Meaty Monday: Far East Five Spice Pork in the Crock

All of a sudden, its gone from too hot and humid to strangely cool and Fall-like in a matter of hours. I actually had to wear a robe and slippers this morning, instead of a pair of disreputable-looking shorts and flip flops. Too cool in the house. Which is good news for this delicious into-the-slow-cooker dinner.

I went foraging in my freezer yesterday and thawed a pair of small, 2 pound each pork sirloin tip roasts that would be perfect in an all day hot bath of soy, five-spice powder and other tasty Asian ingredients. Would also work well with 4 pounds of boneless pork shoulder. Took exactly 5 minutes to cut the meat and put all the ingredients into the slow cooker this morning. All the ingredient come out of jars. I highly recommend keeping things like minced garlic, ginger and asian chili paste in jars on your fridge door for morning when you need to prep and don't have time to chop, chop, chop.

This would have been nice with some quick rice to sop up the juice, along with the spinach I served with it. But since we rarely eat grains, it was a no rice night. The famous low-carb cauliflower rice would work well too. It was still a wonderful thing, tender, falling apart pork full of anise-y, sweet spice, and ginger tang, with the juices drizzled over steamed spinach. The sliced scallion garnish is a nice pop of fresh onion on top, too.

Far East Five Spice Pork in the Crock is ready when you walk in the door.

Note: Pork shoulder is rather fatty, so trim any big bits of fat off when you slice the meat before placing in the pot. Sirloin or loin is leaner and won't need a trim. Leftovers reheat beautifully in the juices.

Pork sirloin tip roast; the front roast has been cut into 4 pieces.

Far East Five Spice Pork in the Crock

Serves 6 to 8

1/4 cup gluten free tamari soy sauce
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder
2 tablespoons of honey or equivalent liquid stevia
1 tablespoon minced garlic (jarred)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (jarred)
1 teaspoon Chinese chili garlic paste (jarred)
4 lb. pork sirloin tip, or lean pork shoulder cut in 8 thick 3" by 6" slices
finely sliced scallion for garnish

1. Place up to the pork into a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker crock. Mix well. Add the pork and turn to coat with the soy mixture.

2. Cover and set the crock to LOW and cook for 9 hours. Shred the meat to serve with a healthy drizzle of the cooking juice and a sprinkle of finely sliced scallion.

Dinner is served...on a waiting white plate...

Piccolo Italian-style Pulled Pork

I don’t know why, but so many delicious pork recipes call for a whole pork shoulder or pork butt. Both cuts are from the leg, not from what you or I refer to as butt. But regardless, those cuts are usually 5 to 7 pounds of meat, and while I like to freeze extra for days I’m too busy to cook (read that as lazy), that’s enough to feed an army and we’re a household of 2, or 2.5 if you count the dog.

This is called piccolo, because, well, you’re not cooking a whole pork butt or shoulder. No less delicious, and if you have a small household, you won’t have to eat it every day for a week. In our house this is 6 servings. We like to eat. This gives us one dinner and one night of leftovers with another two portions for the freezer.

Italian Piccolo Pulled Pork

6-8 servings

3-½ lbs boneless pork sirloin cut in 6 pieces

1 navel orange, preferably organic, sliced thin

1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin

2 Tblsp fennel seed

4 sprigs fresh rosemary, pulled from stem, rough chopped

6 cloves of garlic, smashed and rough chopped

2-3 bay leaves

Kosher salt, about a tablespoon

Coarse ground black pepper, about ½ to ¾ tsp

1-½ cups dry white wine

Brown gravy mix* for 1 cup of gravy

1 cup of white wine or chicken stock

Salt as needed

Place the pork in a big plastic zipper bag or a non- reactive bowl. Add everything except the gravy mix, and the last 1-1/2 cups of wine or stock, and toss well. Place in the refrigerator to marinate at least 6 hours or overnight.

About 4 hours before you plan to serve it, preheat your oven to 300°F. Place the pork and any accumulated juices in a Dutch oven or a casserole that can go on the stove and in the oven with a tight fitting lid, and place the covered pan into the oven. You don’t need to wait for the oven to reach temperature. Rearrange the meat every hour or so, keeping some orange pieces on top. It should be falling apart tender in about 3.5 hours.

Remove the pork from the oven. Remove the bay leaves from the meat discard. Mash the oranges into the meat and shred the meat with a fork or spoon. You can chill the pork at this point and continue a day or two later with the recipe just before serving.

Pour the white wine into the pork. Prepare the brown gravy according to package directions and add to the meat and juices in the Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Place into the oven for ½ hour or until serving time.

* I use Simply Organic® since it doesn’t have anything “weird” in it. If you prefer, use 1 cup of jarred prepared, or your own, home-frozen or leftover. Chicken gravy works fine too, or 2T of flour slurry mixed into 1 cup cold water, simmered and add a spoon of beef or chicken base to it.

Makes a great pork sandwich, on a hard roll with provolone cheese and braised broccoli raab, or serve atop a mound of soft polenta, with a braised green on the side.