Jamaican Slow Cooker Jerk Pulled Pork

If you've never made pulled pork in a slow cooker, well, it's high time!  Nowadays I don't know how to make it any other way--it's so easy, so good and absolutely goof-proof.  This is great party food and is perfect for a buffet table.

Trim one pork shoulder and place in slow cooker.  Top with 1 heaping tablespoon jerk seasoning and the juice of 1/2 lime (or lemon).  Place lid and cook on low for 10 hours.  When done transfer meat to a large board using a slotted spoon.  With two forks, pull meat apart removing fat if any and put in a serving roaster.  Strain remaining juices and pour over meat.  Serve hot.

I have a large slow cooker so almost always double the recipe and almost always cook mine overnight.  When I wake up in the morning, I prepare the meat and put in a serving roaster, cover with foil and refrigerate, then reheat in the oven just before serving.  Leftovers freeze beautifully.

Knitionary

summery stuffed bell peppers

This summer my son asked me for stuffed bell peppers, but made without rice or any grain.  I came up with this recipe and we've decided we like it better than my years-old, beloved family recipe!  

1 1/2 lbs. ground round steak

2 C. chopped kale

2 C. grated summer squash, lightly squeezed of excess water

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 1/2 C. chopped tomato, divided, or 1 can chopped tomatoes, drained, divided

2-3 Tbsp. minced fresh herbs, mixed (I used oregano, marjoram, sage, and rosemary) 

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. crushed dried pepper

3 large red bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise, with seeds and membranes removed 

small amount of olive oil

Mix the first 10 ingredients, reserving half the tomatoes.  Mound meat mixture into halved bell peppers and top with remaining chopped tomatoes.  Pour a little bit of olive oil over the peppers and cover lightly with foil.  Bake at 400 F for 1 hour or until done, removing foil for last 15 minutes or so.  6 servings.  These freeze well cooked or uncooked.  I always double the recipe and put them uncooked in the freezer where they will last for up to 3 months. 

Click here for the printable recipe.

Stacy's Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Recipe for:    Chicken Enchiladas                       Serves:  4-5                  From:  Stacy

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 ¼  - 1 ½  lb)
1 package white corn tortillas (at least 15)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or use a mixture with mozzarella)
1 large can (20oz) Las Palmas green enchilada sauce
1 small can diced green chilies
1 small can sliced olives

Directions:
1.    Simmer chicken breasts 20-30 minutes until done.  Let cool in water.
2.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3.    Shred chicken, place in large bowl.
4.    Add to bowl: 1/2 cheese, 1/2 enchilada sauce, can of chilies.
5.    Warm tortillas in microwave until soft (wrap in wet paper towel to keep moist).
6.    Place a small scoop of chicken mixture (maybe 1/4 cup?) in each tortilla and roll.
7.    Line enchiladas in a 9 x 13 baking pan.
8.    Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.  Sprinkle with olives.
9.    Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 45 minutes.

Pork Loin Roast with Cranberry Chutney

 Pork Loin Roast with Cranberry Chutney

This recipe has been around the block.  First found by Faye, given to Sue, then to Maryann

next to me and now to you.  Sorry, but the source has been forgotten.

3 1 to 1 1/2 lb. port tenderloins (I used 2 pork loin roasts)

1 T. allspice

 2-3 t. cracked black pepper

1 t. salt

2 T. cooking oil

1 T. butter

1 large onion, quartered and sliced thin

1 12 oz package fresh cranberries

1 10 oz. jar currant jelly

1 C. cranberry juice

1/4 C. packed brown sugar

2 T. cider vinegar

1 T. grated fresh ginger or 1/2 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. curry powder

1 bunch watercress or parsley 

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.  In a small bowl comine allspice, pepper and salt.  Rub on all sides of tenderloins.

2. In a skillet brown tenderloins in hot oil over med. heat, turning to brown all side.  Transfer tenderloins to a shallow reosting pan.  Roast for 25 Minutes or until internal temperature registers 160 F on an instand read thermometer.  Remove from oven and keep warm until ready to serve.

3. Make Chutney:  Add butter and onion to the same large skillet.  Cook about 5 minutes or until almost tender, stirring occasionally.   Add cranberries, jelly, cranberry juice, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger, and curry to the skillet.  Bring to boiling, reduce heat and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until thickened to desired consistency and reduced to about 3 cups.

4.  To serve, line a serving plate with cress.  Slice pork and arrange.  Spoon some of the Chutney over pork.  Serve remaining chutney on the side.

Mom's Pinto Beans

I think every family has their own version of "Mom's" beans.  My husband's mother made chili beans with red kidney beans and lots of chili powder.  I love her recipe, but of course my mother's beans are what I crave.   I've always loved the smokey flavor from the ham and since it takes all day to cook, the house smells wonderful!

Mom's Pinto Beans

1 pound dry pinto beans

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 14 oz. can tomato sauce

2 cans water

1 meaty smoked ham hock

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. herbs de Provence

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. dried pepper flakes

1 carrot, chopped fine

1 yellow onion, chopped fine

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped fine

2 ribs celery, chopped fine

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound hamburger, cooked and drained

1 small slice ham, diced

Soak beans overnight, drain and rinse.  Put beans in a slow cooker and add next 8 ingredients and set cooker to low.  Toss diced vegetables with the olive oil, roast in hot oven for 10-15 minutes until just soft.  Add to slow cooker.  About 2 hours before the beans are done add the meats.  Adjust seasoning and add water if necessary.  Just before serving, remove bay leaves and ham hock.  Shred meat from ham hock and add to pot.  This takes all day to cook and will be done by dinnertime if you start it in the morning.

You can make this on the stove top, but I like the slow cooker as it eliminates the constant stirring.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Mom's Stuffed Bell Peppers

These are economical when peppers are plentiful.

My son asked for the recipe, so here it is.

2# extra lean ground turkey

1# lean ground pork sausage

2 cups cooked rice

1/2 bunch Italian parsley, minced

1 medium onion, chopped fine

1 14 oz. can chopped tomatoes

1 1.5 oz. packet of Meat Loaf seasoning mix
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

5 to 6 bell peppers, halved and seeded.  I prefer red, but green, yellow or orange will do just as well.
2 cups tomato sauce
olive oil

Mix first 7 ingredients by hand in a large bowl. Stuff each pepper half with meat mixture and mound it high.  Put tomato sauce on bottom of large roaster and place stuffed peppers on top.  Pour a little bit of olive oil over the peppers and cover lightly with foil.  Bake at 400 F for 1 hour or until done, removing foil for last 15 minutes or so.  Serve with sauce.  10 to 12 servings.  These freeze well cooked or uncooked.

I consider this a family dish and never serve it for company, but don't know why on earth I don't.  It may not be elegant, but it is delicious.  Who doesn't like stuffed bell peppers?  This may be my number one requested dish for family get togethers and always makes my husband happy. 

Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts and Thighs

Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts and Thighs  

For 24 pieces of chicken with skin and bone in for flavor.

Marinade:

 2 cups olive oil, 1 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 small jar lemon chipotle prepared mustard
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup fresh rosemary.

Marinate in zip-lock bags overnight.  I grilled in the oven for about 1/2 hour turning half way through.  Right before it was done, I basted it with the remaining half jar of mustard mixed with 1 jar lemon chutney and grilled another 5 minutes until it was shiny and glazed.

The original post for this recipe is Let's Party!

Knitionary

Shrimp with Olives and Feta

Shrimp with Olives and Feta
from Gourmet's Quick Kitchen

This is such a delicious dish, I'll be serving this at our next family get-together.

1/4 C Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

1 small tomato, chopped coarse

1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried

1/2 tsp. mined garlic

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/4 lb. large shrimp (about 12) shelled and deveined

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

In a bowl stir together olives, tomato, oregano, garlic, 3 tablespoons oil, vinegar and pepper to taste.

In a small bowl, toss shrimp with remaining tablespoon oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Heat a well-seasoned ridged grill pan over high heat until hot and grill shrimp 1-3 minutes on each side, or until just cooked through.

In a shallow dish toss shrimp with olive mixture and let stand 15 minutes.

Sprinkle shrimp with feta and serve with bread.  Serves 2, easily doubled or more.

Knitionary

Fennel and Paprika Pork Tenderloin

Fennel and Paprika Pork Tenderloin

Serves 4-6

Searing the meat before roasting it provides an additional layer of flavor.  Coat the tenderloins with the fennel crust after searing (and before roasting), so that the delicate crust doesn't burn.

4 T fennel seed, grind in small grinder or use mortar and pestle

1/4 C finely minced shallot

2 t. sweet paprika

2 t. finely minced garlic

1/2 t. ground cumin

2 pork tenderloins, about 1 1/2 pounds total

1 quart water

1/2 C kosher salt

1/4 C sugar

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

2 T prepared mayonnaise

1 T Dijon mustard

Remove silver skin and any fat from pork.  Combine water, salt and sugar in a large bowl, and stir to dissolve.  Place tenderloins in a resealable plastic bag and add the brine.  Remove the air when closing the bag and place in shallow dish in refrigerator.  Let it brine for 1 hour or up to 3 hours.  

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Remove meat from brine, rinse and pat well.

In a large ovenproof skillet over med-high heat, add olive oil to pan and heat.  Place tenderloins in skillet and sear on all sides.  Move browned meats to a large plate.  Combine mayonnaise and mustard and spread a thin coating on top and part-way down sides of tenderloins.  Combine first 5 ingredients above and press into mayo mix.  Leave the bottom uncoated. 

Place the tenderloins on a rack in a rimmed baking sheet, place in oven and roast until the internal temperature reaches 142-145 F (I prefer it at 150), check with meat thermometer after 15-20 minutes and then adjust cooking time.  The meat will be fully cooked with a blush of pink remaining. I found I had to cover it loosely with foil after 10 minutes more or less so the crust wouldn't burn.

Cover loosely with foil and rest for 10 minutes before slicing. 

During this resting, I made a gravy with the pan drippings.  I also added 1/2 jar of some ginger/pear chutney at the end.  Pour over sliced meat.

This is a great do-ahead recipe and can be reheated easily.  It's also excellent cold the next day in sandwiches.  Easily doubled, quadrupled, etc.!

Recipe was given to me by my friend Rene, from an unknown source, perhaps Bon Appetit Magazine.

Knitionary

Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce

I've re-written on of my most popular posts to make my recipe a little clearer.  It's all about how to make the very best, without a doubt, the absolute best tomato sauce ever.  It may be the easiest too.  The key is to first roast the tomatoes--roasting intensifies the flavor.  This recipe requires several large roasting pans, olive oil and a specialty cone shaped kitchen item called a chinois strainer.  I highly recommend investing in this tool if you plan on making tomato sauce every year.  My method eliminates the tedious task of removing the tomato skins by water bath.  Take it from the granddaughter of a commercial tomato grower, tomato sauce made from fresh, roasted tomatoes is a summer treat!  

Place whole tomatoes in roasters with onion and fresh herbs.  Add salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and olive oil.

Cover loosely with foil and roast in a hot oven (450F) for 2 hours.  Let cool slightly.

Toss it batch by batch into a food processor and whirl away.

Whirl for a minute or so.

Spoon by cupful into the chinois strainer and strain out the seeds and skin.  This is my grandmother's strainer.

Each batch you'll have some dry skins and seeds.  Toss.

Stir your sauce together and ladle into clean jars.  I like to use recycled jars so if I give any away I don't need the jar back.  These are recycled mayonnaise jars.  Label them and put in the freezer where they will last for up to one year.

Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce

Yields approximately 8 quarts

Wash one lug vine-ripened tomatoes, approximately 40 pounds.  Remove stems and core the ones that have a big ingrown stem if necessary, but mostly I didn't bother.  Halve or quarter large tomatoes.  Jumble the tomatoes, all sizes,  into 2-4 large roasters.  In between the tomatoes, squeeze in some fresh herbs (I use what I had growing, oregano, marjoram, rosemary and lots of basil) plus 2 heads of garlic, sliced in half, unpeeled.  Optional:  add 1 quartered onion, 1 red bell pepper--sometimes I'll add what I have in the garden, maybe a carrot or two or a summer squash.  Pour olive oil over, I used about 1/4-1/2 cup per pan.  Salt and pepper and sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes to each pan.  Cover loosely with foil and roast in a hot oven, 450 degrees F for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours taking the foil off for the last half hour.  It will be bubbling like crazy. The skins may be black, don't worry.  Cool slightly, and if desired, pick off and discard the black skins you can easily slip off.  Most slip off easily, but honestly, I don't bother.  For a thicker sauce, drain off most of the water, which you can strain and save for future stock making.  Whirl the tomato mixture with skins, seeds and all in batches in a food processor until smooth.  Next you'll have to strain out the seeds and skins.

If you are serious about making tomato sauce, invest in a perforated chinois strainer. This type of strainer makes the next step really easy and it's useful in the kitchen for other tasks.  I wouldn't want to live without mine (inherited from my grandmother).  There are dozens of expensive, fancy and complicated tomato strainers for you to spend your money on, but I wouldn't bother with them.  This old fashioned strainer with a stand and wooden pestle is best and you'll find it easier to use.  Pour the processed sauce by batches into the strainer and use the wooden pestle to smash the sauce around.  The seeds and skins stay in the strainer (discard) and your beautiful sauce comes out the little holes.  There is no need to cook again.  Ladle into clean jars and freeze.  If you have drained off some of the tomato water you can freeze that too; it makes a delicious base for stocks and is also good for cooking rice.

Click here for the printable recipe.

You will be glad you made this, it may be time-consuming, but not difficult and it really doesn't even mess the kitchen much, I promise. Store it in the freezer and use it for marinara sauce, tomato soup (see below), spaghetti bolognese sauce, etc.  Enjoy!

For tomato soup, just before serving, add hot milk and/or half and half to hot sauce (heat separately).  The ratio is generally 1 part milk to 3 parts sauce.  Thin with chicken stock if necessary and season to taste.  Add cooked rice, I use wild rice.  Serve immediately.  Top each soup plate with a dollop of pesto.

Read more: http://knitionary.blogspot.com/2012/08/you-say-tomato-i-say-tomato-sauce.html#ixzz2MJUv0FIf

Knitionary