CrockPot Pulled Pork

While reading this recipe, I had a hard time believing that it would be any good.  Growing up, I was always taught "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."  Well, this recipe meets all the qualifications to fall under the "too good to be true" category. 

• It has 3 ingredients.
• It is low maintenace.
• It makes a lot of food, cheaply.
• The Mr. and I both like this meal.

I was hopeful that this recipe was as tasty as it was simple, because if it was, this could easily become another staple in our house!

Soure:  allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 lbs. pork shoulder

1 can diet root beer

Your favorite BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)

Directions:

1.  Place pork shoulder in the CrockPot.

2.  Pour root beer over the meat.

3.  Cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 4. 

4.  During the last hour, use a baster to remove most of the juices.  Remove the bone, and place the meat in a separate container and shred  it with two forks.  Also, remove any excess fat from the meat.  Add desired amount of BBQ sauce, stir, and place back in the CrockPot to cook for approximately another hour.

Verdict:

This is a KEEPER!  It sounded too good to be true, but it wasn't! The trick, I think, is using the pork shoulder cut of meat... there was enough fat within it to not only give it great flavor, but it made it very easy to pull apart after it had cooked. The only thing I may try differently is using regular root beer instead of diet root beer, but that's because I can't ever leave a recipe alone :)

Gravy

What I have learned:

1) Making gravy is a piece of cake.

2) Making it more photogenic is a bit more of a challenge!

Since I was making Beef Stew, and remembered that I always end up wishing I had some gravy for it, I decided to take the plunge and make some gravy from the drippings contained in the CrockPot.  Gravy hasn't been something I have tackled recently, since my first (and last, till now) attempt was a little hair-raising. 

(Let's just put it this way... it involved Thanksgiving dinner at my house, my first time hosting, and my Mother-in-Law and my Mom in the kitchen with me both trying to show me how they make gravy.  And no, they weren't the same methods.  I felt like either method I chose, I was going to hurt someone's feelings.  Oy.) 

I want to curl up into the fetal position just remembering that moment.  

But anyway, I'm a big girl now, and I dove into making it on my own using what I remembered of that Thanksgiving near-meltdown. 

Source:  My Mom

Pretty much, you need 3 things to make any kind of gravy...

Drippings from the meat (I started with about 2 c.)-- I used a turkey baster to get the drippings out of the CrockPot and into a measuring cup.  Ideally, I'd use one of those nifty fat-separating cups with a spout, but that will have to wait till I get one!) 

Milk-- I started off with about 1/2 c. 

Flour-- I think I used about 1-2 T.

And just for good measure, I also ended up adding about 1 tsp. (maybe more) of beef-flavored soup base.  If I were working with chicken or turkey drippings, I'd use a chicken flavored soup base. 

Directions:

1.  In a saucepan, heat the drippings on medium heat. 

Here's the part that my Mom swears by... and I think I'll end up swearing by it, too...  

2.  In a Tupperware shaker, combine the milk and flour.  Shake well till flour is mixed thoroughly with the milk. 

3.  Stirring constantly with a whisk, add the milk mixture to the drippings. 

4.  Add soup base.

5.  Continue stirring for several minutes.  Gravy will thicken. 

Verdict:

Keeper!  The Mr. said that his Mom, a gravy expert, would love it.  That's good enough for me! :)

CrockPot Beef Stew

Oh CrockPot, how I love thee...

Okay, Okay.... I know it's summer, and in our part of the world, we've been battling temperatures in the upper 90's with humidity like that of a sauna. Beef stew isn't exactly what I would call a summer dish, but celery and carrots needed to be used up...  and when I need to use up those items, I am always drawn back to my quest of making a great beef stew.  Plus, since it's a CrockPot meal, the heat in the kitchen was not as intense. 

As easy as beef stew can be, I've never been happy with mine.  The meat was too dry. Or too tough.  Or the flavor was too bland.  Or it was too watery.  Whatever the case, I hadn't met "the one" when it came to beef stew.  

But today, I got it right!  And here's what I did...

Ingredients

3-4 lbs. beef chuck shoulder

2 c. water

1 packet of "Crockery Gourmet" seasoning mix-- So I cheated a little, what of it?

1 lb. carrots (about 5-6) peeled and chopped

1/2 bunch of celery heart, chopped

1/2 onion, quartered

6 New Potatoes, quartered

Directions:

1.  Mix together seasoning packet with water.

2.  Place beef in the CrockPot, and cover with seasoning/water mixture.  

3.  Add celery, carrots, onion, and potatoes.

4.  Cook for 4 hours on High, or 8 hours on Low. 

5.  Before serving, cut the meat into chunks.  Stir till mixed well.

Verdict: 

Keeper! The only change I might try is cubing the meat before cooking.  And since my trial run of making Beef Gravy went so well, I'll definitely do it again with this meal.  

Black Bean Salsa

If you can scoop it, dip it, swirl it, or otherwise put it on a chip and eat it, I love it. 

So, after experiencing  a "Girl's Night In" with margaritas and this Black Bean Salsa, I had to get the recipe and try it myself.  For me, it's the perfect salsa-- because it's not spicy.  If I wanted to get adventurous, and knew that I'd have a heat-seeking audience, I could add some chopped jalapenos to the mixture...  but I prefer flavor to flaming heat, so this one is for me :) 

Source:  My friend who doesn't like to be identified online, so we'll call her "Kiki."  

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, drained (she said she sometimes uses the corn with red peppers mixed in, but I didn't for this version)

1 can of diced tomatoes (or one fresh tomato, chopped)

1 small red onion, chopped

1/4 c. lime juice

1 tsp. ground cumin

fresh cilantro (I used 5 sprigs, chopped... we'll see if I need to add more after I take it to the party!)  

Verdict:

Oh, it's a keeper-- and others thought so, too :)