FOOD FRIDAY!

ASIAN-STYLE SLOW COOKER PORK

It's good to be back among the living and reading. I spent the entire day yesterday and all of this morning, until now, submerged in the most minute of minutiae, my 7000+ mp3 files. It is a long and really boring story, the kernel of which is that one of the Elbow albums I purchased from Itunes Wednesday plays just fine on my computer (thus I was able to share from it), but will not play on my ipod. I went to the local Apple Store and got some advice and followed it. One of the things they suggested I do was "restore" my ipod. That involves dumping and then re-installing all of its files. Sounds simple enough, except I had those mp3s stored in several different folders, some on my hard drive, most on my external drive. There were copies of copies of copies. Where is what? Search, download, overload hard drive and nearly crash in the process, find and eliminate duplicates, and repeat. Over and over and over. The hell of it is, I'm good at that kind of mindless activity! I don't really like it, but when something tedious like that has to be done, I'll bend to the task just to get it overwith.

So it's done now. My mp3s are all in in one place and cleaned up. And that Elbow album? Still doesn't play! I've now resorted to purchasing an actual CD (at a discount price), which I will load onto my computer. If that doesn't work, I give up.

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Here's a dish inspired by the lovely Cuidado, who mentioned something like it at her place not too long ago. I think she called it "pork with peanuts and peppers." I went googling and found a recipe, which I fooled around with and came up with this result. It's really delicious and about as easy as it gets since it uses a slow cooker. (There are a few last-minute preparations but 'tis nothing.) The mix of flavors is delicious!

(I don't know why the typeface changes below. Blogger's in a mood.)

2 to 2 1/2 pounds pork loin roast, cut in 4 or 5 pieces

¼ cup teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 garlic cloves (or to taste) minced

1 cup red bell pepper strips

1 cup fresh green beans, cut into uniform 2-inch lengths

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 pound fresh green beans, cut into uniform 2-inch lengths

6 cups hot cooked basmati rice

1/2 cup chopped green onions

3 tablespoons chopped, dry-roasted peanuts

Trim fat from pork loin. Place pork, teriyaki sauce, vinegar, red pepper, and garlic in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours. Remove pork and chop.

Add the peanut butter to liquid in slow cooker; stir until well blended. Stir in the chopped pork. Set aside.

Place green beans in microwave-safe dish, Add 1 tablespoon water, cover, and steam on at high power until beans are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from microwave and uncover.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in wok or large non-stick skillet. Add pepper strips and stir-fry until crisp-tender.

Add beans and peppers to meat in slow cooker, then transfer all to large serving dish

Serve over rice, garnished with green onions and peanuts