Pork Roast with Apples, Carrots, and Asian Plum Sauce

I just got finished putting a pork roast in the crock pot.  I thought I’d better start documenting it before I forgot the measurements.  If you’re reading this post, it turned out awesome! 

As I was having coffee this morning, I was thinking about what to do with the roast that I had thawed in the frig.  I just bought a big bag of organic apples and just yesterday I peeled a bunch of my small carrots from the garden.  Supplied with adequate caffeine, the brain began spinning.........  Let’s put it all together in the crock pot and see what happens!!!

For some reason, all my creativity was used up on the ingredients today and I could not come up with a super snappy name for it.  If you have any ideas, let me know.  Here’s the details:

Pork Roast with Apples, Carrots, and Asian Plum Sauce

2 ½ - 3 pound pork roast - I used a sirloin tip roast, a loin roast or any meaty roast would be good

4 cups peeled carrots, cut into 3" long by 1" thick pieces
1 large sweet onion, chopped
4 large apples, cored and chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
1 cup Asian Plum Sauce* - purchased or homemade - my recipe follows
* Don't have Plum Sauce?  Here is a perfect alternative - an equal amount of whole berry cranberry sauce.

Rinse and pat dry the roast, then brown it on all sides in a little olive oil over a moderately high heat.

Browning the meat adds lot of flavor.

Once the roast is browned, remove it, turn the heat down to low, add a little more olive oil and the chopped onions.  Caramelize the onions over low heat until they are translucent and a delicate brown color.  Sprinkle the salt, thyme, and sage into the onions.

Lightly caramelize the onions and add the herbs

 


I put my carrots on the bottom.  Then put the roast on top of the carrots, poured the caramelized onions over the top of the roast, and then added the chopped apples on top of that.

Carrots-roast-onions-apples

After I dumped the onions into the crock pot, I put the Asian plum sauce in the skillet to warm and to continue deglazing the skillet.  I wanted every little bit of flavor from the browning, caramelizing, and the herbs into the crock pot.  

Top it off with the sauce

Once everything else was in the crock pot, I poured the Asian plum sauce over the top and turned the dial to high to give it a kick start.

After about an hour, turn the crock pot down to low and let it cook for about 5-6 hours or until you are ready to serve.

This would be equally good served over a bed of wide noodles or rice.  I chose to make the rice today.

As mentioned above, whole berry cranberry sauce will make this dish equally as good and there's no need to search the stores for plum sauce.  This recipe made enough for a family meal or if you're only one or two, generous left overs.  It had a delicious sweet flavor with the mingling of the sweet carrots and apples.  A perfect compliment to the pork roast.

Enjoy!




Here is my recipe for the Sauce:

Asian Plum Sauce

This is a condiment that you can purchase at your local co-op or grocery in the ethnic food section, but it is easy to make if you have a supply of plums.  Plums seem to be abundant in the Missoula valley in the fall and last year someone gave me a bucket full.  I had already made more jam than I knew we would eat in several years so I decided to make plum sauce.  We have enjoyed it with many dishes, including stir fries and just over noodles.

 8 cups plums, pitted and chopped - skins on
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup apple juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger

In large heavy saucepan, bring plums, onions, garlic, and apple juice to boil a over medium heat - reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender.

Add sugar, vinegar, salt, and spices and continue to simmer until it reaches the desired sauce consistency.

Fill and seal canning jars and process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes, or freeze in ½ pint containers.

Slow Cooker Roast

Italian Pot Roast - Ready to cook!

I was planning something completely different for this post when a friend emailed and said, “We’ve used all the steaks and ground from our side of beef and now I’m left trying to figure out a good way to use up the roasts. I know you must have a tasty recipe or two.”

Well, yes I do.  Initially I thought I’d tuck the idea away for a while because I had already been working in a different direction.  But then ... oh what the heck, here it is.  Like I’ve said before, I’m not a recipe cook and so I never have anything written down.  That means I have to make it myself and try to figure out measurements, proportions, and times before I can give someone my recipe for anything.

Roasting is a slower cooking method for cuts of meat that are less tender.  The slower, longer cooking allows time for the connective tissue to break down and naturally tenderize the meat.

I was having company last Sunday and so I thought it was a great opportunity to document this recipe.  So I could enjoy my company and not be greasing up the kitchen while they were here, I decided - Let’s to a roast in the crock pot!  I did all the prep Saturday night and it took me about 45 minutes before I put it in the frig waiting for the next morning when I put the crock in the pot and cooked it for about 5 hours.

The minute my company walked in the door, the lid of the crock pot was being lifted with comments like "that smells delicious" and "what are you cooking".  The roast was ready in 5 hours with the first 3+ on high and then I turned it down to low.

Now, to make a long story short... I've had this post on my desk for over a week pondering how to explain the fact that this roast disappeared so fast that I had no time to photograph the final product or a plated version. This has bothered me, but short of remaking it just for the shoot, you'll have to take my word for how delicious it was and how quickly it disappeared.

You can change the flavor (country) based on the herbs and spices and a couple of ingredients.  I'm giving  you an Italian and a French version to choose from.  I made the Italian version, but the French version is equally as easy with a completely different taste.  It's all in the herbs!

Slow Cooker - Pot Roast

2-4 pound organic or natural beef roast - chuck, rump, shoulder
1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper OR a savory dry rub

ITALIAN                                                                     FRENCH
4 Tablespoons organic olive oil                                 4 -6 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
2 cups chopped carrot                                               2 cups chopped carrot
2 cups chopped onion                                               2 cups chopped onion
4 cloves of minced garlic                                           4 cloves of minced garlic

1 teaspoon sugar                                                      1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon dried parsley                                       1 Tablespoon herbes de Provence

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning                                     OR  1/2 tsp fennel seed (optional)
1 28 ounce or 2 14 ounce cans of diced tomatoes   1 tsp each thyme, marjoram, basil 
1 cup of good red wine                                              1 bay leaf

                                                                                   1 cup of good red wine 

                                                                                   2 cups beef stock

I like to use a savory rub on my meat.  It’s my own combination of herbs, spices, and salt.  If you don’t have a dry rub, you can just use salt and pepper.  Rinse the meat and pat it dry.  Rub the meat with the salt and pepper or rub, wrap it up, and put it back into the refrigerator for an hour or so while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  I do not incorporate a lot of salt up front, but suggest that you taste the final product and add salt to taste before serving.  This is a better overall way to reduce salt and let the flavor of the different herbs shine through.

Veggies and herbs

Put the chopped carrot, onion, garlic, and seasonings in the bottom of the crock pot.  If you want to, you can saute these in a little olive oil before putting them in the crock pot, but it is not necessary.  I don't saute for the Italian version, but the caramelizing would be a good support for the French version.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet and brown the meat thoroughly on both sides.  Put the roast on top of the vegetables.

Browning the meat adds flavor

Add the tomatoes and top it off with 1 cup of red wine.  In the French version, since you don't have the juice from the tomatoes, add 2 cups of beef stock or water.

That’s it!  If you want to cook it tomorrow, refrigerate the covered crock until you are ready to start it.  Set the temperature at high and let it cook for about 3 hours and then lower the temperature to low and continue to cook another hour or 2 until the roast is fork tender.

If the sauce is too thin, you can put it into a pan on the stove top and bring it to a fast boil to reduce it to a thicker consistency.

You can also cook this in a roaster in the oven - I would have the oven at about 300 degrees and cook it for at least 3 hours or until fork tender, covered tightly.

I served mine over fluffy jasmine rice with a side of green beans, but serve it over your favorite rice - potatoes - polenta and with your favorite salad or veggie.  Enjoy!