Pork Roast with Apples and Cider

You know those times when you are cooking and making things up as you go and you think...hmmm, I should really remember this just in case we like it? Well, thankfully I remembered to keep track of what I did when I made pork roast with apples and cider.

Here is what I did, and the results were super yummy!

I had a nice boneless pork loin. In my dutch oven I added a few tablespoons of olive oil and then diced a good sized sweet onion and added it to the oil. Cooked until the onion began getting soft then added the pork loin and browned on both sides. Added the spices, salt and pepper, a teaspoon or so of paprika, two good pinches of red pepper flakes and a dash or two of cinnamon. Once combined, add a half a bottle of a good quality hard apple cider, reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes. Then I added two big handfuls of dried apples (we dry our own so I had a bunch )but if you don't have dried apples, you could add a couple of diced apples, be sure to pick something tart that will hold up well. Cover and put in the oven for an hour to hour and a half on a low hear, around 325. Check about halfway through to see if it is getting dry, add more cider as needed.

Check that the pork is cooked, it should be very tender, but if you had a really big loin, it may take longer. Right before serving, take the pork and try to slice it...mine was so tender it pretty much shredded. The cider and apples and onions cooked into a thick sauce which I combined with the pork and then checked for seasoning...I found we needed a touch more salt. Serve over thin egg noodles...delicious!