Slow Cooker Pork with Prunes
May. 26th, 2012 06:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wendelah1 in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omnomnomI made this recipe last night, with minor modifications, which I'll note in brackets. It is scrumptious, served with brown rice, or potatoes. The recipe is from The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World by Lynn Alley, which you can purchase for yourself at Powell's, or read it at Google books. I highly recommend this cookbook. Every recipe I've tried of hers has been a winner. It took me 35 minutes to get this into the slow cooker; however, I'm an experienced cook and I've made this before, so gauge yourself accordingly.
Pork with Prunes
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 pounds country-style spareribs or pork loin roast [I used around 2.5 pounds]
1 tablespoon vegetable oil [I used olive oil]
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 cup hard cider or white wine [I used that box white wine from Big House--hey, it's good, and it keeps]
1 cup chicken stock [there is a recipe for homemade but I use Swanson's Low Sodium]
1 sprig thyme [who has a "sprig of thyme" lying about? I used dried]
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups pitted prunes (8 ounces)
Combine the 3/4 cup flour and salt in a resealable plastic bag. Add the meat to the bag, several pieces at a time, and shake to coat completely. [This is a waste of flour and plastic. Put a little flour in a wide bowl or a dinner plate with a rim and roll the meat in it to coat.]
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. In batches if necessary, add the meat and cook, turning, for about 10 minutes, until browned on all sides. Using tongs, transfer the meat to the slow cooker.
Keeping the saute pan over medium high heat, add the onions and the 3 tablespoons flour. [Here is where I added my dried thyme.] Sauté, stirring frequently, for 10-15 minutes, until browned. [I used a cast iron skillet and it took seven minutes.] Gradually add the cider, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and cook, stirring frequently, for 10-15 minutes, until the sauce thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. [Again, in my pan, seven minutes.] Pour the sauce over the pork in the slow cooker and add the thyme, bay leaves and prunes.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, until the sauce is thick and the meat is very tender. Remove and discard the thyme [if you used a sprig] and bay leaves.
Transfer the meat to a cutting board and cut into serving portions. [This meat is tender enough to serve from the slow cooker, but if you don't mind dirtying up a cutting board, knock yourself out.] Divide among dinner plates and pour the sauce and prunes over each serving. Serve immediately.
Serves four to six.
Nutrition values per serving: 526 calories, 18 g fat, 38 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 46 g protein, 123 mg cholesterol, 648 mg sodium.
"The Gourmet Slow Cooker" by Lynn Alley (2003 Ten Speed Press, $18.95)
Pork with Prunes
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 pounds country-style spareribs or pork loin roast [I used around 2.5 pounds]
1 tablespoon vegetable oil [I used olive oil]
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 cup hard cider or white wine [I used that box white wine from Big House--hey, it's good, and it keeps]
1 cup chicken stock [there is a recipe for homemade but I use Swanson's Low Sodium]
1 sprig thyme [who has a "sprig of thyme" lying about? I used dried]
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups pitted prunes (8 ounces)
Combine the 3/4 cup flour and salt in a resealable plastic bag. Add the meat to the bag, several pieces at a time, and shake to coat completely. [This is a waste of flour and plastic. Put a little flour in a wide bowl or a dinner plate with a rim and roll the meat in it to coat.]
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. In batches if necessary, add the meat and cook, turning, for about 10 minutes, until browned on all sides. Using tongs, transfer the meat to the slow cooker.
Keeping the saute pan over medium high heat, add the onions and the 3 tablespoons flour. [Here is where I added my dried thyme.] Sauté, stirring frequently, for 10-15 minutes, until browned. [I used a cast iron skillet and it took seven minutes.] Gradually add the cider, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and cook, stirring frequently, for 10-15 minutes, until the sauce thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. [Again, in my pan, seven minutes.] Pour the sauce over the pork in the slow cooker and add the thyme, bay leaves and prunes.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, until the sauce is thick and the meat is very tender. Remove and discard the thyme [if you used a sprig] and bay leaves.
Transfer the meat to a cutting board and cut into serving portions. [This meat is tender enough to serve from the slow cooker, but if you don't mind dirtying up a cutting board, knock yourself out.] Divide among dinner plates and pour the sauce and prunes over each serving. Serve immediately.
Serves four to six.
Nutrition values per serving: 526 calories, 18 g fat, 38 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 46 g protein, 123 mg cholesterol, 648 mg sodium.
"The Gourmet Slow Cooker" by Lynn Alley (2003 Ten Speed Press, $18.95)
no subject
on 2012-05-26 02:49 pm (UTC)I have sprigs of thyme on hand! In a pot, by the front door. Fortunately it pretty much takes care of itself, as I'm no kind of gardener.
no subject
on 2012-05-26 03:02 pm (UTC)I have quite a few slow cooker recipes that call for lamb shanks, a couple in tomato based sauces, a couple with beans and herbs. And one for a leg of lamb.
Ha ha! Good for you. Maybe I should throw some seeds into the ground and see what happens. I wonder how much winter cold thyme can take?
no subject
on 2012-05-27 01:01 am (UTC)Not much, or at least not the -25C we get. It has to be transplanted in the fall.
Bookmarked this to try later this week since the weather isn't cooperating to grill the loin I have. Does the cider lift the seasoning off the cast iron?
no subject
on 2012-05-27 01:09 am (UTC)We have mild winters here by anyone's standards but we always have some days that drop below freezing (F) overnight, to where I have to de-ice my windshield. (LOL. Such a burden.) It doesn't seem to adversely affect my grapefruit tree. Maybe the thyme would do fine. Rosemary grows like a weed around here and so does lavender.
no subject
on 2012-05-27 01:39 am (UTC)Yeah, if citrus and lavender survive, then thyme would do just fine. Plus its smells so nice in the heat.
no subject
on 2012-05-27 02:53 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-05-27 03:04 am (UTC)I'm wondering if it's too late to plant it now.
no subject
on 2012-05-27 04:17 am (UTC)my thyme THRIVES. it blooms best in the spring, slows down in the heat of summer (gets a bit of water, but not much), then once the autumn rains start it goes wild again. i do mulch it well, but it's native to the mediteranean and thrives in hot, dry, not very fertile soil. it's VERY drought tolerant. and it likes sun any time; mine gets no shade until very late in the day in summer, and it's planted in a raised bed at the western (dryest) edge.
if it's already hot where you are, i'd go with planting starts or well rooted cuttings rather than seeds, but it should do well.
no subject
on 2012-05-27 02:22 am (UTC)