Pork Roast with Apples and Onions

We didn’t get an elk this fall, but we did buy half a pig. So I’m learning some new pork recipes this fall and winter. I usually make green chili with a pork roast, but I wanted something different. The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, had just the right recipe with apples and onions. This is easy and oh-so-yummy!

Pork Roast with Apples and Onions

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 whole Pork Shoulder Roast (also Called Pork Butt)

Salt And Pepper, to taste

4 cups Apple Juice

1 cup Beef Stock

3 whole Apples, Cored And Cut Into Wedges

3 whole Medium Onions, Sliced

1 whole Bay Leaf 

Wild Rice

2-1/2 cups Wild Rice

4 cups Water

3 cups Chicken Stock

1/2 stick 4 Tablespoons Butter

1/2 cup Chopped Pecans

Tip: About 45 minutes before cooking roast – generously salt with kosher salt on both sides. Let it sit for 45 minutes before searing it in the olive oil. 

OPTIONAL: Sauté onions until brown. (Or you may just add them raw to the roast.) 

Pioneer Woman: To make the pork roast, heat olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Salt and pepper pork roast, then sear on all sides to give it some color. Reduce heat to low. Add apple juice, apple slices, onions, and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 3 hours. (Or you may place in a 300 degree oven if you prefer.) 

When the roast is done, remove the roast, apples, and onions to a platter. Raise heat to medium-high (to high) and boil liquid, reducing it until thick and rich.

Spoon thick sauce over the roast, then cut the roast into slices. Serve with apples, onions, and wild rice.

(Note: add fresh thyme or rosemary to the roast before cooking if you have it on hand!)

 

Me: Heat olive oil in a skillet. Sear the roast on all sides.

 

 

Place roast in a slow cooker. In the same skillet, sauté the onions till they start to brown.

 

 

Put onions on top of the roast in the slow cooker.

 

 

Add the sliced apples, bay leaf, beef stock and apple juice. Sprinkle with fresh pepper.

Cook on low for six or seven hours. The roast will nearly fall apart when you take it from the slow cooker.

 

 

Remove the apples and onions with a slotted spoon. Pour the juice in a bowl.

 

 

Let the fat rise to the top, then skim off the fat. Pour the juice in a pan, bring to a boil and reduce it until thick and rich.

Rice:

Toward the end of the cooking time for the roast, make the rice: melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add pecans and sauté for a couple of minutes.

 

 

Add wild rice and liquid, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until all liquid is cooked out.

Seriously yummy dinner!