Dinner Tonight - December 6th - Cranberry Pork Roast

I didn't post yesterday what we had for lunch after church - I was a little lazy. We had french fries, chicken breast patties and broccoli. I didn't feel like cooking and I also didn't feel like a lot of clean up. It was a simple meal but very filling.

Tonight we are having Cranberry Pork Roast using a pork tenderloin that weighs 2 lbs. Now pork tenderloin is a tender cut of meat with virtually no fat so you have to be careful when you cook it as it can dry out. Here is the original recipe, but I am going to roast it in the oven tonight and it will turn out just great.


Cranberry Pork Roast

2 1/2 to 3 lbs. boneless pork loin roast
1 - 16 oz. can jellied cranberry sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
salt to taste

Place pork roast in a slow cooker.  In a medium bowl, mash cranberry sauce; stir in sugar, cranberry juice, mustard and cloves.  Pour over the roast.  Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or til meat is tender.  Remove the roast and keep warm. Skim fat from juices; discard.  Add broth to a 2 cup measuring cup, adding water if necessary to equal 2 cups total liquid.  Pour into saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Combine cornstarch and cold water to make a paste; stir into saucepan.  Cook and stir until thickened. Season with salt.  Serve over sliced pork.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

The above is the original recipe but I won't be using the crockpot today.  The pork loin that I have is only 2 lbs. so I will be roasting it in an oven at 350 degrees til done.  It shouldn't take too long. I will remove the pork when it reaches 145 degrees and let it rest as it will still cook.  This way it won't over cook. 

My plan is to make the sauce ingredients and then pour half over the pork and freeze the other half for another day. Since the roast is smaller than what the recipe calls for there is no need to use all of the sauce.

Also, I have substituted apple juice, apple cranberry juice and apple cherry juice for the cranberry juice in this recipe.  You can substitute half of the granulated sugar with brown sugar.  This works well also. 

When the holidays roll around and jellied cranberry sauce is on sale, I buy a lot for this recipe alone.  This is a great recipe to make throughout the year. 

I will serve a rice vegetable blend for a side dish along with apple salad and cuban bread.  I gave away a lot of the cookies I made on Saturday, so I baked some more chocolate chip cookies today for dessert.
 
I have two recipes for chocolate chip cookies.  One is for a soft cookie and the other is for a chewy in the middle and crunchy on the edges type cookie. 
 
I'm curious.  What type of chocolate chip cookie is popular in your household?