Chipotle Pork Ribs

On the weekends, I am all about easy in the kitchen! And, after having worked all day in the garden, I wanted to do something that I could let slow cook to really take it easy on myself. So I pulled some baby back ribs out of the freezer the day before and took out the crock pot in the morning. Plan on 10 hours on low heat, and do not remove the lid until the meat is done!

Ingredients
Baby back pork ribs
Chipotle sauce
Garlic Powder
Oregano
Cumin
Salt and Pepper

Spray the crock pot with a non-stick cooking spray. Place the ribs on foil and rub with the chipotle sauce. Then sprinkle with the remaining ingredients.

Ribs with sauce and herbs

After 10 hours in the crock pot, remove them to a cutting board and cover with foil. Let them sit for about 10 minutes. Then separate the ribs into two ribs.

Ribs are done

Serve this with my broccoli cole slaw. Click below for that recipe:

Broccoli Slaw

Don’t forget a really good beer or have a glass of Barbera!

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Crockpot Braised Short Ribs

Temperatures are dropping, clouds are coming in and if we get any precipitation it will snow overnight. With the cold coming, I wanted to make an easy dish in the crockpot. I love the all in one dishes! This takes a bit of prepping, but it is well worth it!  Start this early in the day as cooking time is 9 hours, and prep time is about an hour.

Ingredients
4 cups of low sodium beef broth
1 onion, sliced and separated
8 beef short ribs
1 cup of flour
1 tsp fresh ground salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp rosemary leaves crushed
1 tsp thyme leaves crushed
1 tsp marjoram leaves crushed
1/2 tsp basil leaves crushed
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 – 12 oz. bottle of a stout beer
1 TBS butter
5 cloves of garlic crushed
1 bay leaf

Get your ingredients ready…

Ingredients

Put the beef broth into a saucepan and heat to boiling. Reduce this to approximately a cup and a half.  This concentrates the beef flavor in the broth.

Cooking down the beef broth

While this is cooking down, slice the onion and lay the pieces in the crockpot making a “bed” for the short ribs. Next in a zip lock bag, add the flour along with the salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and basil. Shake the bag to mix up well. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot dredge the short ribs and add to the pan.

Dredged short ribs added to the oil

Sear the meat on all sides.

Sear all sides of the short ribs

About half way through searing the ribs, the beef broth should be done. Turn off the heat and set aside. As the ribs get browned, move off the completed ones to the crockpot until all have been added. Try to get them in bone side down.  This will add the flavor of the bones to the juices that you will use to drizzle over the finished dish!  Next pour the beer over the short ribs. Dot them with the garlic. Add the bay leaf and butter. Then pour in the drippings from the pan. Then take the broth and pour a bit into the pan to knock up the bits that are stuck to the pan. Pour this and the broth into the crockpot.

Everything has been added to the crock pot

Cover the crockpot and turn the heat on low, and set the time for 9 hours. Do not lift the lid once this has started cooking!  I cannot possibly describe for you how wonderful the aromas are in the house!  If you want to impress folks and make them think that you spent all day in the kitchen slaving over the stove, this is the dish for you!

Tonight I will be serving these over jasmine rice, although mashed potatoes or buttered noodles are also good. Don’t forget to steam up a vegetable, and maybe a bit of crusty sour dough bread. Serve this up with a good stout ale, or try it with a Cabernet Franc.

Dinner is served!

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Dad’s Pot Roast

It is not very often that I come across a brisket of beef at the grocery store, but shortly before Thanksgiving I found one and stuck it in the freezer. With the recent cold temperatures, I wanted to make a comfort food dinner tonight, so I defrosted the brisket for dinner this evening. This is my Dad’s recipe, and it is wonderful! The aromas that fill the house are absolutely incredible! My Dad used to do this on the stove top but I do it in the crock pot.

Ingredients
Brisket of Beef, cut in half
Garlic powder
Hungarian paprika
Salt and pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Onion, chopped
Garlic, chopped
1 cup of a good hearty red wine
2 Potatoes, russets, peeled, cut into pieces
4 Carrots, peeled, cut into chunks
3 14.5 oz. cans of beef broth

Trim the fat off the brisket

Rub both sides of the meat with the garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.

Cut it in half, and rub with spices

Add the olive oil to a pan and heat. When the oil is hot, brown one piece of meat at a time.

Brown the meat

While the meat is browning, cut up the onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots.

Chop onions and garlic

Spray a crock pot with non-stick spray and layer the bottom with the potatoes and carrots.

Layer carrots and potatoes in crock pot

Once the meat is brown, lay it on top of the potatoes and carrots.

Lay meat over carrots and potatoes

Now take the onions and garlic and add it to the pan that you browned the meat in.

Add onions and garlic to pan

Cook these until they are tender and browned.

Brown the onions and garlic

Add in the wine to deglaze the pan, stirring to pick up the browned bits in the bottom of the pan.

Add the wine to the pan to deglaze

Bring to a boil, then take off the heat and pour this over the meat in the crock pot.

Pour onions, garlic and wine over the meat

Add the beef broth.

Add broth and set to cook

Set the crock pot to the low setting for 8 hours, and sit back and enjoy the aromas in the house! When the timer goes off on the crock pot, take the meat out and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Turn the crock pot to the warm setting. After the meat has rested, cut it into slices and return it to the broth.

Slice the beef and put back into the crock pot

Let the meat sit in the crock pot for 15 minutes to a half hour, then serve it up in bowls!

Serve it up!

Serve this with the hearty wine that you used to cook with. I used a really good Merlot for tonight’s dinner!

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Chili on a Chilly Day

I woke up this morning hoping for a bit of snow; alas, it did not happen. But it sure is a cold 38.3 degrees. So for dinner tonight I am getting out the crock pot again, and this time I will be preparing Chili!

I looked up the history of Chili and found conflicting information. Some say that the dish originated in San Antonio, Texas, while others say that the dish originated in Chihuahua or Ensenada, Mexico all in the 1800’s. Mexican history, however, makes claims that this dish did not originate in Mexico. The dish was inexpensive to make and primarily consisted of beans and peppers. Despite it origins this is a very popular meal in the U.S. today, with chili cook offs occurring all over the country.

I make several versions of chili and today’s version will be made with a coarse ground beef, the chili’s harvested from my garden, some tomatoes, onions and lots of spices. What I like about making this in the crock pot is that the kidney beans, that usually have a tough outer skin, really soften up when cooked in this way. Give yourself about a half hour for preparation and 10 hours in the crock pot.

Ingredients
3#’s coarsely ground beef
Medium onion, chopped
2 poblano chili peppers, seeded and chopped
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 30 oz. can of red kidney beans
1 28 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
1 15 oz. can of pinto beans
5 of the chili de arboles
bay leaf
healthy dose of cumin
2 shakes of cayenne pepper
1 tbs. oregano
1/2 spice jar of chili powder (adjust this to your taste)
1 cup of water
Lots of grated cheddar cheese

First take the beans and place in a colander and rinse well.

Rinse the beans

Add to your crock pot. Then add the beef to a fry pan, along with the onions, garlic and peppers.

Add meat, onion, garlic and chili's to pan

Brown the beef and drain.

The browned meat mixture

Add to the crock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cheddar cheese, and stir well to combine.

Mix it up in the crock pot, and turn it on!

Set the crock pot to low and cook for 10 hours. Here is the finished product!

When done in the crock pot

Chili just has to be served in bowls. When the chili is ready, remove the chili de arboles. Add some of the grated cheddar to the bottom of your bowl. Then add a couple of healthy scoops of the chili, followed by more cheese, chili and then top with cheese.

Serve up the chili!

I like serving this with a really good sour dough garlic bread for dipping into the chili.

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Corned Beef in Beer

I love my crock-pot and making corned beef in the crock-pot is really good. The meat is tender from the long cooking, and the flavor from the beer is incredible!

Ingredients
Flat cut corned beef with seasoning packet included
2 bottles of beer (today I am using a combination of Sam Adams Light and Latitude 48 IPA)
Water to cover

Place the corned beef into the crock-pot with the fat side up. Sprinkle with the seasoning packet included with the meat. Slowly pour beer into the crock-pot.

Pour the beer over the corned beef

Don’t worry about the bubbles, they will subside.

Beer bubbles...

Then add water to just cover the meat.

Set the crock-pot to low and cook for 8-9 hours. When done, let the meat stand, covered, for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve this with buttered potatoes, steamed green beans, and of course, a really good mustard!

Dinner is served!

And, enjoy a beer with this too!

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Poke Me in the Ribs!

I don’t feel like slaving over the stove today. On days like this one, I pull out the trusty Crock Pot. Tonight’s menu: Baby Back Ribs in the Crock Pot. How do they look when done?

The finished product!

Ingredients:

1 side of baby back ribs
8 cloves of garlic
1 tbs fresh thyme
couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary
salt and fresh ground pepper

To get your crock pot ready, spray the inside with a non-stick cooking spray.

For the ribs, cut the ribs into 3 separate pieces. Take the garlic, thyme and rosemary and put into a food processor and grind until you have a chunky mass. Rub this over the ribs on both side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the ribs into the crock pot. Two pieces will be on the bottom leaving a gap between the two. Lay the third over the top covering the gap below. Make sure that you have the bone side facing down with the fat layer on top.

Set the crock pot to low for 10 hours. They will actually brown and the meat will fall off the bone! I love serving this with home made french fries, and a freshly steamed vegetable.

What do you have leftover?

Just Bones!

Just bones!

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