Moroccan Pork Loin with Dried Fruit and Lemons

The reason I chose this recipe is because I wanted to try something exotic and out of my comfort zone, plus the picture looked really yummy! The clincher for this recipe as my first post: it calls for you to prep two roasts at once. Then you freeze one for later. Result: I was a bit nervous with this recipe but the pork turned out so juicy I’m happy to know I have another one marinating in my freezer. I also made the suggested green beans and Medjool Pilaf to accompany the dish. The pilaf did NOT work. I’m still trying to figure out what I did wrong. Maybe I just had a bad batch of basmati rice that wouldn’t cook? Seriously: the sauce was so yummy I wanted the rice to be more than just the hard rocks they went into the pan as, but alas: no. They never plumped and I just don’t know why. As for the pork: I missed a step in the recipe but even with my screw up it was tasty! I forgot to add the beef broth which made the sauce dry out pretty quickly (from all that honey). I thought the roast was going to be a burnt mess but it was sealed with flavor and so yummy – even Joe was surprised at how good it was. A note about the ingredients: I went to my local produce market which is predominantly Middle Eastern and got most of the specialty items there. That included Medjool dates and cardamom. You can use regular dates I’m sure and the cardamom was expensive but available at Safeway. As for the basmati I used Safeway’s Eating Right brand and it was a big flop. I cooked the rice 45 minutes longer and even added more water hoping for it to soften but to no avail. I’m going to try it again with another brand of basmati (because the sauce was that delicious!) and see how it turns out with my second roast.