Tag: slow cooker

Easy Slow Cooker Pork Verde

Slow Cooker Pork Verde

 

My slow cooker and I have developed a really nice relationship. I fill it up, it gives me tasty food a few hours later. If only all relationships were so easy.

This pork verde recipe is so simple, but so good. By the time the pork comes out of the slow cooker it is so tender if falls apart. It melts in your mouth, as the taste of cumin, chile and tomatillo salsa linger on your tongue. The pork verde is wonderful over rice, the thick sauce coating each grain.  It can be stuffed into a corn tortilla, making a delicious taco. It can be rolled in a flour tortilla, making a fantastic burrito. The next time I make it, and there will be a next time, I think I’ll serve it over cheese grits.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Pork Verde

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon Passilla chile powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated onion
  • 2 pounds boneless country style pork ribs
  • 16 ounce jar tomatillo salsa

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl mix together the Passilla chile, oregano, cumin, salt, garlic and onion.
  2. Rub all sides of the ribs with the spice mixture.
  3. Place the ribs into a large slow cooker.
  4. Pour the jar of salsa over the ribs.
  5. Set the slow cooker to high and the timer to 4 hours.
  6. After 3 hours, turn the ribs over in the sauce and check for tenderness.
  7. Let ribs cook 4 hours or until tender.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 4 hour(s)

Copyright © Cheryl D Lee.

 



Slow Cooker Caribbean Oxtails

I love oxtails. Considering I seem to always be late to everything these days, loving the tail end of a cow makes perfect sense.

One of my earliest posts (complete with really bad photography) is a basic braised oxtail recipe.  It has also become one of my most popular posts, as a lot of people apparently have no idea how to make oxtails! My favorite oxtail recipe used to be Mexican Spiced Oxtails (also with really bad photography.) But there is a new kid on the block, and she’s a bad motha. . . shut yo mouth! (sorry, started channeling Isaac Hayes for a minute)

When I lived in Brooklyn I ate food from the Caribbean all the time. Seriously, I would cook all day in the test kitchen and the last thing I wanted to do was come home and cook! I would stop by my favorite Jamaican, Trinidadian or Guyanese joints for roti, brown stew chicken, curried goat, beef patties and other tasty treats.

In an attempt to recreate the flavors of my Brooklyn neighborhood, I made these Caribbean style oxtails. I cannot say this is an authentic recipe just like they make on the islands, but it is good!

I used a dried crushed habanero, which added a good amount of spice to the oxtails. You can use fresh scotch bonnet peppers, fresh habanero peppers, or a dried variation of either. You can also use crushed red pepper flakes, but you will need to add more than 1/4 teaspoon to get the same amount of fruity heat.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Caribbean Oxtails

Summary: Slow cooked Caribbean spiced oxtails become fall off of the bone tender and succulent.

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch scallions, chopped
  • 6 large cloves garlic, chopped
  • 3 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed habanero pepper
  • 4 pounds oxtails
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 6 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 cups chicken broth or water

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, mix the scallions, garlic, ginger, allspice, salt and habanero pepper together.
  2. Rub the spice mix all over the oxtails, marinate for at least one hour to overnight.
  3. Place the sliced onion on the bottom of the slow cooker.
  4. Place the thyme sprigs on top, then the oxtails.
  5. Pour the broth over the oxtails, cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
  6. When the oxtails are cooked, remove them from the slow cooker.
  7. Remove the thyme stems from the liquid.
  8. With a blender or food processor, carefully puree the sauce, then return it to the slow cooker, or pour it into a serving dish.
  9. Return the oxtails to the sauce.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 6 hour(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

 

 

Cheryl D Lee on Foodista

Slow Cooker Tropical Chicken

 

While this dish may not knock your socks off with its beauty, the flavor will.  Cooking the chicken slowly with dried mango and pineapple infuses the meat with a taste that will have you dreaming that you are on a tropical beach somewhere, soaking up the sun with an umbrella drink.  But the best thing about this chicken is that you combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker, set the timer and walk away.

If you do not own a slow cooker, I highly recommend them. I myself am fairly new to the slow cooker team, but I am so glad I have one now.  In summer months I use it instead of turning on the oven, in winter I make stews and braises and chili and soup.  And being that I am always in need of a few more hours in each day, saving time in the kitchen by not having to stand over a pot cooking really helps a lot.

Serve your tropical chicken over some kind of grain, such as rice or quinoa to soak up all the sweet and tangy juices.

 

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Slow Cooker Tropical Chicken
by Cheryl D Lee October-28-2011
Cold and dreary days can be filled with bright and sunny flavor when you make this tropical chicken with mango and pineapple!
Ingredients
  • 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
  • 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice
  • 1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
  • 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
  • 6 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 inch fresh ginger root, sliced
  • 2 ounces dried unsweetened mango, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
Combine all the ingredients in a large slow cooker. Stir to distribute the spices and ingredients well. Following the manufacturers instructions, cover and set your slow cooker to high, and the timer for 6 hours.Serve the cooked chicken over rice or another grain.
Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 6 hour Total time: 6 hour 10 mins Yield: 6 servings

Cheryl D Lee on Foodista