Crockpot Pork Chops

Jeff and I decided we would be brave and try cooking pork chops again. We both have never been big fans of pork chops, but because they're so cheap, we wanted to see if there was a way to cook them that we'd enjoy. We found it! The Crockpot wins again... these chops were SO tender - literally falling apart when you cut them with a fork. I've NEVER had a pork chop do that before, and these were sooo easy and very flavorful.

Crockpot Pork Chops
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

6 boneless pork chops

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 cloves garlic, crushed

*I cut the soy sauce to 1/4 cup and added about 1/8-1/4 cup of honey as well.

*I also added some chicken broth to increase the amount of liquid

salt and pepper to taste

Place pork chops in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops. Make sure that you cover the chops with the sauce - if your crockpot is large like ours, spoon some of the sauce over the chops periodically as they cook to keep them from drying out.

Cook on Low setting for 6 hours, until internal temperature of pork has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

*Important: brown the pork chops in a pan before putting them in the crockpot - this adds a ton more flavor, and helps seal in the moisture. I didn't do this because we ran out of time, but this is important!!

Chop up some sweet potatoes and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast on a baking tray in the oven ~350 degrees, for 25-35 minutes, or until tender.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Made this last year for Jeff's birthday. We were blown away by how good it was... and have yet to make it again, but I just might make this again soon! So fun to be able to make it in the crockpot, also... thanks, Martha Stewart!

2 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into thin slices (about 1/2 inch thick and 3 inches long)

1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)

***1 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and halved (or quartered, if large)

Coarse salt and ground pepper

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Cooked thin egg noodles, for serving

Chopped fresh dill, for garnish (optional)

***Now you know Jeff hates mushrooms, so I omitted these – if you choose to do the same, add more liquid at the beginning! (i.e. some beef broth, I used chicken broth and it tasted great, or just water) It will get a bit too dry during the cooking process, and at the end you need some liquid to make the sauce come together. You can improvise like I said with beef broth if it comes out dry. Don’t worry!

In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, toss beef, onion, and mushrooms with 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt and teaspoon pepper. Cover, and cook on low until meat is tender, about 8 hours (or on high for 6 hours)

In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, whisk cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water. Ladle 1 cup cooking liquid into measuring cup; whisk to combine. Pour into a small saucepan, and bring to a boil; cook until thickened, about 1 minute. With slow cooker turned off, stir in cornstarch mixture, then sour cream and mustard. Serve beef over noodles; sprinkle with dill, if desired.

40-clove Garlic Chicken in the Crockpot!

Again, another recipe from my Crepes of Wrath friend:

This sounds like you'd be breathing, and sweating and oozing garlic for 40 days, but it really just gives the chicken a nice mellow garlic flavor, and leaves some yummy soft garlic to use in mashed potatoes, if you choose. Yum!

Crock Pot Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

3 1/2-4 pound fryer chicken (chicken cut into serving pieces) -- *I used 4-6 chicken breasts
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
40 cloves of garlic, peeled but still whole (about 3 bulbs of garlic)
3/4 cup white wine (optional, but highly recommended)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon butter

1. Spray the inside of your crock pot with non-stick spray. Rub the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place in the crock pot.

2. Heat your olive oil in a small skillet and add the peeled, whole garlic. Cook for 5-8 minutes over medium heat until the garlic is golden, then add the white wine and stir until the liquid has mostly evaporated, another 3-5 minutes over medium heat.

3. Pour the garlic and white wine over the chicken in the crock pot, and sprinkle the thyme and rosemary over everything. Add in the bay leaf. Turn the crock pot to low and cook for 3-4 hours. When ready, remove the chicken and place on a separate platter, then cover with foil to retain its heat. Set aside.

4. (This step is optional) Pour the juices from the pot through a mesh sieve into a pot, then press the garlic through the sieve to form a paste. Cook the gravy with a tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat until slightly thickened, about 5-8 minutes. Serve over the chicken with potatoes, vegetables, or crusty bread and enjoy! Serves 3-4. (We had mashed potatoes - and attempted this last step, but don't have a good sieve. So we settled for mashing a few of those cooked cloves up with the potatoes - yum!)

Spring Quarter

Today is probably one of the last lazy Fridays Jeff and I will have together, since he's starting his new internship next Monday. We have fully enjoyed "slothing", which included finishing the movie Julie and Julia and then watching Planet 51 (cute!). I'll admit, Julie and Julia inspired me to start this blog, though I also may or may not already have wanted an excuse to keep track of the "real" meals I try out every now and then.


I have been craving Creme Brulee for a long time ... and was ecstatic to find out I could make it in a crockpot not too long ago (since we don't have a real oven in our apartment). I splurged and bought some heavy cream the other day at the grocery store, figuring I'd be forced to make something with it before it went bad. Oh darn. :)

Crockpot Creme Brulee

2 cups heavy cream

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar (they suggested baker's sugar, but I used regular sugar - you can put it in a food processor and get a similar effect, just put in a little extra)

1 T good vanilla (I only used a teaspoon, and I should have put in the whole Tablespoon)

1/4 cup raw sugar (for topping, add later)*

*Since we don't have an oven, I did the caramelized sugar topping a little differently. Keep reading to find out how.

Find a heat-resistant dish, or ramekins, that fits inside of your stoneware insert. Fit it in, and using a cup or pitcher, pour water around the edges so there is water 1/2 - 3/4 of the way up the sides of the dishes.

--whip the 5 egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl

--slowly add the cream and baking sugar while mixing

--add the vanilla

Pour mixture into the ramekins, and carefully lower them into the stoneware without sloshing water into the dishes, or spilling your "creme brulee"!

Cover and cook on high for 2-4 hours. (I cooked 4 smaller ramekins, and they took just 2 hours.) Custard should be set with the center still a bit jiggly.

VERY carefully remove dishes and let cool completely on counter, then chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. I got creative and used a sturdy metal spatula to get them out of the crockpot, as tongs didn't work so well. (Let's just say, ouch.)

Now for the caramelized sugar topping. Since we don't have an oven with a broiler, or a fancy torch, I attempted this on the stove in a saucepan, but it definitely didn't work. So we just had the "creme" without the brulee. But theoretically, this can be drizzled on top of the custards, returning the dishes to the fridge afterwards to harden the sugar.

1 1/3 c. sugar
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 c. water

Combine sugar and cream of tartar in pan, and add water, stirring well. Cook on medium-low until boiling, then cover and cook for 3 minutes. (I skipped this step - bad! Which is probably why it didn't work - it's supposed to "steam" off all the sugar granules, which would end up crystallizing the rest of the mixture - and that's what happened to me.) Remove cover, and cook until a dark golden brown color. Remove from heat, and drizzle over tops of creme brulee dishes. (This gives a nice thick layer of sugar to "break", too!)

YUM!

Oh, and we did eat some real dinner tonight, too. :) A quick and easy meal, that I'm definitely going to do again, when we don't have anything else around. It will be easy for us to make frequently because we pretty much always have chicken breasts and veggies from Costco in the freezer.

2-Step Creamy Chicken and Pasta

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut up
2-4 servings pasta
2 c. frozen veggies
1 can Campbell's® Cream Soup (whichever kind - I used Cream of Celery, lower in fat, nice flavor and Jeff won't eat mushrooms, so Cream of Mushroom was out!)
1/2 cup water

Brown the chicken in vegetable oil (I added half an onion once the chicken was cooked - added a nice flavor). Salt & Pepper chicken part-way through. Add the frozen veggies, can of soup, and 1/2 c. water. Let this all come to a boil, and cover (this will cook the veggies, and combine soup, water, etc.). Meanwhile, cook pasta. Once it's nearly finished, drain, and add to the chicken, veggie, soup mixture. Continue to simmer for a few moments to let ingredients combine. Then, enjoy!

This was super quick and easy, and quite tasty. Nothing fancy, but it does the job, and was filling! We have enough for a few "leftover" meals, too!