This recipe is from one of my favorite new cookbooks, “Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever” and since it’s a bit newer most of the recipes aren’t online. Usually that’s not a problem and I can find similar enough recipes to link you to, but with this cookbook I haven’t found that to be true so I’m sharing my adaptation of this recipe directly. What I love about this particular recipe is that it has minimal ingredients, is super easy and lends itself naturally to a leftovers dish that is different than the original dish (we make orange chipotle tacos with cabbage & all the fixings for leftovers).
Ingredients:
2 TBS olive oil
One 4-lb pork loin roast
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped onion
1-2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce finely chopped (plus 2-4 tsp of the adobo sauce)*
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cup orange marmalade
¼ cup orange juice
2 tsp fresh lime juice
Optional Garnish: 2 navel oranges, thinly sliced
*If you’ve never worked with canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, they are delicious and super flavorful but a little goes a long way. So if you’re not big on heat I would recommend only using 1 of the chiles chopped and only 2 tsp of the sauce. The chiles are, of course, the spiciest part, but the sauce is pretty spicy too (but so smoky and good). Taste bit first and then adjust accordingly to your tastes. You can always add more to the final sauce before serving, but hard to take heat out!
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over med-high heat and season the roast evenly with salt & pepper. Add to the skillet and brown on all sides, transferring to the slow cooker when finished.
Add the onion, garlic, chiles & cumin to the same skillet and sauté until the onion just starts to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the next 3 ingredients and stir to scrap up any bits from the bottom of the pan and combine all ingredients. Add contents to slow cooker.
Cover slow cooker & cook on high for 4-5 hours (or low for 8-10 hours). Remove the roast & cover with aluminum foil for 15-20 minutes to allow it to rest and for the juices to settle. Taste the sauce and adjust if needed. If desired, strain the solids out of the sauce (but I prefer a chunky sauce personally).
Slice the roast, ladle sauce on top and garnish with sliced oranges & parsley if desired.
For leftovers: we shred the rest of the pork and store it in the refrigerator with the leftover sauce so it can soak it up and continue to get even more deeply flavored. Then on leftovers night, warm up some tortillas, layer sliced cabbage then the heated up pork & sauce and enjoy! Serve with a side grilled corn & black bean salad or something similar. Delish!
Trackbacks/Pingbacks