Pulled Pork Sandwiches

My husband normally doesn't like pork. At all. Every once in awhile I'll throw it into the rotation just for a little variety, but I never expect him to like it a whole lot. Saturday I was craving BBQ but didn't want to go all the way outside (an entire 20 feet from my kitchen, poor me) and grill. Instead I settled on these pulled pork sandwiches. I threw everything in the crock pot in the morning, and it was perfectly cooked 8 hours later. It took less than 5 minutes of work and the results were spectacular. Juicy, smoky, flavorful, falling-apart, melt-in-your mouth tender. My husband loved these and said he never knew pork could taste so great. The leftovers lasted less than 24 hours, which is nothing short of a miracle. This definitely has our stamp of approval, and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

1 boneless pork shoulder or pork loin (2-3 pounds, mine was about 2 pounds and it made 6-8 sandwiches)
3/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika or chipotle chili powder (optional, but I love a little kick)
2 cups water
1 Tb. hickory flavored Liquid Smoke (you can usually find this by the Worcestershire sauce and BBQ sauce)
1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
buns, for serving

Rinse pork in cold water and pat dry. Combine pepper, garlic salt, and paprika or chili powder. Rub all over pork shoulder, making sure to cover well. Place pork in crock pot. Cover with water and liquid smoke. Cook on low for 7-10 hours, until pork is tender and falling apart. Remove pork, drain liquid. Shred the pork and return to the crock pot and add 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce. Stir to coat and cook on low for 20 minutes, until sauce is absorbed and heated through. Serve on buns with additional barbecue sauce if desired.

Southwestern Beef Wraps

This is a great slow-cooker meal. Theoretically it should be quick and easy, but with a three week old it took me much longer to make than I'd like to admit (what with the fussing, diaper changes, feedings, and everything else interspersed). If you don't have a three week old to worry about, then you can probably get it all ready in about 15 minutes. My husband and I both really enjoyed this meal and it made plenty so we had leftovers to use in salads and quesadillas over the next week.

Southwestern Beef Wraps
Adapted from Our Best Bites

1 beef roast (approx 2 lbs)
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
smoked paprika, to taste
juice of 1 lime
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes with chipotle chiles, or diced tomates with green chiles
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
tortillas, lettuce, salsa, avocado, cheese, sour cream, etc. for topping

1. Combine spices in small bowl. Rub all over roast, making sure it is completely coated. Place in slow cooker.
2. Top roast with onions, peppers, lime juice, and tomatoes (with juices). Cover and cook on low 7- 8 hours or high 5 - 6 hours or until meat is completely cooked and tender. Remove beef from crock pot, shred or slice, and place back in juices for at least 30 minutes.
3. Serve in flour tortillas topped with your choice of toppings.

Creole Style Crockpot Jambalaya

I've been using the crockpot more and more for cooking at work. It lets me budget my time more effectively. I can prepare the meal the night before, when I usually have free time, instead of trying to rush to get it done in time. This realization has led to many the experimental meals, most of which have turned out fairly good. But this one has to be one of my favorites. It isn't exactly a traditional jambalaya (since the rice is cooked separate and added at the end), but is still very tasty.

Creole Style Crockpot Jambalaya
serves 8-10

Ingredients-
1 lb sausage (I like to use Colosimo's brand chorizo, but andouille is more traditional)
2 lb chicken breasts or tenders, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 lb ham, cubed
2 TB butter
1/2 stalk celery, diced
3 or 4 large carrots, diced (or about 1/2 a bag of the baby carrots)
1 large onion, diced
2 large bell peppers, diced (I like to use one red and one green)
Cajun spice blend
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth or stock (stock is better, but take what you can get)
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 lb small shrimp, tailed and shelled
4-6 cups cooked rice
Fresh parsley, minced
Salt and pepper

Directions-
1- Brown sausages on medium heat in a large skillet. Do not cut them up or puncture the skin. You want to save the tasty interior juices for the rest of the jambalaya. Once browned, transfer to a very large crockpot and cut into bite sized pieces using kitchen shears.
2- Brown the chicken in the same skillet, if there isn't enough grease left from the sausages then use a little butter. You'll probably have to do this is batches so the pan doesn't get over crowded. Once browned, transfer to crockpot with the sausage.
3- Just quickly sear the ham in the same pan. Shouldn't take much time at all. Transfer it to the crock pot.
4- Sautee the vegetables(celery, carrots, onion, peppers) in the butter, using the same pan. Try to scrape up and incorporate anything the meats left behind in the pan. Once the veggies are starting to soften add in the Cajun spice. (If you want there to be any taste of it left after crockpot cooking you better add a ton. I put in 3-4 TB to make it about medium heat. It seems like a lot, but the crockpot blands everything out.) Coat the veggies in the spice. You're trying to bloom it in the butter and make it stick to the veggies.
5-When the veggies are covered in spice and fairly soft add in the stock and tomatoes. You want to de-glaze the pan and incorporate all the nice fond you've built up into your liquid. So really scrape the bottom of that pan (don't scratch it if it's non-stick though!). After a couple minutes on medium heat everything should be pretty well incorporated. Dump the veggie/liquid mix into the crockpot with the meat and stir it up to mix everything together.
6- At this point I would usually leave it in the fridge overnight, but you could start it right away. Set the crockpot on high heat for about 3 hours.
7- When the time is almost up you'll want to get your rice cooked. Make it with just a little bit less water than normal. If it's a little dry then it'll soak up the jambalaya liquid better.
8- Right before you're ready to serve the jambalaya, you'll want to sautee the shrimp in butter. Make sure to get them fully cooked. It should just take a couple minutes, depending on the size of shrimp. Add the cooked shrimp to the crockpot and mix to incorporate fully. Let stand for a couple minutes, and garnish with a little chopped parsley.
9- Serve over the cooked rice. I should be very tasty now.

This isn't exactly a health conscious, or vegetarian friendly recipe, but it is quite good. I think it's the perfect sort of meal for the cold winter, maybe even for a reading of The Cajun Night Before Christmas. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Yastrzemski Pot Roast

I cook five days a week at work. But I don't think that the recipes that go along with the menus are very good. So I tend to experiment a little bit to improve them. This doesn't always work out (Corn Nut Chicken, Ask Me How!), but most of the time, after some trial and error, we have something that's a huge improvement. So this is my version of pot roast, which I think is a great improvement. It's technically a Yankee pot roast, but I'm opposed to all things Yankee so I renamed it after Carl Yastrzemski (Yaz!).

Ingredients-

One beef roast, about 4 lbs (I like to use round, but chuck would work too- figure about 1/2 lb per person if you want to make the recipe smaller)
1 1/2 tablespoons Flour
2 teaspoons Kosher or Sea Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper (fresh ground is much better)
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
2ish tablespoons Butter (or olive oil if you're trying to be a little healthier)

Can of tomato juice or vegetable juice cocktail (I use the spicy V8)
Worcestershire Sauce
Dijon Mustard (you better have some of this on hand it is Essential after all)
Basil
Thyme
Rosemary (just a tiny bit)
Onions, minced
Mushrooms, sliced
Garlic, minced

Red potatoes (I use Red Bliss ones), cut into chunk, usually just about quartered
Celery, chopped in 1-2 inch pieces on the bias
Carrots, about the same as the celery, maybe a little smaller
Onions, chopped
Parsley, chopped (only the fresh kind! no dried parsley!)

Directions-
1- Mix together the flour, salt, pepper and sugar. Coat the outside of the roast with the mixture. This will help with the browning process. Heat the butter (or oil) in a deep, heavy, pan (something that's oven safe if you plan to cook it in the oven). Brown the roast on all sides on a medium high heat. Remove the roast and set aside, tented with foil.

2- Mix tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and herbs together in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly, the mustard can be hard to incorporate. Set aside for the moment.

3- In the same pan (on medium high heat) that you browned the roast (there should be a tasty fond at the bottom now) you're going to caramelize the minced onions, mushrooms and garlic. Add in a little more butter (or oil) if there isn't enough left to coat the bottom of the pan. Then add the onions, mushrooms and garlic (in that order, you don't want the garlic to burn). When they have just started to caramelize (about 2-3 minutes) deglaze the pan with the tomato juice mixture you made in step 2. Stir constantly until the fond from the bottom of the pan has mostly incorporated into the liquid. Pour liquid into a large measuring cup or bowl.

4- Add the vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions, celery) to the pan. If necessary, add a little more butter/oil. Cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, you just want to soften the vegetables, not brown them!

5- Add the roast back into the pan, nestled right in amongst, and on top of, the vegetables. Pour the tomato juice/mushroom mixture on top, covering the meat and the vegetables. Top with the parsley.

6- Bring everything to a simmer, cover, and put into a pre-heated 325 degree oven. Cook for three hours, checking halfway through to see if meat is covered by liquid, if not, then turn the meat over at that point.

7- After three hours, take it out, slice the meat and serve with the vegetables. If you want to make the liquid into a gravy then add 2 tablespoons of flour into 1/2 cup of water, stirring it in until it is completely incorporated.

You could also finish this in a crock pot. All you'd have to do is, after step 4, take the vegetables, pour them into a large crock pot, add the roast, sauce and parsley and cook on medium for 5-6 hours, turning it up to high at the end if it's not quite done.

There's the possibilities for many variations on the recipe. Feel free to experiment with different herbs, or add in some beef stock to the sauce for that extra beefy flavor. Cooking is art, not science, so just try something! In fact I have an idea to use a pork roast and put an Asian spin on the recipe (a lime/soy sauce, maybe some daikon, ginger).