Beat the Heat: Slow Cooker Pork With Pomegranate and Chipotle

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The great folks over at POM Won­der­ful sent over some pome­gran­ate juice for this cook to play with.  With this mas­sive heat wave that engulfed Philly, it was no sur­prise that the sky said “Enough” and it was tor­ren­tial down­pours that sig­naled a day of kitchen exper­i­men­ta­tion.  While the tem­per­a­ture out­side has cooled off a tad, I still did not want to use the oven if I could avoid it. 

Last week, I made a ton of chicken stock after read­ing The Cozy Girl’s post about a great way to repur­pose a rotis­serie chicken and it added a nice touch instead of water.  I added the pome­gran­ate juice in 1/4 cup incre­ments until I found the right note that just sang and bal­anced all the fla­vors going on.  The fla­vor is phe­nom­e­nal thanks to the tang from the pome­gran­ate cou­pled with the smoky heat from the chipo­tle pep­per. The pork shred­ded with lit­tle effort and was moist and cooked well.  Com­bine that with the onions which had a jam-like con­sis­tency and served it with some crispy smoked paprika pota­toes, it all just worked well together.

One good les­son learned – slow cook­ers aren’t just for fall and winter.

SLOW COOKER PORK WITH POMEGRANTE AND CHIPOTLE

Ingre­di­ents:

• 2 lb. bone­less pork loin
• 1 cup pome­gran­ate juice
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 Vidalia onions, sliced into half moons
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbsp. of mojo de ajo (or 2 gar­lic cloves and olive oil)
• 1/2 tsp. of cumin
• 1/2 tsp. of smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. of adobo sauce and one small chipo­tle minced
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt & Pepper

Direc­tions:

1. Sea­son the pork loin with salt and pepper.
2. Sear off the pork loin in some olive oil (I used some from the mojo de ajo).  While I know it’s a bit hot, the fla­vor it imparts is well worth it.  Set aside.
3. Add the onions and sauté until brown…
4. Add 1 tbsp. of either mojo de ajo or the garlic.
5. Add the onions and gar­lic to the slow cooker.
6. Add the pome­gran­ate juice and brown sugar.
7. Add the cumin, smoked paprika, chipo­tle pep­per and adobo.  Stir to combine.
8. Nes­tle the pork loin on the onions and add the chicken stock to halfway up the pork loin.  Nes­tle the bay leaf in the stock.
9. Add a pinch of salt and pep­per and cover.
10. Set the slow cooker to low for 6 hours.
11. When it’s done, pull out the pork loin and let rest for 15 min­utes and then shred.
12. Serve with some of the onions and the sauce driz­zled over the pork por­tions and enjoy!

Gather the Ingredients

Sear­ing = Flavor

Onions are well on their way

Time to add the POM

SOOOO good!  And the kitchen and the cook sur­vived the heat wave.

*Dis­claimer:  POM Won­der­ful pro­vided the pome­gran­ate juice for this recipe.

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