I Heart Handmade Bread and Braised Pork

Have you ever been the mood to smack some dough around and get a whiff of fresh baking bread!  Well, I sure have and this week I tried out THIS recipe and it was sooo yummy.  Plus, I got three pans out of the mix so it was worth my time.


I love trying out new recipes on a regular basis and this recipe made the "cookbook cut."  I got lots of "OOOh, this is good!, MAN! I love this. Ah! Perfect..." etc from the hubby and I also loved it.  I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share it with you.  This is a great meal for a Sunday get-together or a week that you know you'll need some yummy left-overs.  It makes A LOT of food :) You can find the original recipe HERE.  I've officially dubbed it "Mexican Pork Roast."


Mexican Pork Roast
Ingredients:
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, or butt

• 1 1/2 cups prepared tomatillo salsa (salsa verde) (12oz)
• 1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, or ground cumin
• 3 plum tomatoes, (1/2 pound), thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Directions:

1. Trim pork.  Get it on an exercise plan and trim those shoulders or butt! (Seriously now...) Before adding it to the slow cooker, cut it into cubes. The slow cooker should be on high heat.

2. In a saucepan, combine salsa, broth, cumin seeds, and the thinly sliced onion.  Boil over high heat.  I boiled it for about 5 minutes (or until it looks well-combined). Pour over the meat in the slow cooker.

3. Add the sliced tomatoes to the slow cooker and gently stir. Cover. Cook for 6-7 hours or until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily.  

4. Once the meat is cooked, remove it from the slow cooker with a slotted spoon and keep it warm.  Pour the remaining sauce and vegetables into a saucepan and bring to a boil.  While it is boiling, skim the fat.  The fat looks like a thin layer of oil on the top of the mixture.  Continue to boil and skim the fat for about 20 minutes.  This helps the sauce thicken, reduces the fat, and also makes it taste even yummier!

5. Add the pork to the saucepan and mix in 1/4 cup of the cilantro.  

6. To serve, pour over rice (it would also be tasty with quinoa or in a tortilla) and add a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of cilantro for extra fun!

Here's what our version looked like:

I forgot about the sour cream and cilantro to make it look extra snazzy!

And just because we don't want our entire computer full of pictures of the dog, the house, and furniture, here's me serving up some arroz!

Happy Saturday!  

ps. I've been a busy painting bee lately and I'm excited to show you what I've been up too!