Slow-cooker carnitas

When I mentioned this recipe on Facebook, I wrote it as "carnitas," with the quote marks.
That was because it is not made in a traditional way of braising then frying the meat, instead it cooks all day in the slow cooker.
But now that I have had it as leftovers (and it was even better than the delicious first meal), I dropped the quote marks.
I know purists may argue with me, but this recipe is worthy of no quote-mark innuendo.
And it is so easy. Seriously. Just about the easiest thing I have made in the slow cooker.
Even easier than the oh-so-simple braised short ribs.
And I was skeptical of the results since I like my carnitas to have a bit of crispness to the edges. But I think that using such a small amount of liquid is the key. The juice/broth barely covered the meat when I started it. By the time I got home, most of it had cooked off.
Not all of it. It was not dry. But enough had cooked off so that the top edges were above the liquid and and developed a sort of dry (in a good way) edge.

Slow-cooker carnitas

2 pounds pork shoulder
Freshly squeezed juice of a large orange (about 1/2 cup)
Freshly squeezed juice of two limes (about 1/2 cup)
9 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1 cup beef broth

Trim pork of excess fat (it's OK to leave some, it will help keep the pork moist and flavorful. I just don't like big pieces of fat).
Cut into 3-4 inch pieces and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Sprinkle with salt and cumin, then toss to coat.
Add orange and lime juices and the smashed garlic cloves to the pork.
Add broth.

Cook on the lowest setting for 8-10 hours (I set mine for 10 hours since I was going to be gone for work.)When the meat is cooked, remove it from the pot with the garlic, leaving any excess juice. Roughly chop the meat and garlic.
Serve in warm tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.For dinner I served these with warmed corn tortillas and several garnishes so we could customize our tacos. (avocado chunks, chopped white onion, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, salsa)
Since I wanted to have a more complete meal, I made some sauteed yellow squash with shallot and garlic and then mixed in a can of (drained) black beans.

Today for lunch we had the leftover meat, once again in tacos. The citrus flavors were even more present than the prior night. I reheated the meat in a skillet on the stove to crisp it up a bit.

When I think about making this, I think I spent more time getting the garnishes ready than I did prepping the meat and then chopping it at the end.
We loved it, the kid loved it and it was easy.
This will definitely become part of the regular rotation.

Slow-cooker carnitas

When I mentioned this recipe on Facebook, I wrote it as "carnitas," with the quote marks.
That was because it is not made in a traditional way of braising then frying the meat, instead it cooks all day in the slow cooker.
But now that I have had it as leftovers (and it was even better than the delicious first meal), I dropped the quote marks.
I know purists may argue with me, but this recipe is worthy of no quote-mark innuendo.
And it is so easy. Seriously. Just about the easiest thing I have made in the slow cooker.
Even easier than the oh-so-simple braised short ribs.
And I was skeptical of the results since I like my carnitas to have a bit of crispness to the edges. But I think that using such a small amount of liquid is the key. The juice/broth barely covered the meat when I started it. By the time I got home, most of it had cooked off.
Not all of it. It was not dry. But enough had cooked off so that the top edges were above the liquid and and developed a sort of dry (in a good way) edge.

Slow-cooker carnitas

2 pounds pork tenderloin (This is what I used since it is what I had. Shoulder would work, too.)
Freshly squeezed juice of a large orange (about 1/2 cup)
Freshly squeezed juice of two limes (about 1/2 cup)
9 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1 cup beef broth

Trim pork of excess fat.
If using tenderloins, cut each into four pieces and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Sprinkle with salt and cumin, then toss to coat.
Add orange and lime juices and the smashed garlic cloves to the pork.
Add broth.

Cook on the lowest setting for 8-10 hours (I set mine for 10 hours since I was going to be gone for work.)
When the meat is cooked, remove it from the pot with the garlic, leaving any excess juice. Roughly chop the meat and garlic.
Serve in warm tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.

For dinner I served these with warmed corn tortillas and several garnishes so we could customize our tacos. (avocado chunks, chopped white onion, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, salsa)
Since I wanted to have a more complete meal, I made some sauteed yellow squash with shallot and garlic and then mixed in a can of (drained) black beans.

Today for lunch we had the leftover meat, once again in tacos. The citrus flavors were even more present than the prior night. I reheated the meat in a skillet on the stove to crisp it up a bit.

When I think about making this, I think I spent more time getting the garnishes ready than I did prepping the meat and then chopping it at the end.
We loved it, the kid loved it and it was easy.
This will definitely become part of the regular rotation.

Low-and-slow baby back ribs

Sorry the picture is not the best. I forgot the real camera,
so this was taken with my phone. And I was anxious to sink
my teeth into those ribs, so I kind of rushed the shot.

Living in Southern California, it is pretty much barbecue weather all year long.
But summer is, of course, prime season for grilling.
And ribs are always a favorite at any cookout.
I have tried several methods for making barbecued ribs.
The method that yields the most tender, flavorful ribs for me is a combination of a long briny soak, a low-and-slow roasting in the oven then a quick trip around the grill.
I also like to use a dry rub after brining and before roasting.
Sauce or no sauce is up to the cook. Sometimes I like no sauce, letting the brine and rub shine through. Sometimes I like to use a little sweet, spicy sauce.

So yes, these take a while from start to finish, but most of the time is not active time.
If you plan on making these, allow overnight to brine and a good 2-3 hours of roasting before you need to grill them.
They can be brined and roasted ahead of time and then grilled later. I have done this where I have cooked them on a Saturday and grilled them on a Sunday. It works just fine.

Low-and-slow baby back ribs

4-6 servings (depending on how hungry you are!)

for the brine:
8 cups water
1/2 cup kosher or sea salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, cracked (I use a mortar and pestle to crack the spices)
2 tablespoons fennel seeds, cracked
2 tablespoons coriander seeds, cracked
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried marjoram or oregano
3 garlic cloves, smashed or split horizontally
4 pounds pork baby back ribs (I cut the racks in half so they will fit in the pan I use)

for the rub:
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

make the brine:
In large pot combine water, salt, sugar, spices, herbs and garlic. Simmer and stir until sugar and salt dissolve.
Either arrange the ribs to fit into the pot with the brine, making sure they are fully submerged, or arrange them in a single layer in a roasting pan and pour the brine over them.
Refrigerate, covered, for 8-12 hours.

make the rub:
Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container until needed.

once the ribs are brined:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove the ribs from the brine, rinse and pat dry.
Divide the rub evenly over the ribs and rub it into the meat.
Arrange the ribs in a single layer on a baking sheet or sheets and cover with foil.
Roast for about 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.

Either grill the ribs now, or put them in the fridge to grill later.

grill the ribs:
Get the grill started, it is ready at a medium-high heat.
If you use sauce, brush the ribs lightly with your favorite barbecue sauce.
Grill the ribs for 5-10 minutes, turning occasionally, until they are done to your liking.

I like these with and without sauce, probably a little on the longer end of grilling time. I like them to get a little crispy outer crust on them and the meat inside stays very tender and moist from the roasting.

cool cous cous and edamame

This came to me in a moment of laziness.
I was ready to make dinner Monday night, but did not have the gumption to get myself to the market.
A quick tour of the pantry yielded a box of cous cous. In the freezer I found some precooked soybeans in the pods and a pork tenderloin.
Hmmmm...
Yeah, I can work with these.
I set the pork to thaw in a sink full of cool water then got to thinking about how to make it all work together.

My inspiration was two yummy salad options from the Corner Bakery. At my branch of this chain they have an option of getting a trio sampler of some of the salads. Two that I really like are the ginger and asparagus cous cous with dried cranberries and almonds, as well as a mixture of edamame with asparagus and tomatoes in a tangy Asian-inspired dressing.

Somehow toward the end of my meal they are commingling on the plate so that I get cous cous and edamame together. Which is fine. It tastes pretty good.

So I decided to take what I liked about those salads and combine them, being limited to what I had at home.

Here you have it:

Cool cous cous and edamame
(with toasted almonds)

3 cups cooked plain cous cous, cooled
(for me this was 1 1/3 cup dry cous cous cooked to package directions)

1 cup slivered almonds, toasted in a saute pan until golden brown

1 lb frozen edamame in the pods, cooked and shelled
(should yield about 1 1/4 cups beans)

3 tbsp minced shallot

combine all of the above, stirring or tossing gently to mix

for the dressing

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp ponzu sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp red chili paste, such as Sriracha

combine all of the dressing ingredients, stirring until sugar has dissolved

Pour dressing over cous cous mixture and gently stir or toss to coat.

Enjoy!

If there had been a red pepper in the fridge, I would have diced some of that up and added it for a little more color and flavor. But this was pretty good as is.

I served this on a bed of chopped romaine lettuce.
To make it more of a dinner for the manfriend and me, I added some slices of grilled pork tenderloin.
Since the cous cous dressing had some tang and spice to it already, I kept the meat simple, just marinating it in a mixture of 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 tbsp sesame oil.
Then I grilled it.

This was awesome. I like a combination of cool and hot like this.
And the lettuce underneath gave it an extra layer of crunch.

I had leftover cous cous over more lettuce for lunch today. Still good.
And so, so, so easy to make.

Chile verde with potatoes

For years on Christmas Eve, if I didn't have to work, I have cooked some sort of fish dish.
I am not sure why that is. It is just something I have done.
Maybe because I know on Christmas Day I will get meat, meat and more meat.

But this year I was craving chile of some sort.

Instead of my usual tomato-based bean chile with ground beef, I decided on a chile verde: pork cooked in a green sauce of roasted tomatillos and peppers. I added the potatoes to bulk it up and because that is how my dad liked to make it.

It was an excellent choice and was even better as leftovers once the flavors had time to really meld. It also freezes well. I did several single serving portions in zipper bags that I can pull out of the freezer as needed.

Chile verde with potatoes

4 pounds pork, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
flour for dredging
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 white onions, diced

2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles
2-3 jalapenos
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
about 1 cup cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped (I like cilantro, so I had more and added it to taste)
4 cups chicken stock

2-3 large russet potatoes

Garnish with:

extra chopped cilantro

grated cheese (I used queso blanco)

lime wedges if you like that sort of thing

Serve with:

your favorite tortillas and/or rice

Pork shoulder works well in this. I could not find that this time, so I used a boneless pork roast and cut it into cubes.

Remove outer husks from tomatillos. Wash and dry tomatillos and peppers.

Place tomatillos and peppers on a baking sheet and broil, turning every few minutes, until they are roasted on all sides and skin starts to bubble and split. Let cool and set aside.

Season pork cubes with salt and pepper then dredge with flour.

Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat.

Brown pork in small batches, on all sides.

As batches of pork are done, transfer from skillet with slotted spoon into a large stock pot.

Continue until all the pork is cooked and in the stock pot. You may need to add a little oil to the skillet depending on how many batches you have to cook.

While the pork is cooking, dice the tomatillos and set aside in a bowl with the juices.

Dice Anaheim/Poblano peppers and set aside.

Also cut jalapenos in half, discard seeds and ribs, then mince, add to set aside Anaheim/Poblanos. (I wear plastic gloves when dealing with chiles, even when they are cooked. Just to be safe. That chile residue stays on the hands a while and can burn, especially if you touch your eyes.)

Once the pork is all cooked and in stock pot, add onions to the skillet and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add peppers and cook 3-4 minutes, then add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes.

Transfer the onions and peppers to the stock pot with the meat.

Add chopped tomatillos, dried herbs and cilantro to the meat.

Pour in chicken stock just to cover the meat.

Bring to a boil over medium high heat then reduce to a simmer.

Cook for about 2 hours uncovered or until the pork is fork tender.

When pork has been cooking for about 2 hours, peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes.

Add potatoes to the pork and cook another 30-45 minutes or until potato pieces are tender.
Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Garnish with cilantro, cheese, etc. Enjoy.

Pork chops stuffed with chard and pine nuts

I am been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks now.

Various things have kept me from do so.

Mostly just laziness, I guess. You know, looking back on it.

Anyway... Here you go:

I like this dish because the chard is unexpected. And within the chard, the pine nuts are unexpected. Plus it is pretty easy and very satisfying when you want big comfort food.

Pork chops stuffed with chard and pine nuts

serves 4

3 tablespoons pine nuts

12 ounces Swiss chard, washed and dried and torn or cut into pieces

olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper

4 pork loin chops, each 1 1/2 inches thick (I used boneless)

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

First, toast the pine nuts.

To do this, put pine nuts in a small sautee pan and heat on high.

Let pine nuts start to brown, stirring frequently.

These will go fast, so do not leave them unattended. They can burn quickly.

You just want them to turn a rich, golden brown.

Once they are done, remove them from the hot pan immediately and set aside.

Next, make the chard.

In a large sautee pan, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil on medium high heat and add chard and garlic.

Cook, stirring frequently, until chard is wilted. Turn off heat and stir in pine nuts. Season with salt.

Set chard aside to cool a bit.

Finally, it's time to prepare the pork chops.

Cut a pocket in the side of each chop. Do not cut all the way through.

Fill pockets with chard, gently press closed. Secure with toothpicks.

Season chops with salt and pepper.

Wipe excess liquid out of pan used to cook chard.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add chops to the pan and cook until browned on one side, then flip them.

I removed the toothpicks at this time because my chops seemed to have set up enough at this point.

Once they are browned on both sides, add broth and wine to the pan.

Heat liquid to boiling then reduce heat and cook, covered, for about an hour at low heat.

When chops are done, remove from pan.

To make sauce, heat liquid on high heat and boil until liquid reduces to about 3/4 to 1 cup.

To serve, remove tooth picks if you did not do this in the browning stage, plate chops and pour sauce over them.

Sorry, my pictures of the finished product were not good. So you get a shot from the browning process, just before I added the broth and wine to simmer them.

I served these with the roasted tomatoes and mushroom-sage bread pudding.

sweet and tangy grilled pork tenderloin (with red onion reduction and tangy Asian slaw)

I'm giving you the money shot, right up front. No having to wait for it until the end this time.



It was such a nice day Sunday that I decided to barbecue.
I went to an old fallback, the pork tenderloin. I find it hard to screw up this cut of meat.
And for a change I measured the ingredients for the marinade I like. Usually I wing it and it is always similar, but never exactly the same twice.


This is a fairly cheap cut of meat. The tenderloin I got was 1.35 pounds and cost about $6.75.
It made dinner for me and the manfriend and enough left for him to take for lunch the next day.

I get the ponzu sauce from the Asian food aisle at my market. I have found recipes online for how to make it myself, but the stuff in the bottle is easier.

When I am out of ponzu (or if the store is out) I use soy sauce and lemon or lime juice instead (about equal parts). It is not exactly the same. But it works for me.

Oh, and I use a gas grill.

Here you go:

sweet and tangy grilled pork tenderloin

(with red onion reduction and Asian slaw)

1 cup ponzu sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp hot chili sauce ( I use Sriracha)
1 1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp sesame oil

1 pork tenderloin

1/2 red onion
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)


Whisk together first 5 ingredients ingredients.
Transfer about 3/4 cup of the liquid to a small sauce pan and set aside.

Trim any excess fat or silverskin from the meat.

Put tenderloin in a dish or zip-top bag and pour marinade over it.

Let pork marinate at least an hour, turning meat every 15-20 minutes to evenly distribute flavors. The longer you marinate, the more intense the flavors will be. I would not marinate the tenderloin for more than 4 hours. This is a pretty strong flavor.

Begin heating grill to medium-high heat.

For the reduction
(I started this, then put the meat on the grill so they cooked at the same time)

Heat the reserved liquid over medium heat and add wine.
Slice the half onion as thin as possible and add to liquid.
Keep cooking on medium heat until liquid reduces and you are left with almost a relish of the onions.
If it starts to boil rapidly, turn heat down a bit. I should just be at a high simmer.
There should be more onion that liquid and what liquid there is should be thick enough to coat a spoon.
Once this is done, turn it off and set it aside to be used as a garnish for the tenderloin.


To cook meat
Place the tenderloins on the grill and cook for 18-20 minutes, turning a few times. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part will read 155 degrees F when the meat is ready.

Remove from grill and let meat to rest for 5-10 minutes before carving.

Slice meat into medallions and serve with a bit of the onion reduction on top or on the side.

I served this with side dishes of sweet potato "fries" and a quick Asian slaw.

For the slaw
1 small Napa or Savoy cabbage, cut into quarters, cored and thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 small bunch cilantro, washed and roughly chopped
(I try to use mostly leaves, but cilantro is an herb that can be used stem and all)
1/4 to 1/2 red onion (depending on your taste), thinly sliced into strips
1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Your favorite Asian style salad dressing or Chinese chicken salad dressing (I like a brand called Feast from the East that I found at Costco.)

Toss all the veggies together with enough of the salad dressing to make it how YOU like it. I like mine lightly dressed.

Serve with a bit of the chopped peanuts sprinkled on top.

Asian-spiced meatballs with snow peas and hoisin sauce

I made these two weeks ahead and froze them, cooked.

Meatballs
1 pound ground pork (I have used ground turkey in the past, but pork is a richer flavor)
6 sweet Italian sausages, removed from casings
3 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 can water chestnuts, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons red chili sauce (Sriracha type sauce)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro


Hoisin Sauce
splash of sesame or olive oil
1 jar prepared hoisin sauce (Most grocery stores will have this in the Asian-food aisle.)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons white wine

Snow Pea garnish
48-50 snow peas of approximate size (I knew I needed 48 since I made the meatballs ahead of time and bought the snow peas a couple days before the party. You can guess how many you will need. The recipe should make about 4 dozen meatballs.)

wooden picks to hold snow peas to meatballs


For meatballs:
Preheat oven to 400.
Combine all the ingredients. I find the best way is to use my hands. It feels a little gross, but then I know all the stuff will be really well-mixed.
Form meatballs into 1-inch balls and place in large roasting pan.
Roast 20-25 minutes, turning every 5-7 minutes so they can brown on all sides.
Once cooled, these can be frozen. Thaw before reheating.
To reheat them, I put them in a skillet with a splash of chicken broth and steamed them for about 5 minutes.

For the sauce:
Heat oil in sauce pan and add garlic and ginger.
Sautee for just a couple minutes over medium heat, but do not let it brown.
Add store-bought hoisin sauce and wine.

That is it for the sauce. I made this three days ahead and stuck it in the fridge.

For the snow peas (Make this part the day of your event):
Bring large pan of salted water to a boil.
Add peas and cook until bright green and flexible. This should be 30-60 seconds.
Rinse with cold water.
Drain and set aside.


To assemble:
Warm hoisin sauce in microwave or on stove.
Pour onto platter in thin, even layer.
Fold each snow pea in half and attach it to a meatball with a wooden pick.
Place the meatballs on top of the sauce.
Serve.

I think that is it.

This one sounds more complicated than it is. Especially since I did in stages. But that really makes it easier. Then you just have to heat the meatballs and sauce and serve them.

I think these meatballs would be good in some type of brothy soup with bok choy. I may have to experiment.