Marinated Pork Roast

Last night I made a dinner that I am now infamous for. This year for my mom’s birthday I made a Marinated Pork Roast with pan gravy, roasted carrots and new potatoes and a Cookies and Cream Cake (don’t worry I’ll post the cake later, yum!) My grandpa and Aunt Cindy were in town taking care of my mom. Five days before her birthday she had a double mastectomy. My goal for her special day was to get her to relax (no easy task there), have a good meal and enjoy being surrounded by her family.

My step-father, Rob, had given me a bone-in pork loin roast the night before and asked me to cook it since he wouldn’t be home early enough to get things going. Rob is a very good cook and a bit protective of his kitchen. If he is not the one cooking, he will push out whoever is manning the stove and take over in a very clandestine way. That night I stood my ground. All Rob got to do was make some fresh corn sautéed with diced onions and butter. But after eating my meal, I have his full consent to take over the kitchen, from time to time.

So here is my mom’s birthday dinner.  I hope you smile when you take your first bite, I always do.

I cut my roast in half to reduce the cooking time.  If you will be able to turn the roast while it's taking a bath, put it in fat side down and halfway through soaking turn it over.

If you won't be around, put it in to soak fat side up.

I made roasted sweet potatoes for our side dish this time. Yum!  I peeled and cubed some sweet potatoes.  Toss them in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil with some salt and pepper.  Put the potatoes in 30 minutes after starting your roast.They should cook 1 - 1 ½ hours. When they are fork tender, they are done.  I made some corn too. I girl can't live on starches alone...but she can try!   We'll talk more about my bread addicts support group later.

Marinated Pork Roast

Adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:

1 liter ginger ale (I use Canada Dry)

½ cup soy sauce

½ teaspoon onion powder

4 garlic cloves, rough chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1 – 4 pound pork roast, bone-in or boneless

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

Directions:

1. In a 13” x 9” glass baking pan, combine the ginger ale, soy sauce, onion powder, garlic, lemon juice and sugar. Add pork roast. Cover and refrigerate at least 7 hours, or overnight, turning once and ending with fat side up. Place roast in a preheated 350 degree oven. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Cook until digital thermometer reads 155 degrees. Remove roast from pan, wrap in foil and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, pour pan drippings into a gravy separator. Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Whisk in flour, let roux cook for 1-2 minutes to remove raw flour taste. Pour in half of the separated pan juices and whisk until there are no lumps. Add in remaining juices. Bring to a boil; cook for 2 minutes then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with roast.