Pot Pork, Take One

The first experiment with my splendidly funky new crock pot was a pork shoulder roast I found at El Cerrito Natural Grocery, one of the gems of living in the East Bay. This pork roast was local, organic and pasture-raised.

Not finding on the interwebs or in my crockpot cookery book exactly what I was looking for in a crockpot recipe, I was tempted toward experimental theater once again. Taking a few tips from the book, some others from the interwebs and yet more from what was extant in my fridge, I combined them all and dumped them in the crockpot with the roast for 8 hours. The result was sweetly spiced, falling apart Act One, as tasty cold as it is hot. I kept the goozle in the bottom for use Act Two, when I have leftovers already planned. It was enough for the present to have rich chunks of pork to nestle alongside my green beans and garlic herb bread.

Pot Pork, Act One

1 boneless pork roast, about 4 pounds, tied
2 teaspoons Chinese 5 spice for a rub
1 cup lemonade
1/4 cup apple sauce
4 Tbs catsup
1 cup black tea (brewed)
3 fresh plums, depitted
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
1/2 head garlic, top cut off to expose the cloves
Sesame oil for browning the roast

Rub the roast with Chinese 5 spice and brown in sesame oil in a deep pot to contain the frying spatter. Remove and reserve the roast. Add the lemonade to deglaze the frying pot, then pour into the crock pot so you don't lose any of that flavor. Add the rest of the ingredients exept the plums and the garlic, stirring to combine. Add the roast, then drop the plums and the garlic head alongside the roast.

Cook on low setting for 8-10 hours, until the roast is literally falling apart; remove to a plate. Remove the plum skins and discard; squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and mix the garlic into the liquid goozle in the bottom of the pot, discarding the skins. Remove excess fat with a shallow spoon and discard, continuing to dip the spoon until the clear yellow fat is gone, or pour the liquid into a fat separator and pour off the fat. Serve the roast in chunks (you won't be able to make orderly slices as the meat is too soft) with a nice splash of the goozle over the top. Save the rest of the liquid for another meal - it tastes better even than the roast!