Roast Pork with Apples

I belong to a great playgroup in my town.  I've met so many wonderful friends there and we get together pretty regularly.  One of the perks of the group is that whenever one of the women has a baby, we all get together and make the family a meal.  I got 3 weeks worth of meals after Ava was born!

A friend from the group recently got a job offer that sent her out of town for a full month for training.  She's got 2 small children, so it was a bit of a scramble to find care and to make her time away as easy as it could be on her kids and husband.  So, the group got together and decided to make her husband a month of meals so he would have one less thing to do and so our friend wouldn't worry while away.

So, I threw this in my crock pot, hoping that it would taste good.  Abe got half of the meal (hey, I'm not going to cook 2 dinners if I can help it!) and declared it very tasty.  The meat becomes so tender and juicy that it practically fell apart when I tried to slice some for the photo.  The apples cook down to a chunky applesauce. 

I got the recipe from my Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook.

Enjoy!

Roast Pork with Apples
Serves 4-6

Cooker: Medium or large round or oval
Settings and Cook Times: High for 1 hour, then Low for 7 to 8 hours

One 3 to 4 pound boned and tied pork loin roast, trimmed of visible fat (I was lazy and skipped this)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 to 7 tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and quartered
1/4 cup apple juice, fruity white wine or champagne
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat the broiler.  Season the pork roast with salt and pepper and place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.  Brown it on all sides under the broiler or in a skillet over high heat to remove excess fat; drain well.

Coat the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.  Put the apple quarters in the cooker and set the roast on top of them. Combine the apple juice, brown sugar and ginger in a small bowl and spoon over the roast, rubbing it all over.  Cover and cook on High for 1 hour.

Reduce the setting to Low and cook until fork tender, 7 to 8 hours.  Transfer the pork to a warm platter and let rest for 10 minutes.  Slice and serve warm.