It will always be synonymous with my mom’s pepper steak, and the tool for all those "she works hard for the money" single mothers of the 80’s trying to provide a decent evening meal for their latch key kids. When I got home from school, I was supposed to make a snack to shove into my little brother’s pie hole, and make sure I stir the crock pot every half hour. (I never did.)

Recipe for spice rubbed pull-apart pork

You can sub half of the chicken stock for wine, if you want. This would be great if you were cooking a stew. You could also add some baby carrots and little potatoes. (they’re unbelievable after hours and hours in the broth). You can make it spicier, experiment with the spices (maybe cocoa, more cumin), whatever.

What you can’t do is screw it up. Unless…The only golden rule of crock pot cookery: Cook it ’til it’s done.

Sometimes a 2 1/2 to 3 pound pork shoulder will take 6 hours, and sometimes 8. So make sure to start early to give yourself some wiggle room for dinner. And never use the high setting.

Other uses: Soups and sauces (especially tomato sauces) never seem to come together until the next day. So…make it early and let it simmer in the crock pot all day.

Pairings: The smokier or spicier the pork–think about an off dry white with a bit of weight to it like some Oregon Pinot Gris or a richer German QbA wine. A Belgian Tripel ale would be the perfect match. And the beyond perfect match would be Dogfishhead’s World Wide Stout which is like mole in beer form (at 20%, you better share).