Sometimes I cook a meal that is insanely good. Often it has zero to do with my cooking skills. It’s more that somehow the culinary stars align…I don’t know if it’s the quality of the recipe, the nature of the produce or perhaps that day I didn’t get interrupted every two seconds by somebody who just had to have a cup of milk that very second because they were SOO THIRRRRSSSTTTYYYYY!
This was one of those meals. And you know what pisses me off? The photo sucks.
I wish you could see how sweet & savory the sauce was that I made from the combination of apple juice & pan juices from the slow cooked pork. Or maybe it was the savory & slightly charred taste of the caramelized onions mixed in with the cooked apples. In short, it was divine. But for some reason the picture looks like a plop of slop.
So you’ll just have to trust me, make this sometime this weekend and your family will think you are a superstar.
The recipe is from Pioneer Woman. Has this woman ever made anything I haven’t adored? However here are a few notes after trying it out myself. 1- give yourself 3 hours, if the meat isn’t falling apart with a butter knife it hasn’t been cookin’ long enough. 2- be patient when boiling down the juices to make the sauce at the end, it’s worth it. I had a ton of juice left, this could be because I was chatting with a friend while cooking & failed to measure anything, and it felt like it was forever before it boiled down to a beautiful, silky pan sauce. I almost said screw it, the pork already tastes amazing on it’s own, but trust me my friend, that is the GOOD STUFF. 3- make enough for leftovers, it’s even better the second day. 4- I used half apple juice & half apple cranberry juice, it might have made the end result slightly less sweet. Maybe.
She makes hers with a fancy wild rice, I’m sure that’s wonderful but I just had a box of pearled couscous on hand, rice balls as my girls call them, and that was delicious. I also served mine with brussel sprouts that were quartered, seasoned with salt, pepper & EVOO & then roasted in a 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.
I would imagine this is the perfect rainy day, comfort food, Sunday night dinner kind of meal & I will certainly be making it for all of the aforementioned occasions.
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Currently on the stove and my house smells divine! I have 30 more minutes for it to cook and I can’t wait to taste it! I should add my husband has been pressuring me to “cut it already”….slow cooking isn’t for all 🙂 Thanks for another great recipe.
You’re so welcome! Thanks for taking the time to come comment that you made this, I don’t get a lot of feedback on recipe posts so it’s nice to hear when you guys actually like the stuff enough to make it! Hope it tasted as good as it smelled (:
Made this on Saturday and oh my goodness…. it was SO GOOD! We will make this again and again 🙂
Yay! So glad to hear it!
okay, i made this over the weekend, and it didn’t do much for me. i wanted to love it. i let the juices boil forEVER, and they never thickened. not sure what i did wrong. if i did ever try it again, i think i would either use a pork loin roast or trim the fat; the meat was really fatty. but i still love you and your recipes. 🙂
OH no ): Sorry, what a bummer!
What size was your pork roast? I just bought an enormous one over the weekend and I’m thinking I may cut it in half. Also, did the apples fall apart and become more like a sauce? That’s what I’m seeing from the comments on the original recipe. Lastly, slow cook for how long on what setting? I see it says you cooked it for 3 hours but without the weight of the roast and the setting I’m guessing I’ll goof it up!
Oh boy, I’m afraid I won’t be too much help to you because I don’t think I know! I would say cut it in half though, I’ve done that before & it’s worked out fine. The apples were mushy but didn’t complete disintegrate into sauce, although come to think of it maybe next time I’ll use a stick blender to blend up the leftover apples & onions, that could be really good! I’m also not sure the temperature, Pioneer Woman didn’t say? Sorry I’m not more help!! I’ll be making this again soon though now that you reminded me of it & I’ll be sure to post an update! Good luck, just give it a try and I’m sure it’ll be great!