Slow Cooker Smothered Pork Chops

I found this recipe for smothered pork chops in The Best Slow & Easy Recipes: A Best Recipe Classic which I just picked up from the library(there is a video of the episode here). I find their cookbooks and shows are great, as they give you a lot of tips and tricks for improving recipes, and why they work – a lot of times the information applies to other recipes as well. I’ll be trying a few more recipes from the book in the next few weeks.

I did change the recipe a bit to suit what I had on hand. The original included bacon which I am always an advocate of, but sadly all I had was some reserved bacon fat, which I made good use of!

Slow Cooker Smothered Pork Chops
6 pork chops (recommended bone-in blade-cut pork chops, about 3/4″ thick) I could only find a mixed pack of bone-in loin and rib chops – I think bone in is important for this recipe, for flavour
oil or reserved bacon fat
8 -10 mushrooms, finely chopped
1 large carrot diced small
3 onions, quartered and thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons arrowroot flour (I didn’t have cornstarch, they call for 1 tablespoon cornstarch, use that if you have it!)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Pour 2 cups of broth, thyme, soy sauce, bay leaves, pepper, and thickener (cornstarch or arrowroot flour) into slow cooker, and whisk to combine.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat, and melt bacon fat until shimmering. Brown chops (only 3 at a time fit in my pan) and set aside on a plate.If necessary add more fat/oil to pan, then  add chopped mushrooms and fry until they start to get golden brown. Throw in carrot and continue to saute for a few minutes.  Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker broth mixture.

Again, add additional fat/oil if necessary then add onions, 1 tablespoon brown sugar.  Cook over medium-high heat until onions are soft, about 6 minutes. (forgot to take fried onion picture, they were lovely, nice dark golden brown colour!) Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer. Transfer the onion mixture to slow cooker.Pour remaining one cup of broth into skillet and scrape up any brown bits from the pan, simmer for a few minutes, then add to slow cooker.

Place chops and any accumulated juices into slow cooker, being sure to cover with some of the vegetable mixture. Cook on low until pork is very tender, about 8 hours (or cook on high for 4 hours).

At the end of the cooking time, remove the chops and skim the fat off the top of the sauce, or, as I did, just use a shallow spoon and over the last hour or so of cooking gently lower the spoon and allow fat to drain into it and discard.   Then, add one tablespoon of cider vinegar to the sauce (this really added that certain something!).

There was quite a bit of fat to remove, but it was quite easy to do – even easier would be to remove chops, refrigerate sauce, and remove fat when solid – the next day will probably only make the dish tastier.

This was delicious!  The pork was fork tender and the sauce sooo yummy. 

Served with brown rice and sauteed brussel sprouts.

Slow Cooker Beans and Barley

I wanted to make an easy side dish, and this recipe fit what was hanging around in my pantry.  It is based on sever Red Beans and Barley recipes I found online, but I’ve made it less tomato-ey by draining out the canned tomatoes very well.

1 cup uncooked, rinsed pot barley (not pearled)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots diced
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t red pepper flakes, crushed
15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed
28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained well
2 piece bay leaf
3 3/4 cups broth + 1/4 soy sauce
pepper and thyme to taste

Saute the onion, carrot and garlic until softened.

Pour some of the broth into the saute pan to lift any flavour out of the skillet.

Add all remaining ingredients to the slow cooker, and cook for 7 hours on low.

This recipe smelled delicious the whole time it was cooking – it actually kind of smelled like it was cooked with red wine – I think it was the broth/soy/tomato combination that did that.  The next time I would definitely reduce the broth by one cup.  You can always add more broth , but its hard to reduce without affecting the dish!  Still it seems a nice creamy rich texture and very healthy too!  I will work on this recipe and report back – like to get it down to a sort of rice pilaf consistency.

Slow Roasted Pork Tenderloin

I found this recipe for slow roasted pork, and the technique looked so interesting I had to try it!

Slow Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Pork tenderloin (aprx 3/4 lb?)
3 tablespoons seasoning mix (I use a blend of smoked sweet paprika, thyme, sage, garlic powder, salt and pepper)
8 -10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

Rub the seasoning mix all over the tenderloin and refrigerate for 8-24 hours.

Preheat the oven and cast iron skillet to 500′F .

Remove skillet from oven and add a few teaspoons of oil, place tenderloin in skillet, and dump onions and garlic in around the tenderloin. 

Roast the tenderloin for about 8 minutes, then flip the tenderloin and continue to roast for a total of 15 minutes. 

Turn off oven but do not open door.  Allow roast to sit in the oven and continue to cook – internal temperature should be about 145′F, probably 40-45 minutes depending on the size of your meat.

I left it for 45 minutes, next time if the meat was the same size I’d try less, maybe 35 – 40 minutes – it stayed beautifully moist however, though there was no pinkish tinge left in the meat.

I did some baby carrots in brown sugar and butter in the oven at the same time, and they cooked perfectly as well.

Served with carrots, mashed potatoes and a pan sauce (broth, drippings and some arrowroot to thicken) and it was a great meal – definitely the first time I’ve managed a tenderloin that didn’t dry out!

Boxty – Irish Potato Pancakes

I’ve been getting lots of Irish recipes in my food newsletters, and thought I would try this one – especially because I saw someone do hashbrowns (a similar recipe) in their waffle iron!  I don’t make waffles, but I find lots of weird uses for my waffle maker and George Foreman Grill (both gifts/free to me).  I hope it will work with this recipe.

Fair warning, making boxty could have unforseen consequences – the saying that goes along with this recipes is “Boxty on the griddle, boxty in the pan, if you can’t make boxty, you’ll never get a man.”  Cook with caution, you might end up with an extra man hanging around.

Boxty – Irish Potato Pancakes
5 large potatoes, peeled
OR 2 large potatoes, peeled, and about 2 -3 potatoes worth of leftover mashed potato – probably 2 1/2 cups or so.
1 small onion, minced
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/4 teaspoons fine salt, plus more for seasoning the potatoes before cooking
1 large egg
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
handful of minced parsley or baby spinach for the decorative green “Irish look”
1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Heat the oven to 200°F.

Chop half of the potatoes into large dice, place in a medium saucepan, salt generously, and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to low, and simmer the potatoes uncovered until fork tender, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, grate the remaining potatoes on the large holes of a box grater (or forget the damn box grater and use your processor – I would have but it was too early, and its a pain in the ass to grate potato!).

Toss grated potato and minced onion with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and place in a fine mesh strainer set over a medium bowl, cover with a plate, and weigh it down with a  jar or something.

When the boiled potatoes are ready, drain them, return them to the pot, add 1/4 cup of the milk, and mash until the potatoes are smooth (add the milk to the leftover mashed potato if using).

Whisk the egg, remaining 1/2 cup milk, flour, pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until smooth, about 10 seconds. Add the potatoes and stir until evenly incorporated.

With a plastic spatula, press the grated potatoes and onion against the sides and bottom of the strainer to remove any liquid. Add the grated potatoes, the mashed potatoes, and parsley/spinach if using to the flour/milk mix.

Plug in your waffle iron (that you probably have and never use – wedding present? odd gift?) and wait for it to heat.

Brush oil over waffle iron, then plop aprx. 1/4 cup mix onto each waffle spot and cook until golden brown, 4 -5 minutes. If you haven’t received a waffle iron, fry in a pan about 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Place on a rack set atop a baking sheet and set in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter. Serve warm.

Result:  These were easy and delicious!  It took a while to get them all cooked, with only 2 cakes at a time on the waffle iron, but it made a lot.  I am going to stick the leftovers in the freezer like I do pancakes or waffles, then you can just pop them in the toaster to reheat!  They would be a good side dish instead of other potatoes as well.

Spicy Chick Peas With Beef

I saw this recipe on a great website, Kalyn’s Kitchen and it seemed like a great way to use up a small amount of ground beef and some chick peas I had cooked earlier in the week. I adapted it to simmer in the slow cooker, and changed a few seasonings for what I had on hand.

Spicy Chick Peas With Beef
1/2 lb. ground beef (or other meat)
1 tsp garlic salt(Optional, or use your favorite seasoning for ground beef)
1 tsp creole seasoning
2 cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drain and save liquid (or use 4 cups cooked chickpeas and save 2 cups cooking water)
chicken stock to add to chickpea liquid if needed to make 2 cups
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 1/2 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. hot sauce
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 cups chopped vegetables (I had leftover napa cabbage)
2 1/2 cups cooked bulgur (one cup bulgur mixed into 2 cups boiling salted water, let stand covered 30 minutes) or leftover brown rice
several handfuls baby spinach.

Add the cooked bulgur and chopped vegetables to lightly oiled slow cooker.

Brown ground meat in skillet seasoning with garlic salt. Remove beef with slotted spoon and add to slow cooker.

Saute chick peas and creole seasoning in skillet until brown and popping, and add to cooker as well.

Saute onion, carrot, sweet potato, cumin seed, hot sauce and garlic, and add to cooker.

Pour chick pea/broth liquid into pan and scrape up any brown bits, pour into cooker.

Cook on low for 6 or so hours. 15 minutes before serving, stir in chopped spinach.

Result:  Despite the less than stellar appearance, this was a very tasty meal!  Really, it was. Believe me.  I know.  It looks gross.  It wasn’t.

Deviled Pork Chops

I liked the idea of this “deviled gravy” that I saw Rachael Ray cook as part of Chicken in Deviled Gravy so I decided to try my version of her recipe, with pork chops. The gravy will go nicely with our leftover potato and white bean mash, along with some roasted cauliflower and tomatoes.

Deviled Pork Chops
3-4 pork chops, seasoned with creole seasoning and left in the fridge overnight, or a few hours
3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 1/2 cup chicken stock with 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons hot sauce

Heat skillet over medium high heat, add some oil, and cook seasoned chops for about 5 minutes per side.  Remove chops to a warm plate and cover while you make gravy.

Add the butter to the pan over medium-low heat. Stir in the onion, garlic and chile flakes; season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in the flour, paprika and mustard powder. Whisk in the stock, then simmer until gravy has thickened.  Add chops and any juice back to the pan and simmer a few minutes to combine.Result:  This was a super-tasty sauce, that reminded me a bit of Swiss Chalet sauce, with a lot more kick – I think their main ingredient must be smoked paprika!  Definitely want to try this again on chicken or other things!

 

Braised Napa Cabbage with Mustard

I came up with this idea to use up some “less-than-happy” napa cabbage that I got half-price – it turned out delicious, and I’m sure would be great with any type of cabbage.

Braised Napa Cabbage with Mustard
1 head Napa (or other type) cabbage, chopped into shreds
1 small onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Heat some oil at medium heat in a large wok, then add oil, garlic, and mustard seed.  Saute for a few minutes, then add onion, and saute until softened.

Mix together fish sauce, mustard and lemon juice in measuring cup.

Add cabbage to wok a few handfuls at a time, pouring a bit of liquid over cabbage each time, and stirring, until all liquid and cabbage have been added. 

Cook, stirring occaisionaly until cabbage is tender to your taste.  Remove cabbage to serving dish with slotted spoon.  There will probably be a lot of liquid leftover – boil this down until you have just a bit of thickened liquid in the pan, then pour over cabbage, toss, and serve as a side dish.Result:  We had this cabbage with sausages and white bean mashed potatoes, which was a really good if slightly monochromatic meal!  I will try this again with other kinds of cabbage.