haikuman

CrockPot Pork - Italian style

Ingredients:

One 5 to 7 lb “Bone-in” pork shoulder half (aka Boston Butt). GFS or Restaurant Depot for bone-in pork shoulder is often the best deal. Freeze the other half or process into meat for stir-fry, cubes for kabobs, grind for sausage etc.

Place in the CrockPot first:
One Sliced Sweet Onion
One 16oz. jar of Mild Banana Pepper Rings (juice and all)
Tablespoon of Minced Garlic
Two Tablespoons Oregano
One Tablespoon Tamari or regular Soy Sauce
One Teaspoon dried Thyme
One Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Procedure:

Score a deep 1” grid into the fat cap on the pork. Salt and pepper liberally all sides and sear every side in a little oil in a frying pan until lightly browned. Maybe 3 minutes per side on Medium High heat. Place in the slow cooker on top of all the other ingredients - fat side down.

Cook for two hours on High, flip pork roast over and cook on the Low setting for another 6 or 7 hours.

When it gets to the point where the bone can removed easily and the pork starts to fall apart, remove all the pork to a platter and pour the liquid left in the CrockPot into a half gallon glass jar, allow the fat to come to the top and carefully ladle off as much fat as you think you should. Or buy a gravy separator and do it that way in smaller batches.

Pour the de-fatted liquid into a medium-size saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce over Medium-High heat until volume is reduced by approximately half. Taste and adjust flavor as needed. I often add a little soy sauce, a splash of white wine and/or salt and pepper at this point.

The pork should have cooled enough to be pulled apart at this point and any streaks or clumps of fat and any gristle removed. If there are larger pieces that won’t pull apart easily, they will soon enough. Return the meat to the CrockPot, flatten the meat out in the bottom of the CrockPot and pour as much of the reduced liquid back in until it is at the same level as the meat or a bit lower. Continue to cook if it needs to, or it can be held on Warm for hours.

To serve, place meat on a platter and top with dried Oregano, a good drizzle of Olive Oil and a generous squeeze of fresh Lemon Juice.

It is a really versatile:
Great on tacos with some fresh Onion or pickled Red Onion, topped with Cilantro. Works well on a Pita topped with with some fresh chopped Onion and Tzatziki sauce.

It also freezes very well.

A Low-Carb World Tour™ Recipe.

Tags: crockpot, italian pork, low-carb, pork, slow cooker