Slow Cooked Ranch Pork Roast

This week Safeway has pork shoulder roasts on sale buy one, get one free.  Well, this sale makes the meat $1.75 a lb.  Now tell me, where can you get pork or beef for $1.75 a lb. right now.  Of course, I bought some.

I planned to have one for dinner on Saturday night and wanted a new recipe.  I did a search and found a recipe I decided to try at Recipe.com.  The challenge was that it was a slow cooker recipe.  Hubby and I are not particularly fond of beef or pork cooked in the slow cooker.  I do have a recipe or two that I like: but for the most part, slow cooked meat is too overdone for us.  I was, therefore, a little concerned about making this recipe.  I thought that the recipe sounded good so I forged ahead.  It turns out that this one is a Keeper. Hubby said it was very good, and I will make it often.

The directions called for cooking the pork 9 to 10 hours on low or  4 1/2 to 5 hours on high.  Because I got a late start, I cooked my roast on high.  It weighed almost 4 lbs. and was done in 3 1/2 hours.  I didn’t have the rest of dinner ready, so I turned  the slow cooker down to low, and it did cook another hour.  I should have turned the slow cooker to the warm setting, but I forgot I have that available.

The recipe calls for cream cheese, cream of chicken soup and ranch dressing mix.  Commercial products or homemade products can be used.  I prefer the homemade substitutes, but I am not a purist and do keep the commercial products on hand.  This time, I used them.  I used a pork seasoning salt when I browned the meat hoping to give the pork more flavor.  This addition made the sauce/gravy a little too salty tasting for me so next time I will leave that out and also use low-sodium soup if I use commercial soup.

The recipe calls for red potatoes to be added and cooked with the pork.  I am sure that this makes a nice, almost one-dish meal.  I chose to make mashed potatoes instead.  I also served green beans with bacon and pickled beets.

There are a number of recipes for homemade ranch dressing mix on the net.  Here is one that I use that came from a Gooseberry Patch Cookbook, Gifts for Giving.

Ranch Dip and Dressing Mix
Gooseberry Patch, Gifts for Giving
2 t. celery salt
2 t. garlic powder
3 T. dried minced onion
2 t. pepper
2 t. sugar
2 1/2 t. paprika
2 1/2 t. dried parsley

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container.  Makes 1/2 cup mix.

For Dip:  Blend 1 T. mix with 1 c. sour cream.  Chill in refrigerator at least one hour before serving.

For Dressing:  Blend 1 T. mix with 1 c. mayonnaise and 1 c. buttermilk.  Chill in refrigerator at least one hour before serving.

Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Roast
from Better Homes and Gardens
1 (2 1/2 to 3 lb.) boneless pork shoulder roast (mine was bone-in and almost 4 lb.)
1 lb. small new red-skinned potatoes, halved
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened (I used low-fat)
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of chicken soup (I would use low sodium)
1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix
freshly ground black pepper (opt.)

Trim excess fat from roast.  Spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray.  Heat skillet, add roast and brown well on all sides.  Place potatoes in the bottom of a 3 1/2 to 4 qt. slow cooker.  Place roast on top of potatoes.  Combine cream cheese, soup, and dressing mix.  Spoon mixture on top of the roast.  Cover and cook on low 9 to 10 hours or on high 4 1/2 to 5 hours.  Remove pork and potatoes to a serving platter.  Pour sauce/gravy into a container to spoon over the roast.  Garnish roast and potatoes with freshly ground pepper if desired.  Makes 6 servings.

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