Easy Barbecued Ribs

I've never cooked ribs before.  It's something I've left to the pros, like my favourite, favourite, favourite BBQ joint, Boneheads BBQ.  When we were out shopping Thursday night though, there was a pretty good deal on some small packs of pork back ribs, so I decided to give it a go.  Friday morning, I remembered that there was a barbecue rib recipe in my new America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook and I knew it was going to be what I used.  Like most good slow cooker recipes, this one does have a couple extra steps, but I loved that the extra steps were after the slow cooking, not before, because sometimes my cooking skills at 8 AM are not the sharpest.

The original recipe is fairly large and should be made in a large oval slow cooker.  I scaled it down as I only bought 2 lbs of ribs and cooked them in my small round 3.5 quart slow cooker.  It served two rib-loving adults a reasonable portion without making pigs of ourselves (that would be some sort of weird cannibalism wouldn't it?).  I tried the little one with them, but like 99% of the food I cook, I got a happy but firm 'nope!'.  This is one time we were quite happy not to share.  I'll put the full recipe quantities in parenthesis but the recipe is written with my adjustments.  You can use your own homemade barbecue sauce or your favourite store-bought.  Since this was a last minute decision and I was short on time, I did use store bought with fantastic results.  Right now we have a Budweiser BBQ sauce from Costco on the go.  

Easy Barbecued Ribs

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution

1.5 tbsp sweet paprika (3tbsp) (Edited Feb '12 to say I've also used mild smoked paprika with fantastic results)

1 tbsp light brown sugar, lightly packed (2 tbsp)

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (1/4 tsp)

S&P to taste (about 1 tsp each is what I used)

2 lbs pork (baby) back ribs (6 lbs) - leave the membrane on the ribs to help hold them together

1 cup barbecue sauce (3 cups)

Vegetable oil spray.  

In a small bowl, mix together paprika, brown sugar, cayenne and S&P.  Rub this mixture all over both sides of your ribs well.  Arrange ribs in the slow cooker by standing them up against the wall of the stoneware pot, thicker side down and meaty side against the pot.  Pour barbecue sauce over the ribs, cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low (I did 7 hours and they were perfect).  

Now comes the only stove/oven work involved, we need to reduce the sauce and then brown the ribs under the broiler.  These steps are what turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, so don't you dare skip them even if your ribs already look pretty good.  Once the initial slow cooking is done, very carefully (as they are tennnnderrrrr) remove the ribs to a baking pan which you have lined with foil and put a rack on (like in my photo collage), bone side up.  Set to the side.  Skim any fat that has risen to the top and strain all of the remaining juices from the slow cooker through a mesh strainer into a small saucepan.  Bring to boil and allow to simmer and reduce by about a third, approximately 15 minutes.  Put your oven's broiler on to heat up and make sure that there is an oven rack about 10 inches below the broiler element.  When the broiler is preheated, brush the ribs with sauce and broil for 3 or 4 minutes.  Take them out and very carefully flip them over, brush with sauce and broil again, meat side up, for approximately 9 minutes, taking them out once or twice (I did only once because I forgot) to baste with more sauce.  Serve any remaining sauce on the side with the ribs.  http://www.mmmisformommy.com/2011/09/easy-barbecued-ribs.html

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

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Slow Cooker Taco Soup

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all day chicken

 

Love my crockpot!!

2 tablespoons frozen orange juice
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 dash allspice
4 pounds chicken, breasts and thighs
1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoon margarine or butter
11 ounce can mandarin orange sections, drained
1/2 medium large bell pepper, sliced lengthwise
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold milk
1/4 cup cold water

The night before you plan on slow cooking your dinner, mix together the marinade ingredients in a large, closable container large enough to also hold the chicken pieces. When marinade is thoroughly mixed, add the chicken, close container and refrigerate until morning. In the morning place the chicken in the slow cooker and add marinade up to about an inch from the top of the container. Set the cooker on low and cover. 6 to 8 hours later, turn the cooker to high. About an hour later, saute the sliced mushrooms in the margarine or butter. Then add the mushrooms with pan juices, mandarin sections, green pepper and ginger into the slow cooker and stir thoroughly. Mix together the cornstarch, milk and cold water, then gradually add into the slow cooker while stirring until the entire mixture thickens a bit. Recover the slow cooker and let simmer for 15 to 30 minutes until serving.  http://whiskusaway.blogspot.com/search/label/Main%20Course?updated-max=2009-07-30T09%3A19%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=20

crockpot chicken and mushroom stew

 

It's no secret that I love my crock pot...especially during football season when we are at the field until 8:00 PM and eating dinner around 9:00 PM. I love to put dinner in the crock pot in the morning and come home to a yummy dinner at night instead of making a mad dash to the closest drive thru!

1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 large carrot, diced
1 large stick celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine
3/4 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
Cornstarch slurry to thicken, if desired

Coat inside of 3-4 quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Place onion, carrots, celery, garlic and mushrooms in crockpot. Add chicken. Sprinkle with herbs. Add wine. Combine tomato paste and chicken broth, then add to crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours. Half an hour before the end of cooking, you can add a cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch to 1/4 cup of water or slightly cooled cooking liquid) to thicken the sauce.  http://whiskusaway.blogspot.com/search/label/Main%20Course?updated-max=2009-09-06T16%3A13%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=20

Chicken Tagine with a Twist!

 

Some days I have to work a very long 12 hours. A 12 hours in a busy O.R. that wipes me out. A 12 hours that isn't as easy to recover from as it used to be. These are the days that cooking is the very last thing I want to do at the end of the day. Eating a hot, home-made dinner however, is just what I do need. Dilemma.

Crock Pot to the rescue! I keep most of these ingredients stocked in my pantry and only had to pick up some chicken thighs as we have been really limiting chicken lately for various reasons (read more about this life changing decision in my post/rant here). Also, I have been trying to not eat meat for dinner since IMO it isn't good for your body to be digesting meat while you sleep. Meat takes several hours of hard work for your GI system to digest and disrupts sleep.

Chicken Tagine is a classic Moroccan dish made several in several yummy variations but usually with the spices ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, paprika and turmeric. Tajines are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. The best thing about Chicken Tagine is that you can throw in any combination of your favorite ingredients such as dried fruits, nuts, olives, veggies, preserved lemon, honey ect. and as long as you use the classic base of spices and tomatoes you've got yourself a Moroccan Delight!

I love my veggies and so I threw in some diced eggplant along with my olives, dried apricots and fresh cranberries. *On a side note, I don't think I will use fresh cranberries next time as they were pretty tart, or maybe I'll just use less to compliment the other flavors without over powering them.

A pretty Tagine pot is on the top of my wish list. I use a 'crock pot' for now ;)

Image from Emily Avila

The traditional tajine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay, which is sometimes painted or glazed. It consists of two parts: a base unit that is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cone or dome-shaped cover that rests inside the base during cooking. The cover is so designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom. With the cover removed, the base can be taken to the table for serving

Recently, European manufacturers have created tajines with heavy cast-iron bottoms that can be heated on a cooking stove to a high temperature. This permits the browning of meat and vegetables before cooking.



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Ingredients


2 tablespoons olive oil

8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 large onions, thinly sliced

4 large carrots, thinly sliced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup green olives, sliced

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup water

1 cup couscous



Directions:
* Searing the chicken before adding it to the crock pot is important to lock in flavour.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken pieces and eggplant in the heated oil; stir and cook until the chicken is browned on all sides but not cooked through. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Place the browned chicken and eggplant on the bottom of a slow cooker. Layer the onion, carrots, cranberries, and apricots over the chicken.

Whisk together the chicken broth, tomato paste, lemon juice, flour, garlic salt, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and ground black pepper in a bowl. Pour the broth mixture into the slow cooker with the chicken and vegetables.

Cook on Low setting for 8 hours.

Bring water to boil in a saucepan. Stir in couscous, and remove from heat. Cover, and let stand about 5 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork.

PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

I'm sending this over to Potluck Fridays at eKats Kitchen!
  http://simplyhealthyfam.blogspot.com/2010/12/chicken-tagine-with-twist.html 

Easy Slow-Cooker Jambalaya

  Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Yield: 8 Servings
Cost per Serving: $3.63

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 2-inch slices
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Cajun or Creole spice mix
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 pound extralarge shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 3/4 cups long-grain rice
• Parsley, optional

Preparation

Combine chicken, sausage, onion, green pepper, celery, tomatoes, garlic, chicken broth, spice mix, thyme and oregano in a large (5-quart) slow cooker. Cook on low for 5 hours.
Add shrimp and rice; raise heat to high and cook for 30 minutes more. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, if desired.   http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001875863

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

WOW – fall is flying by! Now that we’ve about reached the halfway point for our fall season at work, it was time this weekend for our quarterly social. And since Yours Truly was in charge this time, we of course had ourselves a delightful little potluck – yeah!! :) I mean, seriously, who would want to order in pizza or sandwiches, when you could have a smorgasbord of all your volunteers’ favorite dishes to sample??
Being that it has turned ridiculously cold ridiculously soon this year, I made it a soup-themed potluck. I’d baked a nice little dessert to bring, but then realized the night beforehand that the organizer (um… me) somehow missed noticing that we were way short on the main dish – soups! Yikes! So to even things out, I turned to the recipe that I’ve often turned to in a bind m-a-n-y times over the years – this fantastic slow-cooker chicken tortilla soup!
I randomly stumbled across it online a few years ago, and was intrigued by the slow-cooker idea. So I gave it a try for (another) potluck, and after about 15 people asked for the recipe, I figured it was a keeper…which is fantastic because it is SO easy to make! Seriously! Don’t be scared off at all by the long list of ingredients. The are quick to combine, and there’s no cooking required – just chopping one onion. (Which if you’re really in a bind, the stores finally now sell frozen chopped onions – voila.) However, for the overachievers or those who would like to hear a little sizzle on the stove, however, I’ve included an easy little homemade tortilla strips how-to. :)
Hooray for crock-pots and good soups! Two of my favorite things about winter. :D


Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup RecipeAdapted from AllRecipes
Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins (frozen or refrigerated)
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (10 ounce) can good-quality mild enchilada sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 1 (10 oz.) package frozen corn (or 1 can of whole-kernel corn, drained)
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. chipotle powder (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice (optional)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

Homemade Tortilla Crisps Ingredients

• 3 corn tortillas
• 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

Optional Garnishes

• avocado slices
• shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese
• limes
• chopped tomatoes
• soft tortillas (you can place these in the bottom of the bowls, and ladle the soup on top if you’d like!)

Method:
Place all soup ingredients (chicken thru cilantro) in a large crock pot and stir briefly to combine. Cover, and cook on “low” setting for 6 to 8 hours or on “high” setting for 3 to 4 hours. Anywhere from 15-60 minutes beforehand, remove the chicken breasts. Let cool briefly, then shred and return to soup.
To serve, ladel soup into individual bowls, and add desired garnishes.
Homemade Tortilla Strips “How-To”:
Use a knife or pizza cutter, cut a few corn tortillas into small strips (as pictured above).
Skillet Method: Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Test to see if the oil is ready by dripping a drop or two of water in the skillet. (No sound – too cool. Splatter – too hot. Sizzle – perfect!) Once it’s ready, add in the tortilla strips. Give them a stir or a flip every 20-30 seconds, until they have begun to turn slightly golden. Remove and place on paper towels to drain and dry. Season with salt or other seasonings.
Oven Method: Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Lay out tortilla strips on a greased cookie sheet, and brush with olive oil. (Optional: season with salt or other seasonings.) Bake the tortilla strips for 5 minutes, then give them a quick stir and/or flip. Bake for 5 minutes more, or until they are crispy and golden.

Ali’s Tip:
The recipe as written is fairly spicy. So if you’re at all sensitive to “heat”, would recommend adding in the spices to taste at the end. And if it is ever too hot, feel free to add in extra water or chicken broth. :)  http://gimmesomeoven.com/slow-cooker-chicken-tortilla-soup/