I tore out this recipe from a Gourmet magazine my friend Sandy gave me when she was moving and needed to get rid of some stuff a couple of years ago. Somehow I held onto it and kept it through a move and decided that I needed to make this soon, or throw out the recipe. We tried it tonight and liked it! Worth the effort!
Bacon-Wrapped Maple Pork Loin
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Yield: Serves 6-8
Ingredients
- For Brining Pork
- 8 cups Water (I needed a bit more to cover the pork)
- 1/3 cup Kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp. Crushed black peppercorns
- 2 sprigs Fresh sage (I used dried)
- 1 large Garlic clove
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 (4-4.5 lb.) Boneless pork loin roast, trimmed
- For Roasting Pork
- 3 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp. Finely chopped fresh sage (I used dried)
- 3 Tbsp. Maple syrup (Grade B or amber, I used Grade A)
- 16 Bacon slices
- 1 Tbsp. Cider vinegar
Cooking Directions
- BRINE PORK
- Combine all brining ingredients EXCEPT pork loin in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan and heat over high heat, stirring, until salt is dissolved. Cool to room temperature, uncovered, about 2 hours.
- Add pork to brine, making sure it is completely covered by brine (this is where I added just plain water to the brine to make sure the pork was covered), and marinate, covered and chilled, 8 to 24 hours.
- ROAST PORK
- Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350F.
- Pat pork dry (discard brine, remove any strings from pork) and transfer to a roasting pan. Stir together garlic, sage, and 1 Tbsp. syrup in a small bowl and rub all over pork.
- Lay bacon slices crosswise over loin, overlapping slightly, and tuck ends of bacon underneath loin.
- Roast pork until thermometer registers 140F, about 1-1/4 hours. Stir together 1 Tbsp. syrup and vinegar until combined. Brush vinegar mixture over bacon slices and continue to roast pork until thermometer registers 150F, about 10 minutes more.
- Remove from oven and let stand in pan 15 minutes.
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