Cook N by the Book : Charles Virion French Country Cookbook

Decided that I should start to use my cookbooks on a more regular basis....I have about a bazillion of them. Unfortunately, I have not cooked from a large number of them. I was thinking that this is just wrong of me- to hoard these books and not use them....

So once a week I vow to pull out a cookbook and make something new.

Tonight I cooked from Charles Virion's French Country Cookbook. My copy is quite tattered. I picked this up at a thrift store for $2.99. This is the first recipe that I have used from it.

Roast Loin of Pork with Piquant Sauce

Piquant Sauce

3/4 c ketchup
1/2 c water
1/2 c dark corn syrup

1 8oz can Tomato Sauce

1/2 c wine vinegar

1/2 c brown sugar

1 t chili powder

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

6 tablespoons Cointreau.

I used a 5lb pork roast for this recipe. Browned it, and then put it in a shallow baking pan with a little olive oil for 1.5 hours at 325 degrees.

Combine in a sauce pan the ketchup, water, corn syrup, tomato sauce, wine vinegar, brown sugar and the chili powder. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

Blend cornstarch with 4 tablespoons of the simmering mixture and then add it to the rest of the sauce. Cook slowly and stir until slightly thickened.

Add the Cointreau, continue stirring. Simmer gently for 20 minutes and then set aside.

Reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees. Transfer pork loin from shallow baking pan to covered baking dish. (You can use throw potatoes into the roasting pan and combine them with the pork drippings if youd like roasted potatoes)

Pour 1/2 of the piquant sauce over the pork roast, cover and return the pork to the cooler oven for .5 to 1 hour.

10 minutes before serving, pour the remaining piquant sauce over the roast.

I served the roast with roasted dutch potatos, green beans and granny smith apples spirals that I sauteed in butter, then added a bit of sugar and nutmeg to. I recommend the apples! They go great with the pork.