You know what's great when its cold? Crockpots. Well, technically that is a brand, so I guess it would be slow cookers. Slow cookers are great and if you don't have one, maybe one of my recipes will inspire you to get one. I love my slow cooker because I can throw everything in to it in the morning and its ready by dinner. I can get all the breakfast and dinner dishes done before lunch. Well, if Ryan cooperates.
I've made barbecue, chili, my Adobe Beef, Green Chili Pork tacos, and Beer Tri-tip. You can make beef, chicken, pork, or vegetarian dishes. The meat always comes out tender and juicy, and usually you can make enough food for days.
Ok, enough with the jibber jabber, and on to the recipes!
The Last Time I made Chili:
(I call it this because it always comes out different! I really liked my last one though, so here it is. Mostly I use the same ingredients, but that measuring thing always gets me!)
20 oz ground turkey
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 large green pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
2 can tomato sauce
1 McCormick Chili spice pack (you can find it near the taco spice packs, on the sauce aisle)
2-4 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp cumin
4 cans of beans (I like 1 black, 1 kidney, and 2 pinto, but whatever you've got, or whatever's on sale works)
Heat the olive oil on the stove in a good size pan. Add the green pepper, onions, and garlic and saute them until the onions are translucent and the peppers are tender. Add turkey, cook until browned.
Throw all the ingredients into the crock pot. You could also easily make this vegetarian by skipping the turkey all together. If you like a beanless chili, forget the beans and double the meat. You can add more tomato sauce, if you like a soupier chili. If you're going to serve the chili over something (like hotdogs or potatoes), I'd advise 3 cans. Cook on Low 6-8 hours or on High for 4 -5 hours.
I made cornbread to go with out chili and also roasted butternut squash. I thought the squash went really well just thrown on top of the chili, as I said last time. Just because you're serving dinner in a bowl doesn't mean you get to forget the vegetables!
Green Chili Pork Tacos
2-3 lb pork shoulder (loin would work too, or a few pork chops)
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
2 4 oz cans green chilis
2 tsp cumin
1 cup water
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, and brown the pork on each side about 6-8 minutes. Add it to the crockpot along with all the other ingredients. Cook on Low for 6-8 hours or until the pork is tender. Cook on High for 4-5 hours.
Serve this with corn tortillas, sliced avacado, sour cream and cilantro. I also made Pico De Gallo and a Corn and Bean salsa for a little variety.
These are just a couple examples of what to do with your slow cooker. The great thing about cooking this way is that you can almost always throw it all in and forget it. Roasts and stews work well too, but I usually add my vegetables about half way through, so they don't get too soft. The secret to slow cooking is to make sure there is enough liquid in some form (tomato sauce, water, broth) so that your food doesn't dry out
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