Slow Cooked Pork and Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Apricot Glaze

Hooray for slow cooker Monday! We used a slow cooker liner for the first time today, and I cannot believe we haven't used them before! They're made by Reynolds and it took 10 minutes and 4 gallons of water off of our clean up time.

The combination of spices - featuring anise - a spice that tastes like black licorice, and the sweetness of the apricot nectar make the meal refreshing and sweet. I bet it would be great paired with a sauvignon blanc.

I also think the whole meal needs an additional vegetable, but I'm sort of stumped when it comes to deciding what to add. Pineapple and cottage cheese might be good or perhaps some broccoli and carrots with tarragon and salt and pepper (steamed in those new Zip Lock Zip n' Steam microwave steamer bags of course).

Ingredients

• 2-3 pound boneless pork roast - trimmed of fat
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon tarragon
• 1 teaspoon anise - crushed with mortar and pestle or a spoon
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup apricot nectar (located in the health/organic food section with the juice)
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup additional apricot nectar

Directions:

• In a small bowl mix together salt, tarragon, anise, pepper and garlic - rub the spice mixture liberally into the pork roast
• Layer sweet potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker first and place the roast on top
• pour can of chicken broth and 1/2 cup apricot nectar on top of roast
• cook on low for 7 hours
• Prior to serving, remove the roast from the slow cooker and allow it to rest while you finish the meal
• Using a slotted spoon remove the sweet potatoes from the slow cooker, transfer to a bowl and mash using spoon or potato masher
• Transfer two cups of the juice from the slow cooker into a medium sized sauce pan and add 1/4 cup of apricot nectar and the cornstarch whisk together until the mixture becomes thick and bubbly
• Serve the pork on top of the mashed sweet potatoes and spoon the glaze over both

Suggestions for left overs:

"Pull" the pork and reheat later with bbq sauce for a quick sandwich - the mashed sweet potatoes would be a nice side.

Slow Cooked Pork and Potato Stew

I love coking home and smelling dinner when I walk through the door! We're making more slow cooker recipes right now b/c it's just easier - especially on the late nights at the gym. I make everything the night before and store it in fridge to save morning time. This recipe took a little extra time when I prepped it out the evening before, but it's worth it. It also made quite a bit, so we ended up using "food saving" and freezing about half; I'll thaw it out next week and re-heat! It was pretty good the way it was, but I was expecting a little more of a kick - next time I'm going to try a few different things - my suggestions are at the bottom.

Ingredients:

• apprx. 2 pounds pork tenderloin
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound new potatoes, quartered
• 3 stalks celery sliced - including the leaves
• 1 1/2 cup of chopped carrots
• 1 yellow onion - chopped
• 2 green peppers - cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1 carton of chicken broth
• 1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes undrained
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• kosher salt to taste
• Brown rice or noodles for serving

Directions

• In skillet heat the olive oil. Trim the pork tenderloin of any fat and cut it into 1 inch (bite sized) pieces, and brown pieces in the skillet. Drain off fat.
• In bowl of crock pot combine all of the ingredients (except rice/noodles) and stir well.
• Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.
• Serve over brown rice or noodles

Suggestions for next time:

This had a really nice cinnamon flavor, but since I was expecting more of a "kick" in flavor, I think I might add cayenne pepper next time. I would also suggest adding a bay leaf (or two) while cooking, and maybe right before serving add some frozen peas, turn the slowcooker up to high to heat through and then serve. This could definitely be turned into soup if you add more broth and cut back on the pork.

In fact, I have a container in the fridge to eat for lunch this week and I might add a can of chicken broth to it with some wheat pasta or orzo, and a sprinkle of nutmeg for a pork and noodle soup. I'll keep you posted!