Sunday 26 January 2014

Trisha Yearwood's Slow Cooker Pork Loin

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Last Sunday we started a new healthy eating regime. I had a pork loin in the freezer and thought it would make a good, healthy Sunday dinner. I did a bit of a search for a slow cooker recipe and one thing that seemed to come up constantly was Trisha Yearwood's recipe. Lots of people said it was delicious, so I found this version, which satisfied all my healthy eating requirements.

Adjustments
My piece of meat was about 3 and half pounds, so a little bigger than in the reciped. I left out the tbsp oil, and used less cornstarch in the gravy. I used a clove of garlic, crushed, instead of the garlic powder.

Preparation
First thing on Sunday morning, I removed as much visible fat as possible from the pork loin. I followed the reciped, mixing the garlic, ginger, thyme and pepper, and then rubbing this all over the pork. I didn't brown the meat, but put it straight into the crock-pot adding the ckickend stock, lemon juice and soy sauce. The pork then cooked, on the low setting, for about 8 hours.

About an hour before eating, hubby prepared some potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, courgettes and garlic, and we put this into the oven to roast, with a bit of spray oil.

As the afternoon progressed, the most wonderful smells were coming from the crock-pot, even the teenager noticed!

The Result
When we opened the pot, the pork was almost falling apart. There was a lot of juice, which I removed and used a little bit of cornflour to thicken slightly. It was still possible to slice the pork, but we couldn't have done this if we'd left it any longer. Served with the gravy and roast vegetables, it was delicious. The teenager and hubby both had second helpings.

There was quite a bit of meat leftover, which the teenager had in his school lunches all week - making big sandwiches into which he also poured cold gravy.

The Verdict
Unfortunately Ms Fussy Eater wasn't with us on Sunday, so she didn't get a chance to report. However, the teenager gave the pork loin a very strong 17/10 (yes, seventeen). The au pair also seemed to enjoy it.

Chilli by George

I haven't updated the blog for a week, but that doesn't mean I haven't been using the crock-pot!

About 10 days ago we tried another chilli recipe, this time from Allrecipes.com.

Adjustments
I used about 600g of minced beef and one tin of chopped tomatoes. I didn't use tomato juice or pinto beans.  I substituted red pepper for green pepper. But I did use the same spices, in the quantities given.

Preparation
I prepared this before going to work, so was short on time. I browned the minced beef and threw it, and everything else, into the crock-pot. There it cooked, on the low setting, for about 9 hours. I just had to prepare some rice and grated cheese when I got home.

The Result
The chilli was pretty good, but not as flavoursome as Sara's chilli. I think it lacked the beefiness from the stock cubes. Also, despite not including tomato juice, it seemed to have more liquid. In future, I think I will stick with Sara's chilli.

The Verdict
Both children gave this 8/10, though they ate every last bit of it.

I forgot to take a photo of this before it was all eaten.

Thursday 16 January 2014

Honey Sauced Chicken

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On Tuesday I had my first failure - well, not quite failure, but certainly not the success I was hoping for.

Looking for a chicken recipe, I decided to try chef in training's Honey Sauced Chicken. The recipe suggests cooking on low for 3 hours (or high for 1 and half hours). Therein lies the problem. I usually leave the house around 8:30 and am rarely home before 6.

As soon as I arrived home I knew the chicken was overcooked, almost burnt on the outside. The sauce smelled and tasted pretty good. We ate it, all the same. Nobody complained, but we knew it wasn't right.

I will try this recipe again, but sometime when I am in the house. Definitely not on a work day.



Monday 13 January 2014

Slow cooker pork chops

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Today was always going to be a long day. After travelling to the UK last week, I was just back in the office to a full email inbox. I knew I had to get home on time to get dinner and then head out again to open evening at the secondary school. Ms Fussy Eater will be starting there in September, and it was important for her to get a chance to see around.

But the open evening started at 7, which meant we needed to leave the house around 6:30. Aiming to be home around 5:30, I knew I wouldn't have much time.

Enter the Crock Pot.

Today I decided to try this recipe for Pork Chops on allrecipes.com. It sounded easy and tasty.

Adjustments
Instead of 1/4 cup of oil, I just added a drizzle. I don't know what chicken seasoning is, so left that out. I had no dried basil, so I used some Italian dried herbs. I had 6 chops, but kept the rest of the amounts the same.

I decided to put some chopped onion, carrot and celery at the bottom of the pot, before adding the rest of the ingredients. This, I think, added some flavour, but also some texture to the juice produced by the slow cooking.

Preparation
This morning I spent about 5 minutes chopping the carrot, celery and onion quite small. They went into the bottom of the pot. I put the chops on top, and then just added the rest of the ingredients straight into the pot.

Then I put the temperature on low, and left it for the day - about 9 hours. When I got home, I prepared some mashed potatoes. Because of the vegetables in the bottom of the pot, I didn't need to add anything else.

The Result
We had beautifully tender pork chops, with a good flavour and a delicious, chunky juice. Served with the mashed potato, the juice was easily mopped up.

The Verdict
There were no leftovers; everybody cleaned their plates. Mr Teenager declared it to be delicious, and gave the dish 8/10. Ms Fussy Eater concurred. The Au Pair also expressed her approval. This is definitely one I will cook again.

Monday 6 January 2014

Lemon Pesto Chicken

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Lemon Pesto Chicken

 I read the recipe on Moms with Crock Pots for Lemon Pesto Chicken and thought it sounded delicious and, more important, easy. Today was my first day back at work since Christmas, so it seemed like an ideal day to put the new machine to the test.

Adjustments
I really made no adjustments to the recipe, though I cooked it for longer than suggested (out of necessity - I wasn't home on time).

Preparation
This was incredibly easy. I used five chicken breasts, covered with a tub of fresh pesto (from Dunnes Stores) and put the halved lemon on top. It took less than 5 minutes to gather the ingredients and put them into the pot. The only preparation was halving the lemon.

When I got home I just cooked enough pasta for 4 (Ms Fussy Eater had decided to eat at her friend's house).

The Result
The chicken was so tender it fell apart, combining with the pesto and lemon juices to make a substantial pasta sauce. There was less juice than I expected. There was just about enough for 5 portions, though we only needed 4. So, there are some leftovers in the fridge.

The Verdict
Mr Teenager volunteered that it was "very nice" though the combination of lemon and pesto was "weird". The Italian au pair concurred.

I was happy with this dish, it tasted good and was very easy. I think it will become a regular in our mealplan. In future, I think a side salad would be a good idea, and I'd like to try cooking it for a little less time. But that will have to wait until I have a day off work.

Sunday 5 January 2014

Apple Bacon Pork Roast


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Today, being Sunday, I decided to try a roast in the crock-pot. I chose this recipe from Moms with Crock Pots for Crock Pot Apple Bacon Pork Roast.

Adjustments
I used a 500g tenderloin of pork, which is plenty for 5 people. The two apples were pink ladies, which had been left in the fruit bowl over Christmas and weren't otherwise fit for consumption. I reduced the amount of sugar to 2tbsp, since 1/3 cup seemed like too much. I left out the glaze altogether.

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Ingredients in the crock pot
Preparation

This took just minutes to prepare. I cut 3/4 of the way into 1 inch slices as suggested, and put slices of apple into each of the cuts. The rest of the apple went on top. Then I covered the meat and apple with 5 slices of bacon, which were part-cooked under the grill. Finally, the sugar was sprinkled over the top. We put the cooker on low and left it for 7 hours.

Near the end of cooking, I prepared some mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots.


The Result 

The pork came out beautifully tender, practically falling apart, so that it was not even possible to carve (see picture). The juices from the pork and apple were delicious and I just poured it over the pulled pork - there was no need for a glaze. The bacon didn't crisp at all, but provided some good flavour. The apple pulp made a nice sauce on the side, just like apple sauce.

The Verdict

Definitely another success. My kids don't like cooked apple, but they enjoyed the pork and Miss Fussy Eater ate all her meat without (much) prompting, probably because it was so easy to eat. She gave the recipe a solid 10/10. Mr Teenager gave the meal 8/10, though went back for seconds. He said it lost marks because the bacon wasn't crispy and it was a "funny colour".

We had no leftovers, and the plates were left clean.

Friday 3 January 2014

Sara's chilli con carne

Sara's chilli con carne
So, today we tried the crock pot for the first time, with the recipe for Sara's chilli con carne. I went for this recipe because we haven't done a grocery shop since the New Year and I knew that I had some minced beef in the freezer.

Adjustments
I didn't have quite all the right ingredients though: I used 600g lean minced beef, and no oil. We just had one pepper, and only hot chilli powder. I reduced the spices slightly, according to the advice contained in the machine's instructions. We had no sundried tomatoes, so I used a few tablespoons of sundried tomato paste instead. 3 tins of kidney beans seemed like a lot, so I just used one.

Preparation
I followed the Tip near the end of the recipe, to use a slow cooker. This meant browning the onions, adding the garlic, spices and herbs, and then browning the meat, before putting everything in the crock pot. Luckily I was not working today, so I had time. But I couldn't do this on a normal morning. Otherwise, everything was amazingly easy and I found myself at 6pm twiddling my thumbs, wondering what I needed to do, apart from cook the rice.


The Result
The chilli was delicious: lovely texture and flavours. Everything was beautifully cooked. Next time I might add a little more chilli powder, for an extra kick. It easily fed a family of 4, with leftovers. As expected, there was quite a bit of liquid, but not excessive, and could easily be mopped up with the rice.

The Verdict
Everybody here gave it a thumbs up! Even Ms Fussy Eater herself did not complain about the onions, though she gave her beans to her brother. When asked for marks out of ten, the result was unanimous: both kids gave a 10/10.

Thursday 2 January 2014

New crock pot

So, yesterday I bought in the sale a new crock pot, a slow cooker. I haven't used one before, but I have been thinking about one for some time. Apparently it is great for low fat cooking, and I am feeling the need to detox a little bit after the Christmas excesses. Also, it could be very useful in the next year, when both the kids will be at secondary school, and we will not longer have an au pair. From the blurb, I can just throw the ingredients into the cooker in the morning, and a lovely hot meal will be ready when we get home.

But first, I need to learn to cook with it. So, I thought I would use this very old blog to document my experiences and the recipes I try. So far, I have come up with a few places to start.

The bbcgoodfood website has a collection of recipes, including this one one for chilli, which I might try tomorrow.

Sara's chilli con carne | BBC Good Food

I also like this site, Moms with Crockpots, which seems to have some great recipes. They also have a Facebook page, which I have started to follow.

The Channel 4 4Food site has another collection of recipes, including some from Jamie Oliver.

Chef in Training is not just slow cooking, but has a nice collection of slow cook recipes.

Another large collection of recipes is found at Allrecipes.com. This also has some chilli recipes that I will take a look at.

And finally, for tonight, here's the crock-pot site. It doesn't appear easy to navigate or browse, but good to know about.