Crock Pot Parmesan Pork Roast

No picture yet, Boo!

Ingredients:

4-pound boneless pork roast
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 whole garlic clove, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Cut pork roast in half.  Put on the bottom of a crock pot.  In a bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, olive oil and salt.  Pour over the pork.  Cover and cook on low for about 5-6 hours. 

You want to be careful not to overcook this one from all the comments I read.  This is not an all-day crock pot recipe.  I actually premade the sauce mixture (minus the Parmesan cheese) before I left for work and then Andy put the whole thing together during his lunch.  By 6:00 it was perfect. 

The meat does not stay in tact to "slice" it.  It almost ends up like a pulled-pork.  We served it overtop couscous and my mom had leftovers overtop noodles and then rice.  The juices soak into the starch and YUM.  Add a green veggie and the meal is complete.

Notes on the ingredients (the variations I made):

Thanks to It's a Keeper for this recipe that my BFF added to Pinterest.  You can find the original recipe here:

http://www.everydaytastes.com/2011/05/31/slow-cooker-parmesan-pork-roast/

A couple of things to note. Many people use a plain (not flavored) pork tenderloin for this recipe. I chose to use an actual pork loin roast because it looked better at the store that day. When I purchased it, it was held together with strings in a netting formation. I removed all of that and after cutting it in half, the pork fell into 4 main pieces. The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp of basil which I cut back to one. It also called for 2 Tbsp of minced garlic and I used a fresh whole clove instead. The original recipe also calls for cornstarch to make a gravy, but I found the juices were just fine without it.

Mushroom Sauce for Pork

Grill or bake a Hormel Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin (1st choice) or Pork Chops

Mushrooms
French Onion Soup
Brown Gravy Mix
Beefy Onion Soup Mix
Soy Sauce
Sugar
Red Wine

About 30 minutes before the pork is done:

1. Sauté one small produce container of sliced mushrooms in olive oil or butter
2. Open a can of Campbell’s French Onion with Beef Stock
3. Use a fork to puree some of the onions in the can
4. Add 2/3 of the soup to the mushrooms

5. Add a couple of TBSP of McCormick’s Brown Gravy mix (about ½ of packet)
6. Add a couple of TBSP of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup mix (about ½ of packet)
7. Add a splash of Soy Sauce
8. Add a splash of Red wine
9. Add a pinch of Sugar
10. Reduce heat and let sit; stirring frequently - it will thicken!

Make mashed potatoes from scratch or out of a box (we like the Betty Crocker garlic potatoes as a short-cut). Top the pork and potatoes with the sauce and serve with a vegetable.

Thanks to a dear friend down south who believes in semi-homemade...Donna!