Balsamic Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Roast in the Slow Cooker

Let's think about this for a minute...sweet, tangy balsamic vinegar, rich brown sugar, a few herbs and spices covering a lean pork roast, all cooked low and slow for a few hours.  All I can say is - yes, more please!

Last week, while doing an early morning grocery run, I came across a great buy on pork roast.  I snatched up a couple and decided to cook one that day.  I had an idea on what I wanted the end result to be regarding flavors and opted for the slow cooking method since I had a busy day ahead of me.  After a few hours of cooking, my kitchen was full of great aromas and it was time to get working on my glaze.  Since I'm a big fan of balsamic vinegar, I knew it would be one of my ingredients.  With the addition of brown sugar and soy sauce, my glaze was almost there.

The ultimate success of this dish comes by putting the roast in the oven for glazing.  I served it with roasted carrots and potatoes, spooned a little of the sauce over the sliced pork and waited for the verdict.

Again, all I can say is - yes, more please!

 Balsamic Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Roast in the Slow Cooker

2-3 pound pork roast
1 medium onion - sliced
3/4 cup stock - vegetable or chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
½c brown sugar
½c water
¼c balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce

• Layer sliced onion in bottom of slow cooker.
• Place pork roast on onions.
• Mix together salt, pepper, garlic powder and thyme - sprinkle on roast.
• Pour stock carefully around the side of the roast.
• Cook on low for approximately 6 hours or hight for 4.
• 30 minutes before roast is done, mix together brown sugar, water, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar in a small pot.
• On medium low heat, bring mixture to a simmer.  Reduce by about 1/3 or until slightly thick.
• Set glaze aside.
• When roast is done, take out of slow cooker and place in a roasting pan.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Pour 1/3 of the glaze over the roast and place in oven.  
• Continue to glaze roast every 5 minutes until glaze is used up.
• Take roast out of oven, loosely tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Slice or shred with a fork.  Serve with extra drippings.