Crock Pot Pork Chops with Apples and Shallots

Yesterday I adapted my original Pork Chops with Apples and Shallots recipe for the crock pot, and got equally tasty results.  The texture of the pork was different, though- fall apart pork roast style.  I thought I'd share the adaptations I made for the crock pot, and hope you enjoy!

Pork Chops with Apples and Shallots

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium shallots, quartered lengthwise
• 2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into eighths
• 1/2 cup white wine and 1 cup chicken broth, or 1 1/2 cups apple cider (I used the white wine and water because I was out of broth)
• 4 bone-in pork chops
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place shallots, apples, and the wine/broth mixture or cider in crock pot.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
3. Pan sear pork chops until just golden on each side.  Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to crock pot, on top of apples and shallots.
4. Cook on low 4-6 hours.
5. Turn pork chops in juices before serving.  Serve pork chops with warm apples and shallots and a spoonful of crock pot juices spooned over top.

Crock Pot Pumpkin Spice Lattes

Ready for an extra special fall treat for yourself and/or your friends?  Pop some coffee, milk, and pumpkiny goodness in your crock pot and you're set.  The recipe really is delicious and hit the spot on a fall afternoon.  Thanks go to Crock-a-doodle-do for the recipe!

Ingredients

• 4 cups strong brewed coffee
• 6 cups milk
• 6 tablespoons canned pumpkin
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• Whipped cream and cinnamon sugar for topping

Directions

1. Pour coffee and milk into crock pot.  Whisk in pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice.  
2. Cover and set on low for 4 hours, or high for 2.  
3. Turn crock pot down to "keep warm" setting or just turn off 30 minutes before serving, unless you want coffee scorching hot.  Whisk before serving.
4. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar to serve.

Crispy Crock Pot Pulled Pork Tacos

Digging myself out of the pit of overdue posts, I present these amazingly flavorful carnitas (aka: pulled pork). They were a bit spicy, but in a good way.  That heat in the back of your throat way, which I can deal with more than the singing my tongue all the way through way.  I pinned these courtesy of Gimme Some Oven, which is a rising star in my favorite recipe sites.  An honor well earned, if this recipe is any indication for you.

Also?  Tacos are REALLY hard to photograph.  Just sayin.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4.5-lb lean boneless pork roast, excess fat trimmed (of which there was much in my particular cut; I actually find that to be the norm), cut into 3-inch pieces
• 8 ounces of beer (Mmmm, beeer.  Note this is not a full can- you get to drink the rest!  Bonus!)
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder (and yes, this does make a difference; don't cheat with regular)
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (see?  we use two kinds for a reason!)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Sear the pork on all sides until browned (6-10 minutes total).  Remove pork with a slotted spoon and transfer to a crock pot.
2. Add remaining ingredients, with a gentle stir to mix.  Cook on low 6-8 hours until the pork is tender and shreds easily with a fork.  Shred all of the pork.
3. Once the pork is cooked, preheat your broiler.  Herein lies the crispy magic.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and with a slotted spoon transfer the pork from the crock pot to the baking sheet.  Reserve the remaining liquid.  Spread the pork into a single layer, using two baking sheets if necessary.
4. Broil 5 minutes or until the edges are crispy but the pork is still juicy/not dried out.  Drizzle with 1/4 cup of the reserved juice from the crock pot, and gently stir to coat.  Broil another 5 minutes, remove from oven, and ladle with another 1/4 cup of reserved juice.
5. Serve with tacos, burritos, on sandwich buns, on salad, etc.  I personally think the soft taco approach is a home run.

Crock Pot Short Ribs

Welcome to the World's Easiest Crock Pot Meal.  No browning the meat beforehand, and you could even do it with pre-chopped onion so you don't have to do a thing but dump stuff in your crock pot.  I say that's pretty perfect.  And despite my husband's abhorrence of anything made in a crock pot, I continue making things in it because seriously: easy in a pot.  On top of that, these short ribs are tender, have a unique flavor, and the recipe makes bonus sauce to dip bread* in: hit the winter sweet spot for me.  My hubby, not so much.  Oh well.  As I've said before- more for me!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef short ribs
• 1 1/3 cup pasta sauce
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 of a 1-lb bag of baby carrots
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• Mashed potatoes, rice, or any other side you want!

Directions

1. Season the ribs with salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Stir the sauce, wine, carrots, and onion in a slow cooker.  Add the ribs and turn to coat.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours (or HIGH 4-5 hours), until the ribs are fork-tender.  Serve with side as desired.

*May I recommend a nice rustic Italian bread, or if you're in luck, BEER BREAD, like we're having!  YUM.

Barley and Lentil Soup

I really like having page a day calendars on my desk, and the last couple years have opted for recipe ones.  My January 3rd recipe was for this tasty soup, though it pointed me to crock pot directions.  I wasn't in the mood for that so I just used my stock pot and ate in 1 hour instead of 8-9.  So there.

Ingredients

• 8 cups (64 oz) beef broth
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed (I got to use my new mortar and pestle!)
• 4 large carrots, sliced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup uncooked dried lentils
• 1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley

Directions

1. Stir all ingredients in a large stock pot set to medium-high heat and bring to a simmer.  Turn heat to low and simmer for 1 hour, or until vegetables are tender and grains are thoroughly cooked.

**Alternately, mix ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-9 hours.

Crock Pot Potato Soup

I absolutely love potato soup.  Sadly, I'm the only one in my house who eats soup.  The boys are weirdos.  So I made a big vat of potato soup in the crock pot today and it's ALL MINE, losers.  Ok, my mom will likely have some with me, but how could I be sad to have a week of potato soup in my future, plus more in the freezer?  The answer is: I couldn't.  Especially with this awesome recipe, courtesy of my friend Mel, who shared it courtesy of this recipe.  Easy and amazingly delicious: hits the spot.  Though I had a hard time waiting for it to be done.  I wanted to dive right in a whole 18 minutes after putting everything in the crock pot.  Patience is difficult for me.

Ingredients

• 30-ounce bag of frozen, shredded hash browns (I used Ore Ida)
• 42 ounces of chicken broth
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 8-ounce package of cream cheese, cut into chunks (approximately 1-ounce pieces)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for topping
• Green onions, bacon, or sour cream for topping (optional though highly recommended!)

Directions

1. Add hash browns, chicken broth, chicken soup, onion, and pepper to crock pot.  Stir and set on low for 6-8 hours.
2. 1 hour before serving, add cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese.  Stir occasionally until both cheeses are melted and incorporated into soup.
3. Serve with desired toppings.

Crock Pot Beef Daube Provencal (Beef Stew)

Now don't let the French name throw you on this one.  It's just beef stew, but there's nothing plain about it.  We're having a crock pot cook off at work tomorrow, and I chose this amazing stew as my entry.  This guy takes a lot of work, but MAN is it worth it.  I'll let you know if tomorrow's judges agree!
Update: 1st place!  Yay fancy name beef stew!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 12 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 2-lb boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided (1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon portions)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided (1/4 portions)
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• dash of ground cloves
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 bay leaf
• Optional: serve with egg noodles, rice, or other pasta.

Directions

1. Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat.  Add garlic, and cook 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
2. Increase heat to medium-high.  Add roast to pan, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides.  Remove roast from pan.
3. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.  Add garlic, roast, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and all the other ingredients (except optional pasta or rice).  Bring to a boil.
4. Carefully transfer roast mixture to a 4-quart electric slow cooker.  This step could get really messy and painful if you just dump the stew into the crock pot.  Take it easy so you don't splatter everywhere (and burn yourself in the process).  Cover and cook on HIGH 5 hours.  Discard bay leaf.  Serve over pasta or rice if desired.

You could also make this in the oven if you'd like.  Instead of transferring to the crock pot, just cover the dutch oven and bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender.