Make It Fast, Cook It Slow (27 page)

BARBECUE BEEF AND BEAN SANDWICHES

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Place the meat into the stoneware. Add the onion and garlic. Pour the beans on top. Put 2 tablespoons of water into the empty bean can and swish it around. Pour that in, too. Add the barbecue sauce. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 12 hours, or until the meat shreds easily with a fork. Serve on rolls, buns, rice cakes, or over rice. If desired, top with slices of your favorite cheese and sliced jalapeños.

The Verdict

We all really liked this meal. The kids ate their meat right off the plate with a fork, and Adam and I had ours on top of lightly salted rice cakes. I loved the sliced jalapeños—there was a perfect mix of spicy tang and sweetness from the barbecue sauce. The meat was very tender and fell apart, just as I like it.

BARBECUE RIBS

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. I have browned the ribs in the oven before putting them in the cooker, but I no longer see the use. The raw meat will cook just fine in the slow cooker, and I like saving steps. Toss them in, and add the onion, green onions, garlic, black pepper, and barbecue sauce. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 4 to 6 hours. The meat will be quite tender and will fall off the bone. Floss after eating.

BARBECUED PULLED PORK

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Trim the meat, and place it into the stoneware. Add the onion rings. Squeeze in the ketchup, and then pour the ½ cup warm water into the ketchup bottle and shake. Pour the ketchup-y water into your crock. Add vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and salt. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork. Serve over rice, or make sandwiches on rolls or sliced bread. I cooked this overnight and had a hard time sleeping because it smelled so good.

BLUE CHEESE AND DRIED CHERRY MEATLOAF

serves
4

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4- or 6-quart slow cooker. I used a 4-quart round, because I chose to make a glob of meatloaf and cook it directly in the stoneware, but you can use a glass or metal 9×5×3-inch loaf pan placed inside of a 6-quart oval if you’d like. In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, cherries, cheese, salt, pepper, onion powder, basil, if using, bread crumbs, and egg. Spray the inside of your stoneware (or loaf pan) well with cooking spray. Put the meat into the pot and shape into a large round blob in the center, or press into the loaf pan. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 7 to 8 hours. The meatloaf is done when it is cooked thoroughly and has browned on top and darkened on the edges. Using two spatulas, lift the meatloaf out of the pot and let it stand on a cutting board for 15 minutes before cutting.

The Verdict

Whoa, mama! This is not your grandma’s meatloaf. This is decadent. This is gourmet. This is super duper easy, yet you will get tons of praise and be granted bragging rights. My friend Jennifer was with me when I mixed the meatloaf, and she is to thank for the added spices. I would have stuck to just the blue cheese and the cherries, and it would have been terribly bland. Thanks, Jen!

BLUE CHEESE AND STEAK ROLL-UPS

serves
4

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Make a marinade with the wine, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and minced garlic. Add the meat and marinate in a plastic ziplock bag overnight.

In the morning, dump the contents into your slow cooker. Slice the blue cheese into strips. A piece at a time, take the meat out of the marinade mixture and place strips of cheese all over it. Roll it up, and repeat with the remaining pieces of meat. Return the meat to the stoneware, seam-side down. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. It will not take long to cook.

The Verdict

This is good. Very good. Unless you don’t like blue cheese. And you’re a vegetarian. Or from Mars. For the rest of you, this is a scrumptious and (dare I say it) gourmet slow-cooked meal.

CAJUN PULLED PORK

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Put the meat into a large plastic ziplock bag with the brown sugar and seasonings. Seal well and shake to coat. Pour the contents of the bag into the stoneware. Top with the chopped onion, butter, and liquid smoke. Pour in the water. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with two forks. Serve on toasted buns, on rice, or in large romaine lettuce leaves.

The Verdict

I made this up after I spent a day watching the Food Network, and Emeril’s “bamming” got to me—I felt like doing some bamming of my own. It’s a bit spicy for kids, but eating it in a sandwich with mayo, mustard, and cheese downplays the spice. My friend Georgia fed it to her four kids, and they liked it a lot. This would also make excellent burrito filling.

CHILE VERDE

serves
8

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Trim any visible fat from the meat, and plop into your stoneware. Add diced bell pepper and onion. If your tomatillos have the leafy outer skin, take the skin and stem off, and dice finely or pulse in a food processor (I used a handheld chopper). Pour in the chiles and tomatoes. Add the garlic and seasonings, and stir a bit to get the spices down the sides of the meat. Add chopped cilantro to the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, on high for 6 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork. After 7 hours on low, my meat was still pretty tough, so I chopped it into large chunks and put it back in the pot for another 2 hours. By then, it had shredded nicely for me. Serve with rice, corn tortillas, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.

The Verdict

Delicious. Three out of the four of us ate this happily, and the other had a quesadilla. The meat was super tender, and had a good flavor. If you’d like more heat, you can add more red pepper or top with some jalapeño slices at the table. If your slow cooker releases a lot of steam through a vent hole, put a layer of foil over the stoneware, then put the lid on. You want a lot of moisture to tenderize the meat. Be super careful when removing the foil—the steam will be quite hot.

COCONUT BEEF

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the meat, lime juice, and coconut milk into the stoneware. Follow with the onion and garlic. Add the brown sugar, spices, and grated ginger. Toss the meat a bit in the liquid and spices to coat. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours. The coconut milk will be yellow from the curry, and will separate a bit, but a quick stir will turn it all creamy again. Serve over white or brown rice.

The Verdict

I used really cheap stew meat for this recipe, and was concerned it wouldn’t tenderize as much as I’d like since I only had enough time to cook on high for 4 hours. I didn’t need to worry—the meat was tender and infused with a great creamy coconut flavor.

CORNED BEEF

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Cut the vegetables into 2-inch chunks and put on the bottom of the stoneware. Trim the fat off the meat, and put the meat on top. Add the seasoning packet and the water. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 4 to 6 hours. Corned beef is much more tender when it is cooked slowly.

The Verdict

Corned beef is not my favorite, but I married an Irishman so I cook it once in a while. It seems to make him happy, and when he’s happy he folds laundry and takes out the garbage.

Adam likes how moist the meat gets when slow-cooked, without being too gelatinous the way it sometimes gets when boiled. My kids wouldn’t touch corned beef if Santa served it on a magic carpet, so they had some canned soup. If you are gluten-free, read the package ingredients carefully.