The Best Slow-Cooker Recipes : Cooking Channel.
It’s getting into the Fall time of year where you want to make some housewarming meals at home but may not have the time to do just everything you want during the week. This is where your slow cooker can really come in handy and Cooking Channel has put together 26 of their best slow cooker recipes for you to tryr so you can make some great meals with just a little bit of work and have everything ready when you get home. Check it out!
If you have spent any time at all in any mall, you have more than likely ventured into the food court once or twice. While you may typically find fast food options that everyone is familiar with, you are also likely going to find some type of restaurant offering you up free samples of the famous bourbon chicken seen in malls everywhere. I had been thinking about trying to replicate this on my own at home recently and after reading many of the recipes I found online I realized that a lot of these recipes do not actually use any bourbon at all in them and the name actually comes from Bourbon Street in New Orleans and not the content of the recipe. While this made sense, I was kind of looking forward to using a little bit of bourbon in a recipe because you can get some great flavor from it. I did finally come across a recipe from Betty Crocker that makes use of bourbon and is made in the slow cooker, allowing me to put everything together quickly and just let it cook until dinner time.
Slow Cooker Bourbon Chicken
1/2 cup bourbon
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup chopped green onions
Spray the slow cooker insert with cooking spray to prevent any sticking from occuring during the cooking process. In the slow cooker, mix the bourbon, the honey, the soy sauce, the rice vinegar, the ketchup, the chopped onion, the chopped garlic and the grated ginger until it is combined. Add the chicken breasts to the mixture and toss to coat the chicken.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on the Low heat setting for 6 to 8 hours. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker to a cutting board or platter. With 2 forks shred the chicken breasts or break the chicken into bite-size pieces, whichever you prefer. Return the chicken to the slow cooker and toss it to coat it in the bourbon sauce. Place the chicken in a large bowl or on a platter and sprinkle the green onions over the top before serving.
There is not much to this recipe at all and it is a great slow cooker option when you want to try something different. The bourbon sauce is full of flavor and not too sweet, making it just perfect for your meal. I served this with white rice to keep things very simple and the meal was all put together very easily. You can start this one before you leave for work or school in the morning and it can be done waiting for you when you get home. If you are looking to make this without the bourbon, you can use chicken broth or even Apple juice instead for flavor.I think it tastes better than anything they serve you at the food court in the mall and you may never look at those free samples the same way again. This will even be great as a pulled chicken option to serve on buns with some coleslaw.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Since I don’t have the advantages of having a charcoal or gas grill it sometimes feels like it can really limit some of the things I can cook, particularly when it comes to making ribs. I have been able to find some great recipes for making ribs in the oven and they have turned out well, but I am always looking to see if there is something new I can try to get even greater flavor out of a meal of ribs. I came across this recipe awhile back from Kelsey Nixon on the Cooking Channel for Asian barbecue ribs that are made in the slow cooker, which makes them perfect for you to try for a weeknight meal when you want something ready for you when you get home from work. These are very easy to make, with just a few ingredients that go a long way to giving you some great flavor.
Slow Cooker Asian Barbecue Ribs
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch green onions, white and green parts, chopped
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 racks pork baby back ribs (4 to 5 pounds)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Heat the sesame oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the ginger, garlic and green onions until all are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar, chili sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey and 1/2 cup of water. Whisk the mixture until everything is fully incorporated. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking until the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to cool.
Sprinkle the ribs generously with salt and pepper and place the ribs in an upright position in the slow cooker. The meaty side of the ribs should be facing outwards. Spoon the sauce over the ribs and cover the slow cooker. Cook the ribs in the slow cooker on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Strain the sauce from the slow cooker into a saucepan and remove any accumulated grease from the top of the sauce. Combine 1 tablespoon of water with the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and whisk them together in a small bowl. Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan and bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the sauce until it has thickened and serve it with the ribs.
I actually added one more step to this recipe at this point. When I removed the ribs from the slow cooker, I put some of the reduced and thickened sauce onto the ribs and then placed the ribs under the broiler for about 2 minutes to really get a nice glaze and crisp up the ribs some more. I think this made a big difference as far as flavor, texture and look of the ribs and I would do that again with this recipe. The sauce was great, giving a nice Asian flavor and flair to the dish with the ginger, soy sauce and honey. The ribs were very tender inside and crisp on the outside just the way I like them. I would definitely make this one again.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Okay, I needed room in my freezer to get things ready for all of our Christmas stuff late last week, so I knew it was time to make that pork shoulder that had been resting in the freezer. We had just had pulled pork on my birthday, so I set out to make something a little different with it this time and since I have been so busy with work and the holidays, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make use of the slow cooker and just do everything in there. I came across this recipe at My Recipes for a Cuban pork shoulder with beans and rice that fit the bill perfectly, so I gave it a try.
Cuban Pork Shoulder with Beans and Rice
2 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup fresh orange juice (about 4 oranges)
1 medium orange, quartered
1/2 cup chopped cilantro stems
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 (2 1/2-pound) bone-in pork shoulder, trimmed
1 pound dried black beans
2 1/4 cups chopped onion, divided
10 garlic cloves, crushed and divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano, divided
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups chopped tomato
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 2/3 cup hot cooked white rice
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
Combine the chicken stock, orange juice, cilantro stems and orange quarters in a blender. Process until the mixture is smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl; discard any solids. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 3/4 teaspoon black pepper.
Place the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat and cook until it is crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and place it in the slow cooker. Sprinkle the pork shoulder with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add the pork to the drippings in the skillet. Brown the pork on all sides, cooking for about 8 minutes. Add the pork shoulder to the slow cooker. Pour the uncooked black beans around the pork in the slow cooker.
Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add 2 cups of the onions and 6 of the garlic cloves. Saute the mixture for 3 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of the oregano, the paprika, the cumin, and the crushed red pepper to the pan and saute for about 1 minute. Add the orange mixture and the bay leaf to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring and scraping the pan to loosen any browned bits. Pout the onion mixture over the pork. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low setting for 8 hours or until the pork is very tender and the beans are done. Remove the pork from the slow cooker, shred the meat, and discard the bones. Discard the bay leaf. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the beans in the slow cooker.
Combine the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, the remaining 1/4 cup of onion, the tomato and the jalapeno pepper in a bowl. Chop the remaining 4 garlic cloves and stir them into the tomato mixture. Spoon 1/3 cup of the hot rice onto each of 8 plates; top each serving with 1/2 cup of the bean mixture, about 3 ounces of the shredded pork and 3 1/2 tablespoons of the salsa. Garnish with the remaining oregano and the chopped cilantro.
I did make a couple of changes to the recipe. Since tomatoes are not so great around here this time of year, I omitted the salsa completely from the recipe. I think the dish was fine without anyway, but it would make a nice addition if you have some good tomatoes. Also, the original recipe recommends that you use the whole orange, skin and all, in the blender. Personally, I thought it would be too bitter and peeled the orange. You still get good orange flavor. I do have to say the beans and the mixture they were in is delicious, but they get a lot of heat from the red pepper flakes, so next time I might cut back on that, but if you like the heat, then it would be perfect for you. The pork was done perfectly and had great flavor and since it was in the slow cooker, it is basically a one dish meal (except for the rice) and clean up was really easy. I would make this one again since it is so easy to do.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I will try to get one on tomorrow early for Christmas Eve and then I have to prepare for Christmas day cooking. I’ll be sure to post recipes and pictures from that. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Alton Brown’s recipes are always among my favorites. He seems to take the time to make sure everything is going to be cooked just right so that you get the best taste and flavor out of your dish. This was particularly true of the dinner I made last night that uses his recipe for slow cooker pepper pork chops. Granted, part of the dish is actually made on the stove top before it makes its way over to the slow cooker, but this helps you to get great browning for the pork chops and onions before they go into the slow cooker to get that falling-off-the-bone flavor and texture to them. There is some prep work that needs to go into this one beforehand, which includes brining the pork chops for 24 hours, but it is well worth the effort.
Slow Cooker Pepper Pork Chops
2 cups vegetable broth or water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, slightly crushed
1 pound ice
4 (1 to 1 1/2-inch thick) bone-in pork chops
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup dried apple slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, julienned
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Combine the vegetable broth, 1/2 cup of kosher salt, brown sugar and the crushed peppercorns in a medium saucepan and set it over medium-high heat. Cook just until the salt and sugar have dissolved then remove the mixture from the heat and add the ice to the saucepan. Place the pork chops in a large zip-top plastic bag along with the mixture and seal the bag. Place the bag in a plastic container and refrigerate the pork chops overnight.
Remove the chops from the brine, rinse and pat them dry. Season both sides of the chops with kosher salt and set them aside.
Place the apple slices in the slow cooker. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the pork chops on both sides until they are golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes per side. Once they are browned, place the pork chops into the slow cooker on top of the apple slices.
Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to the saute pan followed by the onions ans saute the onions until the begin to brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth to the pan to deglaze. Add the black pepper and the dried thyme and stir the mixture to combine. Transfer the entire mixture to the slow cooker, set the slow cooker to high, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Decrease the heat to low and continue cooking for another 4 1/2 hours or until the pork is tender and falling away from the bone. Serve.
The brine really helps to add some great flavor to the pork. If you aren’t a big fan of pepper, you might want to skip this one because the pepper flavor from the brine certainly permeates the pork well. I thought it had fantastic flavor and loved the taste of the pepper with the onions and apples. I served this with some simple white rice and I also made a mashed butternut squash, which was a great side dish for the pork and one that you can easily use as a side dish for your Thanksgiving plans. I’ll be posting the recipe for that dish tomorrow.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for more recipes. I am working on a lot of things, including a bunch of dishes that are perfect for Thanksgiving that I will be highlighting throughout the month of November. Michelle’s birthday is at the end of this coming week, so we’ll be doing some Thanksgiving dishes for her birthday since I am not cooking at home this holiday. I’ll also be trying my hand at her birthday cake this year, so we’ll see how that turns out as well. Keep checking to see what is next. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
With the cooler weather coming upon us now, that means more of an opportunity to make soups and make some good use of the slow cooker. We made a couple of different soups this week, and the first one allowed me to use some of the dried beans I had picked up that were on sale this past week. I had picked up bags of black beans, Great Northern beans, navy beans and lentils, so I had plenty to work with as I looked for a recipe where I could use different types in one soup. I came upon this recipe from the Food Network for a bean and barley soup in the slow cooker and it sounded perfect.
Slow-Cooker Bean and Barley Soup
1 cup dried multi-bean mix or Great Northern Beans, picked over and rinsed
1/2 cup pearl barley
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
2 ribs celery, roughly chopped
1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning herb blend
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, crumbled if large (optional)
One 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, with juice
3 cups cleaned baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Put 6 cups of water, all of the beans, the barley, garlic, carrots, celery, onions, bay leaf, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, Italian seasoning, pepper and porcini mushrooms, if using, in a slow cooker. Squeeze the tomatoes through your hands over the slow cooker to break them down, and add them with their juices. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, about 8 hours.
Add the spinach and Parmesan cheese, and stir until the spinach wilts, about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and drizzle each serving with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
I love a hearty bean soup and this one, with the different beans in, has awesome flavor. It was nice and thick with very flavorful broth from all the vegetables. Adding the spinach and cheese towards the end is a great way to add flavor and make it even more flavorful, but if you wanted to leave them out and just have the bean and barley soup I think it would be just as good. Serve it with some nice crunchy bread and you have a great vegetarian or meatless meal. The soup itself tasted even better the next day after it has had a chance to set and the flavors have melded together even more than the first day, so it has made for some great lunches as well.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another soup recipe as I will go over the nice corn chowder that we made this week. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
I had seen this Oktoberfest recipe when I got the others from Williams-Sonoma and just recently got around to making this one. I did alter the idea slightly as the original recipe that I will post has this as something of a salad with a nice shallot vinaigrette. I didn’t have any watercress, or any lettuce at all as a matter of fact, in the house when I made this so I simply made the dish and served it over rice instead. I think it came out just as well and makes good use of the slow cooker for this meal.
Balsamic-Braised Sausages with Grapes and Watercress
1 1/2 pounds fresh sweet or hot Italian pork sausages
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1/2 fennel bulb, cored and finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2/3 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons white wine
2 1/2 cups seedless red or green grapes, halved
1 bunch watercress, tough stems removed
For the Shallot Vinaigrette:
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat a broiler. Arrange the sausages on a rack set on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil, turning as needed, until the sausages are a golden brown all over, about 8 to 9 minutes total. Transfer the sausages to a plate.
In a slow cooker, stir together the shallot, fennel, celery, garlic, salt and several grinds of pepper. Top with the broiled sausages and add the chicken stock, balsamic vinegar and white wine. Cover and cook for 2 1/2 hours on the high setting or 5 1/2 hours on the low setting, turning the sausages halfway through if possible. The sausages should be tender and cooked through.
To make the vinaigrette, in a bowl, combine the grapes and watercress. In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, shallot, red wine vinegar, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Whisk in the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified; you will need about 1/3 cup of vinaigrette for this recipe; reserve the rest for another use. Drizzle the grapes and watercress with enough of the vinaigrette to coat lightly and toss to coat everything evenly.
Divide the sausages among warm individual plates, spoon some of the braising liquid around the sausages, and top with the grapes and watercress. Serve.
All three of us loved the flavor of the sausages and the braising liquid. This is one of the few meals where we actually didn’t have any leftovers as the sausages went quite quickly. Browning the sausages before putting them in the slow cooker makes them nice and meaty and the slow cooking makes them very tender, so it is a great combination. I really liked the flavor of the braising liquid with the shallot and fennel and the balsamic vinegar really adds a lot to the dish as well. I think this would go very nicely with the grapes and watercress, and I did make the shallot vinaigrette anyway to have as a salad dressing for another day and even put a bit on my rice with this meal for some added flavor. Sean has already asked me to make this one again, so I think it’s going to be a favorite.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe that I have tried recently. I still have a bunch that I want to try out in the coming weeks, so there is still lots of good stuff to come, including some Halloween ideas and somethings to think about as possible Thanksgiving dishes. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Even if you are not a beer lover or beer fan, there is some great food that goes along with a Oktoberfest celebration. Of course there are lots of meals involving sausages and wursts of various kinds, but there are also lots of uses for things like pork and cabbage. Williams-Sonoma posted some great recipes a little over a week ago that concentrated on the Oktoberfest meals and what you can make at home and I recently tried out a couple of them. The first one I tried was a nice meal of pork shoulder with sauerkraut and apples. I had picked up a very large pork shoulder on sale, cut it into two roasts, removed the bone and froze half of it. I used the other half for this recipe.
Pork Shoulder with Sauerkraut and Apples
1 boneless pork shoulder roast, about 4 to 5 pounds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, halved and cored
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 pounds sauerkraut, squeezed dry
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon caraway seeds (optional)
Lay the pork flat, boned side up, on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, trim away any large pockets of fat. Starting at the thinner end of the meat, roll up the pork and securely tie the roll at regular intervals with kitchen twine. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper.
In a fry pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the vegetable oil. Add the pork and cook, turning frequently, until it is well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the pork to a platter.
Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the onion, apples and thyme, and saute until the onion and apples are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer the apple mixture to a bowl.
Pour off the fat from the pan. Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the wine and de-glaze the pan, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Cover the bottom of a large Dutch oven with the sauerkraut. Sprinkle the sauerkraut with the brown sugar and caraway seeds, if using. Place the pork on top of the sauerkraut and surround it with the apple mixture. Pour in the wine mixture. Cover, transfer to the heated oven and cook until the pork is fork-tender and shreds easily, about 4 to 5 hours.
Transfer the pork to a carving board. Using a sharp knife, cut the pork crosswise into slices about 1/2 inch thick, removing the twine from the pork as you slice. Place the sauerkraut on a large platter and top with the pork slices. Surround the pork with the apples and serve immediately.
This dish also lends itself very well to cooking in the slow cooker. All you need to do is cover the bottom of the slow cooker with the sauerkraut and sprinkle the brown sugar on top of it. Place the pork on top of the sauerkraut and surround it with the apple mixture. Pour in the wine mixture, cover, and cook on low until the pork is fork-tender, about 8 to 10 hours.
I did change a couple of things about this recipe. I did not use the caraway seeds myself. I also substituted chicken broth for the white wine. You could just as easily use water instead of wine or broth if you like. Finally, I only used 1 pound of sauerkraut and then substituted some shredded red cabbage for the rest of it to give things a bit of a different look and flavor. The 5 hour cooking time gives the cabbage and the pork incredible flavor. The meat falls and shreds much like pulled pork would but you get a nice bite of the vinegar in the sauerkraut and the taste of the apples. I think it’s a great dish. I served this with some wild rice and applesauce.
That’s all I have for today. Check back tomorrow for another Oktoberfest recipe I just tried for pork chops with a cider glaze. It was also a great recipe to try out this time of year. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
I probably don’t make good enough use of our slow cooker. I always say I am going to use it more but somehow it just seems to slip my mind. The problem I have is that our kitchen is small so it is not a piece of equipment I can keep on the counter and remember to use often. It is usually when I see a recipe I like that makes use of the slow cooker that it jogs my memory. That is exactly what happened with this soup recipe that I found from A Year of Slow Cooking. This recipes uses 3 different kinds of beans, which I love, and some interesting spices to create this one pot meal.
Moroccan Lentil Soup
1 cup dried lentils
1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
28 ounce can diced tomatoes and juice
4 cups vegetable broth, chicken broth or water
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
Add the chopped onion, celery and carrot to the slow cooker and sprinkle over the bottom. Drain and rinse off the lentils, garbanzo beans and pinto beans and add them on top of the vegetables. Grate the ginger on top of the beans and then add in the garam masala, cayenne pepper, cumin, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir in the broth or water and the diced tomatoes plus the juice. Stir the mixture to blend everything together.
Cover the slow cooker and cook the soup on low for 8 to 10 hours. Before serving the soup, use an immersible blender to pulse and blend some of the vegetables and beans together. This will help to give the soup a better texture and meld some of the flavors together.
This recipe makes a good bit of soup, so you will have leftovers for lunches or another dinner, or you could even freeze some to use as an emergency dinner for another weeknight when you don’t feel much like cooking. Garam masala is a spice blend commonly used in Northern Indian cooking that mixes together pepper, cumin, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. It really adds some nice flavor and fragrance to this dish. All of the spices work well together and give great taste to this soup and using the immersible blender really helps to give it a velvety smooth texture to finish off with. If you use vegetable stock or water in this dish, you can make it vegetarian. You get plenty of protein from all of the beans in the dish and I have had some for lunch after the dinner we had of this soup and the flavor does seem to get even better. If you want to save yourself even more time with the slow cooker, chop your vegetables the night before, get everything prepped on your counter, and then you can just throw it together in the morning before you run out the door to start your day.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I still have lots I have been working on, including a new roasted chicken dish I tried last night. I also have some other great recipes from the Cooking Channel, Food Network, Food Republic, Cook’s Country and Williams-Sonoma that I will be trying over the next few days and weeks, so check back for those. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
With the ungodly heat we have been experiencing here in the northeast part of the country, I have had to find some alternatives to using the oven. I had bought a large pork butt last week to make pulled pork, but there was no way I was turning the oven on if I could avoid it. Thankfully, I was able to pull out the trusty slow cooker and use this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen so I was able to make some tasty pulled pork sliders for dinner instead.
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sliders
Salt and pepper
6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 (5-pound) boneless pork butt roast
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 cups barbecue sauce
Cider vinegar
Hot sauce
Hamburger buns
Bread and butter pickles
For the pork: Dissolve 1/4 cup of salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and 3 tablespoons of liquid smoke in 2 quarts of cold water in a large container. Submerge the pork in the brine, cover and refrigerate for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
While the pork brines, combine the mustard and remaining 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke in a bowl and set it aside. Combine 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of pepper, the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, paprika, and cayenne in a second bowl and set aside.
Remove the pork from the brine and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Rub the mustard mixture over the entire surface of the pork. Sprinkle the pork with the spice mixture to coat well.Place the pork in the slow cooker and pour the barbecue sauce over the pork, cover, and cook, on either low or high, until the pork is fork tender and falling apart, 10 to 11 hours on low or 7 to 8 hours on high.
Transfer the meat to a large bow and let cool. Let the cooking liquid settle for 5 minutes, then use a wide spoon to skin the fat off the surface. Season the sauce with the cider vinegar, hot sauce and salt and pepper to taste. When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it using your fingers or two forks., discarding any extra fat or gristle.
Toss the shredded meat with 1 cup of the cooking sauce, adding more as needed to keep it moist. Serve, passing the remaining sauce separately, with hamburger buns and pickles to make the sliders.
You can use any store-bought barbecue sauce you like for this recipe, or you can quickly use this recipe below and triple it to make enough sauce for this pulled pork.
Barbecue Sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup ketchup
5 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
Salt and pepper
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, and cayenne and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool to room temperature before serving, about 1 hour. The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up yo 1 week or frozen for up to 2 months.Bring it to room temperature before serving.
Of course, no pulled pork sandwich is complete without some coleslaw. I am always on the lookout for new coleslaw recipes that do not use mayonnaise so they are better for the summer. I found this one from Food Network and it tasted great.
Gourmet Cole Slaw
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 ounces granulated sugar
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon chopped shallots
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 head green cabbage, julienned
1/4 head red cabbage, julienned
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 green bell pepper, julienned
1/2 yellow bell pepper, julienned
1 carrot, peeled and julienned
1 green onion, green part only cut into 1-inch lengths
1 teaspoon dry oregano
Salt and pepper
Whisk all the vinaigrette ingredients into a bowl. Mix all the vegetables together in a large bowl. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables, toss and chill for 1 hour or until you are ready to serve.
It is simple and refreshing. You can always use a bag of coleslaw mix instead of handling all the vegetables yourself. I usually have a bag on hand during the summer so that is what I used this time and this recipe has a nice, light flavor to it that will go well with all types of sandwiches and dishes.
That’s all I have for today. Check back again next time to see what recipes come along. I have tried a few things out recently to post, such as a new roasted chicken recipe, french bread pizzas, a new burger recipe, and more. Check back and see what comes up next. until then, enjoy the rest of your day, try to stay cool and enjoy your meal!
Fun, unusual and forgotten designations on our calendar.
Happily Ever After Lives Here
a little bit naughty a little bit nice
Letting Life Lead
a blog to share with you the best
onedadskitchen 