Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Apple Fennel Slaw

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwich

Autumn is (almost) here! The occasional chill in the air, the shorter days - something about it all makes me crave pork and apples, a classic combination. Then last Saturday was a crazy day and I was on the move constantly. It was so nice to come home and find dinner nearly ready. My husband had starting this pork in the slow cooker that morning, and when I got home that night, it was ready to shred.

Most slow cooker versions of pulled pork involve dousing the meat in prepared BBQ sauce which can be a little bit cloyingly sweet for me. This recipe, from Fine Cooking magazine, was just about right, a great template that you could also tweak to suit your preferences. It uses jarred salsa and a few spices, with great results.

To go with the sandwiches, I whipped up a quick Apple-Fennel Slaw with apples from our tree, and loved the slight sweetness, and the fact that this recipe involves neither cabbage nor mayonnaise. It was a meal so good I just had to share.
　
Apple-Fennel Slaw

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

3 tart apples

2 small heads fennel, cut into matchsticks

1 small red onion, cut in half and very thinly sliced

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


Put the lemon juice in a large bowl. Cut one of the apples in half, core it, and julienne it. Put the cut apple in the bowl and toss it with the lemon juice to keep it from browning. Repeat with the other apples. Toss in all of the remaining ingredients. Let stand for at least 20 minutes at room temperature. Taste for seasoning and serve.


Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced

3/4 cup jarred tomato salsa (medium heat)

1/3 cup plus 2 Tbs. cider vinegar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 Tbs. ground cumin

1 Tbs. chili powder

Kosher salt

One 4- to 4-1/2-lb. bone-in pork shoulder, trimmed

3 Tbs. tomato paste

Toasted hamburger buns, for serving


In a 4-quart slow cooker, combine the onion, salsa, 1/3 cup of the vinegar, the brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, and 1 tsp. salt. Add the pork shoulder and turn to coat. Cover the slow cooker and cook until the pork is fork-tender, 5 to 6 hours on high or 7 to 8 hours on low.

Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Using two forks, shred the pork. Discard the bone and fat. Put 1 cup of the juices and onions in a large bowl. Whisk in the tomato paste, the remaining 2 Tbs. vinegar, and 1 tsp. salt. Add the pulled pork and stir to combine. If the pork seems dry, add more juices as needed. Mound the pork on the toasted hamburger buns.

Caribbean Spiced Slow Cooker Ribs

Source: nytimes.com via Marie-Helene on Pinterest

I have this problem with ribs. It seems like all I have to do is see a picture of them and all of a sudden: instant craving. And it isn't like ice cream or some other craving where I can go to the store and buy fall-off-the-bone tender ribs slathered in BBQ sauce.

I know there are plenty of grilling experts out there who loving apply homemade rubs, place their ribs in smokers, ovens, on grills, tenderly dab sauce on them... This could take hours. Problem #2 is that I don't have that kind of patience for meat, especially in the summertime when the cooler I can stay, the better.

Solution: My trusty slow cooker. On a hot summer day, this recipe is a god send. It involves applying a simple rub to your ribs, slow cooking them all day, adding some BBQ sauce at the end, and before you know it, you've got tender, gooey ribs - all without turning on your oven once. Thank you to my homegirl Betty Crocker, and my friend Donna for the recipe.

Caribbean Spiced Ribs

From Betty Crocker’s Cookbook

3 pound pork loin back ribs

2 Tbsp instant minced onion

1 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp ground allspice

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp garlic powder

1 medium onion, sliced

½ cup water

1 ½ cups barbecue sauce

In a small bowl mix instant minced onion, mustard, red pepper flakes, allspice, cinnamon and garlic powder. Rub mixture into ribs. Cut ribs into 4-inch pieces if they have bones. Layer ribs and sliced onion in slow cooker. Pour water over ribs. Cover and cook on Low heat for 8-9 hours. Remove ribs from cooker and drain and discard liquid from cooker. Pour barbecue sauce into shallow bowl and dip ribs into sauce. Place ribs in cooker and pour remaining sauce over ribs. Cover and cook on Low for 1 hour. Revel in carnivorous delight. Serves 6.

What To Do With Wheat?

Last weekend, I attended a class on how to prepare wheat. Those who are interested in storing food for use in case of an emergency or disaster often rely heavily on wheat because of its nutritional value and durability. When properly stored, whole wheat (or wheat berries as they're called nowadays) can last for upwards of 30 years. But then storing it is one thing, but preparing it in a variety of interesting ways is another. So off I went, to learn the ABCs of cooking wheat.

Most obviously, wheat can be ground into flour for baking purposes. Many find freshly ground flour superior to store-bought because (as with all foods) the fresher it is, the more nutritional value it will have. On display were are a ton of different mills, grinders, flakers, etc., in all variety of price ranges and sophistication. I'll show you one of the coolest ones I saw below.

Also shown to the class were a variety of whole grains, along with several forms of wheat, including wheat berries, cracked wheat, and bulgur. Cracked wheat and bulgur can be used in cooking with ground meats to make a small amount of meat go further, because it blends right in with the meat, bulking it up without altering the taste. Wheat can also be popped like popcorn!

The demo included a bread-making session using freshly ground 100% whole-wheat flour, plus extra wheat gluten (which helps the dough rise) and dough enhancer (which extends the shelf life of the bread).

We watched a demo on how to sprout wheat. If you follow up by planting some sprouts in soil in a sunny window, you will soon have a sustainable source of wheatgrass for blender smoothies. This wheatgrass is just 10 days old and look how hardy it is already!

Here is the amazing device I mentioned before, which seamlessly combines physical fitness and food preparation. As you pedal the stationary bike, it powers the motor of the white flour mill on the floor. Just pop your wheat berries in the opening, hop on the bike for some morning exercise, and when you get off, retrieve your bowl of freshly milled whole wheat flour. I thought this was a hilarious idea!

Finally, we all left with a packet full of recipes ideas using wheat (of course!). Today, I made my first batch of wheat berries for breakfast in the slow cooker (1 cup of wheat berries+2 1/2 cups of water + pinch of salt= 2 servings of wheat berry cereal after about 8 hours. I topped mine with dried currents, honey and almond milk. The wheat berries were chewy and filling, a great breakfast dish. I will be continuing my experimentation with wheat, the staff of life!

Azorean Beef Stew

I recently read an article about a woman who blogged her year of cooking dinner every night for a year in her slow cooker. I decided to check out her blog and I found this interesting recipe for an international twist on beef stew.
I felt a connection to this recipe because my grandmother (from my adopted family) came from the Azore Islands in Portugal when she was a little girl, and I grew up with stories and food from there. The combination of sweet and savory is a classic feature of the cooking from that part of the world, as in perhaps their most celebrated dish of Sopas (beef cooked in a spiced broth, then ladled over bread and topped with sprigs of mint). Other typical dishes are cod (lots of fishing in the islands), sweet bread, and Coconut Tarts.
My husband (who also has relatives from the Azores) raved about this dish, and loved the bold flavors of the sauce. Allspice, cinnamon and garlic will help warm you up on a cold winter's night! I recommend planning to be out of the house while this cooks, because the wonderful smell may drive you mad if you have to wait a full 8 hours before eating it.

Azorean Beef Stew

1 lb beef chuck stew meat
5-6 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
2 potatoes, chopped in 1 inch chunks
1/2 c. onion, chopped
3 cups beef stock
2 large chopped tomatoes, or 1 cup canned tomatoes
1/2 T red pepper flakes
1 tsp all spice
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cumin
2 cinnamon sticks, broken
Directions:

Put the meat into your crockpot. If you are using frozen meat, it's fine, just know it will take longer to cook and get tender.

Add the broth. Chop up the tomatoes, potatoes, onion, and garlic. Throw them in.

Stir in the salt, red pepper, all spice and cumin. Float the bay leaf on top and add 2 cinnamon sticks.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for about 6. Stew tastes better the longer and slower you cook it.

Porridge: Not Just for Goldilocks Anymore

I hope that, like Goldilocks, you will find a warm bowl of porridge just right for a cool morning. One bowl of whole grains, mixed with nuts, fruit and/or seeds, will keep you full for hours. It's also a good way to use up those leftover bits of whole grains that may be all lonesome in your pantry.

You may be wondering why you should mix all these grains together; why not just have oatmeal? Oatmeal is high in fiber, but using a mixture of grains gives a unique texture to your morning meal, and additional nutrition. For example, in my mixture, quinoa contributes protein and flax seed adds Omega-3s.

You may customize your special blend with whatever grains appeal to you (amaranth, millet, tricale, etc). When I made it, I mixed roughly equal parts of the following:

-Barley
-Bulgar (cracked wheat)
-Steel-cut oats
-Quinoa
-Brown rice
-Flax seed meal

Next, I divided the mixture into 1-cup portions.

To prepare:

Place 1 cup of whole grain mixture in slow cooker. Add 4 1/2 cups of cold water and a pinch of sea salt. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Breakfast is served. Enjoy with brown sugar, milk, and dried fruit/nuts/seeds/whatever you like. Serves 4.

Vegetable Chickpea Curry

Photo courtesy of Cooking Light

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a slow cooker is a working (wo)man’s best friend. However, many slow cooker recipes yield a boring chunk of meat that has been cooked in its own fat for several hours. Or maybe small chunks of cooked meat. In a sauce. There's nothing wrong with comfort food. Yet sometimes you want more than a hunk of meat for dinner, especially if you (like me) observe Meatless Monday or are attempting to lower your overall consumption of meat.

So off I went, scouring the Internet for a good meatless slow cooker recipe. Cooking Light came through for me once again, and I found this amazing recipe. The texture of the vegetables comes out perfectly done, not mushy at all, and the flavors are vibrant. Serve with brown basmati rice and a squeeze of lemon, and you’ve got yourself a tasty meatless dinner, packed with protein, fiber and of course, excellent flavor.

Vegetable Chickpea Curry

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups vegetable mixture and 1 lemon wedge)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) slices carrot

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 serrano chile, seeded and minced

3 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

1 1/2 cups cubed peeled baking potato

1 cup diced green bell pepper

1 cup (1-inch) cut green beans

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (14-ounce) can vegetable broth

3 cups fresh baby spinach

1 cup light coconut milk

6 lemon wedges

Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and carrot; cover and cook 5 minutes or until tender. Add curry powder, sugar, ginger, garlic, and chile; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Place onion mixture in a 5-quart electric slow cooker. Stir in chickpeas and next 8 ingredients (through broth). Cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours or until vegetables are tender. Add spinach and coconut milk; stir until spinach wilts. Serve with lemon wedges.

If You Like Carnitas, Try This

Last week was Cinco de Mayo, aka (in our house) Carnitas Appreciation Day. My husband really loves this dish, and so I found a recipe in which you can use the slow cooker to make tender and moist, nicely spiced Mexican-style pork. Get home from work, finish preparing, fold inside tortillas with lettuce, salsa, and whatever tickles your fancy.

Where to Buy the Best: I buy my pork (and much of my meat, also) at Whole Foods. They offer the strictest meat rules in the industry. For pigs, these rules include:

• No antibiotics — ever
• No animal byproducts in feed
• No gestation crates
• Sows provided freedom of movement in farrowing (birthing) pens
• Bedding required to satisfy natural rooting instincts

(Gestation crates are used by most factory farms to prevent the pigs from moving while they're pregnant and cause sores and discomfort for the sows.) Like the best pig farmers in the business believe, Happy and healthy pigs make happy and healthy humans! Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Carnitas

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (3-4 pound) boneless pork shoulder roast

2 bay leaves

Directions:
1. Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, and cinnamon in a bowl. Coat pork with the spice mixture. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.

2. Cover and cook on Low until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 10 hours. Turn the meat after it has cooked for 5 hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten the meat.

Awesome, Easy Veggie Recipe: Black Bean Soup

Photo courtesy of Cooking Light

We did it! My husband and I joined the Meatless Monday movement 2 weeks ago by pledging to go meatless once a week for all 3 meals. This week, with carnivorous leftovers in the fridge from Saturday night that begged to be eaten for lunch on Monday, we decided it was more economical to do our meatless day on Tuesday.

Since we are in the infant stages of our experience, we are still on the lookout for good vegetarian recipes. Today we made a delicious Black Bean Soup, served with cornbread. We started with dried beans, soaked them overnight, and let them cook in the slow cooker all day. They came out fantastic! I didn't feel deprived in the slightest, and this recipe simple and perfect for working people. Enjoy!

Note: I substituted a jalapeno for the serrano chile, as I didn't want it too spicy. Also, didn't bother with the cilantro - I'm not a huge fan.

Black Bean Soup

From Cooking Light

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried black beans
• 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 serrano chile, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
• Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Preparation

1. Sort and wash beans; place in a large bowl. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; cover and let stand 8 hours. Drain.
2. Combine beans, broth, and next 5 ingredients (through chile) in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 10 hours. Discard bay leaves. Stir in juice and salt. Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 6 bowls; sprinkle each with 2 teaspoons chopped cilantro. Top each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons sour cream. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

A Failed Attempt to Make Meat Sauce

My increasing dependence on my slow cooker converged with a craving for pasta lately. The results were less successful than I would have liked. It seemed so logical- what could be better than coming home to a piping hot bowl of meat sauce? I combined the usual ingredients - lean ground meat, beef broth, tomatoes, spices, sugar, onions and garlic. That night, I served the sauce over Williams-Sonoma pasta... but even that wasn’t enough to save it!

I learned that when you cook meat sauce in tomato sauce all day, the meat takes on a texture similar to that of dog food. Maybe it’s the acidity of the tomatoes breaking down the enzymes of the meat. Whatever the cause, I won’t attempt to use this method to make meat sauce again.

By the way, my husband’s reaction: "Good sauce." That’s why I love him.

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal in a Slow Cooker

How would you like to wake up on a chill winter morning to the smell of apple and cinnamon? With just about 10 minutes of prep the night before, you can, with this recipe! When cooked in a slow cooker overnight, the rolled oats take on a wonderful creamy texture. Real oatmeal cooked this way is miles apart from Quaker Instant! You can also add dried fruit if you like, or try substituting apple juice for the water. Steel cut oats also work beautifully in a slow cooker overnight. The combination possibilities are endless!

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal

1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
2 T. brown sugar
1/2 to 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon, to your taste
Pinch of salt
2 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 T. butter
1 medium-size apple or pear, peeled, cored, and chopped

Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-9 hours, or overnight, or on HIGH for 2-3 hours.

Stir the oatmeal well and scoop into bowls with a large spoon. Serve with milk, soymilk or cream.

BBQ Pork in the Slow Cooker

Yesterday, I woke up late, spilled soymilk all over my car, and got trapped in the middle of a huge storm that threw buckets of water on my windshield as I attempted to navigate the freeway on my commute home. On a day like that, I was relieved to come home to a practically ready-made meal that I’d made some time before and frozen. And it wasn’t even hard to make to begin with!

Here’s the easiest recipe ever for BBQ Pork. It actually calls for beef, but since pork at this time is about half the price as beef (and beef is notoriously bad for the environment), I generally use a LOT of pork. Use a quality BBQ sauce, as there are so few ingredients here (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s - I just love saying that name!) Serve on toasted whole wheat hamburger buns, with a green salad and baked beans.

I suggest that you freeze half of what you make. Then, on the day that you want to use it, put it in the refrigerator to defrost in the morning. Before consuming it for dinner, heat it up in a pan for 20 minutes. It will regain that delightful texture it originally had. You can add a little extra BBQ sauce to perk it up if necessary.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork

3 pounds chuck roast (or pork)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (18 ounce) bottle BBQ sauce

1. Place roast in a slow cooker. Sprinkle with garlic powder and onion powder and season with salt and pepper. Pour BBQ sauce over meat. Cook on High for 1 hour, then reduce heat to Low, and cook 5-7 hours more.

2. Remove meat from slow cooker, shred, and return to slow cooker. Cook for 1 more hour. Serve hot. Yield: 8 servings.

Busy Cook's Homemade Chicken Broth

Every professional chef I’ve ever encountered touts the flavor and quality of homemade stock/broth as superior to the store bought, canned version. It’s really not a complicated thing to make broth from scratch after you serve a roast chicken for dinner. The problem for me, however, is that I seldom find myself at home for at least 3 hours to tend a simmering pot.

If you’re busy like me, I hope you’ll like my recent discovery from my "Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook", which allows you to make broth overnight without worry in your slow cooker. After I made the roast chicken a few weeks ago, I stuck the carcass in a large Ziplock bag and froze it.

Last night around 6, I took it out and placed it in my slow cooker to let it defrost. At about 9:30pm, I used the following recipe and cooked the broth overnight. Then, this morning before work, I drained the gorgeous, golden, rich broth into a bowl and refrigerated it. Tonight, I skimmed the fat off the top, and drained it more thoroughly using cheesecloth and a fine mesh colander (I found that the colander alone wasn't as effective as I wanted at reaching a clear broth free of floaties). Finally, I froze the broth in 2 bags that can be easily used later for soups and other wonderful recipes. As Julia would say, "Bon.... Appetit!"

Slow Cooker Chicken Broth

1 chicken carcass
1 carrot, cut into chunks
2-3 celery stalks, with leaves, cut into chunks
1 yellow onion, quartered
A few springs of parsley, stems attached
A few peppercorns or ground pepper

Salt to taste (optional)

1. Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker, except salt. Add cold water to cover by 2-3 inches. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour.

2. Skim any surface foam with a large spoon. Cover, turn the cooker to LOW, and cook for 6 to 16 hours. If the water cooks down below the level of the ingredients, add a bit more boiling water.

3. Uncover and let cool to lukewarm. Set a large colander lined with cheesecloth over a large bowl and pour the broth through to strain. Press on the vegetables to extract all the liquid. Discard the vegetables, skin, and bones. If desired, reserve the meat for soup, salad or another purpose. Taste the broth and season with salt if needed, or wait to salt until you are using the broth. Refrigerate.

4. The broth is ready for use and can be refrigerated, tightly covered, for up to 2 to 3 days. Or remove the congealed fat from the surface and pour into airtight plastic freezer storage containers, leaving 2 inches at the top to allow for expansion. Freeze for 3 to 4 months. Whether refrigerated or frozen (and defrosted), make sure the broth is brought to a boil when using it.