Slow Cooker Asian BBQ Ribs

In honor of Frank Underwood's love of BBQ ribs and the season 2 premiere of "House of Cards", I figured I should celebrate Valentine's Day by making some delicious ribs.

I saw this recipe online and knew it was perfect.  I wanted something a little bit different from regular BBQ ribs and this recipe sounded amazing.  In this write up, I added my tweaks to it.  They turned out really, really well.  I think next time I'll amp up the spiciness by either adding some Sriracha or subbing a bit of the ketchup with more sweet chili sauce.  While the sauce takes a bit of futzing at the end, it is so worth it.  The sauce makes it, my friends.

Ready to feast on ribs and binge on House of Cards.

 

Slow Cooker Asian BBQ Ribs

 3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchip
3 Tbsp rice vinegar (or any type)
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
 4 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece of ginger, chopped, or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
5 lbs pork ribs
(plus 2 Tbsp cornstarch for finishing the sauce)

In the slow cooker, mix together all the sauce ingredients (this is everything except the ribs).  Add the meat and rub it all around, marinate at least a few hours in the fridge (overnight is great).  After marinating, cook on low for 6-8 hours.

After cooking, remove ribs and place on pan lined with foil, leaving sauce in cooker.  You may let the sauce settle a few minutes and try to skim off some of the fat.  Transfer sauce to saucepan on stove over medium heat.

Mix together the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water until smooth.  Pour into the sauce and stir.  Heat to bubbling and let boil for 1 minute to thicken sauce.  Slather ribs with sauce and put under the broiler to crisp up a bit.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

I've been on a slow cooker kick.  It's just so easy and it makes such delicious stuff.  However, after eating an entire week's worth of crock pot chili, I needed something completely different.  I've made this recipe before and found it to be an excellent way to have some crock pot chicken with Asian flair.  It makes a lot of sauce so I always serve it with rice to sop it up.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
serves 6

3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
1 onion, minced
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I found this amount to result in essentially zero heat. Add more or serve with hot sauce.)
4 teaspoons cornstarch
Sesame seeds and green onion for garnish

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in slow cooker.  Add onion.

2. Combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oils, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes and whisk together.  Pour over chicken thighs.

3. Cook on low heat for 4 hours (probably around 2 on high).

4. Remove chicken from slow cooker and transfer to plate and cover with foil.

5. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water and add to sauce in slow cooker.  Stir and cook for an additional 20 minutes on high heat.

6. Return chicken to sauce, or serve with rice and drizzle sauce on top.  Garnish with sesame seeds and green onion. 

Slow cooker chili

What's this?  The founder of the Nookery is back with an all new post?  The recent resurgence has inspired me.  Britta's most recent post on Paula Deen chili and the cooling weather has also inspired me to make some chili.  Here's my version for the crock pot!

This recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen which I love more than any other cooking source.  The only gripe is that some of their recipes are a little more "futzy" than others.  However, those extra steps often result in some amazing eats.  The advantage of making chili in the slow cooker is that it involves a lot of hands-off time.  You get it going and then wait all afternoon and then eat some delicious chili.  I can't really vouch for this, but my reasoning also tells me that chili and stews taste better the longer they sit (leftovers are more awesome than the original), so my assumption was that a chili cooking for 6-7 hours is going to get this added benefit.

Anyways, an easy chili that tasted awesome.  My chili powder is on the spicy side so my chili was packing some pleasant heat.  I also made some no-knead sandwich bread to eat with it - also amazing and will be its own post.

Finally, this made a boatload of chili.  This was my goal.  For the recent past I've been super lazy.  My mom gave me a bunch of soups frozen in quart sized containers.  I've been extremely spoiled when I don't know what to eat for dinner and just pull out a soup.  I wanted to make a bunch of chili and store some away for later.

Slow-Cooker Weeknight Chili
serves 6-8
prep time 30 min
cook time 6-7 hours low, 4-5 high

2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1/4 cup chili powder (I used 2 Tbsp chili powder and 2 Tbsp "Chili 9000" from Penzey's Spices)
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds (85% lean) ground beef (the recipe states this is important, too lean beef will be tough and dry after so much cooking)
1 28-oz can tomato puree
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
2 15.5-oz cans red kidney beans, rinsed (I used one can each of pinto and light red kidney beans)

1. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.  Add onions, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 15 seconds.

2. Add beef and increase heat to medium high.  Cook, breaking up the beef, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in tomato puree and diced tomatoes with their juice, scraping up browned bits.  Bring to simmer and pour into slow cooker.

4. Cover and cook, either on low (6-7 hours) or high (4-5 hours) until meat is tender.  Stir in beans during last hour of cooking.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I should add, I used 80% lean beef because it was on sale and way cheaper at the store.  To accommodate for this, I browned it in a different pan, removed some of the fat and then finished cooking in the other pan.  Unlike Britta's recipe, two pounds of beef was good here.  The slow cooker keeps things moist and liquidy so it worked.

Slow Cooker Roast Chicken with Gravy

I've been cooking and baking up a storm this weekend!  It all started when Hy-Vee had whole chickens for super cheap, so I bought a couple with the idea that I'd roast one this weekend for dinner.  Now, fall is in the air but it's still rather warm here in Missouri and I didn't want to have my oven going that much.  Slow cooker to the rescue!  I roasted a whole turkey breast in the slow cooker a few months back and it turned out pretty awesome so I figured I could do the same thing with a chicken.  Now, I didn't really follow a recipe so you change this up as you see fit.

First things first, if you're going to cook a bird, you should really brine that sucker.  Brining is a magical process that tenderizes the bird and keeps it unbelievably juicy.  And it helps with the cooking part too - you know how overcooked poultry can get pretty dry and tough?  Well, the brine is sort of an insurance policy, you can overcook the bird a little bit but it still stays moist and tender.  My family does this for our Thanksgiving turkey and it turns out great.  It's important to note that you should never brine a kosher bird or one that has salt additives (Butterball usually does).  Just double check the package and make sure that there's no salt added, otherwise brining is going to make it way too salty.  Anyways, brining a chicken is super easy and you really have no excuse for not doing it.  I used a simple brine from America's Test Kitchen for a 3-4 pound whole chicken: 2 quarts cold water, 1/2 cup table salt, 1/2 cup sugar.  You dissolve the sugar and salt in the water, submerge the bird, refrigerate for 1/2-1 hour (don't overdo it, otherwise it'll get salty) and that's it.  Once you're ready to cook, rinse that bird off and pat dry.  Now if you're doing something other than a whole chicken, make sure you find an appropriate brine recipe (and brining time) for it.

So I brined my bird, rinsed and dried.  Since I was going to cook it in the crockpot, I took off the skin of the chicken.  Why?  For many reasons, 1. it's just healthier, 2. since it's in the crockpot, it'll stay moist without the skin, 3. also because it's in the crockpot, the skin won't brown and soggy skin is unappealing, and 4. all that extra fat would just pool in the bottom of my crockpot and I just didn't want that.  After I skinned the chicken, I rubbed it down with a spice mixture - basically things in my spice cabinet that I thought would be good.  In the bottom of my crockpot I put some celery, onion, and carrots to both lift the chicken off the bottom and to flavor the juices (I'll make a sauce with it when I'm done).  The chicken goes in, breast side down and it's ready to go.  No water, no liquid, no nothing.  Trust me.  Put it on low for about 6 hours.  It's a good thing to check the temperature of the chicken after maybe 5 hours, some slow cookers are a bit faster than others (mine was done at 5 hours).


I took my chicken out, it was a little tricky since it was almost to the point of falling-apart tender.  I let it rest to keep the juices in and to let it cool down a bit.  If you want to be all fancy, you can go ahead and carve this thing, but I went with the "pick the meat off with my tongs/hands" route.  It was pretty easy since the meat just popped off the bone.  Once you get all that meat off, save that carcass.  Seriously, a bunch of chicken bones with a little bit of meat on them is an excellent starter for homemade chicken broth.  I plan on making my own broth, also in the slow cooker, tomorrow.  I'm going to go all circle of life on this chicken - roast chicken, chicken broth, broth for soup.

Along with all the bones, what you should also use is the drippings.  You can make some easy gravy with it.  Now, if you have a fat separator, you're in good shape.  If you're like me and don't have one, just put the drippings and fat in a measuring cup and put it in the fridge.  Later, you'll take about 1 cup of the juices (or more) plus about 1 tablespoon of that fat.  You cook the fat with a little bit of flour or cornstarch (about 1 tablespoon thickener to every tablespoon fat) until it browns.  Then add your drippings, whisk, and heat until you've got yourself some gravy!

Pulled Pork Banh Mi

Last night, I had Seaniella over for dinner to celebrate Daniella's birthday. I'd been craving a banh mi (a.k.a. amazing Vietnamese sandwich), but my Vietnamese restaurant plans kept falling through (curse the unpredictable schedules of law school folk!) So I decided to attempt a banh mi on my own. And holy crap, was I pleased with the result. Daniella had never had a banh mi before, but when she bit into the sandwich, her reaction was: "Where has this been all my life?" That praise was probably more directed at the amazingness of banh mi sandwiches in general, but I'd like to think a small part of it was this recipe. It's an amalgamation of three different recipes I found online and in magazines, so I'm going to call it a "Britta Original." Sort of. Anyway, it may seem like a lot of work, but it's well worth it. Be careful, it's a wee bit spicy!


To Assemble Sandwich: Bread + Mayo + Cucumber + Meat + Pickled Veggies + Cilantro + Jalapeño

Serve with Cool Spicy Cucumbers with Peanuts & Lime. Delicious, primarily because I heart peanuts. The recipe can be found here: http://familystylefood.com/2011/06/cool-spicy-cucumbers-with-peanuts-lime/

Misc. Ingredients
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise (1/4” inch on mandoline)
• 10 large cilantro sprigs
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and thinly sliced
• 4 (8-inch) baguettes, split and grilled
NOTE: I used bolillo rolls (1 per person). I cut them in half, placed them cut-side down on a baking sheet, and baked them at 350° for 10 minutes in the lower third of the oven to make them toasty!

Meat
• 2/3 cup Asian fish sauce
• 1 cup fresh lime juice (about 8 limes)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 red Thai chiles, thinly sliced (*if necessary, substitute 4 red jalapenos)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into chunks if necessary to fit in slow cooker
In the bowl of the slow cooker, whisk the fish sauce with the lime juice, sugar, garlic, Thai chiles, and salt. Add the pork, tossing to coat. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Remove pork from slow cooker. Shred pork using 2 forks. Return pork to slow cooker and toss with sauce. When serving, use tongs or a slotted spoon to avoid having a super soggy sandwich.

Mayo
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong)
Combine all ingredients. Chill for a few hours to let the flavors marry.

Pickled Veggies
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper
• 3 large carrots, julienned (*or a bag of matchstick carrots)
• 1/4 pound daikon radish, julienned (*if necessary, substitute red radish, sliced 1/8” thick on mandoline)
In a small saucepan, bring the water, vinegar, sugar, salt, and crushed red pepper to a boil. Transfer the brine to a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Add the carrots and daikon and cover to keep them submerged. Refrigerate the vegetables for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days. Watch out - these pickled veggies are addictive!

Thai-Style Pork

I'll admit, I haven't been cooking a lot of new recipes recently, but I've not posted any of the new recipes I have tried. I shall remedy this now.

The following recipe comes from Taste of Home magazine. It's full of homey, simple recipes. Good stuff. What really caught my eye was 1) peanuts and 2) slow cooker. I love peanuts and peanut butter. Love, love, love. It would be a tragedy if I ever have a kid/husband that is severely allergic to peanuts. I think I would have to resort to disappearing every so often, eating my fill of peanuts/peanut butter, decontaminating myself and then returning home like nothing happened. I love that stuff. My love also extends to the slow cooker. Turning meat into tender, juicy delights!

So I've made this recipe twice. The first time I followed other people's suggestions and doubled the sauce ingredients. It was tasty stuff; perhaps a little too much sauce, but it was delicious so I couldn't complain. This go-round I stuck with the recipe; I kind of wish there was more sauce so it's sort of damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't. In my opinion, be damned and do. Do make double sauce.

I also took pictures this time, too. I realized that back when I wasn't being lazy and not posting, I was being lazy and not talking pictures. Remedy #2.

What I really like about this slow cooker recipe is that prep time is basically 10 minutes. You don't have to brown the pork chops. I also added some sliced baby carrots because I had them and it seemed like a good idea. Chops, (carrots), and some bottled teriyaki sauce, vinegar (I used white wine vinegar because I don't have rice vinegar), red pepper ,and garlic go into the slow cooker.

After 6 hours take out the meat. That delicious, delicious, falling apart meat. The sauce goes into a saucepan and there's some thickening (the recipe says cornstarch, I don't own any so I used flour) and peanut butter-ing that happens.

Pour sauce over meat and eat. I'd serve it over rice, if you're creative, go ahead and think of something else. I like my rice and my peanut pork.


Thai-Style Pork

2 pounds boneless pork loin chops
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
Hot cooked rice
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
Lime juice, optional

1. Place pork chops in a 3-qt. slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the teriyaki sauce, vinegar, pepper flakes and garlic; pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until meat is tender.

2. Remove pork and cut into bite-size pieces; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in peanut butter; add meat.

3. Serve with rice. Sprinkle with onions and peanuts. Drizzle with lime juice if desired.

Yield: 6 servings.

Cuban-Style Pork Tacos

Dear Crock Pot,

I love you.

This recipe easily got a gold star. That's what happens when you marinate a roast overnight and then slow cook it for ten hours. I'd made a carnitas crock-pot recipe before, but this blew it out of the water. If you're in a taco mood, please try this recipe. I predict you will be happy.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup grapefruit juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast
1 large onion, sliced

Directions:

For marinade: In a small bowl combine lime juice, water, grapefruit juice, garlic, oregano, salt, cumin, pepper, and bay leaves.

Trim fat from meat. If necessary, cut roast to fit into crock pot. With a large fork, pierce meat in several places. Place in a large plastic bag set in a deep bowl or a baking dish. Pour marinade over meat. Close bag. Chill in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Place onion slices in a 3-1/2 to 5 quart crock pot. Top with roast and marinade mixture. Cover; cook on LOW heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or on HIGH heat setting for 5 to 6 hours.

Transfer meat to a cutting board; cool slightly. Skim fat from juices; keep warm. Remove bay leaves; discard. Use 2 forks to gently separate the meat into shreds. Transfer shredded meat to a serving platter. With a slotted spoon, remove onions from juices. Transfer onions to same serving platter.

Serve meat and onions in tortillas with lettuce, lime wedges, salsa, sour cream, etc.

Barbeque Pulled Pork

HyVee had a sale on pork shoulder (99 cents a pound!) and I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for. This is another recipe from the crock-pot cookbook my Mom has (the one with Curried Split Pea Soup).

I didn't want to buy too much for this recipe so I made some substitutions. This mostly occurred in the spice rub department. Also, I don't know about anyone else, but I enjoy trimming meat and rubbing it. Trimming the fat off a big hunk of meat is kind of entertaining, it becomes a challenge of trying to get off as much fat but not taking off actual meat. And as for the rubbing, you're rubbing pure flavor into a hunk of meat. It's like a flavor massage.

For my spice rub, I used a collection of things I thought would taste good (Von Hanson's Special Spice, chili powder, brown sugar, black pepper).

In my crock-pot, I layered the bottom with onions, added some BBQ sauce and chicken broth. Then on top of that tasty mess I placed my hunk of meat.

After 8 hours on low, I was seriously excited.

The recipe says to only keep 1 cup of the onions. I couldn't really tell where the onions were since the meat was falling apart and I figured those onions were basically pork-flavored so I kept whatever I found. The meat shredded itself (with a little help from my tongs) and I mixed in the remaining BBQ sauce.

Now, other cooks might have really cute catch-phrases and such (Rachel Ray = yummo), I happen to channel the Kool-Aid Man and just say, "Oh yeah!" in that voice. I think I said, "Oh yeah!" about five times when I was saucing the meat. Oh my goodness, it was good. Just the right amount of sauce, juicy and crock-pot tender. I hope it freezes well because I have a lot of "Oh yeah!" goodness.

Barbeque Pulled Pork
Makes 10 cups meat, cooking time 5-6 hours on high, 7-8 on low

Spice rub:
2 tbsp each kosher salt, brown sugar, and chili powder
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Meat:
5 lbs. pork shoulder roast, trimmed
2 onions, sliced
3/4 cup purchased BBQ sauce
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1. Combine salt, brown sugar, chili powder, black pepper, oregano and cayenne for the spice rub.

2. Rub pork shoulder with all of the spice mixture to coat. Place onions, 1/4 cup BBQ sauce and broth in a 6-7 quart slow cooker; stirring to combine; top with pork. Cover; cook until pork is fork-tender, on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

3. Transfer to pork to a platter along with 1 cup cooked onions; discard remaining contents of slow cooker. Using two forks, shred pork. Return pork and onions to slow cooker. Add remaining 1/2 cup BBQ sauce to slow cooker; toss pork to coat with sauce.

Curried Split Pea Soup

My mom got a new crock-pot this Christmas which translated into me getting her old crock-pot. She also got a crock-pot cookbook and I saw this recipe in it. I was excited to try this out for many reasons: 1) I wanted to try out my new crock-pot, 2) I have leftover Christmas ham in the freezer and need ways to use it, 3) I have a fondness for split pea soup, and 4) this recipe adds curry to the soup. My first experience with split pea soup was at a coffee shop near the U of M and it was a sort of curry-like soup and I really liked it. I was hoping this recipe would add some flair to split pea soup and remind me of the first time I had it (and really, really liked it).

I always feel like I don't eat enough vegetables so it was a nice change of pace to buy a whole bunch of veggies at the store. The recipe calls for yellow split peas, the store only had green and I don't know if there's any difference.

The night before I chopped all the veggies, rinsed and picked the peas over for small stones (none found) and chopped the ham in small pieces. I wanted to do very little work early in the morning and in either case, it wasn't a whole lot of effort. In the morning I just dumped the veggies, peas, ham and spices into the crock-pot and gave it a quick stir to mix (morning effort: less than 5 minutes).

I then added my chicken broth and water and was set. I cooked it at low for about 8 hours. I wanted my peas to be mushy and thicken the soup more than be tangible peas.

After 8 hours, my soup was ready. I ate it with a bread roll. An easy supper. And I know it doesn't look pretty; it's pea soup, what do you expect?

Verdict? A really good, easy soup. I might make some more at a later date. The curry flavor was not too strong and it added some flair to the soup. It was also nice because it's a thicker soup (I'm not a huge fan of broth soups as they don't feel very filling) but still pretty healthy (unlike creamy soups). I think the next time around, I might add some cubed potatoes because it would have been a nice addition.


Curried Split Pea Soup
Makes 4 servings (5 cups), cooking time: 4-5 hours on high, 6-8 on low

1 lb. dried yellow split peas, rinsed and picked over for stones
1 lb. cooked ham, diced (2 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1 fresh thyme spring
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp each kosher salt and black pepper
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 cups water
2 Tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves

1. Combine peas, ham, onion, carrots, celery, thyme sprig, curry powder, garlic, salt and pepper in a 3-4 quart slow cooker; add chicken broth and water.

2. Cover soup; cook until peas are tender, high heat for 4-5 hours or low heat for 6-8 hours. Remove thyme sprig. Mash peas to thicken soup, if desired. Stir in minced thyme leaves.

BBQ Brisket Sandwiches

My quest to imbue the Cookery Nookery with meat continues. Once again, from the slow-cooker cookbook, please welcome to the stage...BBQ Brisket Sandwiches!

(Again, I didn't take pictures while cooking, but this is the actual photo from the cookbook. Ooh, authentic!)

Ingredients:

• 1 (3-pound) beef brisket (I couldn't find brisket at Rainbow at 7:00 in the morning, so I used a cheap hunk of roast and was sure to trim off the fat. It worked just fine and dandy.)
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced and divided
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle chili sauce
• 1/2 cup light beer
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced, or 1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
  
• 12 (1 oz) slices barbecue bread with sesame seeds, toasted (I just used bakery buns. I sliced them, brushed them with butter, toasted them a bit, and served the sandwiches open-faced to allow for heaping servings of meat.)

Recipe:
1. Cut brisket into 4 pieces. Dredge pieces in flour, reserving any remaining flour.

2. Place half of onion in a 4-qt electric slow cooker and top with beef. Sprinkle with reserved flour, pepper, and salt. Arrange remaining half of onion over beef. (When I made it, I only used half of an onion because my mom detests onions. So if you follow the recipe, your beef will probably be even more flavorful.)

3. Combine chili sauce and next 4 ingredients, stir well. Pour over beef mixture. Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour. Reduce heat to LOW, and cook 7 to 8 hours or until beef is tender. Remove beef with a slotted spoon. Replace cooker lid.

4. Shred beef with 2 forks, return beef to cooker, stirring well. Spoon beef mixture over toasted bread.

Result? This recipe is probably going to become one of my staples. The meat was unbelievably tender and I really liked the sauce - it was light and had a nice flavor. It wasn't too thick or gloppy. The leftovers reheated well, and we ate them spooned over a bed of mashed potatoes. Yum. I wonder if this recipe would work with a pork roast or some chicken...hm...perhaps that will be a post for another day!

Fall-Apart Pork Chops & Gravy

Okay you crazy Betty Crockers, it's time to get some savory up in here. I've had fun using my new slow-cooker cookbook that I got for Christmas, and it has produced some tasty dinners. Here's the first thing I made...

(I didn't actually take pictures while making it, so enjoy this internet photo of what it generally looks like)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided (I used olive oil, just use whatever you have on hand)
• 6 (6 oz) bone-in center-cut loin pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick), trimmed
• 1 (14 oz) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups hot cooked mashed potatoes
• Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Recipe:
1. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large skilled over medium-high heat. Add 3 chops, cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned (mine took way longer than 2 minutes, but perhaps my heat was too low). Place chops in a 4.5 quart electric slow cooker. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and chops.

2. Combine broth, mustard, salt, and garlic powder. Pour broth mixture over chops in cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 6 hours or until chops are tender. Remove chops from cooker, reserving cooking liquid. Keep chops warm (I stuck them in a 250 degree oven) and increase slow cooker heat to HIGH.

3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, level with a knife. Combine flour and 1 cup cooking liquid, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Stir flour mixture into cooking liquid in cooker. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally. Serve gravy over chops and potatoes. Sprinkle with pepper, if desired.

Result? The bones fell out, I couldn't remove the chops from the Crock Pot without them falling apart, and they were so tender you could cut them with a fork. I had to tweak the gravy a bit and add some extra water as I whisked, but it turned out really creamy and delicious. Super easy recipe with tasty results - I highly recommend it!

Red Wine Beef fail (and then for the win!)

This recipe was a culinary adventure. Let me start from the beginning. I have been saving up my Coke reward points for quite some time (one 20 oz. bottle at a time!) and finally had enough for a subscription to Everyday Food. My first issue arrived a week ago and I found the best section ever: Cheap Cuts Made Great. That's right, cheap cuts of meat turned delicious. I originally wanted to do apple-braised turkey thighs (and one day I will!) but I couldn't find turkey thighs at the store. So I did recipe number two: red wine braised beef brisket. I have a bottle of red wine that I keep for cooking purposes so this recipe seemed perfect. I bought most of the ingredients (subbing an onion for the shallots as shallots are expensive) but when it came time for the actual execution, I had the "bright" idea of using my 3-in-1 rice cooker/steamer/crock pot. I mean, it's good as a rice cooker, good as a steamer...I wanted to try out its crock pot functions. So I modified the recipe using the instruction manual/recipe book that came with the device (the recipe was beef in red wine with onions). Get ready for a failure...then a win!

Here's the ingredients, I used beef brisket as that was my original recipe intention. I also had some leftover carrots that I threw in (and eventually some leftover frozen peas). My mom used to always to do this, sort of follow a recipe and then just start adding things. It used to drive me nuts. And now I find myself doing it...must be genetic.

So for veggies, I used one rather large onion (HyVee apparently only sells gigantic (or as I named it, Gigantore!!!!) onions), three carrots and about nine cloves of garlic.

I trimmed my 2 1/2 pound chunk of beef brisket of excess fat and cut it into big ol' meaty chunks.


I took a picture of this gorgeous example of wine opening. I didn't know how to a "waiter-style" corkscrew before and my first attempt resulted in me using a butter knife to slowly carve the cork out. I looked it up on youtube, and viola! My subsequent attempts make me look cultured.

Back to the actual cooking, meat chunks get browned. And that pan is way overcrowded (which violates rule number one of properly browned meat: don't over crowd the pan). I was just too lazy to split it into two batches.

Improperly browned meat.

I put the meat into the crock pot and then cooked the veggies in the beef pan remnants. The smell...as the Kool-Aid man says, "Oh yeah!"

In goes the wine, it made everything look rather purple. Like I was cooking with grape Kool-Aid (Oh yeah!).

The instruction/recipe booklet told me to bring it to boiling and then put it into the crock pot. This turned out to be a mistake, I will explain later.

I left it in the crock pot for seven hours, adding frozen peas in the last ten minutes. This is what I got. It kind of looked the same, a little less purple, but not that great.

Close-up of the questionable beef.

Verdict? It was a fail. And by fail, I mean it was not very tender chunks of beef in wine. Not wine sauce, straight up wine. I took a bite and exclaimed in a Borat voice (not sure why it came out this way), "Very boozy!" I was sorely disappointed.


But wait! There's more! I blamed my failure on my crock pot/steamer/rice cooker. Two out of three ain't bad, but I wanted to salvage my beef. So I stuck it all back on the stove and boiled off all that alcohol. I simmered it for about 15 minutes and added a couple tablespoons of flour to thicken the gravy. Then I put a lid on it and stuck it in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. Result? For the win, my beef was saved!

And it was pretty darn delicious and that meat was tender. Like a glorified beef stew. And man, that red wine gravy was delicious!


I give you the recipe from Everyday Food, not the horrible idea from the instruction manual.

Red Wine Braised Beef Brisket

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 1/2 pounds beef brisket, cut into 3-inch pieces
salt and pepper
8 shallots, halved
6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
3 cups dry red wine (in a crock pot, you'd use less as liquids don't evaporate as much)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Season brisket with salt and pepper; in batches cook, turning occasionally, until dark brown on all sides, about 20 minutes total. Transfer brisket to a plate and discard fat from pot. Return pot to heat and add 2 teaspoons oil and shallots; cook, stirring, until shallots are browned, 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute.

Add wine and simmer rapidly until reduced by three-fourths, about 15 minutes. Return beef to pot and add just enough water to cover meat (5 to 6 cups). Bring to a boil, cover, then place pot in oven. Cook until beef is tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Recipe of the Week - Crock Pot Carnitas

I found this recipe in people magazine under the heading "Dinner for Four, Under $10!" Then I saw the words "Slow Cooker," and I was sold. Plus, it uses common ingredients that don't test my knowledge of where to find things in Rainbow. I had a hard enough time locating the "Pork Shoulder/Boston Butt" in the meat section. But I got a $10 hunk of meat for $5! Hello bargains!

Pork Carnitas Tacos

• 1-1/2 lbs. pork shoulder (Boston Butt), cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces.
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 large onion, cut into 4 pieces
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin(Note: That piece of meat is actually over three pounds...I cut it in half for this recipe and froze the rest. Ah, cheap meat. I'm amazed by the Crock Pot's ability to turn crappy meat into falling apart goodness.)

Recipe:
1. Toss pork in bowl of slow cooker with salt, black pepper, dried oregano, and cumin. Place onion pieces and garlic cloves on top of the pork.
2. Cover slow cooker and cook on low setting for 6 hours or until meat is very tender and falling apart. 3. Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to cutting board. Discard onion and garlic pieces. Using fingers (or if you're me and don't like to get dirty, use two forks), shred pork and transfer onto a platter.Oh yeah, that's some tasty meat. I warmed some corn tortillas and added the meat and some lettuce. I also whipped up some salsa rice as a side. It made a great meal and I had the leftovers throughout the week. And while it was cooking, the condo smelled fantastic all day.While it's not something I'm so proud of that I'd serve it to company, it is a good recipe to have on hand. Only a few ingredients, toss it in the Crock Pot, and then forget about it until you're hungry. Then leftovers. Who could ask for anything more?

Recipe of the Week - Rich Squash Casserole

Hello friends! Here's my recipe of the week, courtesy of Family Circle Magazine. I got to use my crock pot!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1-1/4 teaspoons dried basil
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon each salt and black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 package (8 ounces) sliced mushrooms
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 large summer squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 2 large zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick

See that block of cheese? That's $10 worth of cheese. I found that to be absurd, but I went with it. I popped a piece in my mouth to see what all the fuss was about, and wow, that's some tasty cheese. Although once it was all melted in the recipe, I couldn't taste its special-ness. I probably could have used regular swiss and gotten the same result.

Recipe

1. Stir together Gruyère, ricotta, bread crumbs, cornstarch, basil, 3/4 teaspoon of the thyme and 1/2 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper; set aside.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onion; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 teaspoon thyme and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cover; cook 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Photographed in their pre-cooked state. Oh, and I used Jennifer's "fan" tip when chopping the onion. Worked like a charm!)

3. Coat slow cooker with cooking spray. Layer 1/3 of the squash in bottom. Add 1 cup mushroom mixture over squash; sprinkle 2/3 cup ricotta mixture on top. Layer with another 1/3 of squash, the rest of the mushrooms and another 2/3 cup of ricotta mixture. Place remaining squash and ricotta mixture on top. (It's ready to go! It's like a little crock pot veggie lasagna!)

4. Cover; cook for 2 hours on HIGH or 4 hours on LOW. Serve immediately.

I did the two hours on high and then spooned some into a little bowl for my dinner. It's pretty tasty, and my favorite part is that it keeps/reheats well, so I've been enjoying it all week. Also, it uses pretty standard ingredients, the only thing I had to buy was the cheese and the veggies.

I'm on the fence about keeping this recipe in my recipe book. I want my collection to be populated with things that are remarkably delicious, things that will become my "trademark" recipes, if you will. This recipe wasn't out-of-this-world, but it's so darn practical with the reheating. Hm...the jury is still out on this one...but for now, the recipe is spared from the garbage can. And I still have one serving left in my fridge!