What's Cookin' - Pork Roast and Rice in the Crock Pot

This is one of those dishes I grew up with and that I was taught by my Mom. It is always delicious, the leftovers are great, and you don't have to heat up the kitchen with the oven which is a bonus in Phoenix. Also, you can buy cheap cuts of meat when they're on sale and the crock pot makes them tender.

Pork Roast and Rice à la Crock Pot

3-4 pound Pork Roast
1 can Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
3 cups uncooked Instant Rice (like Minute Rice)
1 T. Kitchen Bouquet (browning and seasoning sauce)

Spray your crock pot with oil to keep everything from sticking - makes it easier to clean. Drop in the pork roast and spread the cream of mushroom soup over the top of it. Using hot tap water, fill the soup can to the top and pour this alongside the roast trying not to wash the soup off the roast. Put the lid on and set it on High for one hour, then turn it down to Low for the rest of the day.

There is nothing nicer than walking into the house after the crock pot has been working all day and the whole place smells good!

When you're ready to dish it up, put the crock pot back on High and remove the roast to a plate or serving platter. Cover it with foil and let it rest. To the soup and pork juices in the crock pot, add the instant rice and Kitchen Bouquet. Stir, put the lid back on and leave it for about 10 minutes. The rice will absorb the juice and cook right in the crock pot.

Our tried and true family favorite way to eat this meal is with pinto beans and creamed corn, sopping it all up with a tortilla. I like to cook dried pinto beans in the crock pot as well, but sometimes I'll just put them in a big pot on the stove for a few hours with lots of garlic salt. Then we'll have some with dinner and I'll freeze a few containers of beans for later. They're great with meatloaf and with a good old fashioned breakfast of eggs, bacon and potatoes.

Here's a crock pot story for you. A few years ago, when three of my adorable nieces and nephews were visiting from Minnesota, I had loaded up the crock pot with another recipe I'll have to post. We were gone most of the day shopping and doing touristy things. Our Yorkie, Skyler, who was probably 14-years-old at the time, didn't have much left in the way of faculties - he was blind and deaf, but he had a great sense of smell. So, of course, when we got home he was standing in the kitchen, on the floor directly under where the crock pot that I had overloaded was dripping. It had overflowed slightly and chicken juice was bubbling down the side of the crock pot, onto the counter and then dripping off onto the floor. Skyler's entire head was greasy because he was licking the floor and the juice was dripping onto the top of his head. That was probably one of the best last days of his life!