Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Cookbook Recipe #51

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all those who have served our country!

It was not a nice day here in Illinois, on a holiday that most people like to spend outside by the grill. I decided to spend mine by my slow cooker. When I think of Memorial Day food I think of burgers, dogs, and pulled pork sandwiches. I went for the pulled pork sandwiches. I was telling Phil that I do not know if I have ever had a pulled pork sandwich. Most people I know put onions in their pulled pork, so I usually stay away from it, just in case. And I have never made it personally, so I think this was my first time having one. A little crazy I know. It was very good, and topped with some coleslaw. I very much enjoyed it. I used a vinegar based coleslaw as I am not a fan of the mayonnaise coleslaw. I also changed up the recipe a little bit from the original in that I did not put the barbeque sauce in right away because I think that the meat soaks up the sauce to much in a slow cooker so I waited till the last hour to put it in. Instead of sauce going in right away I used root beer for the liquid which I think gave it more of a sweet taste. For, I think, my first pulled pork sandwich, I would say it was a winner.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Adapted from Crock Pot Slow Cooker Best Loved Recipes

1 boneless pork shoulder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 can root beer
1 18oz bottle barbeque sauce
Sandwich Buns
Your favorite coleslaw

Mix salt, cumin, paprika, onion powder, black pepper and red pepper. Rub on pork roast.

Place in slow cooker. Cover with root beer.

Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours.

With one hour remaining  remove roast from slow cooker. Remove and discard any fat from the roast.

Place back in slow cooker and cover in barbeque sauce. Cook one more hour.

Serve on a bun with your favorite coleslaw.

 This recipe is linked on:     Show me What You Got Tuesdays,  Mix it Up Mondays, Melt in your Mouth Mondays,  On the Menu Monday,   

Slow Cooker Bratwurst

Cookbook Recipe # 50

We had a potluck at work yesterday and we were supposed to bring a dish that represents the country of our heritage. My family is all from Germany so I thought bratwurst was appropriate. I get into work at 7:00 am and we were not having lunch until 12:00 pm so I needed something that I could keep hot until lunch. So I saw this recipe for bratwurst in the slow cooker. The original recipe called for beer but I did not think that was work appropriate so I decided to use apple juice instead. This was my first time cooking bratwurst in a slow cooker and it came out pretty good. It was really juicy and tender. It is a good way to make when you want to keep it hot and you have a lot of people eating it. German food just does not look appetizing no matter what you do. The recipe below is for one batch.

Slow Cooker Bratwurst
Adapted from Fix it and Forget it Cookbook

6 fresh bratwurst
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Apple juice

Add bratwurst and garlic to slow cooker. Cover with apple juice.

Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Chicken Marsala in the Slow Cooker

Phil and I have are having a holiday party next weekend so this weekend I am decorating the house for the holidays. I love decorating for Christmas, especially now that we have a house. My mom's best friend Kristy has a bed and breakfast and decorates her house so extravagant and really pretty. So my mom and I now try to emulate that in our own houses. Kristy has a large tree in every room in her house and they all match the decorations that are in the rooms. It is very beautiful. So I decided I wanted to have a tree in every room in my house as well. They are not all large trees though. We have our large main Christmas tree in our family room and all the others are of varying sizes but are mostly smaller. Even though my house does not look near as extravagant as Kristy's it does still take me all day to decorate. It does look very pretty! I always get excited to see what people think of it too.

Because I have been decorating like crazy I knew I would want a dinner that would be ready for me when I was ready. So I figured the slow cooker would fit the bill. Chicken Marsala is one of my favorites so when I found this recipe for it in the slow cooker I knew I had to make it. The only thing I would change about this is that I would probably not cook it as long because the chicken gets a little on the dry side. The sauce is good to put on it to make it taste juicier, but I think if I cooked it maybe an hour less it would be better. 

Chicken Marsala in the Slow Cooker

Adapted from Pillsbury

1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Salt

Pepper

8oz mushrooms

1 cup sweet marsala wine

1/2 cup water

1 cup beef broth

1/4 cup cornstarch

Parsley

Angel hair pasta for serving, if desired

In a slow cooker place garlic and oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in slow cooker. Top with mushrooms and wine. 

Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. 

Remove chicken from slow cooker. 

In a small bowl mix cornstarch and water until smooth. Pour into slow cooker. Add beef broth. Increase the temperature to high and cook and additional 10 minutes. 

Add chicken back in and cook an additional 5 minutes. 

Serve over pasta or rice. Top with parsley.

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Chicken Stew

Cookbook Recipe #4

You know how I like to make comforting foods. Well the slow cooker is the ultimate way of making comforting foods. Phil is not the biggest fan of the slow cooker. He does not like how it makes meats more of a shredded consistency. So, I use the slow cooker a lot on weekends when Phil is working. I think everyone who has a slow cooker should buy slow cooker liners. I thinking they are AMAZING!. How many times do you go to clean the slow cooker after dinner and because the food is in there all day there is a crusted ring around the walls of the cooker? Even with soaking sometimes it is hard to get off the crud. The slow cooker liners solve the whole mess. They are definitely worth the extra money at the store. 

I saw a version of this chicken stew recipe on a fellow Iowan's blog: Macke Monologues at 

http://d-and-s-macke.blogspot.com. Desiree is from my home town of Denison and we graduated in the same class. She pins all her recipes on Pinterest and that is how I found her blog. I saw that Desiree got this recipe from Betty Crocker so I looked up the original online. I have a couple Betty Crocker cookbooks (go figure) so I thought I would see if this recipe was in one of them.....and low and behold, it was. 

I thought this recipe sounded like a good weekend slow cooker recipe. I love anything with gravy, so I figured this would be a good one. And it was. The gravy made the stew very rich tasting. I choose to use Porcini mushrooms because I think they have a deeper flavor then regular white mushrooms. The recipe calls for boneless skinless chicken thighs and they can be pricey at the store. The price is worth it to me because I sure would not want to bone them myself. Because chicken thighs are the dark meat of the chicken it works well in the slow cooker whereas the breasts wouldn't stay as juicy. 

Chicken Stew

Adapted from Best of Betty Crocker 2010 and Macke Monologues

3 medium red potatoes, diced

3 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1 8oz package Porcini mushrooms

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon onion salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 12oz jars chicken gravy

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon parsley

Place a slow cooker liner in slow cooker. 

Add potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms. Place chicken on top of vegetables. Sprinkle with onion salt, pepper, parsley and garlic salt. 

In one of the jars of gravy stir in tomato paste. Pour both jars of gravy into slow cooker. Add wine and cover. 

Cook on low for 8-10 hours. 

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