Glazed Pork Loin with Cilantro and Garlic

You make a marinade with Apricot nectar, ten cloves of garlic smashed up, chili pepper flakes, a half cup each of kosher salt and sugar, two cups of water. Pop a couple of pork loins into a big ziploc bag and fill it with the marinade and chill several hours or overnight.

When you're ready to cook, remove the pork, pat it dry, and coat it with canola oil then rub in the spice rub, which is ancho chili powder, smoked paprika, dry mustard, cumin, salt, pepper, brown sugar, lemon pepper, chipotle chili powder, and whatever else you like. Cover the loins with the rub and put them in a 350 oven until the internal temp is 135.

Pull them out and brush the glaze over them.

Glaze is a half cup of apricot preserves, juice of three lemons, a clove of garlic smashed up or grated, salt and pepper, and a big bunch of finely chopped cilantro. Mix that together and brush over the pork loins, but set at least half of it aside for later.

Pop the loins back in the oven for ten to fifteen minutes, until the internal temp is 145.

Let them rest for ten minutes or more. Slice into 1/4 inch slices, then dredge them through the rest of the glaze.

Serve with oven roasted potatoes, which is super easy- cut up a mess of red potatoes, leave the skin on- halve them, quarter them, slice each quarter into thirds. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add any other herbs you like, but wait until the last five minutes to add the herbs. Place on baking sheet in oven at 450 for thirty-five to forty minutes until they are dark and roasty.

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I'm also doing this salad:

Fig Salad with Goat's milk yogurt and Arugula

which is as many mission figs as you can find or two dozen, halved, on a bed of baby arugula, drizzled with red-pepper infused olive oil and the dressing:

half cup of goat's milk yogurt

half cup of crumbled soft goat cheese

juice of three lemons

2 tbs honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

salt and pepper to taste

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After dinner is the key lime cheesecake I made this morning.

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"Bon Appetit!"

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