Tyler is leaving for a month! That means I am home alone, watching the dogs, minding the store, and...oh yeah...feeding myself! Normally these barren times lead to me eating crap, so I thought, what a better time to offer a contest to my dutiful readers! All you have to do is post a simple crock pot recipe that I can put in first thing in the morning and enjoy when I get home after my 12-14 hour day. It should be simple. It should come together quickly (I leave for work around 6:15 in the morning so I don't have much time). And, it should be good. Don't try to play to the audience (me) here. Give me your favorite and I'll make it. Top recipe, as judged by me, gets either a $100 gift certificate to my store* or to Amazon (we'll work out the details so you're happy). Your choice. So let's see what you've got.
*We don't have an online store yet, but let's just say that people from both New York and San Fran have said we have things they can't find in their cities. I'll work with the winner to pick out some great stuff. And yes, I will send it overseas unless you want something really heavy.
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Sammys Cafe & Deli – Albuquerque, New Mexico
1 week ago
12 comments:
Okay, I'll play.
This is super simple and can be put together the night before, but it's good. It works best in an oblong crock pot, but is okay in a round one.
Sprinkle some boneles "country style" pork ribs/fingers with your favorite seasoning. (I actually like Morton's Natures Seasons, but use whatever sounds good.) Put the ribs on one side of the crock pot.
Drain some good sauerkraut. I like Bubbie's, but Klausens or Hebrew National are okay. You want the crisp, refrigerated kind, not canned. Put the kraut on the other side of the crock pot. Sometimes I add chopped apples to the kraut.
Sprinke the kraut with a little brown sugar.
Pour a few ounces (one of those little bottles) of apple juice or some cider around the sides.
Cook on low 6-8 hours.
If your crock pot liner can go in the oven, when you get home, take the lid off and stick it in a 350 oven for a bit. This will reduce the juices and crisp up the pork.
Serve with some fruit or a baked sweet potato.
Let the games begin! This will be my dinner tomorrow night.
Spanish Rice made with brown rice so it's awesomely good for you as well as tasty, is my contribution.
Spanish Crockpot Rice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, diced
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
2 cups brown rice
1 (28 oz.) can crushed or diced tomatoes and water to make 4 cups liquid
Couple of glugs of hot sauce (I like Frank's Louisiana Red Hot, the chicken wing sauce)
1 Tbsp. chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Heat oil in frying pan. Add onions, garlic, pepper and celery. Saute until softened.
Dump into large crockpot (mine is 4 quarts). Add remaining ingredients.
Cook on high heat for 4 hours, then turn to low for at least another 3 hours, until rice is done. Stir every once in a while. We actually let it go another two hours, cause noone was home to deal with it. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Top with your favorites: sliced green or black olives, sour cream, grated Cheddar, more hot sauce, sliced scallions.
Serves 6-8.
You may need to add a little more liquid to your crockpot if you are going to leave it for 12-14 hours, or maybe try it on low for the whole time.
There's also a funny and good crockpot blog out there, A Year of Crockpotting, you may want to check out. Bon Appetit!
This isn't even a recipe; it's too easy. But just in case you're desperate, it's good too. So easy a mother of two crazy kids can assemble it in the morning...
- boneless/skinless chicken breasts, raw but thawed (2-4)
- a jar of great northern/Cannellini beans
- a jar of local salsa
- spice it up w/ local flair...green chile, anyone?
Just dump it all in and close the lid. By the time you get home you can shred up the chicken with a fork, add a dollop of sour cream, and eat all the white chili you could want.
Do I win points for fewest ingredients, lowest maintenance, quickest assembly? Love you!
I have all of the ingredients for these first 3 recipes. Pork ribs go in first thing in the morning.
I'd try to do a beef burgundy style of thing. You could probably sauté bacon and onions in advance and have a stash in the freezer, then whack a portion of that into the pot with the other ingredients and head off to work:) Using unpeeled waxy potatoes would hopefully mean they'd stay whole during the whole cooking period.
(And I'm just suggesting this without interest in the prize:) )
I have not one but two recipes for ya!
1. Fruited Fall Chicken
2. Crock-Pot Inauguration Chicken
Enjoy! Let me know what you think!
Pulled pork is a pretty common crockpot recipe, but this recipe is a step above many of the others out there. It makes a huge amount of food, but the pork freezes really well. I like to keep a supply in the freezer.
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork (spice rub from Cooks Illustrated)
Spice Rub:
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
4 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons table salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
1 (6-8 pound) bone-in pork shoulder
½ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
2 cups barbecue sauce
1. Mix all spice rub ingredients in small bowl.
2. Massage spice rub into meat. Wrap tightly in double layer of plastic wrap; refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (For stronger flavor, the roast can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
3. Unwrap roast and place it in slow cooker liner. Add liquid smoke, if using, and ¼ cup water. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 12-14 hours, until meat is fork-tender.
4. Transfer roast to cutting board; discard liquid in liner. “Pull” by tearing meat into thin shreds with two forks or your fingers. Discard fat.
5. Place shredded meat back in slow cooker liner; toss with 1 cup barbecue sauce, and heat on low for 30-60 minutes, until hot. Serve with additional barbecue sauce.
This may seem a little strange but I like it. Slice two or three peeled carrots, a peeled parsnip, an onion, a celery stalk and a clove or two of garlic into your crockpot. Add a 1" or so piece of peeled fresh ginger (you can slice or mince it if you want to eat it, otherwise just remove the big chunk when you serve it which is my preference) and sprinkle over 3 tbsp. of quick-cooking tapioca. Layer over a pound or so of your favorite stew beef cut in 1 - 1 1/2" cubes (browning them first is tasty but not required if you want to keep it really quick). Mix a 14 - 16 oz. can diced tomatoes (undrained), 1/4 cup malt vinegar, 1/4 cup molasses, 1 tsp. salt. 1/2 tsp. pepper and 1/2 cup of your favorite raisins. Pour over meat and cook on low for however long you're away (at least 8 hours though). Taste and balance seasonings to your preference.
Two recipes that have become favorites at my place:
Curried Island Chicken
3 pounds broiler or fryer chicken -- cut up
8 ounces pineapple chunks in juice
4 teaspoons curry powder
1 whole clove garlic -- crushed
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon onion -- grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
Place chicken in a slow cooker.
Drain pineapple and reserve juice and chunks separately.
In a small bowl, combine reserved juice with curry powder, garlic, bouillon granules, onion, salt and pepper.
Pour mixture over chicken. Cover and cook on LOW 4 1/2 hours to 5 hours or until chicken is tender.
Remove chicken from pot and keep warm.
Turn control to HIGH.
In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water; stir cornstarch mixture and reserved pineapple chuncks into slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 15 to 20 min.
Serve chicken and sauce over cooked rice and your favorite chutney. Sprinkle with shredded coconut, dates, raisins and/or chopped banana or papaya (optional).
Note: leftovers are excellent for lunches.
Chinese Pepper Steak
1 pound beef round steak, R-T-C -- boneless (can use 1 1/2 lbs)
1 clove garlic -- minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tomato -- peeled and chopped, seeded
2 red peppers -- cut into strips
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
1 cup bean sprouts -- fresh
4 green onions -- finely chopped
Trim fat from steak; slice into thin strips. Combine steak, garlic, salt, pepper, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and sugar in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW about 4 hours. Turn control to HIGH. Add tomato and bell peppers.
Dissolve cornstarch in water in a small bowl; stir into steak mixture. Cover and cook on HIGH 15 to 20 min. or until thickened.
Stir in bean sprouts. Sprinkle with onions. Serve with rice.
NOTE: Everyone clamors for this very colorful dish with its exotic flavors.
I'm not sure if folks are reading the new posts or just watching here, so here's to say you should watch for my daily results. I'm cooking in order of submission. Keep 'em coming!
Hey rob! I might as well sneak in mine-- my family's easy version of kalbi jim. Instead of the pressure cooker and stove thing, just dump everything in the crock pot. Add a chopped Asian pear too if you like :) It will have a ton of rendered fat on top, though, which you might like to throw out at the end (or stir in, whatever ;)
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