Crockpot Shredded Pork Sandwich February 17, 2009

I  give all the credit to Cynthia from Austin and Ree at The Pioneer Women Cooks for this recipe.  Ree’s blog is one I follow pretty closely.  She always has great looking pictures and a good story with her recipes.  The other ones I’ve made from her blog is the Pumpkin Gingerbread Cheesecake and her Apple Bundles, both delicious!

If you haven’t checked out her site, you should!  It definitely won’t be a waste of time and you may find yourself drooling.  BUT PLEASE come back to see what else I have for you!

You can serve the shredded pork on buns, in taco shells or just as it is with some taters and a salad.  This meat freezes really well and if you get the pork on sale (mine was 99 cents a pound) it is an extremely frugal few meals for the fam!  (FYI, it’s not all that spicy either if you’re worried about it being too hot for your tastebuds.) 

Cynthia’s Spicy Shredded Pork

(Recipe from:  Cynthia & Ree)

4-7 Boston Pork Shoulder/Butt

1 onion

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 cup brown sugar

3-4 garlic cloves

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1-2 Tbsp salt

pepper

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

2-3 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar

Lime Wedges

Rinse and pat dry the pork and place in crock pot.

Throw the dried oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt, black pepper to taste, the white wine vinegar and brown sugar into a food processor blender.  (Decrease or omit brown sugar depending on your taste.)   Cut one onion into quarters and throw that in with the spices.  Blend mixture until totally combined and pour it over the pork shoulder.  (I used my handy immersion blender, which work pretty good, it took a bit to get the onion chopped up.)  Rub the mixture all over the meat.  Cover the pot and turn it on low 8-10 hours. 

A half hour before dinner, uncover crock pot, remove pork if possible, de-bone, de-fat and shred that sucker up.  Place the shredded meat back into the crock pot with the juice it made and keep warm till ready to serve. 

Serve on buns, in taco shells or just as it is with some taters and a salad.

Is it Valentine’s Day yet? February 11, 2009

Nope!  But that doesn’t mean I can’t bake, eat and share Valentine’s cookies!  This cookie recipe came from Gale Gand.  The frosting recipe is from  Meaghan Mountford.  Both cookie and frosting recipes were great!  The cookie came out soft and chewy after baked (as long as you didn’t over-bake) and the frosting was very easy to work with.  The frosting recipe is used for outlining the cookie, then it is thinned with some water to be able to pour and fill in the cookie.  This is the first time I’ve used this technique (if you would call it that) and it worked great!  I’ll be coming back to both recipes for my next cookie cut-out adventure.

Valentine’s Cookies

(Recipe from:  Gale Gand)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond

3 cups flour (approximately

2 tsp baking powder

Cream the butter.  Add the sugar and mix well.  Add the egg, milk and extracts and combine.  Add the baking powder and 1 cup flour and mix into the batter.  Add some or all of the additional flour depending on how much the dough can handle.  (I added about 1 3/4 cup more)  Form the dough into a disk, cover in plastic and chill in refrigerator for about 2 hours. 

Roll dough about 1/4-inch thick.  Using cookie cutters, cut out desired shape and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes until very light golden brown.  (Watch carefully, you don’t want to over bake!)

*This recipe made about 20 large cookies and the below recipe is more than enough frosting for them.

Frosting

(Recipe from:  Meaghan Mountford)

2 Tbsp meringue powder

1/4 cup water

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 Tbsp crisco

Whip the meringue powder and water on high speed until fluffy and peaks form (3-5 minutes).  Gradually add the rest of the ingredients to desired consistency. 

Add food coloring as desired and pipe borders on cookies.  Add 1/4 tsp of water at a time to remaining frosting until syrupy.  Pour frosting onto cookie and spread.  Decorate as desired.  Let set a couple of hours (the longer the better!)

Caramel Brownies February 7, 2009

In my opinion, these are best cold, right out of the fridge.  You may not believe me, but I suggest you try ‘em that way!  (Although, I won’t say they aren’t good warmed up with vanilla ice cream.)

Caramel Brownies

(Recipe adopted from:  Salt Creek Steakhouse)

1 pkg chocolate cake mix

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1/3 cup and 1/2  cup evaporated milk-divided

1/2 cup melted butter

60 caramels unwrapped

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix, 1/3 cup evaporated milk and melted butter.  Press half of the batter into a foil and sprayed 9×13* pan.  Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of nuts if desired.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

In the microwave, melt caramels with remaining 1/2 cup evaporated milk.  Pour melted mixture over baked and semi-cool layer of brownie.  Cover with chocolate chips (and 1/3 cup nuts if desired).  Chill until caramel is hard.  Press remaining batter into flat rounds and puzzle piece it together over the caramel and sprinkle remaining nuts on top.  Return to the oven for 25-28 minutes (until baked through).  Cool and refrigerated.  They are easiest to cut when cooled completely.

*I made the whole recipe in a 9×9, so they turned out thicker than if you followed this recipe to a T.  I also reduced the amount of caramel mixture by 1/3, I used 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup nuts.

Peppermint Chip Chocolate Cookies February 2, 2009

I first saw these on Bake or Break.  I changed mine up a little and used peppermint chips instead of semi-sweet chocolate chunks.  Yes, I know it sounds like I’m still in the Christmas spirit, but hey, Valentines Day is coming quickly and if I didn’t tell you they were peppermint, maybe you would have just thought the pink was for v-day.  But no matter what, these cookies are good!  My mom and bro got a few of these, so ask them, they’ll tell you the truth.  (Not that I’m lying…) 

Peppermint Chip Chocolate Cookies

(Recipe from:  Martha Stewart)

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chunks (12 oz)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat.  In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate.  Mix in flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chunks.

*let batter sit for 10-15 minutes to firm up*

Drop heaping Tbsps of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets.  Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes.  Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely.