Honey Roasted Pork Loin

Sometimes I post things on here so that I can find it again. This is one of those posts!

The other day I needed to have supper ready for my family so I could run out to do a tea party. I'd pulled a pork loin the day before and that was about as far as my plans went. I didn't want to roast it the way I normally do; hubby had been getting home late the last couple of nights and I didn't want to have it dry out (I think he was getting sick of dry food...). I needed it to have a sauce that it could soak up in case he were later than we anticipated.

Well, my boys have been loving honey lately, so the thought of a honey-glazed pork loin was appealing to all of us. Some honey, some citrus juice, some chicken stock to round out the flavor... yum yum yum! And at the end, straining the juices and then reducing them into this wonderfully sticky glaze that the pork would continue to soak up! It just goes to show that sometimes those overly-simplistic recipes you find on Food.com can really turn out yummy and balanced!

So, here goes!

Honey Roasted Pork Loin:
1/4 c. honey
2 tbsp. orange juice
1/2 c. chicken stock
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tbsp. olive oil

Combine and pour over pork loin in roasting dish. Bake at 375 for 45 - 60 minutes (depending on size of pork loin) - baste a few times.
Once meat is cooked through, remove it and let it rest. Meanwhile, strain juice into a saucepan and reduce until slightly thickened (as it cools it will continue to thicken.) Carve pork and top with glaze.

*Originally posted on Food.com

I had done up quite a lot of pork; I was expecting to have at least a third of it leftover, especially since my oldest boy hasn't been great at eating his suppers lately, and hubby's favorite meat isn't pork (unless it's smoked pork belly... aka BACON). I ate a few pieces hurriedly before I ran out the door and quite liked it... but I had to keep stopping to refill the boys' plates with more meat. Still, there was about half of the loin left when hubby got home and I left to my party.
And when I got home, there were two measly slices. TWO. (I sopped up the rest of glaze on the plate and ate them with my fingers while I put things away that evening)
And furthermore, when I asked hubby what he thought, instead of his cover-all answer of "it was good", he gave a real answer of, "I quite enjoyed it actually!" Even he was surprised!

A success.

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)