slow-cooker pork

Tim and I love to cook--that's been established. But while we do happily spend at least an hour most evenings cooking dinner, we also relish those nights when dinner time rolls around and dinner is already done. There's no post-work prep, almost no clean-up, and dinner is just as good, possibly better, than the dinners that take us hours to prepare.

What is this magic? A squat little kitchen gadget that sits on our counter all day, making no noise at all, looking for all the world like it's doing nothing, when inside it's transforming a Boston butt or picnic roast into fall-apart carnitas, succulent stew, tender braise.

Maybe because it's winter, a season for stews and meaty feasts, I'm newly obsessed with our slow cooker. We originally just used it for picnic or Boston butt roasts (the tougher cuts that need slower cooking), but we've since branched out and now love slow-roasted fresh ham.

Here are my top three favorite recipes so far. 

Pork carnitas 

I make no claims of authenticity--I just threw together spices that sounded good. But the meat was tender, the flavoring intense, and the juice dripped everywhere: the sign of a good taco. 

One 2-3 pound pork shoulder roast 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder 

3 cloves garlic, minced 

One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes (or a similar amount of frozen roasted tomatoes) 

Put the roast in the bottom of the slow cooker. Rub it with the olive oil, then with the spices. Pour in the canned tomatoes (or put the hunk of frozen tomatoes next to the roast; it will thaw). Cover and turn the slow cooker on low. Let it all cook for 5-6 hours. 

Once the meat is falling apart, pull it apart with a fork. There will be a good, juicy amount of hot tomato liquid in the bottom of the pot; throw the pulled pork back into the liquid, turn the slow cooker down to warm, and let it stew until it's dinner time. 

Serve with warmed corn tortillas, cilantro, yogurt, and lime juice. 

Pork roast braised in milk

I first tried this recipe because it sounded so strange and because we have an abundance of milk. The pork's tenderness and flavor is unmatched, and there's the added bonus of the milk broth, a drinkable savory treat. And I just recently learned a sweet trick for the broth: if you find curdled milk odd (and yes, the milk in this recipe should curdle), just blend up the sauce with an immersion blender after removing the meat. Voila! 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

One 2-3 pound shoulder roast

A mix of dried herbs like oregano, rosemary, sage, or basil 

16 ounces (approximately) whole milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. When the oil is just about to smoke, put the meat in the pan and brown it all the way around.

Move it to the slow cooker, add the herbs and milk, cover, and cook on low for 5-6 hours. The meat will be tender, falling apart, and the milk curdled. This is okay! Good, actually. If it bothers you, though, whizz it up with an immersion blender.

Salt and pepper it, then serve over brown rice or polenta (to really jazz up the polenta, make it with a cup or so of the milk mixture).

Five-spice pork 
Thanks to Fine Cooking and a Chinese-food-themed Superbowl party, we just recently discovered this super easy pork dish. We've made it twice so far, with a few adaptations to the original recipe and homemade five-spice powder, and I'm in love. It's rich, surprisingly semisweet, and deeply flavorful. Both times we've made it, we've marinated the meat in the sauce overnight. That's not necessary, though; it just made day-of prep time as simple as dumping it all in the slow cooker.   

1/3 cup Mirin cooking wine
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
One 2-3 pound pork roast
1 large onion, diced or sliced 

Mix all the ingredients except for the pork in a medium bowl. Cut the pork into about 2-inch strips or cubes. Add to the sauce and marinate overnight, or add all to the slow cooker right away.

Cook on low heat for 5 hours or on high heat for about 3. An hour or so before you want to eat, add the diced onion.

Serve over brown rice.