Probably Not the Best Ever Slow Cooker Pork Loin and Veggies

 

Look, I'm not going to lie to you. This is probably not the "Best Ever" or "World's Greatest" slow cooker pork loin recipe. It's not going to set the world on fire or revolutionize cooking. What it will do is provide a simple, tasty, filling dinner that will satisfy everyone at the table. Except my child. "I DON'T LIKE COOKED CARROTS!" "I DON'T LIKE MUSHROOMS!" "THOSE POTATOES ARE GROSS." "I'LL EAT THE PORK IF I CAN DROWN IT IN BARBECUE SAUCE." As always, notes are in blue.

Probably Not the Best Ever
Slow Cooker Pork Loin and Veggies

Ingredients:

• 2 pound pork loin
• 5 medium potatoes, quartered
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 8 oz. baby carrots
• 1 can (10.5 ounces) cream of mushroom soup
• 12 ounces beer (if you don't do alcohol, just fill up the soup can with water and dump it in)
• 3 teaspoons Lake Shore Drive seasoning from the Spice House. (if you don't have it, you should totally get it. It's a blend featuring  chives, scallions, green peppercorns, and shallots. Works with just about everything and ships free if you buy it in flatpack envelopes. No, they didn't pay or give me anything for this plug, which is an absolute shame.)

Directions:

1. Throw the pork loin in the cooker, fat side up. 
2. Throw the veggies in around the pork.
3. Pour on the soup and liquid of your choice.
4. Sprinkle on the seasoning.
5. Cook on LOW for 6 hours.

Good Times!

Beef Barley Lentil Soup

     As I've mentioned before, The Wife loves her soup. It doesn't really matter what time of year or what the weather. She will almost never say no to a bowl of soup. I'm pretty sure it's due to some previous psychological trauma, but there's not much to be done for it now but give her soup. I'd hate to be responsible for causing a psychotic break. Anyway, she found this recipe in one of our cookbooks and made it herself. If was a good, hearty soup with a nice savory flavor. Next time I would use diced tomatoes instead of stewed. I'm not a big fan of enormous wads of tomato floating in my soup. As always, changes and notes are in blue.

Beef Barley Lentil Soup
via Fix It and Forget It Lightly

Ingredients

• 1 lb extra-lean ground beef (we openly mock this ingredient and use 73/27 ground beef. Bring on the grease!)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups potatoes, cubed
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup dry lentils, rinsed
• 1/2 cup medium-sized pearl barley

  

  Pearl barley, not Bailey. Totally different. Make sure you add the right one.

• 8 cups water
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules (that's a lot of sodium. We used a single bouillon cube)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (omitted. There's already enough sodium from the bouillon and canned tomatoes)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning (we ended up using a full teaspoon. The Wife likes lemon pepper)
• 2-14 ounce cans stewed tomatoes, undrained

Directions

1. Brown ground beef with onions in a nonstick skillet, drain. 
2. Combine all ingredients except tomatoes in slow cooker.
3. Cook on LOW for 6 hours, or until lentils and barley are tender.
4. Add tomatoes. Cook on LOW for 1-2 more hours.

Good times!

Chicken & Vegetable with Gorgonzola Soup

     Of late I have found myself with a regular surplus of leeks and chicken. When I find myself with vegetables and poultry, my thoughts generally turn to soup. I decided to do something different than regular old chicken soup and veggies. Having recently attended a Highland Games and Celtic Festival, I decided to to a spin on a traditional Scottish soup. Chicken and leek soup has a proud Scottish pedigree but a truly unfortunate name.

Egad! Cock-a-Leekie? Seriously?

     There was no way I was going to use that name. It sounds more like a medical dysfunction than a recipe. I wound up taking bits and pieces from a few different variants on chicken and leek based Irish and Scottish soups. This is what I came up with. Chicken & Vegetable with Gorgonzola Soup. We were pretty pleased with the results. The strong cheese played well with the mellow taste of the vegetables and chicken. The soup was a touch creamy, but not thick. I'm calling this a winner.

Chicken & Vegetable with Gorgonzola Soup

Ingredients

• 2 medium leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
• 2 ribs celery, thinly slices
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 head broccoli (florets)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5-1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 chicken breast, skin removed
• 4 ounces Gorgonzola, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Extra cheese and chives for garnish

Directions

1. Heat butter and oil in pan, cook vegetables about 10 minutes. You don't want the veggies browned, just soften them up a bit.
2. Reduce heat to low and add cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and incorporated into the vegetables. Add the flour and stir for 2 minutes. You're going to end up with something that looks a bit like a roux. Don't overcook it. You don't want this to get brown.
3. Once the flour and cheese are fully incorporated, slowly add in the wine, stirring constantly. Once the wine is completely in, add the chicken broth. Increase heat to bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer.
4. Throw the chicken breast into the simmering post. You're going to leave it all simmering, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is done. We don't want to poison anybody. When the chicken is done, strip the meat from the bone and shred the meat. Throw the meat back into the soup.
5. Add the heavy cream and let simmer for 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Garnish with a little more Gorgonzola and finely chopped chives.

Good times!

White Bean, Kale, and Smoked Sausage Soup

     Before I really started cooking, a Dutch Oven involved pulling the covers up over my spouse's head and farting.* Needless to say, the wife did not find that sort of thing anywhere near as funny as I did.

This isn't a big selling card with Hallmark.

     Anyway, last year the wife finally clarified the term by buying me a cast iron enameled Dutch oven for Christmas. She also got me a cookbook to go along with it. I have learned to love this pot. It takes slow cooking to another place entirely. One thing I've learned it does well is soups. Within the cookbook, The Dutch Oven Cookbook by Sharon Kramis and Julie Kramer Hearne, are a number of great soup recipes. I am reprinting one here, along with any notes or changes I made in blue.

White Bean, Kale, and Smoked Sausage Soup
originally: White Bean, Swiss Chard, and Andouille Sausage Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups peeled and diced Yukon Gold potatoes (I only diced them. My Mom always swore there were important nutrients in the peel. Seemed legit so I never fact checked it. To this day, I never peel a potato. I also didn't use Yukon Gold. I hardly ever have them in the house. I used Russet.)
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup peeled and diced carrots
• 6 cups chicken broth (Didn't have any chicken stock ready, so I went with 6 cups of water and 4 chicken bouillon cubes. On the upshot, now I don't need to add salt.)
• Two 14.5 ounce cans cannellini beans, drained (I used Great Northern. I figure they're the same color and shape, so close enough is good enough.)
• 8 ounces precooked andouille sausage (about 2 pieces), halved lengthwise then cut crosswise into 1/2 inch strips (I don't really ever have andouille sausage in the house and if I did, I'd be cooking something Cajun. I used one pound of Eckrich Cheddar Smoked Sausage.)
• 2 cups Swiss Chard, washed and cut into 1/2 in strips (I guess I'm defective, but I can't stand Swiss Chard. It tastes like dirt. Any time a recipe calls for Swiss Chard, I just sub in kale. So that's what I did here. I used an equal amount of kale.)
• Salt and pepper to taste (If you made it my way, you probably don't want to add salt)

Directions

1. Over medium-low heat, melt the butter in a 5 1/2 quart Dutch oven. Add carrots, onions and potatoes. Saute briefly, 2-3 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth and turn heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, until carrots and potatoes are soft. 
3. Add beans and cook for 5 minutes. Add sausage and greens and simmer for 5 more minutes. 

Serves 6 (Theoretically)

*I mention this because the soup, as I made it, made us a wee bit gassy. And by "a wee bit" I mean we thought we were rotting inside. Cook it my way at your own risk. Mind you, we still keep eating it. It's just that good.
The soup, I mean. Not the gas.

Good times!