Wednesday, March 13, 2013

What's Cooking Wednesday

Feeling the burn yet?  The spring cleaning, the Quidditch matches, OWLs to finish, Phoenix missions to work on AND classes?

Who has time to cook?

Well, that's why this week is crock pot classics!  Set it and forget it!  A maximum of flavor for a minimum of work!  Whip up one of these beauties to keep your witches and wizards fed, and yourself in top shape for Slytherin domination!

First, let's check out an amazing recipe from Fosterson!

Crock Pot Pulled Pork


1 large (or 2 medium) white or yellow onions
1 clove elephant garlic (or 4 cloves regular garlic)
1 cup stock (or beer if you prefer…also good with an extra shot of whiskey)
5-6 lb pork shoulder with fat cap still on.
One large crock-pot.

Slice your onion thin (I usually use a mandolin) and layer it in the bottom of the crock-pot.
Mince your garlic (I use elephant garlic because it’s a leek…I’m allergic to the real thing) and sprinkle it over the onions.
Place the pork shoulder with fat cap face up.
Pour in the 1 cup of liquid.
Cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.
You will know it’s done when the pork shoulder refuses to come out of the pan without simply falling to pieces.
Remove pork shoulder and place on a cutting board. Allow to cool. Remove the fat cap and discard.
Taking chunks of the pork, shred it with two forks and toss it in a bowl.
Once the pork is shredded you will be left with the world’s most delicious take on onion soup. Use about 3 cups to moisten the shredded pork. Use the rest with the onions to cook your greens in. Or just serve it on the side: seriously, it’s that good.

This works well made earlier in the day; just put it in an oven safe bowl and cover with tin foil, and put in a 200 degree oven to keep it warm, but DO make sure you add the 3 cups of pot liquor or it will get dry and no one likes dry pulled pork.
Serve on small white buns with your choice of bbq sauces, pepper sauces, and apple cider vinegar. The usual sides are plain and simple cole slaw, bbq beans, boiled greens, potato salad, and beer.
Sit back, and drop hints about how much time and effort it took; accept all compliments with grace and panache.
This is a truly Slytherin dish: maximum results for minimum effort! ;D

You can say that again! 

But we're not done yet.  Slytherins are ever industrious, and this next recipe comes from MorganLauren, where we prove that Slytherins are all about lazy AND tasty cooking

Crock Pot Stew


For this recipe, its all about taste and how much meat you like. I like lots of meat … and I’m lazy, so this recipe is basically a dump it all in and let it cook recipe.
1 bottle V8 Juice - I usually get the low sodium but I will also get either the tangy or the spicy depending on my mood.
1/8 cup worchestershire sauce
garlic
dash of oil
1 small bag mini potatos
1 bag baby carrots
1-2 packages stewing meat
1-2 packages fresh mushrooms
1 cup flour

In a bag, put in the flour and add the meat, lightly coating it.
In a saucepan, add the garlic and oil then add the meat to brown it up

Crockpot
add the potato’s (i don’t cut them as they are the mini one’s)
add the browned meat
add the carrots
add the mushrooms (no I don’t cut these either)
then fill the crock pot with the V8 juice and worchestershire sauce

cook on high for 4-5 hours or med for 7-8
get some crusty bread to soak up all the goodness
and enjoy!!!


 What else could we possible do with a crock pot?

Well, we could always dye yarn (and get points for classes!)

Or we could make dessert...

Molten Lava Chocolate Crockpot Cake


1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons butter
2 ounces semisweet chocolate (or 1/3 cup chocolate chips)
1 cup sugar (2/3 cup & 1/3 cup, added separately)
3 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup brown sugar
11/2 cups hot water
Coat the inside of a 2.5 to 5 quart crock with cooking spray.  Mix the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave. Mix well. Stir in the 2/3 cup of white sugar, 3 tablespoons of cocoa, vanilla extract, salt, milk, and egg yolk. Add the flour mixture and stir until well combined. Spread the batter in the slow cooker.
 
Mix the remaining white sugar, the brown sugar, cocoa, and hot water until the sugar is dissolved. You can stick the sugar and water in the microwave for a minute or two and then add the cocoa. You can even use the same bowl from earlier - less dishes!  
 
Pour the water mixture over your batter in the crock pot.
 
Cook on high for 1-2 hours. You will know when the cake is done because it will be pulling away from the edges and it will look mostly set (cooked). It will still be floating on its own chocolate sauce. When you check the cake try not to let the moisture from the lid drip on it.
 
Once the cake is done turn off the crock, remove the lid, and let it sit for 25 minutes before serving. Serve it up with some whipped cream or ice cream. It is excellent with fresh berries on top too.

Because lazy + decadent = win.

Go forth Slytherins!  Feed yourselves and advance towards victory!

No comments:

Post a Comment