Pork Stoup

Chuck is new to the slow cooker.  He didn't want to use it until it was the only way to get the pulled pork cooked for my birthday since no one was going to be around to watch it on the grill.  He absolutely loved the result.  A week or so later we had planned on going skiing and he said he'd thought up another slow cooker recipe.  I think he's hooked.  We didn't end up skiing but we did have a day full of watching sports planned for Sunday (Daytona 500 and Michigan State basketball).  

He put everything together on Saturday evening and was able to just pop the pot into the warmer Sunday morning and let it hang out all day.  This is the result:

Pork Stoup

Ingredients:

     2 lb.       Pork sirloin roast, cut into large chunks

     Pork rub:
          1 t          Cumin
          1 t          New Mexico Chili Powder
          2 T         Flour
                        Kosher Salt
          1 t          Cracked black pepper

     Bed for cooking the pork:
          4          Stalks of celery in 3/4" sliced
          1/2       Onion, chopped
          3          Carrots, sliced
          3          Leeks, sliced with leaves cut off
          1/2      Green Bell Pepper, coarsely chopped
          1          Red jalapeno pepper, seeds removed
          1 lg.     Baking potato, coarsely chopped
          2          Garlic cloves, minced

     On top of veggie bed:
          1 T     Kosher salt
          1 t      Cracked black pepper
          1 t      Dried oregano
          1 t      Dried thyme
          3        Bay leaves
     
     On top of pork:
          15 oz can   Diced tomatoes, with juice
          2 c.             Chicken broth

Directions:
  
     1:     Prepare all of your veggies and put into slow cooker. Tip from Chuck:  Slice then 
                   wash the leeks to get rid of the dirt in them. He puts them through the salad 
                   spinner too. Then top the veggies with the salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and bay 
                   leaves.

     2:     Sprinkle the cumin, chili powder, flour, salt and pepper on the pork completely coat 
                      them and place into the pot on top of the veggies.

 

     3:     Pour the can of diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and  a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

     4:     Cook on low for 8 hours.  Skim the fat off of the top of the soup (there was about 1/3 
                   c. in ours).  Tear apart each piece of pork (should shred easily) either in the pot or 
                   remove, shred, and return to the pot.  Then serve!

And for fun, here is my cold pup Oliver after a bath, snuggled up with Chuck on the couch.  Pretty spoiled!

Mushroom Stroganoff

Growing up my mom made beef stroganoff and although I was picker than I'd like to admit (what kid likes pizza, but not spaghetti or lasagna? I was even a hard sell on hamburgers... unless they were cut in quarters) I really liked it. So when Chuck had the idea for stroganoff using the leftover lamb chops I was excited for him to come over and get cooking!  He found such great mushrooms at the store that he decided to not use the lamb in the dish.  Instead we ate the lamb chops cold and straight off the bone while he was cooking!

The end product could be vegetarian with substituting the beef broth with vegetable broth.  The mushrooms provided plenty of meatiness, even for Chuck who thinks a meal isn't a meal without meat.

Mushroom Stroganoff

Ingredients

     12 oz. Egg Noodles
     3         Portobello mushrooms, sliced
     8 oz    Shitake mushrooms, sliced
     1         Shallot, diced
     1/4 c.  Butter
     2 T      Flour
     15 oz.  Beef Broth, low sodium
     1/4 c.   Plain Greek Yogurt
     1/4 c.   Sour cream
     3 oz.    Goat cheese
                 Kosher salt
                 Fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
     
     1:     Heat butter in a large pan until melted and add the diced shallot with 1t black pepper 
                    and a pinch of salt.

  
     2:     Once the shallot is soft, add the portobello mushrooms and a pinch of salt and 
                    pepper. The mushrooms will start to sweat and that's when to add the shitakes 
                    and the flour.  Keep the ingredients in the pan moving a little to allow the flour to                      coat everything.

 

     3:     Get your salted pasta water boiling and cook the pasta until al dente.
     4:     Cook for about 2 minutes after the flour is completely absorbed and add the beef 
                    broth. Allow to simmer for a bit and once it has thickened a little, add the goat 
                    cheese, Greek yogurt, and sour cream.  Add another teaspoon of pepper and a 
                    pinch of salt.

 

  
     5:     Allow to simmer and thicken for a few minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.
     6:     Stir in the pasta and parsley. Serve!

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

I know I've said this about the last two chickens we have roasted, but this is some of the best chicken I've ever tasted. Really.

As if the lamb chops on Friday didn't do it for you, this was dinner Saturday.  It was a beautiful day, around 60 degrees and sunny, and chicken on the grill was the perfect dinner. All week Chuck and I had browsed Jamaican Jerk rub recipes and after getting a good idea of what it entailed and what he wanted, he whipped up the rub/marinade Friday night and let it sit in the fridge over night.  The result was the perfect combination of flavors.


Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Ingredients:

        1         Whole Chicken

        Rub:
           2 t     Ground Allspice
           2 t     Dried Thyme
           2 t     Ground Nutmeg
           2 t     Ground Cinnamon
           2 t     Fresh Ginger
           2 T    Brown Sugar
           1/4 c. Tequila
           1/2 c. Cider vinegar
           1/4 c. Soy Sauce
           1/4 c. Lime juice
           1/4 c. Orange juice
           2        Fresh red chilis
           2        Shallots
           2        Garlic cloves
           Handful of cilantro
           1        Habenero pepper

Directions:

     1:     Blend together all ingredients for the rub.  Refrigerate overnight.

      2:     Clean chicken and remove the back bone.  Once the back bone has been removed, 
                     split chicken along the breast bone.

 

     3:     Cut a small hole in the skin near the end of the leg and tuck the leg into the hole.

 

Sanitize everything as often as you can during these steps.  Don't want to get sick!  I think Chuck sanitized the counters, cutting boards, sink, faucet handle, and doorknob to the pantry (where the trash is) 3 or 4 separate times during this process.

      4:     Place chicken in a large resealable bag and add marinade, rubbing to coat.  
                    Refrigerate for no more than 2 hours. Tip from Chuck:  You don't want to leave 
                    this marinade on the meat for longer than a couple of hours before cooking 
                    because its high acidity will start to cook the meat.  This is the way ceviche is 
                    cooked.

 

     5:     Remove from fridge and let rest at room temperature for 30-45 minutes.

     6:     Heat up the grill and place the chicken skin side down for 5-10 minutes to allow a 
                         nice sear.

     7:     Flip the chicken over and place over indirect hear at 450 degrees for 90 minutes or 
                         until thigh temperature reads 165 degrees and the juices run clear.

     8:     Remove from the grill and let rest under tented tin foil for 5-10 minutes before 
                          serving.

Chuck placed an entire half chicken on his plate.  Since I didn't want that much, he started to carve mine and the chicken literally fell apart.  It was cooked perfectly. 

With the chicken we had a sliced baked potato topped with garlic chive aioli.  If your mouth isn't watering yet you might want to get checked.

Sliced Grilled Potato with Lemon Garlic &
             Chive Aioli

Ingredients:   
   
          1     Russet potato
          2 T  Butter
                 Salad Supreme seasoning
                 Kosher salt
                 Pepper

          Lemon, Garlic and Chive Aioli
               2 c.      Plain Greek yogurt
               1          Garlic clove
               2 T       Chopped chives
               1           Lemon zested, and half of it juiced
               2 T       Chopped fresh parsley
               2 T       Dijon mustard

Directions:

     1:     Stir together all of the aioli ingredients together and refrigerate.

     2:     Incompletely slice the potato into 1/2" pieces (don't slice all of the way through)

     3:     Add some butter between each of the slices and top with a sprinkling of Salad 
                      Supreme, salt, and pepper.

     4:     Wrap with aluminum foil and place on the grill over indirect heat for 90 minutes.

     5:     Remove from grill, remove foil, and serve with aioli as your topping.

We did have some greens with this.  Thinly sliced English cucmbers tossed in apple cider vinegar sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Put this in the fridge, covered as you cook everything else and it's a great, light side dish!

The leftover aioli has been versatile and delicious.  Monday night we used it for a dip with potato chips and I used it on my BLT instead of mayo.  Tuesday I shredded some of the leftover chicken, added a strip of bacon pieces (left over from BLTs), and stirred in the aioli for an open faced chicken salad sandwich.