Meat Dishes

Carnitas (Slow Cooker Pulled Pork)

Adapted from https://www.recipetineats.com/pork-carnitas-mexican-slow-cooker-pulled-pork/

Ingredients

Main Dish
Rub

Instructions

  1. Rinse and dry the pork shoulder, rub all over with salt and pepper.
  2. Combine the Rub ingredients then rub all over the pork.
  3. Place the pork in a slow cooker (fat cap up), top with the onion, jalapeño, minced garlic (don’t worry about spreading it) and squeeze over the juice of the oranges.
  4. Slow Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 7 hours. (Note 2 for other cook methods)
  5. Pork should be tender enough to shred. Remove from slow cooker and let cool slightly. Then shred using two forks.
  6. Optional: Skim off the fat from the juices remaining in the slow cooker and discard. 
  7. If you have a lot more than 2 cups of juice, then reduce it down to about 2 cups. The liquid will be salty, it is the seasoning for the pork. Set liquid aside – don’t bother straining onion etc, it’s super soft.

To Crisp

  1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large non stick pan or well seasoned skillet over high heat. Spread pork in the pan, drizzle over some juices. Wait until the juices evaporate and the bottom side is golden brown and crusty. Turn and just briefly sear the other side – you don’t want to make it brown all over because then it’s too crispy, need tender juicy bits.
  2. Remove pork from skillet. Repeat in batches (takes me 4 batches) – don’t crowd the pan.
  3. Just before serving, drizzle over more juices and serve hot, stuffed in tacos (see notes for sides, other serving suggestion and storage/make ahead).

Notes

1. The Pork: Use pork with the skin removed but leaving some of the fat cap on. The fat adds juiciness to the carnitas – and excess fat can be skimmed off later.

Different sizes: Recipe fine as is for 1.7 – 2.5kg / 3.5 – 5 lb pork. If larger / smaller, scale recipe using recipe scaler (hover/click on servings and slide) and the other ingredients will change. These are boneless pork weights (add 0.5kg/1lb for bone):

1 – 1.5 kg / 2 – 3 lb: 8 hours on low.
1.5 – 3 kg / 3 – 6 lb: Cook time per recipe. 
3 – 4 kg / 6 – 8 lb: Use large oval slow cooker, 12 hours on low.

2. Other cooking methods:

Electric pressure cooker or Instant Pot: 1 h 30 minutes on high. Let pressure release naturally. Proceed with Step 5 of recipe.

Stove pressure cooker: use a rack or balls of scrunched up foil to elevate it from the base OR add 3/4 cup of water. Cook 1 h 30 minutes. Proceed with Step 5 of recipe.

Oven: Follow recipe but put pork in roasting pan. Add 2 cups water around pork. Cover tightly with foil, roast in 325F/160C oven for 2 hours, then roast for a further 1 to 1.5 hours uncovered. Add more water if the liquid dries out too much. You should end up with 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid when it finishes cooking, and you can skip the pan frying step because you will get a nice brown crust on your pork. Shred pork then drizzled with juices.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Source: https://damndelicious.net/2016/10/07/slow-cooker-beef-stew/

Ingredients

    2 tablespoons olive oil
    2 pounds stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    1 pound baby red potatoes, quartered
    4 carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
    1 onion, diced
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    3 cups beef broth
    2 tablespoons tomato paste
    1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce)
    1 teaspoon dried thyme
    1 teaspoon dried rosemary
    1 teaspoon smoked paprika
    1 teaspoon caraway seeds, optional
    2 bay leaves
    ¼ cup all-purpose flour
    2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.
  2. Season beef with salt and pepper, to taste. Add beef to the dutch oven and cook until evenly browned, about 2-3 minutes.
  3. Place beef and carrots in slow cooker. Add onion and garlic to dutch oven and cook for a few minutes, then add beef broth to deglaze.
  4. Poor onion and broth mix over beef. Mix in tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme, rosemary, paprika, caraway seeds (if using), and bay leaves until well combined; season with salt and pepper.
  5. Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
  6. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and 1/2 cup stew broth. Stir in flour mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until thickened.
  7. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
 

Sun-dried Tomato One-Pot Chicken

Ingredients 

    ▢ 3 large chicken breasts boneless and skinless, sliced lengthwise into thin cutlets
    ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
    ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
    ▢ 6 tablespoons (50 grams) all-purpose flour
    ▢ 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
    ▢ 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter
    ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
    ▢ 1 cup (240 ml) chicken stock
    ▢ 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream (double cream in the UK)
    ▢ ½ cup (43 grams) parmesan cheese grated
    ▢ 1 teaspoon chili flakes
    ▢ ¼ teaspoon oregano
    ▢ ¼ teaspoon thyme
    ▢ ⅓ cup sundried tomatoes chopped
    ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves

Instructions 

  • Season chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour and shake off any excess.
  • In a large skillet, heat olive oil and melt the butter on medium heat. Swirl pan to coat with oil and butter evenly.
  • Brown the chicken (do not overcrowd and work in batches if needed) for 4-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer onto a plate, cover, and set aside.
  • Saute the garlic for a minute or until it's fragrant. Add the chicken stock, and deglaze the pan scraping any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
  • Adjust the heat to medium-low, and add the heavy cream and the parmesan cheese to the skillet. Allow the sauce to simmer for a couple of minutes, then season with chili flakes, thyme, and oregano.
  • Season with salt and pepper to your taste, add the sundried tomatoes then put the chicken back in the sauce and let the sauce simmer and thicken for a few more minutes.
  • Garnish with chopped fresh basil leaves and serve warm over pasta or rice.