Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook (68 page)

2-lb. pork butt

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

12-oz. can beer

1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory and Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce

½ cup ketchup

3-4 drops hot pepper sauce

1. Rub or pat salt, pepper, and paprika on pork butt.

2. In large skillet, brown each side of meat in olive oil. Place browned butt in slow cooker.

3. Add onion to skillet. Sauté just until tender. Add to slow cooker.

4. Mix remaining ingredients in a good-sized bowl. Pour over pork in slow cooker.

5. Cover. Cook on High 2 hours. Turn to Low and cook 6 more hours.

6. Remove pork from slow cooker to platter. Shred meat with 2 forks.

7. Return pulled pork to slow cooker. Mix thoroughly with sauce.

Serving suggestion: Serve the meat on toasted
buns
with
cole slaw
—either inside the rolls, or alongside.

Note:

This recipe can easily be doubled for a large group.

Rob’s Sweet and Sour Joe

Sue Hamilton

Minooka, IL

Makes 12 servings

Prep. Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 3-4 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 3- to 4-qt.

1 lb. ground lean pork

8 oz. cocktail sauce

8 oz. orange marmalade

¼ tsp. Chinese five spice

½ tsp. garlic powder

2 cups cole slaw mix,
or
shredded cabbage

ground black pepper to taste

1. Brown pork in saucepan, stirring frequently to break up clumps. Drain off drippings. Place meat in slow cooker.

2. Add sauce, marmalade, spice, garlic powder, cole slaw mix, and pepper. Mix well.

3. Cover. Cook on High 3-4 hours, or until heated through.

Serving suggestion: This makes enough to fill 12
sandwich rolls
.

Tip:

If you can’t find Chinese 5 spice in your grocery store, you can make your own:

2 tsp. fresh peppercorns

1 star anise

½ Tbsp. ground cloves

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

1 Tbsp. fennel seeds

Grind all together in a coffee or spice grinder until fine.

Use only ¼ tsp. in Rob’s Sweet and Sour Joe, but store the rest in a tightly covered container for the next time.

Savory Sausage Sandwiches

Mary Jane Musser

Manheim, PA

Makes 8 servings

Prep. Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 3-6 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 3½-qt.

2 lbs. fresh sausage, cut into bun-length pieces

2 pkgs. dry spaghetti sauce mix

12-oz. can tomato paste

3 cups water

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup vinegar

1. Cook sausage in skillet in water for 10 minutes.
*
Drain. Place in slow cooker.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in saucepan. Simmer 5 minutes. Pour over sausage.

3. Cover. Cook on High 3 hours or Low 6 hours.

Serving suggestion: Serve in
rolls
topped with grated
cheese
.

*
You can skip this step. But pre-cooking the sausages lightly in this way cooks off much of their grease.

Variation:

Use 1 qt. spaghetti sauce, either homemade or bought, instead of sauce mix, tomato paste, and water.

Italian Sausage

Lauren Eberhard

Seneca, IL

Makes 15 servings

Prep. Time: 40 minutes

Cooking Time: 6-7 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 6-qt., or 2 4-qt. cookers

5 lbs. Italian sausage in casing

4 large green bell peppers, sliced

3 large onions, sliced

1,
or
2, garlic cloves, minced

28-oz. can tomato purée

14-oz. can tomato sauce

12-oz. can tomato paste

1 Tbsp. dried oregano

1 Tbsp. dried basil

½ tsp. garlic powder

1½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. sugar

1. Cut sausage into 4” or 5” pieces and brown on all sides in batches in skillet.

2. Sauté peppers, onions, and garlic in drippings.

3. Combine tomato purée, sauce, and paste in bowl. Stir in seasonings and sugar.

4. Layer half of sausage, onions, and peppers in 6-qt. slow cooker, or in 2 4-qt. cookers. Cover with half the tomato mixture. Repeat layers.

5. Cover. Cook on High 1 hour and then on Low 5-6 hours.

Serving suggestion: Serve over
pasta
, or dip mixture with a straining spoon onto
Italian sandwich rolls
.

Dawn’s Sausage and Peppers

Dawn Day

Westminster, CA

Makes 8-10 servings

Prep. Time: 25-30 minutes

Cooking Time: 6 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 5-qt.

3 medium onions, sliced

1 sweet red pepper, sliced

1 sweet green pepper, sliced

1 sweet yellow pepper, sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp. oil

28-oz. can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

2-3 lbs. sweet Italian sausage, cut into 3” pieces

1. Sauté onions, peppers, and garlic in oil in skillet. When just softened, place in slow cooker. (Or skip this step, but check that the vegetables are cooked to your liking at the end of the 6-hour cooking time.)

2. Add tomatoes, salt, and crushed red pepper. Mix well.

3. Add sausage links.

4. Cover. Cook on Low 6 hours.

Serving suggestion: Serve on
rolls
, or over
pasta
or
baked potatoes
.

Variation:

For a thicker sauce, stir 2 Tbsp. cornstarch into 2 Tbsp. water in a small bowl until smooth. Fifteen minutes before end of cooking time, stir into slow cooker, stirring until well mixed. Cover and cook 15 minutes.