Earlier in the week, I mentioned that I was participating in the Costco Blogger Recipe Challenge. My team was assigned to Pork Sirloin Tip and we were tasked with slow cooking our recipes.
I love my slow cooking in colder weather, as I’m sure many of you do too, but I have to admit, I’m also a creature of habit. This pork challenge was a bit tricky. The cut was smaller than I was used to, and I was afraid of the pork would get too dry. Nevertheless, I came up with a fall-inspired recipe, and one that incorporated apples, mustard and a few other ingredients that the family enjoys.
Ingredients:
Pork Sirloin Tip
3/4 cup of mustard–I chose a spicy mustard
1/2 cup of applesauce
2 tablespoons of brown sugar or maple syrup
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon sage
salt and pepper to taste
2 apples, sliced into quarters
Combine ingredients to make a paste and coat the entire sirloin tip. Sear covered pork on medium heat on the stove, until pork has a light brown crust and paste starts to carmelize. I chose to sear the pork first so that it would brown and not shred as much. This step is totally optional. Transfer pork and remaining paste to crock pot. If there’s not enough “sauce” to cover the bottom of pork, add more mustard and applesauce. Cook in crock pot for 4.5-5 hours on low heat. For last 45 minutes, add apples.
This turned out to be a sweet, but savory pork dish that was hearty, but still light. The apples made it sweet and fresh, but the mustard gave it the bold flavor that our family loves with pork. We served it with white rice, steamed veggies with the warm apples on the side. It was a great way to incorporate the apples we picked on our recent apple picking adventure, not to mention a flavorful way to end our week!
My kid who isn’t a mustard fan loved the dish, more than likely because of the sweetness the apples gave it. My husband, however, said he could have used “more” mustard. Next time, I’ll probably make a sauce from the leftover juices in the crock pot. Everything’s better with a little more sauce!
If this recipe inspires you, be sure to check out Costco’s great deals for National Pork Month.
Giveaway
Want to win a Costco/Pork gift pack containing a $25 gift card to Costco? Send me an email jen (at) nextkidthing (dot) come and tell me about your favorite pork dish!
Full disclosure: This is a sponsored post as part of the Costco Recipe Challenge. As always, all opinions are my own.
