This is a crowd-pleaser, and not just for cinco de mayo! I made it for my sisters birthday this past week-end and it was a big hit. The margarita’s helped….
Ingredients
1 pork shoulder – 5-6 lbs
1 onion, peeled
1 orange, washed, and quartered
1 lime, washed, halved
1 tblsp cumin
1 bay leaf
1 tsp peppercorns
3 cups water
Preparation Instructions
Place all ingredients in a slow cooked on high, or in a dutch oven, covered, at 325. Cook 4-5 hours, or until meat is tender and falls apart.
Pull meat apart with a fork, and add 1/2 cup cooking liquid and salt to taste.
Serve with corn or flour tortillas, and your fave toppings- guacamole, grated cheese, fresh salsa, coriander, sour cream and cholula hot sauce.
Black bean, corn and coriander salad makes a great side dish.
February 3, 2014 | Posted in:
Slow cooker chicken soup with garlic
There is a soup from the Provence, in the south of France, that is made by boiling garlic in chicken stock, and then serving the mashed garlic on a toast floating in the soup. It’s a traditional winter soup that I loved as a kid. I’ve adapted this to the North American chicken soup we all love, and thrown it all in the slow cooked for simplicity. I’m happy to report my kids love it too!
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, breasts removed (I save them for another dish- they just don’t add much in the slow cooker)
2 small turnips, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2″ cubes
1 large potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 small onion, peeled
1/2 head of garlic, cloves removed but not peeled
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, or 1 tsp ground
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp dill
2 whole cloves
(you can add 2 pieces of celery if you like- I actually don’t like the taste of celery!)
salt
8 slices of toasted baguette, or artisanal crackers
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Preparation Instructions
Place the chicken into a slow cooker. Add turnips, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, herbs and spices and 6 cups of cold water. Cook 6 hours on high. Let cool.
Take out the peppercorns, coriander and cloves from the soup. Remove the chicken, and pull the meat off of the carcass, the return the meat to the soup. Mash the garlic cloves, (you can just slip them out of the their skins and squash them with a spoon) and return to soup. Season with salt.
To serve, heat soup, and ladle into bowls. with meat and vegetables. Top each bowl with one slice of baguette, toasted with 2 tsp of parmesan cheese over top, or crackers, and cheese sprinkled on top.
Note: I add a squeeze of Sriracha to the soup too! But I like strong flavors!
January 24, 2014 | Posted in:
Slow cooker Moroccan chicken stew
My french grandmother made the very best “couscous” in the world. She would work for days preparing everything, slowly steaming the semolina before rubbing it with butter between her fingers. I’m not sure she would approve of my slow cooker adaptation of her recipe! But why spent 10 hours doing something when you can get it done in 30 minutes with equally delicious results?!
Ingredients
1 chicken, cut up into pieces, or two breasts, two legs, bone in
2 lamb shoulder chops
2 tblsp olive oil
1 leek, whites only, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 carrot, peeled cut into large chunks
2 turnips, peeled and cut into quarters
2 zucchini, cut into large chunks
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1 small can of chick peas
1 tblsp and 2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cloves
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation Instructions
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet. Brown chicken and lamb and then place in slow cooker.
In the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the leeks, garlic, carrots and turnips. Fry for about five minutes. Add spices, continue to cook while stirring 5 minutes.
Add broth, stir, and pour contents into slow cooker.
Set slow cooker on high for 4 hours. After 2 hours, open slow cooker and add zucchini and chick peas.
Serve on a bed of cousous (I prepare it by placing it in a shallow bowl and pouring hot water over top, letting it sit then fluffing it with a fork. A dash of with “Harrissa” spice (if you can find it, otherwise chili powder would work) on top is delicious!
January 22, 2014 | Posted in:
Slow cooker beef shank pasta sauce
I added red wine and black olives to this stew-like pasta sauce to crank up the fullness of the flavor, but my kids loved it too!
Ingredients
2 large beef or veal shanks
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup red wine
2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried
32 oz or 1 quart of canned crushed tomates (I used the home-made sauce I made this summer in this video!)
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation Instructions
Roughly chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Brown the onion and garlic, about 3-5 minutes, until translucent. Add the shanks and brown on both sides (about 3 minutes a side). Add red wine and cook 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and seasoning. Transfer to slow cooker. Cook on high heat for 6 hours. Remove the shanks and shred the meat. Return to sauce.
(I ended up refrigerating the sauce for a couple of days, and it only got more delicious!).