A loin in the hand.

Okay, y'all. I'm just going to be honest here. A good portion of my undergraduate upper-class work was on the American south, and things like Funeral Casseroles and aspics and all sorts of dishes that have gone by the wayside. I like trying to resurrect these recipes, with mixed results.

This post isn't going to be pretty, but it's honest. Read at your own discretion.

I stumbled upon a lovely (and cheap!) pork loin at my local warehouse superstore. Part of it went into a dry-roast slow cooker recipe that died a miserable death when it came out of the sauna about nine hours later. Lesson learned: don't try to dry-roast a mostly lean cut of meat, even if the fat is on top.

So, I went back to what was comfortable. As most people know, traditional (at least, about 60 years' worth) of Southern foods and good old Midwest casseroles rely heavily on prepackaged goods. This recipe isn't any different.



I cringe to think I'm including this in such early posts, but I added co-cola and soup mix to the non-charred half of the remaining pork loin.

I'm pretty sure I just committed food-blog suicide, but who cares? I'll make up for it in the future.

The favorite of this dish was the onion rings that simmered in the sweet-salty broth for many hours. Colored a dark brown and barely holding together, they gave a much-needed flavor to the final product.

---

Slow Cooker Pork Loin

3-5 lb. pork loin

Brine

Salt (lots)
Orange Juice
Garlic
Fresh Herbs
Water

Combine in some fashion, douse pork for at least twelve hours, preferrably more (but don't go botulism yourself silly).

Cooking

Sear pork loin on both sides, cut up if necessary to fit in slow cooker (my loin was cut in four; two quarters went into this recipe).

In the slow cooker:
1 pkg French Onion soup mix
2 cans co-cola
1-2 onions

Chop onion in rings, place in bottom of cooker.

Add seared pork loin(s) and sprinkle soup mix on top.

Add co-cola to mix. Cry a little.

Cook on low for 8-9 hours. Remove loin from mixture and shred. Leftover sauce may cause indigestion, stomach cramps or apocolypse.

---

My friend, Mr. O., is learning to cook. He chopped potatoes and roasted them with fresh rosemary from the window garden. They added a nice salty/savory contrast to the sweet pork.