Slow Cooked Pork and Kumara (Sweet Potato)

Winter was having a final kick down here, and pork was on special at the supermarket, so it was time for some filling crock-pot action.

This recipe is amazingly simple, and although it takes forever to cook, almost all of that time involves the crock-pot bubbling away on its own, so it is actually very quick in terms of time spent.

Ingredients

3lbs (1.5kg) of kumara or sweet potatoes
4lbs (2kg) pork shoulder roast
1 bulb of garlic
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
You will also need a couple of tablespoons of white flour, or some cornflour or arrowroot to thicken the gravy.

Overview

(10 minutes) Prepare the kumara
(5 minutes) Stab the pork and stuff garlic cloves into the holes
(1 minute) Season
(0 minutes) Slow cook (crock-pot) overnight
(10 minutes) Make the gravy
Serve

Peel the kumara and then chop into fairly big chunks.

Layer these at the bottom of the crock pot, keeping a handful in reserve to go around the joint.

Peel the garlic cloves and pat the meat dry with a paper towel.

Using a sharp pointed knife, make short stab cuts into the meat.

Push a garlic clove into each hole.

Drizzle Worcestershire sauce all over the meat.

Sprinkle with the ground pepper and salt.

Put in the crockpot, making sure that the lid will close (hence why some of the kumara had to be put by the side).

Turn on the crock and leave it overnight.

When everything is cooked (which was eighteen hours in this case as I was out of the house), carefully lift the meat out and put it on a plate.

Cover the joint with kitchen foil and leave to rest.

Pour the kumara into a colander over a bowl, to separate the sweet potatoes from the liquid which has come out of the meat.

Pour the liquid into a saucepan, add two tablespoons of white flour.

Mix with a stick blender and simmer for a few minutes to thicken.

Mash the kumara (which will not take much effort after cooking for eighteen hours) and carve the meat.