Talk About A Simple Pork Tenderloin Dish
My wife purchased the Crock-Pot Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes cookbook and has been trying them out on us. This week, we enjoyed two recipes from the book, but this was the better of them.
What's so great about a slow cooker is convenience. You add some ingredients to it in the morning, and you have a delicious meal 6, 7, or 8 hours later.
Do you realize how much effort it takes to prepare your evening meal? Most of these recipes take 15 - 25 minutes of prep time in the morning and cook all day, so when you get home, you only need to prepare a delicious side dish and have a tasty meal. And we're talking one-pot clean too.
One Major Problem
My only problem with Crock-Pot cooking is it's like when I lived over a restaurant for a time in New York City. If you start the meal at 7 or 8 in the morning, by 11 o'clock, the house smells incredible.
Every time you walk from one room to another or outside and back into the house, your nose fills with the incredible aromas from the slow cooker.
These aromas make me hungry all day, and the beautiful smells only get stronger as the day goes on. When I'm ready to serve the meal to my family, I'm salivating like our dog when I give her a biscuit.
Pork Loin or Pork Tenderloin
The original recipe calls for pork loin, but we only had a pork tenderloin in the freezer, so we went with that. Both cuts of pork are from the loin area and incredibly tender; either one will work in this recipe.
The difference between pork loin and pork tenderloin cuts is the same as between a New York Strip and Filet Mignon, which is only smaller. For this recipe, what matters most is the weight of around 1- ½ pounds.
Braising Technique
The technique associated with slow cooking is braising, where you cook an ingredient in liquid on low heat in a covered pot like a Crock-Pot or Dutch Oven for an extended period. Any recipe that calls braising can be prepared in a Crock-Pot.
How elaborate you make the dish is entirely up to you, but the ones we find in this cookbook, Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes, are straightforward, maybe too simple, and here's where you can have some fun by adding different ingredients to make these recipes your own.
We enjoyed a Chicken Provencal recipe from this book earlier in the week, and it was excellent, but next time, I might add some curry ingredients to give it a little more flavor.
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin and Apple Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin cut into 6 pieces (or 1½ pound boneless pork loin)
- 4 medium apples sliced into thin pieces (the cookbook recipe calls for Golden Delicious)
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar packed light
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Position the pork in the bottom of the crock-pot and cover with apple slices.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar with the cinnamon, salt & pepper and sprinkle over the apples.
- Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. I know you aren't supposed to remove the slow cooker's lid, but after a few hours, I did stir everything.
Wendell Smith
No liquid? I guess the sugar melts and the apples provide a little liquid.
The Reluctant Gourmet
No liquid, but when the meat is done, there is plenty of liquid in the pot.
Greg
This recipe looks is fantastic, I am going to try it out tonight!!
Bill
I have this book and have tried this recipe many times. I use 6 boneless pork loin chops instead of the pork loin. Peel the apples and stick with golden delicious you will not be disappointed.
Lissa
Love this recipe always serve it with yams or sweet potatoes