New Crockpot recipe

Sometimes our neighborhood grocery store is out of products - it's doesn't have the same stocking practices as some of the large chains in the U.S. so when it's out, you have to find an alternative for dinner. (It also keeps you coming back to the store on an almost daily basis, those sneaky people!)

Anyway, I was planning to do something chicken related for dinner and when I arrived at our Reve, it was completely out. As an alternate, I chose two packages of pork filets, already cut up and looking super pretty. I decided that I would simmer them in the crock pot in order to make some nice shredded pork for BBQ, a Mexican dish, or maybe as part of an Asian stir fry.

I'd heard about cooking with coke or even root beer, and decided to take it a step further and picked up a liter bottle of Mezzo Mix, which is a cola-orange soda hybrid that's pretty common in Germany. (For my U.S. readers, according to Wikipedia they have it at Wegmans in the international aisle if you are interested in checking it out. It's pretty tasty).

After bringing it home, I trimmed all the filets (which didn't take long, it was beautiful and lean), dumped half the bottle of Mezzo Mix in my lined crock pot and placed the filets on top, pressing down so they'd get all the liquid. I set the timer for 7 hours on low and headed back downstairs to the office for homework time. (Most recipes I have for the crock pot say 8 hours on low, but I'm convinced my crock pot cooks a little hotter, especially when it's on a transformer, plus the meat was cut up instead of one big hunk).

Here's what it looked like at the start:

A few hours later, the aroma was waifting downstairs. All I could identify was pork, since the soda only served to cook, not send sweet smells around the house.

Seven hours after starting, the timer went off so I checked it out. It was done. A little too done, but nothing a smothering of BBQ sauce wouldn't fix. Next time I'll set less time. Here's the meat all falling apart:

Good stuff. Finally, here's my plate after saucing, alongside some sauteed carrots seasoned with cinnamon chipotle. Matt enjoyed his portion with cut up red onions and a melted slice of cheese on top. There was enough leftovers for another two large portions - we ended up mixing it with taco sauce, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and making burritos. It was definitely a good decision.

Soda Pulled Pork
1/2 liter (or 16.9 oz bottle) of Mezzo Mix (or Coke, Dr. Pepper, or other soda)
About 2-2.5 pounds of pork filets

1. Add soda to lined crock pot
2. Add trimmed pork to crock pot and press down gently so liquid reaches all the slices
3. Set timer for 7 hours on low (if your crock pot runs hot like mine, check it earlier to avoid the drying out)
4. Take out of crock pot and shred with a fork; add liberal amounts of BBQ sauce
5. Serve as is or on toasty buns. Or adjust to make it Mexican.