The glaze in this recipe is phenomenal and goes perfectly with pork. It’s adapted from an old Emeril recipe for baby back ribs that my husband found years ago. We've since reserved it for special occasions because it requires quite a bit of prep time and fancy ingredients like whole cardamom pods and allspice berries.
To make the recipe doable for normal (busy) days, I’ve simplified it and made it work for the slow cooker with a pork loin instead of ribs. It requires less hands-on time and is just as delicious!
It’s great served with some quick-cooking polenta and roasted Brussels sprouts.
Serves 6 to 8
Prep time: 15 minutes
Slow Cook time: 4 1/2 to 5 hours (on low)
Hands-on finishing time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
3 1/2 to 4 lbs pork loin
A drizzle of avocado or canola oil
For the spice rub:
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
For the glaze:
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup apple sauce
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Directions
Combine the spice rub ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. While you’re waiting for the oil to get hot, rub the spice mixture all over the pork loin.
Sear the loin for about 30 seconds per side so that the spice rub cooks into the meat and forms a bit of a crust. Do not burn it! Transfer the pork to a slow cooker.
In a large bowl, mix together all of the glaze ingredients. Pour this into the cooker with the pork. Cover and cook on low for 4 1/2 to 5 hours (until the pork registers 145°F on a meat thermometer).
When the pork is done cooking, turn the slow cooker off and transfer the meat to a platter. Pour all but 1 cup of the cooking liquid into a large skillet. Return the pork to the slow cooker with the 1 cup of liquid, and cover to keep warm while you finish the glaze. You can keep the slow cooker turned off.
Bring the liquid in the skillet to a boil and allow it to continue boiling for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until it becomes slightly syrupy. Turn the heat off.
Place the pork in the skillet and coat it with the glaze. Then transfer it to a platter. Cut the meat into thick slices and spoon the rest of the glaze on top. If the glaze has started become too thick, stir in the remaining liquid from the slow cooker a little bit at a time, until you reach your desired consistency before spooning it over the sliced pork.
Serve immediately.
Visuals
The pork loin rubbed with the spice mixture.
This is what the spice rub seared into the meat should look like.
I like to pour some of the cider liquid into the bottom of the slow cooker before placing the pork inside. Then I pour the rest of the liquid on top.
Reducing the liquid into a glaze. It's pretty much ready when you see these big bubbles that sound foam-like as they reach the surface. It took me about 12 minutes to get to this point. If it still seems a bit loose, don't worry. It will thicken up a little more as soon as the heat is turned off.
The pork loin, coated with the cider glaze before slicing. Once it's on a platter and sliced, the rest of the glaze will be pour on top!
Dinner time.
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