Pork Roast: Cheater Chili Verde

I had a pork roast in the freezer that I defrosted because I’m trying to empty this old inefficient freezer I have in the garage. I knew it was inefficient when I got it but I was tempted by “free” (in that the freezer itself was free). I definitely saw the PG&E bill go up but I’ve been enjoying have the extra space. In a perfect world, what I’d really like is a second refrigerator/freezer combo in the garage. I run out of fridge space as often as I run out of freezer space–and if the kids could skate in and grab a cold drink rather than having to come in the house all the better! But a new efficient one is not in the budget at the moment and this old inefficient one is no longer in the budget either, especially with the predicted 70% increase in energy costs!

So I had pulled out the last of the “big meats” in there to cook. (Anyone want a free inefficient freezer?) The day was filled with chores and errands so I thought a crockpot recipe would be good. A few different ones caught my eye. I ended up deciding to go with one that had basically a cup of Worcestershire sauce added to the roast and then a cup of brown sugar pressed onto the roast. Recipes with Worcestershire sauce always catch my eye. (See Worcestershire Chicken, Worcestershire Shrimp, and my new favorite meatloaf.)

These new crockpots cook too hot and you cannot trust the old recipes. I kept an eye on it and periodically lifted the lid to let some heat escape–a definite no-no on the old ones but almost a necessity on this new one, which tends to spit liquids out it gets so hot.

Normally the slow cooker provides an aroma that increases my appetite. We had a big lunch today, though, at In and Out Burger, and I was still not hungry by the time I needed to figure out the rest of the meal. Somehow, big slices of meat just wasn’t doing it for me. I pulled the roast out of the crockpot and picked out the bones. I was ready to figure out some lighter dinner, thinking fried rice when I thought about chili verde. I could hardly repeat my earlier chili verde experience, which required raw meat and a bit more time. But I decided to throw some of the cooked meat back in with some green salsa and garlic salt and water and let it simmer a bit. I was worried that the Worcestershire/brown sugar combo would be too sweet, but in fact it started smelling awfully good as the meat simmered in the green salsa.

I heated up a can of refried beans and grated some Cheddar cheese. I heated up some flour tortillas in my microwave thingy that does such a great job.

Onto each tortilla, I spread some beans, topped them with a bit of cheese, put some cheater chili verde on it, then topped with some sour cream and chopped tomatoes.

Mmmmmm. The girls were both thrilled with dinner and I even ate a bit, minus the tortillas, because it smelled so good.