Pulled Pork

Pork is certainly something that works extremely well in the crock pot. We often return to the recipe for Mexican Pull-Apart Pork, with some variations, and serve it with rice, mashed potato or flour tortillas. It is delicious, and doesn't require too much preparation. But this recipe for Pulled Pork from Miss South's Slow Cooked is even easier. Despite the very simple ingredients, the flavour is delicious. I've made it twice already in the last month. For some reason, though, I haven't managed to take a picture yet. Maybe because it gets eaten so quickly.

Preparation

Slice 2 onions thinly and place these in the bottom of the crock pot with 4 cloves of garlic - peeled, but no need to chop or crush. Mix 4 tbsp tomato purée with a little water and rub the paste all over the pork. I used a simple pork fillet, trimmed of any excess fat. Put the pork on top of the onions in the crock pot and then pour over a tin of chopped tomatoes. Finally, sit a little star anise on the top.

Cook the pork on LOW for about 8 - 10 hours - this is a perfect meal if you're out at work for the full day. Lift the pork out of the pot and shred it using two forks - this will be really easy. Then put it back into the sauce, star anise removed, and stir to get the meat covered. Serve with whatever you like - rice, potato or flour tortillas.

The Result

This is so easy and so delicious. The pork is tender and melt-in-the-mouth. It's real comfort food. We had it with plenty of mashed potato and both children really enjoyed it. There was plenty for a family of 4 hungry people, with a little bit leftover for hubby to take for lunch during the week.

The Verdict

Absolutely no complaints from anybody. Mr Teenager left behind a few of the more obvious lumps of tomato, but otherwise we had 4 clean plates.

Italian Pork Chops

The last time I cooked pork chops in the slow cooker, it was a huge success. I'm sorta surprised that I haven't cooked them since. This week was a good opportunity. As I said in my last post, it was a busy, busy week, when I felt that I was constantly trying to catch up with myself. To complicate matters, Mr Teenager came down with a bad cold on Wednesday morning, probably after the very wet Car Boot Sale, and had to stay at home from school. While I couldn't be with him all day, I went to work later than usual, and left earlier to work from home. This gave me plenty of opportunity to ensure that the Italian Pork Chop recipe, again from Slow Cooking Properly Explained, was cooking for just the right amount of time.

Preparation

On Tuesday evening, we got together the ingredients and assembled them in the crock pot. I trimmed the fat from the chops (I used 5 nice thick ones) and browned them quickly on both sides in a non-stick pan.

Into the bottom of the pot went: 1 onion, chopped; and one red pepper, chopped. The recipe actually called for a green pepper, but I prefer the flavour of red. The chops went in on top of the onion and pepper.

Then we added: 2 courgettes, sliced; 6 tomatoes, skins removed and chopped; 4 green olives, sliced; 1tsp dried oregano; 1 tbsp red wine vinegar; one chicken stock cube, and a splash of water.

Next morning, I remembered to turn the crock pot on LOW, and left it for about 6 hours. Initially I was going to serve this with rice, but at the last minute I cooked up some wholewheat pasta. It was a good accompaniment.

The Result

The large amount of courgette in the dish meant that the sauce was copious and quite thin. I think next time I'll use less courgette. Otherwise, the flavour was lovely, and the meat was beautifully tender, almost falling apart. Eating it with the pasta worked very well. Mr Teenager, despite his bad cold, coated his dinner with an avalanche of parmesan, and then ate up everything on his plate.

There was lots of sauce, too much for 4 people. Again, we had leftovers, which hubby will take for lunch at work.

The Verdict

This was a good family dish, and very easy to prepare. Even Ms Fussy Eater finished her meal, although she was not given any courgette on her plate. There were no complaints, and Mr Teenager gave it a thumbs up.

So - another successful pork chop recipe for the collection.

Mexican pull-apart pork

This last week has been a traumatic one, in the run up to Easter. Our lovely au pair, Roberta, left us to return home to Italy on Friday. We only had one slow-cooked meal during the week, on Monday. Unfortunately, that was also the day that Mr Teenager broke Roberta's glasses with the basketball, completely by accident. But poor Roberta was devastated and refused to eat anything. Ms Fussy Eater invited herself to her friend's house for dinner. So, in the end, it was just three of us for dinner. But it was a good one!

I had a pork fillet in the freezer, so we decided to try this mexican pull-apart pork from the Australian Women's Weekly Easy Slow Cooking book. It involved just a little bit of preparation on Sunday evening, and then was left to cook all day on Monday. As per the recipe, we served it with some flour tortillas and sour cream, adding some salad and grated cheese. It could also be served with rice, or even mashed potato.

Preparation

On Sunday evening, we put into the crock pot: 2 red peppers, sliced; 2 onions, sliced; a jar of tomato-based pasta sauce (the recipe called for a jar of salsa, but this was the closest thing we had); one cup of barbecue sauce; 4 cloves of garlic, crushed; 3 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1tsp dried oregano. Then I added the whole pork fillet, making sure it was coated in the sauce. The crock pot was left, covered, in the fridge overnight.

Next morning, I just set the slow cooked on low and left it for about 9 or 10 hours until I came home from work. I switched it to the keep warm setting while I prepared the salad, cheese and sour cream.

I carefully lifted the pork fillet out of the pot onto a carving dish and used two forks to pull it apart into shreds. The meat went back into the sauce and the whole thing was stirred.

The Result

We put the crock pot in the centre of the table. Each of us took a flour tortilla and loaded it with meat, sauce, sour cream, salad and grated cheese. Then we rolled it up and attempted to eat the hot, spicey, delicious wrap with our hands. Some of the sauce dripped out, but was easily scraped up using spoons. We each had two of these, which was plenty.

There was lots of meat and sauce leftover, and the dish could easily have served all five of us. There were no complaints from the two men, one of whom brought a helping to work next day for lunch. Mr Teenager was on his Easter break from school, so he finished off another helping of it the next day.

The Verdict

I asked Mr Teenager what he thought of the dinner. His response - Can we have it again tomorrow? This was definitely a success. I think that Ms Fussy Eater would even go for it, if she didn't get too much sauce, and didn't have to put anything other than the pork into a tortilla.

It was so easy to prepare, I think this recipe will become one of our regulars.

Italian pork and pepper ragú

Last time we were grocery shopping I picked up a couple of pork loins on special offer. They tend to be quite versatile: you can cook them whole in the oven or in a pan, or cut them into rounds for a stir fry, or into smaller pieces for a casserole. We had a packet of skinny sausages, which can be difficult to find. We intended to eat them as a treat on Mothers' Day, but Ms Fussy Eater asked if Hubby would make American style breakfast pancakes instead.

So, when I found a recipe in my new Australian Women's Weekly easy slow cooking recipe book for Italian pork and capsicum ragú, I thought I'd try modifying the ingredients slightly to suit what we already had available.

We prepared the ingredients on Sunday night. It didn't take too long: a bit of chopping and some browning of meat. The photo in the book looked pretty good and I was confident we were in for a hearty meal the next day.

Preparation

Hubby trimmed one of the pork loins of all visible fat (he's very good at this - much more patient than I am). The recipe called for pork belly. We then browned the pork in a pan, with a little spray oil, in batches, and put it all into the bottom of the crock pot. Next, we browned the sausages in the same pan, and added these to the pork.

To the meat we added: 2 red peppers, sliced; 2 onions, chopped; a can of mixed beans; 6 cloves of garlic, crushed; a can of chopped tomatoes; a chicken stock cube; 1tbsp tomatoe puree; 1tsp dried oregano; 1/2 tsp chilli flakes. This was all mixed together and left in the fridge, covered, overnight.

Next morning the crock pot went on, at the low setting, before I left for work. By the time I came home, about 10 hours later, it was ready. We served it with some wholegrain pasta.

The Result

The ragú had a nice, rich tomato sauce. It wasn't too think, since I didn't add the water for the stock - just the stock cube. It was mildly spicey, from the crushed chilli, but not so much that anybody would notice. It just had a nice bit of heat - perfect for a wet Winter's day (which it was not, on Monday). The pork was perfectly cooked; tender, without falling apart. Likewise, the sausages were still intact. A very nice dish, which could have been served with rice or mashed potato, instead of the pasta.

This recipe made plenty. It easily fed 4 adults plus Ms Fussy Eater, with another two portions left over.

The Verdict

The teenager appeared to enjoy his meal, though he left behind the onions on his plate. Ms Fussy Eater was less than enthusiastic, although she did finish off her sausages. Both Hubby and I enjoyed the dish very much. It's probably more of a Winter dish, than a surprisingly sunny Spring evening.

Sweet and Sour Pineapple Pork

Last week we made two evening meals in the slow cooker. The first of these was a sweet and sour pork from the Skinny Slow Cooker recipe book.

Preparation

I prepared this recipe on Tuesday morning, before I left for work. In retrospect, I should have had everything organised the previous night, because it took me a good 20 minutes. I didn't brown the pork first, which was recommended in the recipe, but I don't think it made much difference. In future, though, I will have everything ready just to switch the pot on in the morning. 

So, I coated about 900g of lean pork pieces in 1tbsp flour. Into the crock pot went: 1 onion chopped, 1 red pepper chopped (the recipe called for green, but we prefer red), and 2 carrots cut into batons. Add to this the meat, the juice from one large tin of pineapple, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp salt, 2tbsp lime juice and 1tbsp soy sauce. I added a small cup of water and mixed everything together. 

The recipe said to cook for 5 hours on low, so I left instructions for the au pair to switch the pot on at about 1pm, which she did. When I got home about 6:20 I added the chopped pineapple from the tin and put the machine to the "keep warm" setting. I just cooked a pot of rice to accompany. 

The Result

The sweet and sour pork had a good flavour, if a little mild. The sauce was quite thin and I am not convinced that the flour added anything. In future I might leave it out. Perhaps if I had browned the meat first, then coated in flour, it might have made a difference. The meat was very tender, and the pineapple still quite fresh. Overall, I was pleased with this and will make it again, probably with a few adjustments. 

The Verdict

The teenager quite liked it, though he was surprised at the pineapple - he's not used to pineapple except when it's just eaten as a fruit. He picked out all the onion, but that's quite normal. Otherwise he finished off everything. Ms Fussy Eater just had a plate of rice with some pork and carrots fished out of the pot. She hasn't been well recently and I didn't want to push things. She ate what she had on the plate, so that's a success. Hubby really liked the meal. Despite the recipe being for 6, we finished it all that evening between 5 of us. 

Trisha Yearwood's Slow Cooker Pork Loin

Last Sunday we started a new healthy eating regime. I had a pork loin in the freezer and thought it would make a good, healthy Sunday dinner. I did a bit of a search for a slow cooker recipe and one thing that seemed to come up constantly was Trisha Yearwood's recipe. Lots of people said it was delicious, so I found this version, which satisfied all my healthy eating requirements.

Adjustments
My piece of meat was about 3 and half pounds, so a little bigger than in the reciped. I left out the tbsp oil, and used less cornstarch in the gravy. I used a clove of garlic, crushed, instead of the garlic powder.

Preparation
First thing on Sunday morning, I removed as much visible fat as possible from the pork loin. I followed the reciped, mixing the garlic, ginger, thyme and pepper, and then rubbing this all over the pork. I didn't brown the meat, but put it straight into the crock-pot adding the ckickend stock, lemon juice and soy sauce. The pork then cooked, on the low setting, for about 8 hours.

About an hour before eating, hubby prepared some potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, courgettes and garlic, and we put this into the oven to roast, with a bit of spray oil.

As the afternoon progressed, the most wonderful smells were coming from the crock-pot, even the teenager noticed!

The Result
When we opened the pot, the pork was almost falling apart. There was a lot of juice, which I removed and used a little bit of cornflour to thicken slightly. It was still possible to slice the pork, but we couldn't have done this if we'd left it any longer. Served with the gravy and roast vegetables, it was delicious. The teenager and hubby both had second helpings.

There was quite a bit of meat leftover, which the teenager had in his school lunches all week - making big sandwiches into which he also poured cold gravy.

The Verdict
Unfortunately Ms Fussy Eater wasn't with us on Sunday, so she didn't get a chance to report. However, the teenager gave the pork loin a very strong 17/10 (yes, seventeen). The au pair also seemed to enjoy it.

Slow cooker pork chops

Today was always going to be a long day. After travelling to the UK last week, I was just back in the office to a full email inbox. I knew I had to get home on time to get dinner and then head out again to open evening at the secondary school. Ms Fussy Eater will be starting there in September, and it was important for her to get a chance to see around.

But the open evening started at 7, which meant we needed to leave the house around 6:30. Aiming to be home around 5:30, I knew I wouldn't have much time.

Enter the Crock Pot.

Today I decided to try this recipe for Pork Chops on allrecipes.com. It sounded easy and tasty.

Adjustments
Instead of 1/4 cup of oil, I just added a drizzle. I don't know what chicken seasoning is, so left that out. I had no dried basil, so I used some Italian dried herbs. I had 6 chops, but kept the rest of the amounts the same.

I decided to put some chopped onion, carrot and celery at the bottom of the pot, before adding the rest of the ingredients. This, I think, added some flavour, but also some texture to the juice produced by the slow cooking.

Preparation
This morning I spent about 5 minutes chopping the carrot, celery and onion quite small. They went into the bottom of the pot. I put the chops on top, and then just added the rest of the ingredients straight into the pot.

Then I put the temperature on low, and left it for the day - about 9 hours. When I got home, I prepared some mashed potatoes. Because of the vegetables in the bottom of the pot, I didn't need to add anything else.

The Result
We had beautifully tender pork chops, with a good flavour and a delicious, chunky juice. Served with the mashed potato, the juice was easily mopped up.

The Verdict
There were no leftovers; everybody cleaned their plates. Mr Teenager declared it to be delicious, and gave the dish 8/10. Ms Fussy Eater concurred. The Au Pair also expressed her approval. This is definitely one I will cook again.

Apple Bacon Pork Roast

 

Today, being Sunday, I decided to try a roast in the crock-pot. I chose this recipe from Moms with Crock Pots for Crock Pot Apple Bacon Pork Roast.

Adjustments
I used a 500g tenderloin of pork, which is plenty for 5 people. The two apples were pink ladies, which had been left in the fruit bowl over Christmas and weren't otherwise fit for consumption. I reduced the amount of sugar to 2tbsp, since 1/3 cup seemed like too much. I left out the glaze altogether.

Ingredients in the crock pot

Preparation

This took just minutes to prepare. I cut 3/4 of the way into 1 inch slices as suggested, and put slices of apple into each of the cuts. The rest of the apple went on top. Then I covered the meat and apple with 5 slices of bacon, which were part-cooked under the grill. Finally, the sugar was sprinkled over the top. We put the cooker on low and left it for 7 hours.

Near the end of cooking, I prepared some mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots.


The Result 

The pork came out beautifully tender, practically falling apart, so that it was not even possible to carve (see picture). The juices from the pork and apple were delicious and I just poured it over the pulled pork - there was no need for a glaze. The bacon didn't crisp at all, but provided some good flavour. The apple pulp made a nice sauce on the side, just like apple sauce.

The Verdict

Definitely another success. My kids don't like cooked apple, but they enjoyed the pork and Miss Fussy Eater ate all her meat without (much) prompting, probably because it was so easy to eat. She gave the recipe a solid 10/10. Mr Teenager gave the meal 8/10, though went back for seconds. He said it lost marks because the bacon wasn't crispy and it was a "funny colour".

We had no leftovers, and the plates were left clean.