Thursday, March 18, 2010

Corned Beef Dinner

From the Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10-11 hours
Ideal Slow Cooker Size: 5-quart
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 potatoes, pared and quartered
  • 3 carrots, sliced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 small head cabbage, cut into 4 wedges
  • 3-4-lb. corned beef brisket
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. prepared mustard
  • dash of ground cloves
Directions:
  1. Layer onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, bay leaves, and cabbage in slow cooker.
  2. Place brisket on top.
  3. Add water.
  4. Cover. Cook on Low 10-11 hours.
  5. During last hour of cooking, combine brown sugar, mustard, and cloves. Spread over beef.
  6. Discard bay leaves. Slice meat and arrange on platter of vegetables.
One word: Delicious! I overfilled the slow cooker a little bit because I like red potatoes so much so I added about 1 1/2 cup extra water because I was afraid that the one cup wouldn't be enough to cook everything through. I also used 1/2 the seasoning packet that came with the corned beef brisket. If I make it again, I think that I will use less brown sugar. For us it seemed like there was too much to caramelize properly over the beef.

North Carolina Barbecue

From the Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook
Prep: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 5-8 hours
Ideal Slow Cooker Size: 4-5-quart
Makes: 8-12 servings

Ingredients:
  • 3-4-lb. pork loin, roast or shoulder
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup, plus 1 Tbsp., prepared mustard
  • 1/4 cup, plus 1 Tbsp., Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Directions:
  1. Trim fat from pork. Place in slow cooker.
  2. In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients together. Spoon over meat.
  3. Cover and cook on High 5 hours, or on Low 8 hours, or until meat is tender but not dry.
  4. Slice, or break meat apart, and serve drizzled with the cooking juices. If you use the meat for sandwiches, you'll have enough for 8-12 sandwiches.
This one was super good! I didn't have red pepper flakes, though, so I added a few shakes of hot sauce in with the Worcestershire sauce and it seemed to work out okay. I served this with rice and steamed asparagus.

Chicken Pot Roast

From the Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook
Prep: 10-15 minutes
Cooking Time: 3-4 hours
Ideal Slow Cooker Size: 4-5-quart
Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4-6 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 2 cups lima beans, fresh or frozen
  • 1 cup water
Directions:
  1. Salt and pepper chicken breasts. Use garlic salt if you wish. Place chicken in slow cooker and start cooking on High.
  2. Prepare carrots and place on top of chicken. Add limas on top. Pour water over all.
  3. Cover and cook on Low 3-4 hours, or until chicken and vegetables are tender but not dry or mushy.
  4. This is good served over rice.
After I followed this recipe and poured the water in, I realized that this recipe would probably be much more flavorful if it called for chicken broth so if I make this again, I'm going to try that. I also put other vegetables in besides carrots and lima beans. I like lima beans all right, but how can you call this "pot roast" without potatoes and onions and any of the other things that you would normally put in with a beef pot roast?

Hearty Baked Beans and Chops

From the Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 4-6 hours
Ideal Slow Cooker Size: 5-quart
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:
  • 2 16 1/2-oz. cans baked beans
  • 6 rib pork chops, 1/2-inch thick
  • 1 1/2 tsp. prepared mustard
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. ketchup
  • 6 onion slices, 1/4-inch thick
Directions:
  1. Pour baked beans into bottom of greased slow cooker.
  2. Layer pork chops over beans.
  3. Spread mustard over pork chops. Sprinkle with brown sugar and drizzle with ketchup.
  4. Top with onion slices.
  5. Cover. Cook on High 4-6 hours.
This was pretty good. I didn't use rib pork chops only because I only like the boneless center loin cut and so that's pretty much all that I buy. I forgot to grease the bottom of the slow cooker, but the beans luckily didn't burn or stick to the bottom. Just to be safe, though, I'm making sure to grease it next time.