Week 48: Crockpot Pulled Pork

This was a Sunday supper for us. Sunday suppers are usually something that need to cook all day, and it has just been too hot lately to have the oven on for the entire day. So, I searched for a crockpot recipe and ended up with this.

Taken from Savorysusie at Tasty Kitchen
Prep time: Less than 5 minutes + 10 minutes later
Cook time: 8 - 10 hours + 1 hour later

1 large onion, sliced
3 lb Boneless Pork Shoulder Roast
2 C (16 oz) ginger ale
16 oz BBQ sauce
1 package sandwich buns (8 count)

Place half of the onion in the crock pot. Put the meat on top of the onion layer. Layer the other half of onion on top of the meat. Pour ginger ale on top.

Cook 8-10 hours on low.

Remove meat from pot. Discard liquid and onions. On a plate, pull the pork for the sandwiches. Place the pork back into the pot and cover it with the BBQ sauce.


Let it cook on low for another 30 minutes to 1 hour to let the BBQ sauce heat.

Serve on buns.

My Notes:
This was great - officially part of our regular rotation.

Week 36: Asian Pork Marinade

I'm always looking for great marinades. The truth is. . . I really prefer that my meat not taste like meat, and a good marinade seems to do the trick.

Angie found this one. We tried it first at her house, and I cooked it up another time at home (with Brad the grill expert handling the actual cooking).

I served it on this particular night with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and some steamed broccoli.

Asian Marinated Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Taken from Anne Burrell, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef




Prep time: 10 minutes
Marinating time: 24 hours
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

3/4 C soy sauce
1/2 C rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp hot chili sauce (sambal oelek)
1 tsp dried ginger 1
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 scallion, both green and white parts, thinly sliced
1 orange, zested
4 pork tenderloins

Directions

1. Combine the soy, rice wine vinegar, chili sauce, ginger, garlic, scallions and orange zest in a bag or marinating container. Add the pork and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.

2. Remove the pork from the container, put the marinade in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and reserve it for drizzling over the pork when serving. *WARNING: This liquid MUST be brought to a boil to kill any bacteria from raw meat juices.

3. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.

4. Place pork on the preheated grill. Brown it on all sides then move it to a cooler part of the grill to cook it to desired doneness, about 10 to 12 minutes.

5. Remove the pork from the grill to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice the pork on the bias and place on a serving platter. Serve drizzled with the reserved boiled soy marinade.

My Notes:
This is officially part of my regular rotations of marinades.

Week 16: Pork Tenderloin and Applesauce

I love watching Food Network. I recently saw Ina Garten make this applesauce and decided it was just what we needed for dinner, with a pork tenderloin to go with it.

Appplesauce
from Ina Garten for Foodnetwork
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 1 hour
Makes 2 1/2 quarters



2 large oranges, zested and juiced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 lb Granny Smith apples (about 6 to 8 apples)
3 lb sweet red apples (McIntosh) (about 6 to 8 apples)
1/2 C light brown sugar, packed
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place the zest and juice of the oranges and lemon in a large bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples (reserving the peel of 2 of the red apples) and toss them in the juice. Pour the apples, reserved apple peel, and juice into a Dutch oven or enameled iron pot.

3. Add the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and allspice and cover the pot.



4. Bake for 1 hour, or until all the apples are soft.

5. Remove and discard the red apple peel. Mix with a whisk until smooth, and serve warm or at room temperature.



The process made the house spell absolutely delish. And, the applesauce had a really great texture. The final product, though, was really, really, really tart - like make a sour-face at the dinner table tart. Next time I would use less orange and lemon juice and zest and more sugar.

Herb-Marinated Pork Tenderloin
from Ina Garten for Food Network
Prep time 15 minutes
Marinates for a minimum of 3 hours
Cook time 15 minutes

1 lemon, zest grated
3/4 C freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 to 6 lemons)
1/2 C olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt
3 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each)
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, mustard, and 2 teaspoons salt in a sturdy 1-gallon resealable plastic bag.

2. Add the pork tenderloins and turn to coat with the marinade. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

4. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade and discard the marinade but leave the herbs that cling to the meat. Sprinkle the tenderloins generously with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large oven-proof saute pan over medium-high heat.

5. Sear the pork tenderloins on all sides until golden brown. Place the saute pan in the oven and roast the tenderloins for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meat registers 137 degrees F at the thickest part.

6. Transfer the tenderloins to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Carve in 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices. The thickest part of the tenderloin will be quite pink (it's just fine!) and the thinnest part will be well done. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm, or at room temperature with the juices that collect in the platter.



I only used one pork tenderloin (about 1 pound) and marinated for less than 30 minutes with the entire marinade recipe. The flavor was great.

Once again, though, the meat thermometer did me wrong - most of the pork was cooked perfectly, but one end of it was still completely raw. So strange! We will definitely use this marinade again, though.

Week 4: Pork with Brussels Sprouts

I have spent my entire life thinking I didn't like Brussels sprouts, yet I don't remember ever actually eating even a single Brussels sprout. My mom makes them every Thanksgiving - except the year I hosted Thanksgiving. I wouldn't allow the Brussels sprouts in my house.

Honestly? I've always been unwilling to try them because they make me think of Cabbage Patch dolls. It didn't seem right to eat something that made me think of eating Xavier Robert or Edie Erna or some other yarn-haired, puffy-plastic-faced doll that I coveted every Christmas from ages four through six.

Anyway, I decided I owed it to Brussels sprouts to actually try them before continuing to declare that I do not like them.

Here's the Brussels sprout infested dish I made before I ate.


Here's the same plate after I ate.

Turns out I do not, in fact, like Brussels sprouts. (And, that barbecue sauce can fix even the blandest of pork tenderloins.)

Adapted from
"Roasted Pork with Brussels Sprouts and Apricots"
in Real Simple, October 2009, p. 204

Serves 4
Ready in 25 minutes

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pork tenderloin (1 1/4 lb.)
Salt and Pepper
12 oz. Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
1/4 C dried apricots, chopped
2 Tbsp. roasted unsalted almonds, chopped

Heat oven to 400. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Season the port with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper and cook, turning occasionally, until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the skillet to oven and roast until the pork is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. (Note. It took my pork almost 20 minutes to cook.) Let rest before slicing.

Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. oil in second large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the Brussels sprouts, aprcitos, almonds, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper and cook, tossing, until the Brussels sprouts are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve with the pork.

I was forced to wash it all (meaning the few slices of pork tenderloin I actually ate) with a chocolate malt from our newly-opened Sonic.



I won't be making this one again. Ever.