Crock Pot Brown and Maple Sugar Pork Tenderloin

I started a new job recently.

It’s so, so wonderful to have regular hours again. Working two part time jobs, while it helped pay the bills, led to an inconsistent and unpredictable schedule that made things hard to plan around. I had to put everything in a shared google calendar just so hubby would know if he could plan on spending time with me or not.

Now that I have a regular full-time job with predictable hours for the first time in a long time, I find myself getting home about the same time as hubby, give or take a half hour. Without an afternoon to prepare dinners, I’ve been looking for meals that I could throw together quickly.

Enter the crock pot.

I found this recipe via Pinterest, hosted on a blog called “Your Homebased Mom.” Leigh Ann’s pictures looked pretty yummy, so although pork really isn’t my favorite meat to cook with, I was game to try it. A little variety is always nice, and let’s face it: I love maple syrup.

My first step was greasing my crock pot. No recipe ever says to do this, and it never occurs to me to do it independently, and I always end up with some charred sauce bonded to the sides of the porcelain. I’m trying to be better about this.

Next, I put my pork in the bottom of the crock pot, seasoned with salt and pepper.

Next, I made my sauce. I started with a bit of garlic…

Added maple syrup…

Added Dijon mustard…

And some honey…

And some brown sugar…

Some balsamic vinegar…

And finally, some dried thyme.

Whisked together, this is what it looked like.

Just pour it over the pork…

Cover and set it to low!

At the end of the day, this is what the pork looked like. A little nasty looking, not gonna lie.

Before serving, we’re going to make a sauce. This is super easy and quick. Just take the juices from the crock pot and cook on the stove.

Dissolve some corn starch in water…

And mix it into the sauce to thicken it up.

That’s that!

To serve, I put some instant mashed potatoes on a plate, topped with some of the pork (which pulled apart easily at this point), and dribbled some of the sauce on top.

At this point, I was still skeptical. I informed hubby that I wouldn’t be offended if he didn’t like it, as the pork looked dry and the sauce looked a lot darker than I expected. But as it turns out, everything was quite good. The pork wasn’t dry, just tender, and the sauce had a nice sweet-yet-smoky taste to it that made me happy that I’d bothered to put it together.

Give it a try!

Sloppy Joes and California Potato Salad

This post is about classic dishes. I was getting bored with my normal ground beef recipes and wanted to do something different. Allrecipes suggested Sloppy Joes. I’d never made Sloppy Joes before, so I was hoping for a recipe that was a good representation of what a good one tastes like. And for the side, potato salad. Although there are thousands of different potato salad recipes, many of which I’ve tasted, I had never made one of my own before. For my first attempt, I wanted to make the classic side dish but in a big way: a version that was unique and delicious. I think I accomplished both of these.

 

 

Two memories of Sloppy Joes growing up:

 

1. They were called “Sloppy Jolies” in my house because apparently I made a royal mess with them. This was the only acceptable term, and I’d bet money that it’s the one my parents still use.

 

2. The real reason I made a mess of them was because my mom hid tiny bits of onion on it and I was trying to eat around them. I was on to her tricks.

 

Current thoughts about Sloppy Joes:

 

1. It still feels weird to call them anything other than Sloppy Jolies, but I’m trying.

 

2. I like onions now, assuming they’re cooked down a bit.

So here we go. An onion and a green bell pepper.

 

 

All cut up.

 

 

I started with some ground beef in a big skillet on the stove.

 

 

A little browner…

 

 

When it was mostly done, I drained out the fat and added the vegetables.

 

 

The sauce that I made was a combination of a recipe and my own changes. I’ll post a link for it at some point. For now, this is what you need to know:

 

A bit of ketchup and also some barbecue sauce (I used KC masterpiece).

 

 

And some garlic powder, mustard, and brown sugar.

 

 

The meat and veggies are about done, so I transferred the mixture to a crock pot and added those sauce ingredients.

 

 

Then I added a touch of vinegar (not in the original recipe)

 

 

And Worcestershire sauce (also not in the recipe)

 

 

And then a healthy dose of salt and pepper.

 

 

Then I just mixed it up, covered it, and left the crockpot on low for a few hours.

 

 

 

Now for my potato salad. Here are some potatoes. I didn’t bother to peel them, just scrubbed and cut them up.

 

 

After cubing them, I dropped them in a big pot of water and let them boil.

 

 

I also put some eggs in water to boil.

 

 

Then I assembled my ingredients: garlic, Dijon mustard, rice vinegar, mayonnaise, and a can of artichoke hearts. This is looking yummy already.

 

 

While I waited for the potatoes and eggs to cook, I chopped up the artichokes.

 

 

 

When the potatoes were finally done, I drained them in a big colander.

 

 

And when the eggs were done, I drained out the hot water

 

 

Before replacing it with cold

 

 

When they were cool enough, I peeled the eggs. Here they are! I was surprised by how easy they were to peel. I guess I normally wait until they’re chilled, but this worked well.

 

 

Look at how amazingly perfect they turned out! No green tinge, just a perfect, bright, fluffy yellow yolk.

 

 

Anyway, I diced the eggs and added them to the artichokes.

 

 

Added the potatoes and mixed everything up a bit before adding garlic

 

 

Dijon mustard…

 

 

 

Rice vinegar…

 

 

Mayo…

 

 

The recipe said to use freshly shaved Parmesan. This was the best I had. A poor substitute, I know, so I only added a touch of it.

 

 

Then I mixed everything up.

 

 

Then, in a flash of inspiration, I crumbled and added three strips of cooked bacon that I happened to have in the fridge.

 

 

Then it was time to serve!

 

I put some hamburger buns in the toaster oven.

 

 

The Sloppy Jolie Joe mixture had gotten real nice.

 

 

When the buns were toasted, I spooned a little bit of the meat onto the bun and topped with the other half.

 

 

 

And of course, my California potato salad, bursting with artichokes

 

 

Impressions:

 

The Sloppy Jolies Joes were sweeter than I’d expected. I suppose adding BBQ sauce without decreasing the brown sugar is to blame. I’m not sure it was a bad thing or not, except that the flavor was more reminiscent of BBQ sauce than tomato sauce, as well. But it was good. Hubby seemed pleased enough with it to have seconds, so I guess I did all right.

 

 

As for the potato salad? I can’t praise it enough. It was SO DAMN GOOD. I was fighting the urge to snack on it all afternoon. I ate too much of it at dinner. I nibbled on it again when I was cleaning up later. I ate more the next day. Someone who does not like artichokes will not like this recipe, but someone who likes them will love it. It wasn’t too heavy on mayo, either. I plan on making it again today or tomorrow, if I can get my homework done with enough time to justify playing in the kitchen.

 

Seriously. So good.