PULLED PORK

My other half informed me there was going to be a potluck at his work, and people were being encouraged to bring their meals in crockpots.  Recently at lunch, my coworker brought in leftover pulled pork that looked and smelled AMAZING, so I asked her to email me the recipe.  She insisted it didn't need to be written down because it was so simple.  Put pork in crockpot, pour in root beer, cook forever, shred, add sauce.  Seriously, it's that easy.  I know what you're thinking: root beer?  I'm not a sweets fan and never drink soda, but I promise you won't know there's root beer in this.  You drain it all off at the end.  It's not sweet!

I enjoyed the leftovers on a potato roll with some delicious, creamy coleslaw from the deli at Harris Teeter.  I also added a dash of my latest obsession:

I doubled this recipe and ended up using about 5 lbs of pork tenderloin.  It was on sale at the grocery store, but if it hadn't been, I may have purchased a cheaper cut.  The tenderloin has the least amount of fat, so the time spent searching for fat to be discarded is minimal.  My coworker used the rump roast (and couldn't say the cut of meat without giggling, I might add) and spent a little more time ridding it of the fat, but it was still equally delicious.  Thanks for the recipe, Blair!

Ingredients

2 lb pork tenderloin/roast
12 ounces root beer
1 bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's is so perfect)

Place pork in crockpot and pour on root beer.  Cook on low about 7-8 hours.  Carefully remove pork from crockpot and pour out all the root beer liquid.  Shred pork and discard any fat.  Return shredded meat to crockpot, add desired amount of sauce and cook on low for 1 more hour.  Serve with additional sauce, hot sauce, coleslaw, or whatever your little heart desires.

RED POSOLE

Posole is a hearty soup consisting of chickpeas, shredded pork (sometimes beef) and a rich, red broth.  My grandma has been making this traditional soup for our family since before I was born.  She usually only makes it for us once a year, so I had to find a way to keep my belly happy those other 364 days.  I finally found the perfect combination of ingredients, and came up with this.  Of course I developed the recipe for the slow cooker, because there's nothing better than meat that's been cooked all day.  See???

You put all the ingredients in the slow cooker, go to work, come home and have meat that just FALLS APART. I am partial to Old El Paso brand enchilada sauce and I do believe it makes a difference in this recipe.  I've had it with other brands, and it just doesn't taste the same.  Also, since slow cooker meals are usually made in the morning while running out the door to work, I use two of my favorite cooking shortcuts:

No chopping and most importantly: no garlic and onion scented fingers to ruin your day!

Another favorite shortcut of mine are these magical things but with this recipe, they steal too much of the flavor.  Please promise me you will go without them just this once!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
1 (2 or 2.5 pound) boneless pork loin roast
1 (14.5 ounce) can MEDIUM enchilada sauce
1 (28 ounce) can MILD enchilada sauce
4 (15.5 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 onion, chopped (or dried chopped onion)
1 (4.25 ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
1 (32 ounce) carton beef broth
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more if you can handle it!
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Cut the pork loin into large chunks, about 6-8 big pieces.  Heat the canola oil in a skillet over high heat. Place pork in skillet and sear all sides. You don't want to fully cook the pork, just sear the sides to seal in all the juices.
2. Place the meat in a large crock pot. Pour the enchilada sauce over the meat. Top with the chickpeas, onion, chiles, garlic, cayenne pepper, and oregano. Pour in enough beef broth to fill the slow cooker (you might not need the entire carton).
   
3. Cover and cook on High for 6 to 7 hours.  Remove the chunks of pork spoonfuls at a time to shred.  At this point, you should only have to smash them with a large wooden spoon and they fall apart.  Find and discard any bits of fat.  Stir in can of tomato paste to crock pot until blended.  Carefully put shredded pork back in crock pot.  Add salt.  Cook for about another hour on low.  Taste broth and add additional salt or cayenne pepper as necessary.  Serve with fresh tortillas, chips or corn bread.