Orange Spiced Pork Roast tastes like it’s complicated to make, but it’s really very simple and uses only a handful of ingredients. Cooked long and slow in a crock pot (slow cooker), this recipe takes about 15 minutes of prep time and then pretty much cooks itself. With the flavors and scents of orange, cinnamon, allspice and cloves, it has a wonderful aroma and exotic taste that will become a new family favorite.
Celebrity Ingredient
Mulling spices, typically used to make mulled cider or wine, are the star of this dish and give the pork that festive flavor and aroma. Mulling spice recipes vary, with commercial blends usually containing a base of cinnamon, allspice, cloves and orange rind; some also include nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, or anise. For this pork roast recipe, a simple mix of cinnamon, allspice, cloves and orange rind are used. Because both are made with whole dried spices, either a commercially available mulling spice mixture or a homemade blend works equally well in the slow cooker.
Mulling Spice Blend
To make your own mulling spices, mix together equal parts of dried orange rind, cinnamon stick pieces, and allspice berries with half a part whole cloves. The orange rind and cinnamon should be broken into “chips”, which can be easily accomplished by placing the dried ingredients in a plastic bag and breaking them up with a rolling pin. Powdered spices are not recommended as they cannot be easily removed after cooking. For this recipe, about 1 teaspoon each of the orange rind, cinnamon and allspice and ½ teaspoon of cloves will work fine.
Pork Roast Recipe
This recipe is extremely flexible, so feel free to adjust to your taste or to what you may have on hand:
- 2 – 3 pound boneless pork roast
- Salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup orange juice*
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 generous tablespoon mulling spices
*This recipe can also be made with apple cider in place of orange juice.
- Place the roast in a slow cooker and sprinkle with salt, pepper and minced garlic. Pour orange juice and Worcestershire sauce over the roast. Add mulling spices to the liquid and cover.
- Cook roast about 8 hours on low or 4 to 5 hours on high (refer to the instructions that came with your slow cooker as cooking times do vary with model).
- Turn the roast over about half way through cooking time so it flavors evenly.
- Once the roast is cooked, it will be a fantastic main course served over rice, with your favorite side dishes, or in a sandwich.
- The cooking liquid can also be made into a sauce or gravy; just remember to strain the liquid first to remove the leftover bits of mulling spice.
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