Hail the Crock Pot!

I just have to share a recipe with you. I noticed a chill in the breeze this weekend and it immediately put me in the "fall" frame of mind. I longed for the comforting fragrance of fall. It's my favorite season. I love the crisp fallen leaves, cider simmering on the stove and something harvest-like in the crock pot. My friend Teri passed along a recipe for pork roast cooked in apple juice concentrate. I made a few adjustments because I was making it for friends who like a bit of heat in their food. If you prefer sweet to spicy, just leave out the onions, the garlic and the cayenne pepper... or just use a tiny bit.

Bon Appetit!

Crock Pot Apple Pork Roast

1 large onion, chopped or thinly sliced

Pork sirloin roast, boneless (usually tied in string – remove string before using), whatever size works for your family

2, 16 oz. packages sauerkraut (in the deli section around prepared foods or the hotdogs)

12 oz. can frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

2 teaspoons crushed garlic

½ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste) OPTIONAL

Arrange onion in bottom of crock pot. Lay roast on top of onions. Rinse and drain sauerkraut and spread over pork roast. Pour the apple juice over all. Spread the crushed garlic over the sauerkraut and sprinkle with the brown sugar and cayenne pepper.

Set crock pot on low and cook for 8 hours or until pork begins to fall apart.

I served with perogies! After pork is done, remove and set aside to rest. (It will probably be falling apart so you will have to scoop it out in sections.) Keep the crock pot on low and add a package of frozen perogies to the simmering sauce/sauerkraut. They should be cooked through in about 20 minutes.

Apple sauce is yummy with this meal.

NOTE: If you are not a sauerkraut fan you will probably still enjoy this dinner. Because you rinse and drain the sauerkraut, and because you add the sweet juice and brown sugar, this doesn’t taste anything like sauerkraut. A co-worker said that she never would have known that it was sauerkraut if I hadn’t said anything.