So I was standing at the meat counter at Ingles pondering what to make. I wanted something easy and something that would keep me full in the event I would be trapped inside if the storm dropped some winter weather on us. Most shoppers were huddled around the ground beef, chili it seemed was the recipe dujour. I just did not want to make chili….browning the meat……..too much effort. Eureka, pork loin was on sale. This recipe has made it into my personal cookbook, it is so easy and yet, so tasty. So here you go Habersham, Apple Thyme Pork Loin.
It really is so easy. Grab your crock pot. If you don’t have a crock pot, a deep dutch oven or any type of deep, oven-safe pan will do. Take the pork loin, it does not matter what size it is. Place the pork loin, fat side up, in the pan or crock pot. Slice up one or two of your favorite apples. I used Fuji this time. Also chop up one or two onions, not too many. My default onion is vidalia but any would be fine. Place the apples and onion in the pan with the pork. Take some dried thyme, about a tablespoon, and shake over the ingredients. Then I took a half gallon of apple cider. At Ingles, I get the cider over in the produce section, but any will do. Cover the pork with the cider as high as your dish will allow. Here is what mine looked like. Set the crock pot for 10 hours, cover and forget it. If you are doing the reci
pe in the oven, set the temperature for 225, cover the dish tightly either with the lid or with foil. Leave the dish in the oven for 10 hours. I put mine on before I left for Church and with no effort at all, dinner was ready.
The house smelled great and it was tough not to peek but I left it alone. To recap, you will need:
One pork loin
A half gallon of apple cider
A tablespoon or so of dried thyme
One or two apples, one or two onions
After 10 hours, I stuck a fork in and to my delight, it was so tender, it was hard to scoop out the meat. I had to get a big spoon! I made some rice and green beans and had a dinner that warmed my bones and tasted like I had worked all day. For a bonus, I am going to include my easiest meatloaf recipe. It is not fancy, but it never fails to be tender and tasty.
Easy Meatloaf:
1 and 1/2 lb ground beef
1 egg
1 onion (again, I default to vidalia)
1 cup milk (yes, milk………now you have a use for all that milk you bought and trust me, it makes the dish)
1 cup bread crumbs (and now you have a use for all that bread you bought)
Chop up the onion and mix all the ingredients up together until well blended. Place in a loaf pan, mine is a pyrex. If yours is metal, you might want to grease it before hand.
Take 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of mustard and 1/3 cup of ketchup and mix well. Spread over the top of the meatloaf. Place in a 350 degree oven for an hour. When you take it out of the oven, let it sit for 5 minutes and then slice and serve.
Enjoy!
