Rec: Cranberry-Port Pork Roast (crockpot recipe)

[wonderwoman]

This is so good! The only change I made was to use frozen cranberries instead of a can of whole-berry cranberry sauce. I left it cooking on low while I was at work, so probably for 9 hours. It was fall-apart tender.

Cranberry-Port Pork Roast
from Healthy Crockery Cookery

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 (2.5 to 3 lb.) lean boneless pork loin roast
1 (16 oz.) can whoel-berry cranberry sauce
1/3 c. port or cranberry juice
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 small lemon, thinly sliced
1/3 c. golden seedless raisins
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 T. diced candied ginger
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
3 T. cornstarch
2 T. cold water
Cooked rice

Place pork roast in a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker. In a medium bowl, combine cranberry sauce, port or juice, and sugar. Stir in lemon, raisins, garlic, ginger, mustard, salt and pepper. Spoon over roast. Cover and cook on LOW 6 to 7 hours or until meat is 170F (75C) on an instant-read thermometer. Remove roast from slow-cooker; cover with foil to keep it warm. Measure 3 c. of cooking juices and pour into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. In a cup, dissolve cornstarch in cold water. Stir into saucepan. Cook, stirring, until thickened. Slice roast; serve with sauce and rice.

Per serving: cal 514, carb 48g, protein 35g, total fat 18g, sat fat 6g, cal from fat 162, chol 98mg, sodium 275mg

[Aubergine]

i'm so happy to see this recipe!!! i saw it, or one like it, last year but misplaced it. i have a boneless pork loin i wanted to cook tomorrow, and just bought cranberries, plus i have all the other ingredients, so tomorrow's dinner is going to be an easy winner. thank you so much.

[MKSquared]

This looks yummy. :) Did you use port or cranberry juice? I'm poor, so I'm wondering how the cranberry juice works ... ;)

[cab321]

I have a question too! I don't have any lemons at home right now, do you think I could just throw in a splash of bottled lemon juice?

[wonderwoman]

MKSquared, I used port, but I think the cranberry juice would taste fine.

Cab321, I'm not sure about the lemon juice, but my instinct is that it would be fine. When I was making it, I had the thought that orange slices would be good in place of the lemon, so I might try that next time.

If you guys make the recipe, let us know how it turns out!

[Aubergine]

i did make this for supper tonight, and the pork part was great, we loved that -- falling apart tender, like you said -- it would be a good, easy method for cooking pulled (or shredded) pork. i began with a layer of sliced white onion underneath.

the sauce was another story. i also used cranberries, and increased the sugar to about 2/3 cup to compensate. i had to use O.J. for the liquid part, but everything else i followed to the letter. when i went to cook the sauce at the end, it was VERY tart, so i added another 3/4 cup sugar in 3 steps, tasting each time. in the end, the overriding flavor was very citrus-y in an almost bitter way, which had to come from the lemon rind, so i wouldn't use that the next time. SO liked it a lot, i could take it or leave it, and DS passed and used Old Cape Cod cranberry BBQ sauce.

i'll definitely use the basic recipe again, but i'm going to really fiddle with the sauce ingredients next time around.

[cab321]

Aubergine (or Wonderwoman) - I was going to use fresh berries too, since they're sitting in my fridge. My thoughts for fiddling with the recipe are now - 1/2 cup of cranberries, 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup of brown sugar. And I'd use port as the liquid.

Do you think that might work? And do you think it would be a good idea to whir the cranberries in a food processor first?

Carrie

[rosie_one]

Thanks for posting this recipe. It's on the menu for this week. My guess is that the canned cranberry sauce has a lot of sugar in it, so subbing with fresh or frozen berries would require adding sugar. I'm going to try the orange instead of the lemon, I think, in hopes of avoiding some of the bitterness Aubergine had. I won't make it till Saturday, but I'll let you know how it works out. :)

[Veronica]

Thanks for posting this recipe! Our local grocery store had the pork on sale for half price, so I jumped on this recipe. I made it last night, and it was a hit. I made it as shown but (always a but!) only used a teaspoon of sugar (next time I won't use any) and didn't make the sauce. I spooned some of the cooking juices over brown rice. We loved it. Thanks again.

[Aubergine]

trying to answer multiple posts w/ questions...

no need to chop the cranberries for a recipe like this; in baking, it makes sense. heck, this is supposed to make things easier! the berries soften and degrade as it cooks...otoh, you could be onto something new and distinctive.

if you add real/fresh citrus, i'd skip the pith -- thinking back, i think that added to the bitterness. i think orange sounds like a good bet.

[cab321]

I finally made this last night and it was excellent. I will definately be repeating this and feel it is one of the few crockpot recipes I've tried that I'd gladly feed to guests.

But I want to do a little more tinkering. I used 1/2 cup of cranberries and 1/2 cup of sugar and it was a little too sweet. Next time I'd use 3/4 cup of berries and 1/4 cup of sugar. I added about a tablespoon of lemon juice, in place of the sliced lemon. But agree that some orange zest would be really good in this.

I can't wait to try it again (and I rarely say that about recipes).

:D
Carrie

Editing to add: My husband thought that some of the whole berries were just a bit too sour - so I guess I might try a quick spin in the food processor next time.

[Aubergine]

guess what? the leftovers (2 days later) are excellent!!! tasting just the pork, even cold as i was slicing it, the flavor was great - you can taste the garlic and other seasonings. and the sauce today doesn't have the same bitter citrus flavor, it's sweeter. who'd'a thunk it?

i've decided that, next time i make it (and now i know i will) i'm going to use my own cranberry sauce -- it only takes about 15 minutes to make.

[wonderwoman]

Aubergine, thanks for answering everyone's questions! I think I used about a cup of the whole berries and kept the amount of sugar the recipe called for.

I'm glad the recipe has worked for everyone!

[lacia]

I made this over the weekend exactly as written and it was EXCELLENT! Definitely make again! Thanks for posting.

[ChristieinMB]

This is great timing, I have a pork roast in my refrigerator now. I bought two on sale but didn't like that first one I made and was considering either the slow cooker or pressure cooker for my second one. I'll try this tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to post your recipe.
Christie

[Karen92157]

I made this the other night and we loved it! I did add a layer of onions on the bottom of the crock-pot. When I went to thicken the the sauce I gave it a taste and it screamed out to me "crushed red pepper flakes!". Added a shake or two - wonderful! The pork was moist and tender. I served it with scalloped potatoes and roasted green beans. A great meal.

[ChristieinMB]

I made this today, it is great, I only used 2 Tbl sugar, everything else is the same. Next time I will eliminate the sugar, the cranberry sauce is sweet enough.
Christie

[shellyb]

Thank you so much for such an easy and tasty meal! I used the canned cranberries, cranberry juice and no raisins. The meat was really tender and had great flavor. The sauce thickened nicely and was just perfect...sweet and savory. This will be a repeater at our house! :)

[dlaboriel]

I bought an extra can of cranberries to try this recipe right after Thanksgiving. It sounds wonderful.

[klwmsrd]

I made this last night and it was wonderful! I used cranberry juice and left out the lemon since I didn't have any. I also didn't add the cornstarch - just used the juices. I left mine in the crockpot for over 9 hours and it was still juicy and tender. The bottom of my roast did get a little brown and was a little drier than the rest, so the next time I will put onion slices on the bottom as suggested above. Thanks for the recipe!