Easiest Pork Ever {Or My Latest Cooking Rut}
I think I’ve gotten into a rut (but I don’t think it is a bad rut…at least
not yet.) Let me explain.
I’ve had an ongoing, weekly, problem: What to make for Sunday lunch?
If I don’t have something planned for lunch on Sunday, it easily becomes one of those my-brain-isn’t-working moments after we get home from church...
So every week, come Saturday night (or if I really am organized, sometimes Saturday morning or afternoon), I try to think ahead to what should I make for lunch on Sunday? Oh what to make?!? (That's every housewife’s never-ending struggle, right??? My husband frequently marvels at how “easily” I come up with something to eat… Haha! Little does he know that I’ve only been slightly obsessing about it in my mind for who knows how long, desperately trying to come up with something--anything--that is edible to put on the table!)
Anyway, I have a few [subconscious] prerequisites for meals that work for Sunday lunch: At the top of the list is that it, preferably, be something that can to cooked in the crockpot. It also should be something that doesn’t take too much prep work, if any, especially if it has to be done the morning of. (This point is going to be starred, highlighted, and put in bold once Hazel arrives and it becomes even more crazy to get out the door on time!) Finally, if a particular meal can’t be cooked in the crockpot, it needs to be something that can be cooked up and on the table within, say, 30 minutes after getting home from church. None of this this business of sitting around for a casserole to bake for an hour when it is already past noon by the time we get home from church!
Sooo yeah. Needless to say, Sunday lunches have always been a struggle.
Until I discovered Kaluah Pork. This pork roast recipe is so easy. And yummy. And versatile. And cheap. And did I mention easy?!? In the past month or so, I think I've made this pork three or four times already, with several of those being on a Sunday! I can see it becoming my default Sunday lunch for those times when I can't come up with anything else...you know, one of those meals that you just always keep the ingredients on hand to have ready for such emergencies.
With the Original Kaluah Pork recipe, I can make at least four different—yes very different—kinds of meals...which is another plus to this recipe!
The Original Kaluah Pork recipe goes like this:
The night before, (I usually do it right before I go to bed…whatever time that may be!) place pork roast in a crock pot, sprinkle salt and garlic over the pork, and literally dump the liquid smoke all over the roast (probably at least 2 or 3 tablespoons!) Add water. Turn crockpot on LOW, and let it cook for 12-15 hours.*
*Note: I have just put the meat on in the morning and then cooked it on HIGH. It is still really yummy, just not quite as juicy and tender as it would be if it had cooked for the full 12-15 hours.
That is all there is to it. Do you know how long it takes to do all of that? Like maybe all of 2 minutes—from getting the spices out of the cupboard, to taking the meat out of the package, to walking away to forget about it until it is time to eat it.
Yes, it really is that easy. If you want, you can eat the roast just like that, along with whatever side dish you want to have with it.
OR...
You can turn this basic recipe into several other yummy dishes, such as:
Here’s how I do these other recipes:
1. Cranberry Apple Pork (adapted from Baked in the South's Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Apple Sauce, Crockpot Freezer Meals, part 3)
Cook Kaluah pork overnight. In the morning, chop up 1-2 Granny Smith apples (I’ve also used Fuji), add 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar (regular vinegar would probably work as well), 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, and a chopped onion. Place all in the crockpot with the pork. Continue cooking on low until noon.
This goes great with plain mashed potatoes and cooked frozen veggies!
2. Pork Carnitas
Cook Kaluah pork for 12-15 hours. When you’re ready to eat, remove pork from the crockpot and shred. Place in a hot skillet, along with most, if not all, of the juice that cooked out of the meat (you probably want at least 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid, but it’s not a big deal how much you use.) Fry the meat in the skillet until the juice is absorbed and the meat gets kind of crispy.
Serve with your favorite taco fixings!
3. Pulled Pork
Cook Kaluah Pork 12-15 hours. An hour or so before serving, remove pork from juice and shred. Then dump enough BBQ sauce over it to make it saucy. You can serve it up right away, or let it cook a little longer to let the meat absorb a little more of the BBQ sauce flavor.
4. Pork Roast with Potatoes and Carrots
Cook the pork overnight. In the morning, add the potatoes (I like to cut them into smaller chunks—at least in 1/2, if not fourths or sixths), carrots, and onions. Continue cooking on low until noon. They should be well-cooked by the time you come home from church!
This is what I made for lunch this past Sunday, and we literally were sitting down to eat lunch about five minutes after we walked in the door!
And there you have it! This Pork Roast recipe is quickly becoming a favorite around here--both because it really is quite yummy and because it is so easy to make!
I’ve had an ongoing, weekly, problem: What to make for Sunday lunch?
If I don’t have something planned for lunch on Sunday, it easily becomes one of those my-brain-isn’t-working moments after we get home from church...
So every week, come Saturday night (or if I really am organized, sometimes Saturday morning or afternoon), I try to think ahead to what should I make for lunch on Sunday? Oh what to make?!? (That's every housewife’s never-ending struggle, right??? My husband frequently marvels at how “easily” I come up with something to eat… Haha! Little does he know that I’ve only been slightly obsessing about it in my mind for who knows how long, desperately trying to come up with something--anything--that is edible to put on the table!)
Anyway, I have a few [subconscious] prerequisites for meals that work for Sunday lunch: At the top of the list is that it, preferably, be something that can to cooked in the crockpot. It also should be something that doesn’t take too much prep work, if any, especially if it has to be done the morning of. (This point is going to be starred, highlighted, and put in bold once Hazel arrives and it becomes even more crazy to get out the door on time!) Finally, if a particular meal can’t be cooked in the crockpot, it needs to be something that can be cooked up and on the table within, say, 30 minutes after getting home from church. None of this this business of sitting around for a casserole to bake for an hour when it is already past noon by the time we get home from church!
Sooo yeah. Needless to say, Sunday lunches have always been a struggle.
Until I discovered Kaluah Pork. This pork roast recipe is so easy. And yummy. And versatile. And cheap. And did I mention easy?!? In the past month or so, I think I've made this pork three or four times already, with several of those being on a Sunday! I can see it becoming my default Sunday lunch for those times when I can't come up with anything else...you know, one of those meals that you just always keep the ingredients on hand to have ready for such emergencies.
With the Original Kaluah Pork recipe, I can make at least four different—yes very different—kinds of meals...which is another plus to this recipe!
The Original Kaluah Pork recipe goes like this:
- 1 Pork Roast (2-3 lbs)
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- Liquid smoke
- Powdered Garlic (my addition)
- 1/2 to 1 cup water (my addition)
The night before, (I usually do it right before I go to bed…whatever time that may be!) place pork roast in a crock pot, sprinkle salt and garlic over the pork, and literally dump the liquid smoke all over the roast (probably at least 2 or 3 tablespoons!) Add water. Turn crockpot on LOW, and let it cook for 12-15 hours.*
*Note: I have just put the meat on in the morning and then cooked it on HIGH. It is still really yummy, just not quite as juicy and tender as it would be if it had cooked for the full 12-15 hours.
That is all there is to it. Do you know how long it takes to do all of that? Like maybe all of 2 minutes—from getting the spices out of the cupboard, to taking the meat out of the package, to walking away to forget about it until it is time to eat it.
Yes, it really is that easy. If you want, you can eat the roast just like that, along with whatever side dish you want to have with it.
OR...
You can turn this basic recipe into several other yummy dishes, such as:
- Cranberry Apple Pork
- Pork Carnitas
- Pulled Pork
- Pork Roast and Potatoes and Carrots
- And probably a number of other dishes that I haven’t thought of yet!
Here’s how I do these other recipes:
1. Cranberry Apple Pork (adapted from Baked in the South's Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Apple Sauce, Crockpot Freezer Meals, part 3)
Cook Kaluah pork overnight. In the morning, chop up 1-2 Granny Smith apples (I’ve also used Fuji), add 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar (regular vinegar would probably work as well), 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, and a chopped onion. Place all in the crockpot with the pork. Continue cooking on low until noon.
This goes great with plain mashed potatoes and cooked frozen veggies!
2. Pork Carnitas
Cook Kaluah pork for 12-15 hours. When you’re ready to eat, remove pork from the crockpot and shred. Place in a hot skillet, along with most, if not all, of the juice that cooked out of the meat (you probably want at least 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid, but it’s not a big deal how much you use.) Fry the meat in the skillet until the juice is absorbed and the meat gets kind of crispy.
Serve with your favorite taco fixings!
3. Pulled Pork
Cook Kaluah Pork 12-15 hours. An hour or so before serving, remove pork from juice and shred. Then dump enough BBQ sauce over it to make it saucy. You can serve it up right away, or let it cook a little longer to let the meat absorb a little more of the BBQ sauce flavor.
4. Pork Roast with Potatoes and Carrots
Cook the pork overnight. In the morning, add the potatoes (I like to cut them into smaller chunks—at least in 1/2, if not fourths or sixths), carrots, and onions. Continue cooking on low until noon. They should be well-cooked by the time you come home from church!
This is what I made for lunch this past Sunday, and we literally were sitting down to eat lunch about five minutes after we walked in the door!
And there you have it! This Pork Roast recipe is quickly becoming a favorite around here--both because it really is quite yummy and because it is so easy to make!
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