Butter Braised Slow Cooker Pork Roast

We had this pork roast last night for dinner and it was so delicious! I was surprised at how wonderful the cajun seasoning and thyme was with the pork. It's just right!

 

Butter Braised Slow Cooker Pork Roast

 

 

Ingredients

Pork Roast:

• 1 3-4 pound pork loin
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
• Vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup real butter
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Pinch of red pepper flakes

Gravy:

• Rendered stock from slow cooker
• 1 14.5-oz can chicken or beef broth (about 1 3/4 cups)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• Salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Blot roast dry with paper towels then evenly coat with Cajun seasoning. If your loin has a fatty side, score the fat in a diamond pattern (if not, carry on…). Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat then add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Once pan is very hot, sear roast on all sides. Place roast in a crock pot (scored-side up if applicable). Take the skillet off the heat.
2. Add butter to warm skillet then stir with a wooden spoon to loosen up all the browned bits from searing the roast.
3. Add garlic, thyme and pepper flakes to butter then sauté over medium heat for 2 minutes.
4. Pour the seasoned butter over the top of the roast. Cover then cook on High for 3-4 hours or Low for 5-6 hours. Remove roast from crock pot then cover with foil to keep warm while we make the gravy (this also gives the roast the necessary time to rest before we cut it).
5. Pour all the juices from the crock pot into a small saucepan then heat over medium-high heat. Combine broth and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir well. Pour cornstarch slurry into pan, add salt and pepper to taste, then heat until mixture starts to boil, stirring constantly. Cook for one minute then remove from heat. You could also do this in the crock pot (set to high), it just takes a little longer for the gravy to thicken.
6. When ready to serve, slice roast then either place on a serving plate or return to the crock pot. Ladle a little gravy over the sliced pork to keep it moist then serve the remaining gravy as desired.

Notes

• I used McCormick Cajun seasoning in this recipe but most any seasoning blends would work well (Montreal Steak, creole seasoning or your own blend).
• You can use 2 tenderloins in this recipe if desired but reduce the cooking time to 2-3 hours on High or 4-6 hours on low.
• Do not add additional liquid to the crock pot with the roast.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake

Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake

Ingredients for cake

Box of chocolate cake mix

3 eggs

1 and ¼ cups milk

½ cup vegetable oil

Ingredients for the topping

1   four serving size box of instant chocolate pudding

2  c. milk

1  12 oz bag of chocolate chips

Beat together cake mix, oil, eggs, and milk with electric mixer until smooth.  Spray slow cooker with Pam. Pour mixture into crock pot and smooth out to edges.

Beat together the 2 cups of milk and pudding and pour over cake mix already in crock pot.  Then sprinkle chocolate chips over the top.  Do not stir.  Cover and cook on high for 2-2 ½ hours.  You will know when it is done when the outside and middle set up like a sponge.  It may take 3 hours to set. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Recipe shared by Karen.

Crockpot Salsa Porkchops

We are having Salsa Pork Chops tonight for dinner. I thought that I would share the recipe with you. We had this recipe often when I was a child. It is easy to put together and ignore for the day. Or, if you forget to put them in the crockpot, then they can be cooked in the oven for 1 hour, or so.

Crockpot Salsa Porkchops

The picture is from Kalyn's Kitchen.

(Here is the link to her recipe for salsa pork chops, too.)

Pork Chops (I buy one per person plus an extra for lunch the next day.)
Salsa (I look for the cheapest salsa available.)

Pour a little salsa in the bottom of a crockpot. (Spray it with vegetable spray first or you will regret it during the clean-up later. Ask me how I know that!) Layer the pork chops with some salsa on each pork chop. Keep layering until all of the pork and salsa have been used, ending with salsa. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I have put frozen pork chops straight into the crockpot and topped with salsa and it is always perfect when it is time for dinner. But, I start the cooking on high for 1 hour and then turn it down to low for the remaining 6-8 hours.

If you want salsa porkchops for dinner and you neglected to put the pork chops in to cook in the morning, you can layer them the same way in a 9x13 pan, cover it with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Check it for tenderness and cook a little longer as needed, maybe up to 30 minutes more, depending on the thickness of the pork chops.

I have used boneless and bone-in pork chops, pork steaks, pork loin and pork roast in this recipe and it has always turned out great. It is a very forgiving...and delicious recipe!

Recipe shared by Robin.