PEACH SALSA PORK ROAST WITH SWEET POTATOES

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PEACH SALSA PORK ROAST WITH SWEET POTATOES

I was looking on the internet for some slow cooker recipes and this one jumped out at me. It came from the Pioneer Woman. I was drooling just from reading the ingredients. Thank you Pioneer Woman…..and thank goodness Larry is here to help me because I did the salsa and sweet potatoes and sweetly asked him to handle the browning of the roast in that heavy hot cast iron skillet (that’s a man thing, right?). Read on and you’ll know why he’s a Godsend!

STEP ONE: MAKE THE PEACH SALSA

INGREDIENTS:

2 cans (28 oz. ea.) peaches in syrup, drained, juice reserved.  I bought sliced peaches to lessen chopping time.  I bet if you use fresh peaches when they are in season this salsa will be even more phenomenal.

1 whole medium red onion, diced very fine

1 whole red bell pepper, seeded and diced very fine

1 whole Jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (if you like hot stuff you could add more)

1 heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic (I added this to the original recipe and I used elephant garlic because it was faster than peeling 3 or 4 cloves.)

½ bunch cilantro, chopped (I found my cilantro had spoiled so I substituted 2 heaping tablespoons from a tube of cilantro paste)

¼ teaspoon Chili Powder

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Do the mincing and dicing of peppers, onion and garlic and put the pieces into a medium large bowl. Then chop the peaches into small pieces and throw them into the bowl with all the other ingredients. Stir and add a splash of the reserved juice. Taste and add a little more salt and/or chili powder if you prefer. Don’t forget the lime juice because it really makes everything zingle on your tongue.

This recipe makes more than what is required for the roast (HOORAY!) so just fill a 2-cups glass measuring cup with the salsa and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. The remaining salsa can go into another glass storage container, sealed and refrigerated to enjoy with something else—which we did tonight. Larry had made rice and steamed some boneless breast tenderloins in the top of his rice cooker. We just spooned the peach salsa over that. Oh, heaven.

Are you still with me?  Okay, here we go…

STEP TWO: PREPARE THE POTATOES AND PORK ROAST

INGREDIENTS:

1 (2 to 2-1/2 pound) boneless pork roast

kosher salt and cracked black pepper

1 tablespoon peanut, canola, vegetable or olive oil

5 small (about 1-1/2 pounds) peeled sweet potatoes cut into 1-inch chunks.  (I only had large size sweet potatoes so I took two that weighed 1-1/2 pounds, peeled and cut them into the 1 inch chunks).

Just 2 cups of peach salsa

 

TO SERVE:

Place over hot cooked rice, add chopped cilantro or parsley, or finely chopped green onions. We already had left over rice so we reheated it in time for the meal. Confession:   I was out of fresh cilantro, there was no fresh parsley, and I totally forgot about the green onions. I’ll be sure to add  them the next time.

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Scatter the cubed sweet potatoes in the bottom of the slow-cooker crock. Put the lid in place and set the slow cooker to high.

Sprinkle the pork roast generously on all sides with kosher salt and cracked pepper. Place a heavy-bottomed stainless steel or cast-iron skillet over high heat. Swirl the oil over the bottom. Carefully place the pork roast in the hot pan and do not move it until it releases easily from the pan and is deep golden brown on the side that just cooked. Rotate the roast to an un-browned area and repeat. Do this until you have browned the entire surface of the roast.

Use tongs to set the pork roast on top of the cubed sweet potatoes. Pour the peach salsa (Just 2 cups) over the top, put the lid in place, and cook on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours or on LOW for 7 to 9 hours. The pork roast is done when it measures 145˚. My cooker might be hotter or something because after four hours on HIGH it was already well done.

I have to be honest. The browning of the roast was a bit difficult because we do not have a fan that vents to the outside. There was a considerable amount of smoke involved and the smoke alarm is within 15 feet of the stove. Thank goodness Larry thought to turn on the house fan before the alarm could go off because Ray had worked all night and was sleeping in the master bedroom just 15 feet from the smoke alarm. Those of you who have had smoke alarms go off know how shocking that can be.  We finally had to open both front and back doors to clear the air! Maybe you’ll be better equipped at this  meat browning step than us! Let me know if you have any advice about browning and smoke, etc.  Believe me, this meal was so delicious the guys are already begging for a repeat and they mean “right away.” And I liked it so much myself I’ve already bought all the necessary ingredients except for the roasts which means a trip to Costco soon.

Enjoy!

PEACH SALSA PORK ROAST WITH SWEET POTATOES