Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder

My wife has a subscription to Real Simple magazine, and I always look through it to see if there are any recipes that sound good. This one really spoke to me, and it turned out great! Again, I made this slightly more difficult than necessary because I made the spice mixture rather than purchase it.

Chinese Five Spice
This is an optional ingredient in the main recipe, but I feel it is crucial to the flavor of the dish. And since I have my great little grinder, I just like making spice mixtures.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. Szechuan peppercorns
• 8 star anise
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp. ground fennel seeds

Directions
Toast the Szechuan peppercorns in a dry skillet over medium heat shaking the pan constantly until the aroma of the peppercorns is released (about three minutes). Grind the peppercorns, star anise and fennel seeds in a spice grinder. Add the cinnamon and cloves and grind until fine.

Results
This is a fantastic spice mixture. If you can't find Szechuan peppercorns you can substitute black peppercorns, but try to find them if you can. I recommend Penzeys if you can't find them locally. I suppose I could've gone whole hog and ground my own cinnamon and cloves, but I didn't have whole and I did have ground, so there it is. Now, on to the main event.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder
This stuff is freakin' awesome! Don't come to the table ravenous or you'll end up eating the whole batch!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
  
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. chili-garlic sauce (found in the Asian aisle of the supermarket)
  
• 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
  
• 1 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder (optional)
  
• kosher salt and black pepper
  
• 2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2-inch pieces
  
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
  
• 1 medium head bok choy, thinly sliced (about 8 cups)
  
• 2 scallions, sliced
  

Directions
In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the soy sauce, sugar, chili-garlic sauce, ginger, five-spice powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add the pork and toss to coat. Cook, covered, until the pork is tender, on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.

Twenty-five minutes before serving, cook the rice.

Meanwhile, skim off and discard any fat from the pork. Gently fold the bok choy into the pork and cook, covered, until heated through, 2 to 4 minutes. Serve with the rice and sprinkle with the scallions.

Results
As I said before, this recipe rocks! I couldn't find pork shoulder, so I used thick cut pork chops, which worked just fine. You definitely want to add the bok choy at the very last minute. One of the wonderful things about this dish is the crispness of the bok choy. And, as will all modern recipes, this serves way more than it says, I say it serves 8.

Nutritional Information
Servings: 8
Calories 390
Calories From Fat 106
Protein 32g
Carbohydrate 37g
Sugar 15g
Fiber 1g
Fat 12g
Sat Fat 4g
Calcium 166mg
Iron 4mg
Sodium 749mg
Cholesterol 96mg
Weight Watcher Points: 9

Nine points, and that is with serving size cut in half! Another once in a while meal, but a damn tasty one!

Savory Steak and Sweet Potato Soup

We were having record snowfall last month when I made this soup, it sounded like just the ticket. I got this recipe out of A Great Bowl of Soup.






Ingredients

• 1/2 pound round steak. cut into 1/2 inch cubes patted dry
  
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage
  
• 1 medium Spanish onion chopped
• 3 1/2 cups beef stock
  
• 2 cups shredded sweet potato
  
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
  
• 1 cup frozen peas
  
• salt to taste
  
• paprika to garnish
  

Directions
Combine the pepper and sage. Coat the beef with 1 tsp. olive oil. rub the pepper-sage mixture into the beef. Heat the remaining tsp. of oil in a 6-quart pot. Add beef and onions and saute until the beef is browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the stock, sweet potato, and wine. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in peas ans simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste and garnish with paprika if desired.

Results
Let me start off by saying this soup tastes really good. However, it doesn't really look that appealing, kinda like a bowl of brown mushy stuff. Right off the bat I'd change this to use cubed rather than shredded sweet potatoes, and I'd roast them and add them at the end with the peas. It would give it more body and look nicer. Plus I really hated shredding these damn things, it took forever and I cut myself twice! If I were making this in the fall, I'd also use fresh peas rather than frozen.

Nutritional Information
6 servings
Calories: 181
Fat. Total: 5g
Carbohydrates, Total: 14g
Cholesterol: 37mg
Sodium: 213mg
Fiber: 1g
Fat, Saturated: 1g
Weight Watcher Points: 4

Hungarian Beef Goulash

Taking a break from soups for a while (well, one week at least) and catching up on some recipes that have been long since consumed. Pesky things like work getting in the way of truly important blogging to be done.

Goulash was a favorite of mine as a kid, so when I saw this recipe in the slow cooker cookbook I got for my birthday I had to try it out.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• 4 slices of bacon (overkill, I didn't use this)
• 2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2 inch cubes and patted dry
• salt and pepper
  
• 2 yellow onions chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 5 sprigs fresh oregano
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  
• 6 Yukon Gold potatoes, ~ 2 pounds, quartered
• 1/2 cup sour cream
  

Directions
I'm leaving out all the steps that include the bacon, it is just wrong, but basically it says to cook the bacon, then use the bacon grease as the base for everything else. Save yourselves and skip it like I did; I added 2 Tbsp of oil in exchange for the bacon grease.


In a large frying pan heat the 1Tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Season the beef generously with the salt and pepper and add to the frying pan. Cook until the beef is browned on all side. Remove from pan and set aside.


Add the remaining oil and saute the onions and garlic until softened. Stir in paprika, caraway seeds, oregano, tomato paste, wine and broth and bring to a boil.


Transfer the beef to the slow cooker, and pour the broth mixture over, stirring to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Uncover and add the bell beppers and potatoes. Cover and cook an additional 2 hours on low or until the potatoes are soft and the sauce has thickened.

Serve over noodles, garnish with sour cream.

Results
This recipes started off with a giant cholesterol bang, so I omitted it right off the bat. This stuff really did turn out well. I did have a time constraint so my potatoes were a little on the firm side, but still tasted good. In retrospect I think I'd cube the potatoes smaller, or leave them out entirely if I was going to serve over noodles - two starches in the same dish seems like overkill again!

I also recommend using sweet Hungarian paprika if you can find it. There are specialty spice stores like Penzeys that will carry it if you can't find it at your local market.

Nutritional Information
No nutritional info on this one, but based on 8 servings with no noodles and no sour cream -

Weight Watcher Points: 11

this is definitely a once in a while dish.

Ginger-Garlic Beef Soup

I seem to have a penchant for making recipes that are actually multiple recipes. This time it is Ginger-Garlic Beef Soup, which is in fact a recipe for Vietnamese Spicy stock first, then the beef soup. Both recipes come from A Great Bowl of Soup.




Vietnamese Spicy Stock
So here Spicy means filled with aromatic spices, not hot. This is a great stock, and the aroma while it is cooking is amazing. I was worried that the anise would overpower the stock, but it blends really well with the other flavors.

Ingredients

• 5 cups beef or chicken stock
• 2 star anise
• 1 whole clove
• 1-inch piece of stick cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon white peppercorns
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger root (skin on is ok), sliced
• 4 shallots sliced thin
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Directions
Put the stock (I used chicken stock I bought in bulk from Costco) in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Crush the spices (do not grind the spices) and add to the stock along with the sugar, ginger and shallots. Once the stock has reached a boil, reduce and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain through a sieve and chill immediately using an ice bathunless using right away.

Results
This is a great stock, but I wonder if using shallots for it is really worthwhile? I know they are the Cadillac of onions, but its not like we're eating them here, we are just boiling out their essence into the stock. Next time I may try a regular onion to see if it makes a difference.

I couldn't find white peppercorns, so I used black - although I did later find a number of spice sites online that have white peppercorns. I also had difficulty finding star anise, but eventually found them at an Indian grocer call Daily Spices.

Ginger-Garlic Beef Soup
The main event based on the above stock recipe. Since this calls for lots of stock, easiest just to double the above recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 quarts of Vietnamese Spicy Stock
• 8 scallions cut cross-wise into 1/2 inch pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 pounds trimmed beef cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 pound baby spinach
• 1/4 cup rice wine
• 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
• ground cinnamon
  
• minced scallions

Directions
Combine the stock, scallions, garlic and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Add the beef and reduce to a simmer and cook until beef is tender. If foam forms, skim off.

Add the spinach, rice wine and ginger. Increase heat to a boil, then serve immediately. Garnish with minced scallion and ground cinnamon.

Results
This turned out really well, and for once I didn't make a mistake. I left off the cinnamon when I served this, seemed overkill to me. I used rib-eye steaks for the beef, which is most assuredly too good a cut of meat for this soup, but I wanted to make sure the beef was tender. A cheaper cut of meat would probably suffice, or stew meat.

Some things I would probably do differently next time are:

1. Slice the beef in very thin strips. The 1/2 inch chunks just doesn't seem right with this Aasian-style soup; I think thin slices would go better and reduce the cooking time to boot.

2. Add the spinach when serving. Rather than add the spinach to the entire pot, I think I'd divide up the spinach into the individual serving bowls and serve the boiling soup over it.

3. Once again serving sizes are too large. Unless this is the entire meal - which it very well could be - this recipes really serves 8.

4. Add noodles. Ok, I admit it, I'm a carb guy. This soup just screams for long thin noodles. Not sure which kind I'd use, maybe soba or fresh ramen (not the deep fried kind). Adding noodles would make this more of a one dish meal.

Nutritional Information
8 servings
Calories: 170
Fat. Total: 5g
Carbohydrates, Total: 5g
Cholesterol: 71mg
Sodium: 1041mg
Protein: 25g
Fiber: 1g
Fat, Saturated: 1g

Weight Watcher Points: 4

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Ok, so I wanted something new and different for Thanksgiving this year. Little did I know that what I was going to make was the most complex thing ever - mostly because it is really three recipes in one, all from the Food Network.

This soup is based on a recipe for a roasted squash side dish, which in turn uses a custom spice rub. So before you can even think about making the soup, you first have to make the rub, then you have to make the roasted squash, and only then can you make the soup. So, first things first.

Toasted Spice Rub

• 1/4 cup fennel seeds
• 1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 Tablespoon peppercorns
• 1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup (1-ounce) pure California chili powder
• 2 Ttablespoons kosher salt
• 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions
Toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a small, heavy pan over medium heat. When the fennel turns light brown, work quickly. Turn on the exhaust fan, add the red pepper flakes, and toss, toss, toss, always under the fan. Immediately turn the spice mixture out onto a plate to cool.

Put mixture into a blender with the chili powder, salt, and cinnamon and blend until the spices are evenly ground. If you have a small spice mill or a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices, grind only the fennel, coriander, pepper, and chili flakes. Pour into a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Keep the spice mix in a glass jar in a cool, dry place, or freeze.

Chef's notes: Toasting freshens spices, releases their oils, and makes them more fragrant, as well as adding a new dimension of flavor.

Taste your chili powder before adding and, if spicy and hot, cut back the amount. California chilies are almost sweet, not hot.

Yield: about 1 cup

Results
This turned out great. I didn't have California chilies, so I just used regular generic chili powder. The mix has a great earthy quality to it, and is surprisingly not at all hot. But I will say the instruction about the exhaust fan is crucial. I just about killed everyone in the room when I was toasting this after I added the red pepper flakes. Also, I recommend getting a dedicated spice mill or small coffee grinder for grinding your spices.

Next up, the squash itself.

Roasted Winter Squash

• About 3 pounds butternut squash (preferably 1 large squash)
• Gray salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup dark unsulfured molasses
• 2 teaspoons Toasted Spice Rub, recipe follows

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler. Halve lengthwise, discard the seeds, then cut into 1-inch dice. Place in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter ceases to foam and has turned a light brown, pull the pan off the heat and immediately add the sage, sugar, vinegar (stand back so as not to get splattered), molasses and toasted spice rub. Mix well and let simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 2 minutes to meld the flavors.

Pour the vinegar mixture over the squash and toss well, then transfer to a heavy rimmed baking sheet or baking dish large enough to hold the squash in a single layer. Place in the oven and roast, tossing at least once, until very tender and caramelized, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Set aside until cool enough to handle but still warm, so the liquids are runny.

Working in batches, if necessary, transfer the warm squash and all the cooking liquids to a food processor and process until smooth. Use immediately, refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Serving suggestions: Serve the puree on its own as a side dish for roast chicken, turkey, or pork; stir into polenta just before the end of cooking; use as a stuffing for ravioli; make into a soup; or use to flavor pastina. Or omit the sage, season with ground cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg to taste, and use as a substitute for canned pumpkin in your favorite pumpkin pie recipe.

Variation for Smoky Butternut Squash: Cook the prepared squash on a baking sheet in a covered grill with soaked chips to give a slightly smoky taste. Substitute in any of the recipes that call for roasted squash. If cooking kabocha, acorn, or other difficult-to-peel squash, cut in half, scoop out the seeds, and rub the insides and cut edges with the vinegar/molasses mixture. Place on a baking sheet, cut sides up, and roast at 400 degrees F until tender. Scoop out and puree.

Yield: about 2 cups puree

Results
I now know why this is such a popular vegetable. It is 90% consumable; the size of the seed and pulp is tiny compared to the flesh.

I made this as a side dish as well as the base for the soup and I must say I disagree with the puree step when serving as a side dish, I prefer the nuggets. This is a great fall side dish.

And last but not least, the soup.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup (1/4-inch) diced onion
• 1/4 cup (1/4-inch) diced celery
• 1/4 cup (1/4-inch) diced carrot
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Sea salt, preferably gray salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• About 4 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon ground toasted coriander, optional
• 1 1/2 cups Roasted Winter Squash recipe
• 1/2 cup half-and-half, optional

To serve:

• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese, optional
• 2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds, optional

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and cinnamon stick and saute until soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the chicken stock and the coriander, if using, and bring to a boil. Simmer for several minutes. Stir in the squash until smooth, then simmer gently to let the flavors meld, about 10 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.

Puree the soup in a blender until smooth. (The soup can be made ahead to this point, cooled, covered, and refrigerated for several days or frozen for about 1 month. It will thicken as it cools and may need thinning with stock or water when reheating.)

Return the soup to the pan and reheat gently. Add the half-and-half, if using. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Keep warm until service.
To serve:

Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Garnish evenly, with the cheese and pumpkin seeds, if desired.

Results
This soup is extremely savory, and a little goes a long way. The serving suggestion is (as usual) way too large, this easily serves twice as many as it says.

Once again I got to use my new immersion blender, I love that thing.

As is usual, I did make a mistake during this recipe. I did not properly measure the amount of squash when I was adding it to the soup base, and I ended up needing to make more soup base, and I had TONS of soup. Yummy soup, but tons of it.

I left out the coriander in the soup base, I figured the coriander in the rub was plenty, and I also did not have pumpkin seeds, so instead I garnished with a little dusting of the rub on top. I think it turned out quite nice. Since we had this as the first course of our Thanksgiving meal, we had lots of traditional foods to go with it. One thing we discovered is that stuffing makes excellent croutons for this soup, and the soup itself makes a good base for a Thanksgiving chowder if you add turkey and stuffing to it.

Broccoli Potato Soup

So it is raining here in Northern Virginia, and to me rainy weather means soup. Last night's dinner featured a new soup for me - broccoli potato. What makes this soup nice is the freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Once again I got this from cooking.com who in turn got it from Food and Wine magazine.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 pounds broccoli, thick stems peeled and diced (about 2 cups), tops cut into small florets (about 1 quart)
1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes (about 5), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
3 cups water
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, melt the butter over moderately low heat. Add the onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, broccoli stems, potatoes, broth, water, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, pulse the soup to a coarse puree. Return the soup to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add the broccoli florets and simmer until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir 1/4 cup of the grated Parmesan into the soup, and serve the soup topped with the remaining cheese.

VARIATION
If you'd prefer a completely smooth soup, add the broccoli florets to the pot after the potatoes have cooked for five minutes, and continue simmering until all of the vegetables are tender, about five minutes more. Puree the soup until smooth. This would also make a great first course for six people.


RESULTS
Ok, so my only mistake this time was the potatoes I used. I chose this soup because all the ingredients are almost always in the house. Except the potatoes I had were a bag of leftover baby potatoes. Don't get me wrong, they tasted fine, but it took forever to peel those tiny things. Note to self: use large potatoes when the recipes calls for peeled potatoes. If my wife hadn't jumped in and helped me peel and dice, we would have been eating at midnight.

I only deviated from the printed recipe above in the amount of garlic - I doubled it as is my wont. We're talking 6 cups of liquid and 3 pounds of pureed vegetables. Two measly cloves isn't going to make a dent in that, so load up! In the future I also might add another savory flavor, maybe roasted chilies or something.

Another reason I chose this recipe is that it gave me an excuse to use my new toy, an immersion blender - or Magic Stick by Cuisinart (who thinks up these names?). This is an insanely cool device, modeled here by guest chef Christopher. If you do use an immersion blender make sure your dice is small enough, no larger than about 1/2 inch cubes. And make sure they are tender, don't want to burn out your motor.

I chose to use the variation as I wanted a completely smooth and creamy soup, but I imagine that it would make a fine soup leaving the florets whole.

Once again, the recommended number of servings is ridiculously small. The recipe as printed says 4 servings, which again is a huge amount of soup. This easily made 8 servings, and the nutritional information below assumes 8 servings.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
8 servings
Calories: 163
Fat. Total: 5g
Carbohydrates, Total: 21g
Cholesterol: 12mg
Sodium: 720mg
Protein: 9g
Fiber: 5g
% Cal. from Fat: 28%
Fat, Saturated: 0g

Weight Watcher Points: 3

Pasta e Fagioli with Sausage

So for my first post I thought I try something that I've had in restaurants and really liked, but with a twist.

I got this recipe from Cooking.com, who in turn got it from Food and Wine magazine. Here is the recipe as originally written.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound mild Italian sausages
• 1 carrot, chopped fine
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 rib celery, chopped fine
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 6 cups drained and rinsed canned kidney beans (three 19-ounce cans)
• 2 3/4 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup tubetti or other small macaroni
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat. Add the sausages and cook, turning, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove. When cool enough to handle, halve the sausages lengthwise and then cut crosswise into slices.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the pot over moderately low heat. Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes.

Puree 4 cups of the beans with 1 1/4cups of the broth in a blender or food processor. Add the puree to the pot along with the remaining1 1/2 cups broth, the whole beans, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes.

Stir in the pasta. Cook the soup over moderate heat, partially covered, stirring frequently, until the pasta is done, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the sausage and the pepper. Cook until the sausage is warmed through, about 1 minute.

RESULTS
Recently I had grilled a bunch of Hot Italian sausage, so I used that instead. I always think grilled meats taste better than pan-browned meats, and I prefer a little heat in my Italian sausage. This definitely had that. I also used mini shells, just because, and twice as many. I also doubled the garlic.

This recipe says it serves 4. I don't know who they were cooking for, but these must be 4 really hungry people. One fourth of this pot of soup is HUGE. I think this really serves 6-8.

And the note that it gets thick, they aren't kidding. If you don't eat this right away, or re-heat it later, you will definitely want to add more water or stock as it essentially turns to bean paste. But damn tasty bean paste.

One interesting thing happened while I was preparing this (read: oh shit, grab a towel), was when I was pureeing the beans. I dumped the beans in the food processor and then added the stock. Just as I was about to hit the 'on' button, I noticed that there were large puddles of liquid all over the counter. The stock had leeched its way up under the cuisinart blade and out of the bowl. Nice. Note to self, next time start processing the beans and add the stock through the feeder slowly.

I actually prefered this the next day, flavors have a chance to mingle more. Also, the amount of sausage in this recipe seemed too much. Don't get me wrong, I love sausage, but lets face it, no one really needs to eat 4 oz of sausage at ANY meal. When I do this again, I think I will reduce the sausage and add more water/stock at the beginning.

This is not diet food, but I've seen worse. And if you do cut the amount of sausage down, it really isn't that bad as a meal - which it is.

If you are a Weight Watcher, and if you assume 8 servings this is 10 points. The sausage alone counts for 5 of those 10 points so any reduction in the amount of sausage makes a big difference.