Sweet Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

Hello all!
I know I said in my last blog that I'm not a fan of mixing my sweet and savory, but there is one food which I make this concession...Pork. There are so many great ways to do pork loin which include fruit or juices that it just begs to be a sweet and savory dish! This recipe is no exception, and its even better because the crockpot does the majority of the work! So toss your pork loin in and come back a few hours later to make the sauce and its done! The sauce was almost like a sweet and sour, terriaki sort but not quite. It was its own unique flavor that was great! Matt was thrilled with the results and happily had some for lunch the next day.
As always, here is the original link: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/09/sweet-balsamic-glazed-pork-loin-slow-cooker.html

Sweet Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

Ingredients:

Pork Loin:

2 pound boneless pork loin roast, trimmed of large fat pockets
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or kosher salt)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced or crushed
1/2 cup water

Glaze:

1/2 cup brown sugar, light or dark
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce

In a small bowl, combine the sage, salt, pepper and garlic. 

Originally I only had sea salt, but you couldn't see it, so I added some pink Himalayan salt. But you can use plain old sea salt and it will be just fine!

Rub the spices all over the roast.

Not so easy when the pork loin is still frozen, but do the best that you can!

 Place the pork roast in the slow cooker and pour in the 1/2 cup water. 

See? I just sprinkled some on the top after I rubbed it on the bottom. I also made sure to put it in the crockpot fat side down. This will help keep the meat from getting over cooked.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

Looks pretty good, huh?

 Near the end of the cooking time for the roast, combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil whisking constantly, then reduce and let the mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, until it thickens. 

Remove the pork from the slow cooker, shred and place on a platter or plate.

And this is where it went wrong... I didn't expect for the pork loin to fall apart when I tried to pull it out of the cooker, but it did and then went SPLASH back in the slow cooker, splashing juices all over the kitchen counter and the food saver. Learn from my mistake and use tongs!

Ok, so I got most of it out with the fork, but had to get the rest out with tongs. Using tongs originally would have kept my kitchen much cleaner

Drizzle the glaze over the pork and serve.

This was very very nice! The flavors blended nicely and it was so moist! I even forgave the mess it made when it plopped back into the crockpot when I tasted the finished dish. Best part is that you really only need a few minutes after the crockpot is done to make the sauce and then its ready to go!
Happy eating!