Peach Glazed Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb mini meatballs*
8 oz peach jam
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup bourbon
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground galangal
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon mace
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
The easiest way: Dump all of the ingredients in a 4 quart slow cooker. Stir. Then cook on low for 4-6 hrs or high for 2-3. Stir again.

The slightly less easy way: Saute the shallots and garlic in a bit of oil. Add the meatballs and warm through. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Pour over the meatballs and heat through.


*Make your own or cheat and use some from Ikea's frozen section. Both work just fine.

My thoughts:

Who doesn't like a meatball? No one I'd care to know. Especially tiny sized ones, the huge meatballs I occasionally encounter can be a bit off putting with their heft. But mini meatballs are a delight and can easily work at dinner time (along side some vegetables and rice) or as an appetizer. For this recipe I used a whole jar of my yummy homemade peach-ginger jam but I think a good quality store bought brand would work just as well. I don't like sweet-sweet foods so the remaining ingredients were savory for the most part.

Brisket Tacos with Green Sauce

Ingredients:
3-4 lb brisket
1 large onion, sliced
1 lb tomatillos , quartered
6 cloves garlic
4 jalapenos, chopped
1/4 cup minced Italian parsley

juice and zest of one lime
1-2 tablespoons ground ancho chile pepper
1-2 tablespoons hot Mexican-style chili powder
1-2 tablespoons ground chipolte chile pepper

1-2 tablespoons ground cayenne
1-2 tablespoons hot paprika
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper



Ingredients:
Liberally sprinkle both sides of the brisket with the spices. Place the brisket in the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker. Top the brisket with the remaining ingredients.

Cook for 8-10 hrs on low or until the meat is easily pulled apart with a fork. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked vegetables from the top of the brisket. Place in a blender. Add the parsley and pulse until fairly smooth.  Remove the brisket from the slow cooker. Drain and discard the juices from the bottom of the slow cooker. Scrape off any remaining fat off the brisket (as desired) and shred.

Return to the slow cooker and drizzle with sauce.

My thoughts:

Honestly, I like using my slow cooker more in the summer than the winter. I know I am in the minority here because one there is the faintest hint of the chill in the air, I get inundated by requests for slow cooker recipes. Which is fine, but let me tell you, I was grateful I developed all those recipes for my cookbook over one summer. Baltimore is hot!

Anyway, I came up with this recipe late last week when I was trapped here during a snow storm (Baltimore is also ill-equipped to deal with snow) and couldn't get to the store. I found a brisket I had frozen a while back and thought I'd turn it into...something. Actually, I was tempted to make corned beef again but we were hungry and trapped now! I didn't have over a week to wait for a sandwich. We had tortilla and some other modest taco fixings so, I made brisket tacos instead. And I am glad we did. They were so good! Now brisket is sort of fatty and I didn't want my meat to be super greasy so I did trim off some of the really, really thick chunks. Leave them on if you are more adventurous than I.

I love how the vegetables flavor the meat but can be lifted out to make a green sauce. And the meat is totally tender and non-greasy. My #1 slow cooker brisket triumph to date!

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken, beef or vegetable stock
15 oz canned fire roasted diced tomatoes
15 oz canned kidney beans, drained
15 oz canned chickpeas, drained
28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
2 tablespoons minced basil
2 tablespoons minced oregano
2 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
2 (fresh) bay leaves
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup frozen or fresh green beans, diced
2 small to medium zucchini, diced
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces small, cooked pasta

Directions:

For the slow cooker:

Add the garlic, tomato, celery, stock, tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, and spices to a 4 quart slow cooker. Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. Add shredded cabbage, green beans and zucchini and turn to high for the last hour. Stir in the pasta before serving.

Stovetop: Saute the onions, garlic, carrots and celery until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and heat though.

My thoughts:

Around this time of year I always get a lot of requests for healthy meals. Soup is always a great choice because it is easy to add lots of vegetables. There are a lot of different ways to make minestrone (I even posted a different one here about six years ago) but this one is I think my favorite. I like the combination of chickpeas and kidney beans and the green beans and cabbage (especially when added towards the end in the slow cooker version) really make it taste fresh. While this is a vegan soup, I like to serve with a tiny hunk of sharp, aged cheddar in the bottom of a bowl. It melts and adds a tasty ribbon of cheese to each bite.

Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili

Ingredients:
1 1/2-2 lbs lean ground beef
28 oz can crushed or coarse ground tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

To serve:
1 lb spaghetti
sour cream
chopped raw onions
dark red kidney beans (heated through)
shredded extra sharp cheddar
oyster crackers

Directions:
In a large skillet saute onion, garlic, ground beef, and chili powder until ground beef is just barely cooked. Take care to break the meat into small bits. Drain off any excess fat. Add to a four quart slow cooker. Add all of the remaining ingredients. Stir. It might look a little dry but that is okay. Cook for 8-10 hrs. Stir.

Cook spaghetti according to package instructions.

There are several ways to eat Cincinnati style chili:
3-way: Spaghetti topped with chili, covered with shredded cheddar cheese
4-way: Spaghetti topped with chili, cheese, onions
5-way: Spaghetti topped with beans, chili, cheese & onions

Serve the crackers on the side.

My thoughts:

It is cold and snowy (Snow! I didn't authorize snow!) and I am sorely missing the weather we had on our recent vacation. Luckily I have a recipe for Cincinnati Chili in my cookbook that I really love on a day like this. The ingredients are all things I (and most home cooks) would have on hand, which means no need to run to the store in bad weather but since it is a more unusual style of chili than most people are used to (outside of Ohio, of course) it doesn't seem like you are eating the same old thing.

This is a slightly different version than the recipe that appears in my book; I added a couple of extra spices and tweaked the proportions a bit to yield a bit more chili. The meat gets amazing tender and really impregnated with flavor since it cooks for so long, which is important in this style of chili. Cincinnati chili shouldn't be too saucy or on the other hand, too dry and I think the slow cooker makes achieving this balance easy and requires virtually no hands-on time. Ironically, I tend to use my slow cooker when I am doing a lot of other cooking (recipe development gigs, baking) but it is great to sit down to a meal hours after you did the work for it.


The leftovers are great on hot dogs.

Slow Cooked Beef Stew (with Mushrooms & Vegetables)

Ingredients:
group #1
2 lb beef top round or sirloin, cubed
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 carrots cut into coins
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 portobello mushroom caps, cubed

group #2
1 cup red wine
14 oz canned diced tomatoes
1/2-1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2-1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

group #3
1 cup frozen or fresh green beans
1/3 cup frozen or fresh corn kernals

Directions:
Saute the ingredients from group #1 in a bit of canola oil until the vegetables are softened and the meat is lightly browned. Add to a 4 quart slow cooker. If the meat and vegetables gave off a lot of liquid and it isn't too oily, I add a little less than 1/4 cup of it into the slow cooker. Add the ingredients from group #2. Stir. Cover and cook for 7-8 hours. Stir in the ingredients from group #3. Cover and cook for an additional 1/2 hr. Stir and serve.

My thoughts:

This recipe is inspired by a stew my grandpop made when I was growing up. I don't think he ever even heard of a portobello mushroom but his stews always had a lot of vegetables. He would make them and use up whatever vegetables he had on hand and no two stews were the same. Some times they'd have tomatoes, some times green beans, some times corn. My favorites had green beans for some reason. He would cook it for hours on the stove top but when I was working on my cookbook last summer I realized how easy it was to make stew in the slow cooker. I don't have to keep an eye on it like Grandpop did and the results are just as good. I know browning meat in the morning is the last thing I feel like doing but it does make for a richer final product. What I do is cut up all the vegetables the night before and put them in a ziplock or Tupperware. I try to buy pre-cubed meat if it looks good but if I don't, I cube it and pack it in a separate container. That way in the morning all I have to do is shake the ingredients into the pan, brown them for a few minutes and then pop everything in the slow cooker.

Slow Cooked Sauerkraut

Ingredients:
28 oz sauerkraut
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard seed
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh sage
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon charnushka (aka black caraway or kalonji)
1 1/2 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 small onion, thinly sliced

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a 2 or 4 quart slow cooker. Stir to evenly distribute all ingredients. Cook on low 8 hours or 4 hours on high. Stir. Serve hot.

My thoughts:

I know I've mentioned it before but it wasn't until I was in college that I realized not everyone has sauerkraut at Thanksgiving. It really is a Baltimore thing, probably the result of the large number of German immigrants that settled here although other areas with similar populations did not adopt the sauerkraut tradition. I guess I am biased, but sauerkraut is perfect for Thanksgiving. It goes great with turkey and cuts the sweetness of the cranberry sauce and some side dishes. In recent years, I've started to make it in the slow cooker, which is I think is one of my more clever holiday ideas. While sauerkraut is easy to make on the stove, it does take up an extra burner and is prone to scorching if you don't keep an eye on it. No worries in the slow cooker. Last year I made a porky version but this year I created a vegetarian (well, vegan, actually) recipe that I think might be even better. The other one was still very, very good but I am not sure if it is the absence of pork or the addition of new spices but this was great; pickle-y but not too sour and with just the right amount of fresh herbs and spices to keep it from tasting too flat and one dimensional.

As an aside, here is a Mencken story that mentions Baltimore's love of sauerkraut at Thanksgiving.

Autumnal Turkey Chili

Ingredients:
3 cups cubed cooked turkey breast
30 oz canned kidney beans, drained
15 oz canned cubed tomatoes
6 ounces tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 (jarred) fire roasted red pepper
1 chipotle chile pepper in adobo, minced
1 Bosc pear, diced
1 large carrot, diced
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground chipotle
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground jalapeno
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:
Place all ingredients in 1 4 quart slow cooker, stir to evenly distribute all ingredients. Cook on low 6 hours.

My thoughts:

I've made a lot of chili over the years. I love making it in the slow cooker most of all because it is just so easy. The flavors meld wonderfully, it is impossible to overcook and frees up my time. If I use leftover cooked meat and cut the vegetables up the night before it takes virtually no effort the day I make it. I even put the spices in the (cold) slow cooker the night before so I just dump everything else in and stir. For this chili I decided to add the decidedly nontraditional ingredients of pumpkin and pear. I had this teeny amount of pumpkin puree in my refrigerator that was taking up entirely too much room so I tossed that in, then I spotted a pear starting to turn and on impulse peeled and cubed it and added that to the mix. It was a gamble that paid off. I used spices vaguely inspired by Cincinnati chili and the pumpkin/pear combo added to the subtle sweetness. When my unsuspecting husband tried the chili he couldn't discern what the the secret ingredients were but he raved over the flavor. It is just a really rich, robust and very autumnal flavored chili.

Split Pea Soup with Smoked Ham

Ingredients:
5 cups ham stock
2 cups cubed smoked ham
1 cup green split peas
1 cup yellow split peas
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 large shallot, minced
1 teaspoon celery flakes
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon dried chervil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1 bay leaf
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Pick over split peas to remove any stones or stems that might be present. Place all ingredients EXCEPT the ham in a 4 quart slow cooker. Stir. Cook on low 10 hours. Stir in the ham during the last 45 minutes of cooking. Fish out the bay leaf prior to serving.

My thoughts:

This a wonderful soup, if unphotogenic. I have a slightly less traditional split pea soup that I love and a third recipe for it in my book but I think this is my favorite when you really just want a classic split pea. The smokiness of the ham adds a lot to the depth of flavor. I also think it is the best use of ham stock that I know. But perhaps better than all that is how easy this soup is to make. The split peas do not need to be soaked before using and if you want to have this for lunch, just start it before you go bed. How much easier can you get?

Slow Cooked Barbecue Brisket

Ingredients:
for the dry rub:
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced (dried) onion
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon chipotle powder

6 lb beef brisket
2 large onions, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

for the sauce:
1/4 cup thick Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup bourbon
2 tablespoons mesquite liquid smoke

Directions:
The night before you want to make the brisket, whisk together the dry rub ingredients. Lightly score the meat on both sides with the tip of a knife. Rub the dry rub* into the meat on all sides. Place in a resealable bag or marinating container and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, line the bottom of a oval 6-quart slow cooker with the onion rings. Quickly sear the meat on both sides. Place the brisket on top. Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over the meat. Cover the slow cooker. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Slice the meat and discard the onions.


*Store any leftover dry rub in an air-tight container.

My thoughts:

It is still pretty warm here in Baltimore; not hot but not quite "almost autumn" weather yet. But thoughts do turn to more heavy, autumnal foods this time of year. The slow cooker is perfect for this occasion, it didn't heat up the house but it it made a lovely brisket. When I was developing recipes for my cookbook last year I discovered the trick of placing a layer of onions on the bottom of the slow cooker. They give off a fair amount of liquid so you don't have to add much (no one wants brisket soup) and they keep the meat from just sitting in its own rendered fat. The meat does look "dry" for the first few hours of cooking but by the end, you will have a brisket that is perfectly juicy.

Hawaiian Inspired Spam & Beans

Ingredients:
1 can Spam, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1/2 mango, cubed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb navy beans
1/2 cup cup chili sauce (like Heinz)
6 oz pineapple juice
1 tablespoon five spice powder
1 tablespoon rum
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon allspice
sea salt
freshly ground pepper


Directions:
The day before you want to serve: Place the beans in a pot and fill until the beans are under about 4 inches of water.

The next day: drain the beans and pour them into the slow cooker. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the spam. Cook on low 8-10 hours or until the beans are soft. Fry the Spam in a nonstick skillet until quite crisp and nearly caramelized around the 7 to 8 hour mark. Thoroughly drain the spam on paper towel lined plates. Stir into the Spam. If the beans are looking a little dry and are not quite done, add a little water or pineapple juice. Continue cooking at least 1/2 hour after adding the Spam. Stir before serving.

My thoughts:

Okay, I am normally not a Spam eater much less a Spam enthusiast but when I was trying to think of easy, won't heat up the house side dishes to serve with a vaguely Hawaiian themed meal I was making for friends, baked beans came to mind. I made these tropical baked beans in the slow cooker a few years back (and a version of them appears in my cookbook--which is shipping out now BTW--) and loved them. It is really easy but a little nerve-wracking because the beans go from being pale and not quite cooked to brown and soft and baked bean-y looking really late in the cooking process. But it always seems to work (as long as you keep an eye on how dry they look towards the end, some batches of beans absorb more liquid than others and you don't want them to burn) and the result is always tasty. Anyway, I was doing a pineapple pork thing (recipe to come) that seemed Hawaiian so I was thinking about Hawaiian foods. Now I've never been to Hawaii but it seems like they love the Spam. The popularity (the existence even) of Spam musubi is enough to convince me of this but the fact that there is an event called the Spam Jam in Waikiki clinched it. I had to make a dish with Spam. But what? I didn't want to serve meat with a side of meat so I had to incorporate the Spam into something to stretch it out a bit. Then I remembered my idea about making baked beans and thought if people can eat beanie weenies, then they can sure eat Spam & beans! And you know what? It was the surprise hit of the evening. The trick, I think, is to thoroughly fry the Spam (and a dry nonstick pan is fine for this, the fat in the Spam renders pretty quickly and you really don't want to add more) until it is really crispy and drain, drain, drain it on paper towels so it doesn't make the dish seem greasy. It added a salty-smoky flavor that is similar to what actual ham would have but the softer texture was really nice with the beans. It is a total fluke, novelty recipe but honestly, I am tempted to make it again.

Fresh Blueberry Pulled Pork

Ingredients:
2 1/4 lb pork roast
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic
1 cup blueberries
1/3 cup chili sauce (like Heinz)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chipotle pepper flakes
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a four quart slow cooker. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove the pork to a plate and shred with two forks. Mash the contents in the slow cooker with a potato masher until fairly smooth. Add the pork back into the slow cooker and toss to coat in sauce.

My thoughts:

As you may have noticed, I love making pulled pork with fresh fruit. The long cooking time basically melts the fruit so it becomes part of the sauce, giving it a natural sweetness. It has been either incredibly hot here or there is torrential rain or it is incredibly humid (or all three) for weeks on end. This makes dinner planning daunting at best. Pulled pork is always welcomed (especially if one can escape into an air conditioned room to eat) and couldn't be easier to make. I prep everything the night before and just dump it in the slow cooker in the morning. A hot meal that doesn't heat up the house.

Rachel's Famous Chili Dogs

Ingredients:
1 lb 94% lean ground beef
15 oz tomato sauce*
15 oz canned dark red kidney beans, drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon cumin
hot sauce
salt
pepper

to serve:
8 hot dog buns
8 hot dogs
chopped onion (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
mustard (optional)

Directions:
Slow cooker instructions:
Brown the beef in a nonstick skillet, breaking it up into fine bits. Drain off any excess fat. Add the beef and the remaining ingredients to a 2 or 4 quart slow cooker. Stir. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. If it is too wet, remove the lid and cook on high for 30 minutes.

Stove top instructions:
Brown the beef in a nonstick skillet, breaking it up into fine chunks. Drain off any excess fat. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir occasionally until most of the liquid has evaporated and everything is cooked through.

Cook the hot dogs according to your preference. Nestle into buns and top with chili and other desired toppings.


*Not chunky pasta sauce. Look for it in the canned tomato aisle.

My thoughts:

Every once in a while I am hit with an overwhelming urge for a chili dog. Unfortunately Baltimore has a severe lack of quality hot dog houses. There are some truly delicious yet deadly dogs from Ann's Dari-Creme out on Ritchie Hwy but that is quite a hike. There are a few in the city but none that I can say that I love. When I was a child, we'd make chili dogs with chili from the soup counter at the grocery store. I have to say, homemade chili is much better. And after developing an entire chapter of chili for my slow cooker cookbook, I am the self proclaimed slow cooker chili queen. I wish I had thought to put a recipe in for chili for hot dogs in the book (although it is a healthy slow cooker cookbook)but I didn't so the book's loss is your (free recipe) gain. Slow cooking the chili means that all you have to do to have from scratch chili dogs is to pop some stuff in the slow cooker in the morning, go about your day, come home, broil or grill some dogs for 10 minutes and you are ready to go.

There is a lot of contention on what makes the best chili for hot dogs (everything from a bean only mixture to the various versions of a "Coney" to a thin sauce) but this is what I like the most on my dogs. Not too spicy or chunky and with kidney beans. I think it is best made in the slow cooker where the flavors develop throughout the day but the stove top version is tasty too.

The leftover chili is great on baked potatoes.

Strawberry-Apricot Slow Cooked Pork Short Ribs

1 large onion, diced
4 1/4 lb pork short ribs


for the barbecue sauce:
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 apricots, pitted
1 habanero
1 cup diced strawberries
8 oz tomato paste
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke
salt
freshly ground black pepper



Directions:

Place all of the sauce ingredients in a blender (I used my Vita-Mix) and pulse until smooth. If necessary, cut the short ribs in half to fit into your slow cooker. Broil until lightly browned on each side. Drain off excess fat. Place the onions in a single layer along the bottom of a oval four or 6 quart slow cooker. Top with the ribs and then pour the sauce over top. If the ribs are cut in half, place one layer on top of the onions then pour half of the sauce on top. Add the remaining ribs and remaining sauce. Cover and cook on low 8 hrs.

My thoughts:

I know when one hears "slow cooker recipe" one normally thinks of winter-friendly hearty soups and stews but when I was writing my slow cooker cookbook last summer, I realized how much I liked using it in the warm weather. We live in an older (1930s) house without central air conditioning and only have one window unit so the kitchen gets pretty hot once warmer weather hits. Using the slow cooker allows me to cook without heating up the kitchen at all.

I like to cook using seasonal, local produce so I started experimenting with using summery ingredients like berries and vegetables in my slow cooker recipes. For this recipe I made a barbecue sauce that is naturally sweetened with fruit to go over budget-friendly pork short ribs. The ribs can be a little fatty so I cut off some obvious fat and broiled them to remove even more which meant the final dish was pretty lean. Strawberry barbecue sauce sounds a little odd but it totally works; it is slightly hot from the pepper and has a fruity sweetness without being a really sweet sauce. It is pretty thick, which good for slow cooker recipes, you don't want it running off the meat when it cooks. I planning on making the sauce again and using it on something else.

If you don't have a slow cooker, try cooking it slow and low in the oven.

Smokin' Hot Pork Tacos

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lb boneless pork rib roast
3 cloves garlic
1 shallot
1 jalapeno, seeded
7 oz chipotle chiles in adobo (1 small can)
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon Mexican hot chili powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

assembly:
shredded cheddar
shredded red cabbage
halved grape tomatoes
cubed avocado
sour cream
salsa
corn or flour tortillas


Directions:
Place the spices, chiles, garlic, lime juice, oil and shallot into a food processor or blender (I used my Vita-Mix)and pulse until very smooth. Add the mixture to a marinating container or resealable bag. Add the pork and make sure it is fully submerged/coated in the mixture. Refrigerate overnight (about 14-16 hours is good). Add the pork and marinade into to a 4 quart slow cooker. Cook for about 8 hours. Shred the meat with a fork and toss to coat in the sauce.

My thoughts:

I hadn't made tacos in ages so when I finally did, I wanted them to be special. I was planning on grilling the meat but a forecast of six straight days of rain made me think of alternative cooking methods. I know some people swear by the dutch oven or I could have cubed it and cooked it in a pan but for me, the slow cooker is so easy! We were having a guest for dinnr and slow cooking meant that there was minimal hands-on cooking time when she was here. I prepped all of the toppings (except the avocado) before she arrived so we were ready to go when the the pork was ready. When you first put it in the slow cooker it looks sort of like there won't be enough sauce but there totally is, the pork gives off some liquid as it cooks and you end up with the perfect amount of sauce, enough to coat but not so much it drips out of the taco and onto your hands.

It is a spicy, smoky pork (it would have to be with all those chipotles!) but at the same time, very flavorful, not just hot. Matt really loved it and reports that the leftovers were very good with rice and a bit of cabbage the next day.

Better Than Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:
5 cups chicken or ham stock
2 cups cubed smoked ham*
1 1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup green split peas
1 cup yellow split peas
1/4 cup diced apple (I used a Stayman Winesap)
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 large shallot, minced
1 small to medium bulb fennel, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon celery flakes
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried chervil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon summer savory
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon dillweed
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

Directions:
Pick over split peas to remove any stones or stems that might be present. Place all ingredients except for the frozen peas in a 4 quart slow cooker. Stir. Cook on low 12-15 hours. If you would like thicker soup, cook uncovered on high for 30 minutes to thicken. Stir in the frozen peas during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

*If you have a minute, saute the ham cubes in a nonstick skillet until just starting to brown. This helps seal in the flavor but isn't strictly necessary.

My thoughts:

We get up super early so I can put this up in time for dinner** but in the past, I've put it in my slow cooker right before I go to bed and had it the next day for lunch. I came up with this super long cooking technique because I don't have to soak the peas before making the soup but it you have more patience than I do, prep the peas according to the package instructions and then the soup will only take about 8 hours or so in the slow cooker. The copious amount of herbs and vegetables add a flavor that is a more complex than the typical pea soup and the peas added at the end lend a real pop of freshness that is always welcome in a long simmering soup. The perfect minimal work, high flavor weekday dinner for a dreary, rainy spring day.


**Especially if I had chopped and refrigerated the vegetables the night before. I've even measured the split peas and spices out and left them (covered) in the cold (not plugged in) slow cooker or in a small container overnight.

Rhubarb-Ginger Pulled Pork

Ingredients:
3 lb boneless pork shoulder roast or tenderloin (trim off excess fat)
1 1/2 cup diced rhubarb (un-defrosted frozen is fine)
1/4 cup chili sauce (like Heinz)
1/4 cup spiced ginger preserves (like Mackays)
2 tablespoons thick Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons hickory liquid smoke
1 teaspoons Mexican hot chili powder
1 teaspoons hot paprika
1 teaspoon ground chipotle
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
juice and zest of one lime
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a 4 quart slow cooker. Cook for 10 hours on low. When done, meat should shred easily with a fork. Remove roast from slow cooker. Shred with a fork and set aside. Mash any solid bits of the sauce with a potato masher. Return the pork to slow cooker and toss to evenly coat in sauce. Serve on rolls.

Note: If a slow cooker is not available, place the pork in a dutch oven and bake, covered for 4 1/2 hours at 375.

My thoughts:

I love rhubarb and ginger together. I was excited to pick roasted ginger and rhubarb as part of the panel deciding on McCormick's Flavor Forecast 2010 this fall. Last summer I even created a couple of recipes using the pairing for my upcoming cookbook. I've been predicting rhubarb as the "next big thing" for nearly six years now (well, the next big thing in the US anyway, in England they know their rhubarb) and over the last couple of years have finally starting to see some quality rhubarb recipes pop up. I think pork has a natural sweetness that pairs well with both tart and sweet/spice flavors making a rhubarb-ginger pulled pork the obvious next addition to my long list of pulled pork recipes. It hits that perfect note between spicy sweet and puckery. YUM!

Cubanelle & Black Bean Pork Chili

Ingredients:
2 1/2-3 lb pork tenderloin, cubed
30 oz diced tomatoes, drained
15 oz canned black beans, drained
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2 (large) cubanelle peppers, diced
1 onion, diced
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon hot Mexican style chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cocoa
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle
1/2 teaspoon ground jalapeno
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Directions:
Heat oil in a nonstick pan. Saute the pork until just browned. Add to a 4 quart slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients. Stir. Cook on low 8 hours. Stir prior to serving. I like to sprinkle it with a bit of sharp cheddar and diced onions when I serve it.

My thoughts:

I don't know about you but I am so tired of winter. A lot of it comes from having two blizzards in less than a week and living in a city that just doesn't plow the side streets making it impossible to leave. I have to admit, even in a "good year" I don't enjoy snow or winter very much. Pretty much the only "cold weather" food I can stand to see right now is chili. No matter how many times I make it, I can always enjoy chili. This variation uses my favorite mild but peppery chile, the cubanelle and a mixture of spices for a chili that is not terribly hot but not so mild that spice lovers would turn up their noses at it. Since it is made in the slow cooker, it can not be easier to make. I measure out the spices and stick them in the (unplugged) slow cooker overnight and chop all of the vegetables and refrigerate them overnight as well so all I have to do it saute the meat and add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker in the morning. Easy peasy.

Blueberry-Balsamic Slow Cooker Pork Ribs

Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless pork ribs
3/4 cup chili sauce (like Heinz)
1/3 cup blueberry jam*
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon mesquite liquid smoke
1 teaspoon thick Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ginger juice
2 teaspoons ground chipotle
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground jalapeno
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced

Directions:
Rub both sides of the pork with the chipotle, salt and pepper. Quickly brown on each side in a nonstick skillet. Place in a (preferably oval) 4 quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour over the ribs. Cook for 8 hours.

*I used yummy Spoon NYC jam which is just sugar + blueberries and has really true blueberry flavor.

My thoughts:

This is a great weeknight meal, you are basically making a simple barbecue sauce (which can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight) and pouring it over the meat and then walking away. The pork stays juicy and the sauce hits that perfect not too sweet with a bit of a kick balance. I love using jams as a short cut to flavor in quick barbecue sauces, it adds a not too sweet, fruity flavor without a lot of effort or adding sugar. Not to mention that adding jam helps me use up all of the jams I seem to accumulate/compulsively buy but since I don't actually eat jam or jelly or preserves on toast or bread or whatever people eat jam on I end up with piles and piles of them, unopened and wasting their potential. I tasked myself with finding alternative uses for them and found that barbecue sauces were a surprisingly good fit. Jam is especially great in the slow cooker because one of the potentially tricky bits associated with slow cooker is that nothing evaporates while cooking, so you need ingredients that will add some moisture/flavor but that won't give off so much liquid things become soup or need to be reduced. You can drain off sauces and reduce them in a pan but that sort of defeats the one pot, ready-to-eat charm of the slow cooker. Jam is thick enough that it doesn't really water anything down but provides much needed moisture. And you should believe me because I, um, wrote the book on slow cooking. (How long have I been waiting to make that joke?)

Sweet Dumpling & Delicata Squash Chili

Ingredients:
1 sweet dumpling squash, peeled and cubed
1 delicata squash, peeled and cubed
30 oz canned dark red kidney beans, drained
30 oz canned fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 oz rye (optional)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 jalapeno peppers, diced
1 cubanelle pepper, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 shallot, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 jarred fire roasted pepper, minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon ground cayenne
1 teaspoon ground chipotle
1 teaspoon ground jalapeno
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon roasted ground cumin

Directions:
Place all ingredients in 4 or 6 quart slow cooker and gently stir to evenly distribute the spices and squash. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir prior to serving.

Yield: 8 servings

Note: I like to put the spices in the (covered) slow cooker overnight, chop up the onion, shallot, garlic, peppers, squash and celery and place them in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight. For a vegetarian/vegan chili like this one I have been known to refrigerate the wetter ingredients like jarred pepper, tomatoes, beans, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke in a separate container overnight as well. In the morning, I just have to stir everything together in the slow cooker and turn it on.

My thoughts:

It may be the dead of winter here in Baltimore and nothing is growing locally but it is still easy to find local squash in area stores. We actually have some that we had bought back around Halloween that is still perfectly fine, winter squash can be stored very successfully for months if kept in a cool, dry spot. Delicata and Sweet Dumpling squash both have a fine texture and relatively thin skin which makes them a perfect choice for chili; they are easy to peel and cube. They are also sweeter and milder than a lot of other winter squashes which make them a perfect foil for the spices.

Slow Cooker Galbi Jjim

Ingredients:
3 lbs boneless beef short ribs
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cubed
2 onions, halved and sliced
2 green onions, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 carrots, cut into 1 inch long chunks

for the sauce:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon gochujang* (optional)
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil


Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients. Set aside. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the ribs and boil 10 minutes to render off the fat. Use tongs to fish out the meat. Place in a 4 quart oval slow cooker (I used this one). Top with the remaining ingredients. Pour the sauce over top. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or until the beef is falling apart tender.

*Korean hot pepper paste

My thoughts:

Galbi jjim is a Korean sweet-soy braised short rib dish that is almost more of a stew than a straight up roast or braise. Traditionally, the ribs are bone-in but using boneless ribs makes for a less fatty finished product which is preferred when slow cooking. We used mirin for a touch of sweetness without having to use a lot of sugar (or as I've seen, I swear: soda) in the sauce. I also used butternut squash instead of the oft seen potato because it added natural sweetness and a bit of seasonal flair. It is one of my favorite, easy comfort food dishes.

The boiling step might seem unnecessary, but you would be amazed at how much fat gets removed in the process and how tender the meat is. Need proof of the fat rendering splendor? There will be a lot of fat in the leftover water and virtually none in the finished dish. Since there is little evaporation in slow cooker and meat is cooked for such a long time, it is important to use lean meats lest the meat becomes greasy and stringy. Believe me, I've done a ton of slow cooking. Lean meat is the way to go. I found that fattier cuts of meat can be successfully used in the slow cooker if they were sauteed (good for stews or chili) or boiled (ribs). Meat that has been slow cooked in a slow cooker becomes meltingly tender and just don't need loads of fat to be flavorful.