Spicy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

This was surprisingly simple and extremely good.  Just make sure to use the meat listed (not pork loin!) if you want it moist and tasty.

Ingredients

• 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced (1 worked for our 6 qt. crockpot)
• 4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 c. chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 T. packed dark brown sugar
• 1 T. chili powder
• 1 T. kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 1/2 t. ground cumin
• 1/4 t.ground cinnamon
• 1 (4-1/2- to 5-pound) boneless or bone-in pork shoulder (also known as pork butt), twine or netting removed
• 2 c. barbecue sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Place the onions and garlic in an even layer in the slow cooker and pour in the stock or broth. 
2. Combine the sugar, chili powder, measured salt, cumin, and cinnamon in a small bowl. 
3. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. 
4. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork and place the meat on top of the onions and garlic. 
5. Cover and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.
6. Turn off the slow cooker and remove the pork to a cutting board. 
7. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the onion mixture from the slow cooker through the strainer and return the solids to the slow cooker. Set the strained liquid aside.
8. If the pork has a bone, remove and discard it. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker, add the barbecue sauce, if using, and mix to combine. 
9. If you’re not using barbecue sauce, use a spoon to skim and discard the fat from the surface of the strained cooking liquid, and then add 1/4 cup of the liquid at a time to the slow cooker until the pork is just moistened. Taste and season with salt as needed.

Yields: At least 14 servings

Discovered at - http://www.chow.com/recipes/30356-easy-slow-cooker-pulled-pork

Watermelon Agua Fresca

Found this recipe that was easy to remember and easy to make!

Ingredients

• 2 c. watermelon chopped, seeded, no rinds
• 2 c. water
• 2 T. sugar (optional)
• Juice from half a lime

Directions

1. Blend ingredients in blender
2. (Optional) Strain pulp and chopped seeds
3. Serve chilled

Yields: 2 servings

Giant Ginger Cookies

From the recipe - "These irresistible cookies are giant in size and huge in snappy ginger flavor.  To create the chewy texture, be sure to make them with shortening, not butter or margarine."  Mom has always used butter and they've always tasted great.

Ingredients

• 4.5 c. all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• .25 tsp. salt
• 1.5 cups shortening (or butter)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• .5 c. molasses
• .75 c. coarse sugar or granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Cream sugar and butter
3. Mix in eggs and molasses
4. Mix dry ingredients separately
5. Add dry ingredients to the cream sugars
6. Roll into balls (golf-ball size for giant cookies)
7. Roll balls in coarse or granulated sugar
8. Place on cookie sheet 2.5 in. apart
9. Bake for 12-14 min
10. Once done, let stand for 2 min before transferring to rack

Yields: 25 - 4 in. cookies

Mexican Baked Hake Loins

Costco has Wild Caught Hake Loins on sale this month, and we were looking for a little variation on our typical recipe (oven baked with Great American seasoning).  I searched for a Mexican recipe and hit the jackpot with the following super easy and delectable recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 Hake Loins
• 1 c. Salsa
• 1 c. broken corn tortilla chips
• 1 c. Shredded/Grated cheese (cheddar tastes great)
• 1 Avocado
• Sour cream (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 deg. Fahrenheit
2. Defrost and pat dry Hake loins (try to extract as much water as possible without breaking them)
3. Place in lightly greased baking dish
4. Pour salsa over Hake loins, sprinkle cheese and broken tortilla chips
5. Bake on middle rack (uncovered) for 15-18 min (or until fish flakes apart)
6. Serve with sliced avocado and sour cream on top

Yields: 3 servings

Perfect Pork Chops

We were frustrated with tough pork, so looked for an alternative way of preparing it.  We came across the following recipe and were quite pleased with the results (inspired from thekitchn.com).  This should work for 2-4 < 1 in. pork chops.  We used boneless pork chops and because they were > 1 in. we just cut them in half so they were only about 3/4 in. thick.

Ingredients

• 3 c. cold water
• 3 T. salt
• garlic cloves or powder
• peppercorns (optional)
• bay leaf (optional)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Boil 1 c. of water with 3 T. salt, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaf until salt is dissolved.
2. Add remaining cold water to brine to lower the temperature
3. Place pork chops in baking dish and pour brine over the top (pork chops should be completely submerged).
4. Cover dish and refrigerate for 30 min. to 4 hours (when we let it sit for 2-3 hours the meat was almost too salty; we also tried it for 30 min and it was perfect for our taste)
5. Remove pork chops and pat dry with paper towel/napkin
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit with roasting pan/skillet inside oven (oven rack in the middle)
7. Rub chops with olive oil and add salt and pepper; set on stove to warm up
8. Once stove and skillet are preheated, remove skillet and place on med-high burner and sear first side of chops for about 3 min (turn on oven vent to catch smoke!)
9. Flip chops over and place pan in oven for 6-10 min (until cooked, meat should be about 140 degrees, but we can never get an accurate read)
10. Remove from skillet and tent with foil, let rest for 5 minutes
11. Eat up!  Throw some rice and vegetables in your rice cooker and you'll have a complete meal!

Yields: 2-4 pork chops

Pizza Bread

This is a great alternative to pizza.  I grew up having this rotated into our weekly pizza nights.  I recently discovered that this bread tastes even better with homemade pizza sauce.  We've tried Canadian bacon with this recipe too, but pepperoni definitely tastes the best.  To speed up raising process, you may want to turn your oven into a proof box.

Bread Ingredients

• 2 t. yeast
• 2.25 c. warm water
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 t. salt
• 2/3 c. powdered milk
• 1 T. softened butter
• 5.5-6 c. flour

Toppings

• Sliced pepperoni (or other pizza topping)
• Grated Mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Prepare yeast according to package instructions (e.g., add to water, mix, let stand for 5-10 min)
2. Mix in remaining bread ingredients, stir until bread dough consistency
3. Let raise until double it's size (may help to coat dough with oil)
4. Divide dough into two halves
5. Roll out one half into a rectangle (wide as a bread pan) on a lightly floured surface
6. Layer dough with cheese and pepperoni
7. Roll up dough, making sure to fold in the ends as you roll, so that the cheese doesn't melt out when cooking
8. Place in bread pan with seam down (if cheese leaks out, it will be very hard to remove after cooked, non-stick spray may help)
9. Follow steps 4-7 for second half of dough
10. Let both loaves raise again
11. Bake in oven at 350 F for 30-45 minutes

Yields: 2 Loaves

Soft Pretzels!!!

I just made these, and they are AMAZING!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buttery-soft-pretzels/detail.aspx


Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•  
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

The baking soda helps it brown...much better than egg whites!! It doesn't alter the flavor at all either. These are so yummy!!