce.

The succulent roast loin, sliced with its caramelized pears and apples.

An elegant meal with the addition of the sweet and fragrant sauce and sides of garlic mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.

In the Orchard, Sir James Guthrie, 1885-6, National Galleries of Scotland