Crockpot Pulled Pork

With the NFL playoffs in full swing, I'm sure some of you are looking for a great football party dish to serve over the upcoming weeks. I spontaneously decided I was craving pulled pork yesterday and wanted to find a crockpot recipe that I could throw together in no time. My recipe for Crockpot Pulled Pork is slightly different than the one I worked from, and it turned out amazing!

Ingredients:

• 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 (4 1/2 -5 lb) bone-in pork shoulder (also called pork butt), twine or netting removed
• 1 Tbs packed dark brown sugar
• 1 Tbs kosher salt
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup BBQ sauce plus extra for topping sandwiches (optional)

How to:

• Lay onions and garlic evenly in the bottom of your Crockpot.
• Pour chicken broth over the onions and garlic.
• Combine the sugar, salt, chili powder, coriander, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Pat dry pork shoulder with a paper towel.
• Rub combined spices all over the pork, covering it as completely as possible.
• Add pork to Crockpot.
• Cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours (8-10 hours on low).
• Turn off Crockpot, and transfer pork to cutting board. Discard bone, and shred pork with two forks. Discard any fat pieces. Set shredded pork aside.
• Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium sized heat proof bowl and pour onion mixture from the Crockpot over the strainer. Return solids to the Crockpot, and set liquid aside. 
• Return the shredded meat to the Crockpot with the onion mixture.
• Add BBQ sauce, if desired and mix to coat pork. 
• If you don't want to use BBQ sauce: Use a spoon to skim and discard the fat from your reserved liquid. Add 1/4 cup of the strained liquid at a time to the Crockpot, until the meat is just moistened. Taste and season with salt as needed.
• Serve on a hamburger bun.

I used a full 5-lb bone-in pork shoulder for this recipe, and it just BARELY fit in my Crockpot. I suggest going with a 4 1/2 pound sucker (unless you have a large Crockpot). The original recipe I worked from uses 2 cups of BBQ sauce, but I thought the pork tasted great after adding only 1 cup. I used Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue Sauce - a personal fave.

Enjoy!

Crockpot Beef Stew

In theory, Crockpot recipes are great because you can throw a bunch of stuff into the pot, turn it on, leave it for 6-8 hours, and come back to a delicious hot meal. In reality, Crockpot recipes generally only work for me on the weekends. During the week,  I'm outta the house by 8:00am and rarely get home before 6:00pm. That's 10 hours. I feel like this is generally the norm for people who work 40 hours (or more...womp womp...) a week outside the home.

As I've mentioned numerous times, sometimes cooking a real meal is the absolute last thing I want to do when I get home after standing at a lab bench for 8+ hours. Jake and I probably eat more cereal and grilled cheese than we should. I came across this recipe for Crockpot Beef Stew and knew it would be the perfect thing to try on what I knew would be one of my crazier days in the lab. I prepped all of the ingredients the night before and kept them covered and in the fridge overnight. Then, before heading into work last Wednesday morning, I threw all of the ingredients in the crockpot, turned it on, and left for work. When I finally made it back to the house 11 and a half hours later (vomit), this perfect batch of Beef Stew was waiting for me.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into bite size pieces or 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 potatoes, diced
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups beef broth

How to:

• Mix together flour, salt, and pepper in a large Ziploc bag or bowl. Add meat and toss to coat.
• Place flour-coated meat in slow cooker and add all remaining ingredients. Stir to mix thoroughly.
• Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours. 

After 11 and a half hours in the crockpot, the meat perfectly fell apart and tasted so flavorful. This really was one of those 'set it and forget it' meals, especially considering I prepped all of the ingredients the night before. 

My recipe is slightly modified from this one.

Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes

Potatoes are a versatile food; they're delicious fried, mashed, baked, plain, covered in cheese, covered in bacon, covered in sour cream, covered in butter (although to be fair, what ISN'T delicious when covered in cheese, bacon, and/or butter). Basically, they're delicious in any way, shape, or form. Potatoes are a staple food in this household.

I found this recipe for a Crockpot version of scalloped potatoes and immediately had to try it. The original recipe can be found here. This recipe (as do most Crockpot dishes) serves 10-12 people. It's a great dish to prepare when you're having a party!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs red potatoes (I peeled half of them, and left the skins on the other half)
• 1 cup sour cream (I used light)
• 1 can cream of potato soup
• 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• paprika (optional)
• 3 Tbs chopped chives (optional)

How to:

• Thinly slice potatoes and place in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl, mix together sour cream, soup, and Worcestershire sauce.
• Combine potatoes and mixture and mix until potatoes are evenly coated.
• Spray Crockpot with cooking spray.
• Add 1/2 of the potatoes to the Crockpot. Top with 3/4 cup cheddar.
• Repeat layers. 
• Cover and cook on high (3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours) or on low (7 to 8 hours).
• Serve topped with paprika and chives, if desired.

I seriously can't stop eating these. They're so good! The next time I make these, I think I'll leave the skin on all the potatoes. They give this side dish a really nice texture. Enjoy :)

Creamy Tomato and Parmesan Soup

This weekend was exceptionally fall-like - there was a chill in the air, the leaves started to turn all kinds of awesome colors, and I watched more football than the average person. Jake and I were outside for most of the day on Saturday, watching my niece and nephew cheerleading and playing football. It was just chilly enough that I found myself craving something savory and hot to warm myself up with. I decided then that I'd devote my Sunday to making some soup. I also decided it needed to be a Crockpot recipe, keeping with my promise to post a Crockpot recipe once a week.

I found this recipe for Tomato Basil Parmesan soup through Pinterest. It seemed to have all ingredients I love (tomatoes, cheese, butter - how can you go wrong?), so I figured I'd try it out. This soup turned out AMAZING. But I'm warning you now, it is not short on calories. Or fat. You've been warned.

The original recipe can be found here. I've made a few modifications to mine - mostly in just substituting the 2 cups of half and half for 1 cup of light cream.

Ingredients:

• 1 28 oz. can diced italian tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup finely diced celery (~4 stalks)
• 1 cup finely diced carrots (~3 medium carrots)
• 1 cup finely diced onion (~1 medium onion)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 4 cups chicken broth (I prepared mine from bouillon)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 cup light cream, warmed
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh basil (optional)

 How to:

• Combine tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, oregano, basil, chicken broth, and bay leaf in Crockpot. 
• Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours.
• Approximately 30 minutes before soup is served, prepare a roux. 
• Melt butter over low heat in a saucepan.
• Slowly add in flour, whisking constantly for about 5 minutes.
• Slowly add in 1 cup of hot soup, whisking constantly until smooth.
• Continue adding 3 more cups of hot soup slowly, whisking constantly until smooth.
•  Add back to the Crockpot and mix well.
•  Add warmed cream, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes on low.
• Serve in warmed bowls, garnished with fresh basil, if desired (although I recommend it!).

This recipe is incredibly flavorful. If I'm being honest, I think the next time I make this, I might omit the cream altogether - I don't think it needs it! I'd love to hear what you readers think of this recipe, so please post your comments below!

Enjoy!

Crockpot Cashew Chicken

My mom bought me a Crockpot for Christmas a few years ago. In my opinion, I haven't used it nearly enough. I've pinned a ton of Crockpot recipes over the past few months, and have only tried a handful of them. What's not to love about throwing a bunch of ingredients into a pot, turning it on, and letting the house fill with delicious smells as said ingredients cook, all the while you tend to other things? From this point forward, it's my vow to all of you that I will try as hard as I can to use my Crockpot once a week.

I found this recipe for Crockpot Cashew Chicken via Pinterest (shocking!). At first glance, this recipe seemed to have a Chinese food-like flair to it - which I was excited about. I love any food that involves ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and/or soy sauce, so this seemed like the perfect dish for me.

 The original recipe can be found here. I've made a few changes to my version, including adding some veggies and slightly changing the amount of chicken used.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• olive oil
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar (the original recipe calls for rice vinegar)
• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic (the original recipe calls for 1, but I love garlic)
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup cashews (mine were lightly salted)

How to:

• Combine flour and pepper in a gallon size Ziploc bag. Add chicken to bag, and toss to coat the chicken with the flour mixture.
• Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan. Brown chicken by cooking on each side, ~2 min each. Add chicken to Crockpot.
• Chop carrots and celery and add to Crockpot.
• In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Pour over chicken and veggies.
• Cover and heat on low for 3-4 hours. Add the cashews, stir, and serve. 

I decided to serve this dish over white rice. The sauce is so flavorful, and this dish pairs really well with rice, in my opinion. The crushed red pepper gives this dish just enough of a kick, so don't overdo it on the red pepper unless you like things REALLY spicy. I hope you all enjoy this! I'd love to hear your comments.

Crockpot Applesauce

Yum!

It's October 1st. Which means fall has officially started. I should mention that I love all things fall-related. I'm from Massachusetts originally - the home of Salem witches and some seriously awesome foliage. As any native Mass-hole will tell you, fall is the best season of the year. A time where pumpkin and apple flavors are crammed into every food-related item you can imagine. Which is why apple picking is a must on my fall to-do list. As is pumpkin picking - but we'll get to that at a later date.

A few weekends ago, my girlfriend Jessica was visiting, and we decided to head to Lohr's Orchard to do some apple picking. We picked some of the biggest apples I've ever seen. EVER. Why is it that people always pick more apples than they'll ever eat? That happened to me & Jess. After 2 weeks of eating apples, I decided it was time to do something with what I had left.

Check out the size of that apple on Jess's head!

I stumbled across a crockpot applesauce recipe that seemed very simple, and I happened to have all ingredients on hand. I figured I'd give it a shot.

The recipe I worked off of can be found here. It looks like she grabbed this recipe from Skinnytaste - one of my favorite places to find new recipes!

Ingredients:

• 7 large apples* (enough to fill a crockpot) of any variety, peeled, cored, & diced
• 1 strip of lemon peel (I used a vegetable peeler)
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 tsp light brown sugar (unpacked)

How to:

• Combine all ingredients in your crockpot
• Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Stir periodically

How easy is that?

*Keep in mind, my apples were enormous. The original recipe called for 8 medium apples, or 20 small apples. As long as you have enough to fill up your crockpot, you should be good to go!

Your apples will reduce down to a delicious blend of apples & cinnamon as they cook. I found that the consistency of the applesauce was perfect - there were small apple pieces that gave the applesauce a great texture. I used a mixture of granny smith and macintosh apples. In the future, I'd use a less tart apple than granny smith - my applesauce has a little bite to it. But overall, this recipe turned out close to perfect. And best of all - the house smelled amazing all day! 

Here's the finished product. Enjoy!