Susan's Spicy Sausage Cheese Dip

2 blocks cream cheese
1 lb Jimmy Dean hot pork sausage
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can sliced black olives

Cook sausage on the stove. Remove from the pan and set aside. Melt cream cheese in the pan. Add sausage back in along with tomatoes and olives. Serve immediately or transfer to a crock pot to keep warm. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 cup chicken stock or broth

1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon salt, plus more as needed

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 pounds boneless pork shoulder or butt

Place the onions and garlic in an even layer in the slow cooker and pour in the stock or broth. Combine the sugar, chili powder, measured salt, cumin, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork and place the meat on top of the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.

Turn off the slow cooker and remove the pork to a cutting board. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the onion mixture from the slow cooker through the strainer and return the solids to the slow cooker. Set the strained liquid aside.

Using 2 forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker. Use a spoon to skim and discard the fat from the surface of the strained cooking liquid, and then add 1/4 cup of the liquid at a time to the slow cooker until the pork is just moistened. Taste and season with salt as needed. Top with barbecue sauce and cole slaw. Serve on buns if desired.

12+ servings

From Chow.com

Slow-Roasted Orange Pork

1 (6-7 pound) boneless pork shoulder or Boston butt, well marbles
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp  ground allspice
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbs salt
6 cloves garlic, thinnly sliced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-1/3 cups orange juice, divided
1.5 cups dry red wine, divided

2 Tbs fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs olive oil
2 thin-skinned oranges, thinly sliced

Three days before cooking, make deep cuts into the roast. Combine cloves, allspice, coriander, pepper, cinnamon, salt, garlic, oil, 2/3 cup orange juice and 1/2 cup of wine. Smear mixture all over roast, stuffing spices and garlic into the cuts. Put in a bag or container with extra marinade and refrigerate for 3 days, turning several times.

Day of cooking:
Remove meat from fridge and preheat oven to 400 F. Puree rosemary, onion, oil and salt. Spread over meat, stuffing into cuts. Put the roast into a shalow pan (such as a 9x13x2 or a half sheet pan) with the fat side up and scrape any remaining marinade over the meat. Lay orange slices over the roast and roast for 30 min.

Pour the remaining wine and orange juice over the roast, reduce temp to 325 F and roast 90 min, basting over 20-30 min. Once meat reaches 145-150 F, reduce heat to 200 F for another 30 min, or until internal temperature is 155-160 F. Remove from oven and let rest for 10-15 min before slicing.

Thinly slice pork and drizzle with pan juices. Serve along side roasted potatoes and salad.

Barbecued Pork and Apple Kababs

1/2 cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for grill
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds (about 1 1/2 inches each) pork tenderloin, halved lengthwise and cut into 16 cubes
1 medium red onion, cut into 8 wedges
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
Heat grill to medium-high. Make the sauce: In a large bowl, combine jam, vinegar, tomato paste, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Assemble 4 long skewers, alternating 4 pork cubes with 2 onion wedges and 2 apple wedges on each (begin with pork and end with apple). Roll skewers in remaining tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly oil grates. Place skewers on grill; cover grill, and cook, turning occasionally, until grill marks are visible, 6 to 8 minutes.

Open grill; baste skewers with some sauce, and cook, turning skewers and basting occasionally with more sauce, until pork is no longer pink in the center and is nicely glazed, 4 to 8 minutes more.

Serves 4.

{From Martha Stewart}

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

3-4 lb. boneless pork roast
2 T. cajun seasoning
2 medium onions, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
3 C beef broth
1 bottle BBQ sauce
honey to taste


Trim as much fat off pork as possible. Sprinkle cajun seasoning on all sides of pork and rub in. Put pork, onions, garlic, and broth in slow cooker and cook on high for 5-6 hours.

Turn temperature down to warm. Leaving pork in the slow cooker, strain out onions and drain out liquid. Break pork apart with a spoon. Add BBQ sauce and honey and stir together. Warm for another hour or so and serve on buns.

8-12 servings