Maple Brown Sugar Ham {Crock Pot}

And now a recipe a day for the most pleasing meal one could hope for AKA Averett Christmas 2011 Meal run down...

Juicy, flavor-filled, super easy, delciousness that's what this is. Ham slow cooked in the perfect combination of pineapple juice, real maple syrup, and brown sugar. Nothing more.

Maple Brown Sugar Ham {Crock Pot}

Recipe by Mels Kitchen Cafe

6-8 pound ham (this can be bone-in or out spiral cut or not, any kind will work, but if using solid non spiral cut ham I suggest cutting into quarters so juices can touch as much meat as possible)

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 cups pineapple juice

Place ham in a large crock pot. Mix brown sugar, maple syrup, and pineapple juice and pour over ham. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours. An hour before serving I recommend removing ham, cutting it into slices, and then back into crock pot to soak up those amazing juices. Slice and serve.

Sweet Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin {Crock Pot}

I've said before that this, this, and this are the best pork recipes out there and believe you me they are darn good. But my friends, this here recipe is exceptional. I was admittedly a bit unsure of how the balsamic vinegar would play out with the pork, but boy oh boy I need not have worried. It's the perfect pairing.

The pork itself is the picture of ease and juicy, tenderness thanks to the 8+ hours it spends in our little friend the crock pot. And the sauce is the best of full-flavored-a-little-bit-sweet-a-little-bit-sour goodness. If you're dining with the feint of heart, it's nice that the sauce is a condiment that can either be used or skipped, but as my word is my bond you won't want to skip it. That would be a travesty of epic proportions!

With the season of holiday's upon us this would be a stand-out main dish at any event. Also, it's so easy and hands off that you won't need to worry about the main portion of your entertaining meal, you've got that part in the bag! So you can go ahead and dig into more time consuming fancy sides if you want instead. Parties aside this pork will definitely grace our sunday dinner table often and I think it should yours too.

Sweet Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin {Crock Pot}

{doubled and adapted recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe of course!}

PORK:

4 lbs (give or take) boneless pork loin roast (not tenderloin) rinsed, dried, and trimmed of excess fat and silver skin-blech!

2 t ground sage or poultry seasoning

1 t salt

1 tsp pepper

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 cup chicken broth (or water)

GLAZE:

1 cup brown sugar

2 T cornstarch

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 cup water

4 T soy sauce

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients listed under pork and rub thoroughly all over prepared roast. Place in slow cooker and pour in 1 cup of chicken broth (or water). Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Near the end of cooking time for the roast remove pork from the slow cooker , shred into medium-large pieces, and place back in juices while you move on to the sauce. Combine all the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until it thickens. (doesn't take long)

Arrange shredded pork on serving platter, spooning some of the juices over it. Then drizzle generously with balsamic glaze and serve.

Remove pork from the crock pot, shred, and

Chile-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Glaze

Another hit from Mels Kitchen Cafe. Super tender pork loin with a sweet, spiced glaze. This was full of flavor and made our Sunday dinner most enjoyable! The pork was almost too tender (is that even possible?!) for my tastes and I wondered how this would work with pork chops. The answer I'm pretty sure is: wonderfully. If you try that route just rub the spice mixture onto both sides of the chop, let marinate, then give them a quick sear in olive oil on the stove and pop them in the oven to finish cooking. Be sure to both baste them with the glaze and serve remaining sauce along side them just as you would the tenderloin. Delish!

Chile-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Glaze

{Recipe Source: Mels Kitchen Cafe}

2 1 lb pork tenderloins (or chops, see above)

Spice Rub:

1 T chili powder

1 T garlic powder

1/2 T sugar

1 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups apricot jam

1/2 cup barbeque sauce

1 t grated fresh ginger

1/2 t garlic powder

1/2 t hot sauce (such as Tabasco)

2 small limes, juiced

optional: chopped fresh cilantro, about 2 T

Rinse and trim excess fat from tenderloins. Combine spice rub ingredients in a small bowl. Generously rub all sides of tenderloins with spices and then cover and refrigerate for 2-24 hours.

Prior to roasting, combine the glaze ingredients minus lime juice and optional cilantro in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and warm just till the mixture starts to bubble. Remove from heat, add lime juice and cilantro and reserve half for basting and half for serving.

Roasting method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the tenderloins in a 9x13 dish lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes. Brush generously with glaze. Bake 15 more minutes and again brush with glaze. Bake an additional 10 minutes* or until the pork reaches 160 degrees internally. Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest 3 minutes before slicing on a slight diagonal. Serve hot with reserved glaze alongside.

*I used a meat thermometer and the time noted and found it to be pretty much spot on, maybe just a few minutes longer needed. So if you don't have an internal thermometer never fear it will be cooked perfectly, plus it continues to cook during the resting period.

Slow Cooker Chops

Another crock pot recipe that's a hit and so easy! You can never have too many you know. 3 ingredients+the meat are all you need for a hearty, home-cooked, low-fuss meal. There's chatter around that using canned cream soups is gross and well I'm not buying it! I'll use them till the day I die and this recipe is all the better for it. The pork falls apart after spending all day in a slightly tangy sauce, thanks to the addition worcestershire and ketchup. Serve it with some buttered egg noodles and a green vegetable and you've got an exceptional week-night meal.

Slow Cooker Chops

4 boneless pork chops, left whole or cut in half

1 regular size can cream of mushroom soup

1/4 cup ketchup

2 t worcestershire

Garlic salt and pepper for seasoning

Sprinkle chops with garlic salt and pepper. Place in crock pot. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chops. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 7-8 hours. Serve with buttered egg noodles.

Variation: May add one sliced onion.

Coleslaw Topped Pulled Pork Sandwiches {Slow Cooker}

Hot Diggety these are good! Slow cooker BBQ slathered pulled pork topped with creamy, cool coleslaw means summer at it's finest. I'm not sure I can ever appreciate pulled pork without coleslaw again. This was our 4th of July fare this year and it might just become tradition. Delicioso!

Coleslaw Topped Pulled Pork Sandwiches

{Recipe Source: Our Best Bites}

For Pulled Pork:

3 lb. boneless pork shoulder

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Kosher salt

Black pepper

Smoked paprika or liquid smoke

Chicken or beef broth

About 12 oz. of your favorite BBQ sauce

About 12 high-quality rolls

Coleslaw (see recipe below)

Rinse pork roast well in cold water and trim of excess fat. Be thorough in this process, it’s important for non-fishy smelling/tasting weird pork! Pat dry. Sprinkle roast with liquid smoke, a few drops’ll do ya, and seasonings and place in slow cooker. Add about 1/2 inch of broth (or water) and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

When the roast has cooked, drain liquid and then return to the slow cooker and gently shred. Pour enough sauce over the meat so it’s well-incorporated but not soupy, and gently mix. Return the lid to the crock pot and heat through. When ready to serve, slice rolls (toast in desired) and add meat. Top with coleslaw. Cheese and dill pickles are good toppings too!

Memphis-Style Coleslaw
Recipe from ourbestbites.com

1 c. mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. Dijon
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 heaping tsp. Kosher salt
1 Tbsp. grated onion
2-2 1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 16-oz. bag shredded cabbage with carrots (I liked using a combination of pre-mixed coleslaw and finely shredded napa cabbage that I already had on hand)
1/2 minced green bell pepper
1 carrot, peeled and grated

Combine mayo, mustard, vinegar, sugar, salt, onion, and celery seed. In a large bowl, combine shredded cabbage, carrots, and green pepper.

Toss with dressing and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours and up to about 3 days.

Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Roast

This is the best pork roast I've ever had and the easiest to make. I always do all my roasts (other then tenderloins) in the crock pot. It's totally hands off for Sunday dinners and so long as you cook your meat for a good 7-9 hours, it's a no-fail tender, flavorful, shredded meat main dish. Just pop it in the crock pot on sunday morning and you'll have the most fabulous main dish ready by dinner time, not to mention the wonderful smell in your house.

The ranch dressing mix does something magical to the flavor of the pork in this recipe. I'm betting once you've tried this you'll never go back to whatever way you previously cooked a pork roast. I sure haven't.

Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Roast

4 lbs or so pork roast, boneless

1 package ranch dressing mix

2 cups chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

Garlic or season salt

Black pepper

Few tablespoons vegetable oil for browning

Rinse and dry pork roast. Heat few tablespoons oil in a large skillet on high/med-high heat. Season roast with garlic salt or seasoned salt and fresh ground pepper. When pan is good and hot (oil is rippling) carefully place roast in hot oil. Don't move around yet! Let sear a couple minutes and then carefully turn over. Repeat on each side until entire roast has a nice brown crust. Put roast in appropriately sized crock pot. Sprinkle with ranch mix and minced garlic. Add 2 cups or so chicken broth. Cover with lid and cook for at least 7 hours, I think 8 is perfect. About 30 minutes before serving, remove roast from crock pot to a cutting board and shred into large chunks. Place back in crock pot with all the yummy flavorful juices. To serve remove to a serving platter and pour some juice over all.

Glazed Orange Marmalade Pork Loin Chops

It's been quite awhile since I've made these for dinner and now I'm asking myself "why did I wait so long?"! These pork chops are juicy and flavorful and come together so fast. I think they are perfect for a quick week-night meal or a no-fail-company-over dinner. They come together in about 30 minutes and are virtually impossible to ruin. Fancy and fast? Sounds good to me!

Glazed Orange Marmalade Pork Loin Chops

Note: I think this recipe could easily be adapted to use with chicken if pork's not your thing...or even if it is, try both! I know I will.

4-6 boneless pork loin chops (about 1 inch thick)

Seasoning salt (I used garlic salt) & fresh ground pepper

Olive oil for searing

4 T soy sauce

4 T chicken broth

1/2 cup orange marmalade

1 clove of garlic, pressed or finely minced

Preheat oven to 400. Heat oil in large skillet over med-high until shimmering. While oil heats, season one side of chops with seasoning salt and pepper. Place chops in pan and season 2nd side. Don't touch or move for at least 3 minutes. This allows a nice brown crust to form. After about 3-4 minutes turn each chop over and cook the same. Once all chops are browned on both sides, place in baking dish, cover with foil and pop in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Next prepare glaze:

If there is an overabundance of cooking oil in the saute pan use a paper towel to blot some away. Then saute garlic in pan for about 30 seconds and add soy sauce, chicken broth, and marmalade to pan. Reduce heat to medium/medium-low and let cook stirring to loosen brown bits from bottom of pan. The sauce needs to reduce down a bit to an almost syrup-like consistency, but not too much as it will become over-concentrated and there won't be enough for each pork chop. If it gets too thick just add a bit more chicken broth to loosen it up a bit.

Once chops are cooked through (be careful not to overcook), remove from oven and place on serving platter. Spoon glaze over top and serve.