Thai-Style Pork Stew

This is a recipe from Cooking Light that was written for a crockpot. I have tried it twice in the crockpot and both times, the pork came out too dry and the vegetables too mushy. Still, it had great flavors and was easy to throw together, so it deserved another chance.

Here is the recipe as originally written with my alterations below:

Source: Cooking Light, September 1999

Peanut butter melds with classic Asian flavors to lend this one-dish meal a Thai flair. Lime makes a perfect accent.

Stew:
2 pounds boned pork loin, cut into 4 pieces
2 cups (1 x 1/4-inch) julienne-cut red bell pepper
(I also added about 2 cups of chopped broccoli)
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce*
2 tablespoons rice or white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (I cut way back on this)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
(I had a lot of pork and we like a lot of sauce, so I increased the sauce by about 1/2)

Remaining ingredients:
6 cups hot cooked basmati rice
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts
8 lime wedges

To prepare stew, trim fat from pork. Place pork and next 5 ingredients (pork through garlic) in an electric slow cooker. Cover with lid, and cook on low-heat setting for 8 hours. Remove pork from slow cooker, and coarsely chop. Add peanut butter to liquid in slow cooker; stir well. Stir in pork.

Combine stew and rice in a large bowl. Top each serving with onions and peanuts; serve with lime wedges.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cup stew, 1 tablespoon green onions, about 1/2 teaspoon peanuts, and 1 lime wedge)

NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 412(30% from fat); FAT 13.6g (sat 3.6g,mono 6.2g,poly 2.5g); PROTEIN 28.9g; CHOLESTEROL 64mg; CALCIUM 37mg; SODIUM 425mg; FIBER 2.1g; IRON 2.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 42.3gCooking Light, SEPTEMBER 1999

My notes: This time I did it on the stovetop as follows:

Sauté the pork in a small amount of toasted sesame oil, just until it begins to turn white. (I am a firm believer in not cooking meat until it's completely done or it will dry out - the meat will finish cooking while resting or when you return it to the pan to warm through.) Remove pork from pan and set aside.

Add a bit of water to the pan, along with chopped broccoli; cover and lightly steam broccoli for about 5 minutes. (I overdid the broccoli a little - next time I would steam for maybe 5 mintues or even less.) Add red bell pepper, garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add teryaki sauce and vinegar. Next add the peanut butter and stir to blend well. Add pork and scallions and heat through.

This was a big hit with the family and was very easy to prepare. It even got my husband and my youngest son to enthusiastically eat their broccoli. Not only that, but my broccoli-hating older son didn't hate it so much with this delicious sauce to mask the broccoli so well. Quick, easy and delicious - definitely a repeater for us, especially with the new cooking method - not as easy as a crockpot, but it is still prepared in only one pot and with added veggies, can be a one-dish meal.

*I like to use Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce. It is one of the few store-bought sauces that I really like. Plus, I LOVE the name!

Starting to go stir crazy...

...with our third day home this week. DS was inactive all day yesterday (not like him) but his fever stayed down - right until about bedtime when it went up over 100º again. I kept him home again today and took him to the doctor. Just as I figured, they didn't find anything, but at least I can send him to school tomorrow with more confidence. Thank goodness because I'm ready to go back to school too!
One might think I'd have gotten a lot done with my 3 days off from work this week, but I feel like I did nothing. I did do some cooking and lots of blogging, but didn't get all those other things done that are on my "to do" list like cleaning, phone calls, etc. Oh well. At least today I did manage to finish my online Excel course and will try to finish the Word course as well.

I'm tempted to try another brownie recipe, but may put that off until Saturday. What I really need to do is make sure I fit in some good exercise today to work off all the brownies I've eaten so far this week! Instead, I'll try something less fattening - maybe using up some of our apples from the orchard to make some Overnight Apple Butter.

I tried this recipe last year from Cooking Light and liked it very much. Not only is it easy and tasty, but it puts my crockpots to use - they don't get much of a workout, except for the very occasional recipe (like pot roast) and when I sometimes use them to make marinara. The recipe also includes stovetop instructions. Someone on the CL boards suggested using apple butter to flavor oatmeal - I tried it - very yummy!

Added note: I skip the straining part and simply use my immersion blender to get the mixture nice and smooth. Much easier and less messy!

Overnight Apple Butter
Source: Cooking Light, October 2004

Photo Courtesy of Cooking Light

A mixture of apple varieties, rather than just one type, will produce apple butter with rich, complex flavor in this slow cooker recipe. Good choices include Esopus Spitzenburg, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Northern Spy, Rome, Stayman, Winesap, and York. Enjoy the apple butter over toast or English muffins, or serve it with pork chops or chicken.

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground mace
10 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large chunks (about 2 ½ pounds)

Combine all ingredients in a 5-quart electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 10 hours or until apples are very tender. Place a large fine-mesh sieve over a bowl; spoon one-third of apple mixture into sieve. Press mixture through sieve using the back of a spoon or ladle. (See note above.) Discard pulp. Repeat procedure with remaining apple mixture. Return apple mixture to slow cooker. Cook, uncovered, on high 1 1/2 hours or until mixture is thick, stirring occasionally. Spoon into a bowl; cover and chill up to a week.

Stovetop variation: Combine all ingredients in a Dutch oven. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 1 hour or until apples are very tender, stirring occasionally. Strain through a sieve as recipe instructs in Step 2. Return mixture to pan. Cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently.

Yield: 4 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup) NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 132(0.0% from fat); FAT 0.0g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g); PROTEIN 0.1g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 18mg; SODIUM 6mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 0.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.3g

Domenica Marchetti
Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2004

Merlot Pot Roast with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

Prep/cook time: 8½ to 9½ hours on low, 5½ to 6½ hrs on high

Prepare the smashed potatoes as soon as the beef is tender; the meat can continue to cook until they are ready.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

1 tied fat trimmed boned beef chck roast (3-3½ lb)
fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
3 carrots (about ¼ lb. each ) rinsed and peeled
1 onion ½ lb), peeled and chopped
2/3 cup chopped celery
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
1 dried bay leaf
1 cup Merlot or other dry red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)
1/3 cup canned tomato paste
1½ tablespoons cornstarch (I skipped, see note below)
Horseradish smashed potatoes (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 to 2 cups watercress sprigs, rinsed and crisped (optional) (I always skip)
salt

Rinse beef, pat dry, and sprinkle generously all over with fresh ground pepper. Melt butter in a 10-12 inch nonstickfrying pan over high heat. When hot, add beef and brown wekk on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes total. (I skipped this part - it saved time and saved a dish - all good things in my book. I have made it browning the meat and not browning it and haven't noticed the difference.)

Meanwhile, cut carrots into sticks about 3/8 inch thick and 2 inches long.

In a 4 ½ quart or larger electric slow cooker, combine carrots, onion, celery,garlic, thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Set beef on vegetables: add drippings. In a small bowl, mix wine and tomato paste; pour over meat and vegetables.Cover and cook until beef is very tender when pierced, 8 to 9 hours on low, 5 to 6 hours on high. If possible, turn meat over halfway through cooking.

With 2 slotted spoons, transfer meat to a platter; keep warm. Skim and discard any fat from cooking liquid. Turn cooker to high. In a small bowl, blend cornstarch with a 1½ tablespoons water; pour into cooker and stir often until sauce is bubbling, 10-15 minutes.With a slotted spoon, lift vegetables from cooker and arrange beside meat. Spoon horsradish smashed potatoes onto platter; sprinkle with parsley. Garnish Platter with watercress. Spoon sauce over meat. Slice meat and serve with vegetables, potatoes, and sauce, adding salt to taste.

Per serving without potatoes: 314 calories, 40%(126 cal.) from fat; 34 g protein; 14 g fat (5.6 g sat.) 11 g carb. (2.3 g fiber); 256 mg sodium; 115 mg chol.

Horseradish Smased Potatoes

Scrub and peel 13 to 3½ lbs. russett potatoes; cut into 1½-inch chunks. Put into a 4-5 quart pan with 2 1/2 quarts water. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until potatoes mash easily when pressed, 20-25 minutes. When potatoes are done, heat 1 to 1½ cups half and half or fat skimmed chicken broth with 2 tablespoons butter or margerine in a microwave safe container in a microwave oven at fullpower just until steaming 1 to 3 minutes. Or warm in a 1 to 1½ quart pan over medium heat. While cream heats, drain potatoes and mash in pan with a mixer or potato masher until almost smooth. Add cream, a portion at a time, and mix until potatoes have the consistency desired. Stir in salt, pepper, and 1 to 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish to taste. Mound beside Merlot pot roast or scrape into a bowl. makes6 to 7 cups 6 to 8 servings.per serving: 189 calories, 31% (59cal) from fat; 3.9g protein, 6.6 g. fat (3.9 sat)) 29 g carbo (2.6 g fiber) 55 mg sodium, 19 mg chol.

My notes: I made the pot roast pretty much according to directions, except that we did not have any celery. I cooked the pot roast on low for about 3 1/2 hours, and then turned it up to high for about 2 hours. Once the meat was done, I removed it and instead of adding cornstarch, I pureed the veggies into the sauce - the sauce thickened up quite nicely, so the cornstarch was not necessary. However, pureeing the sauce emulsified it and I was unable to remove the fat, so if I did it again, I'd remove the fat first!

I don't usually follow the directions for the potatoes - I just wing it. I use red-skinned potaotes, with the skins on, whatever milk (sometimes half & half if we have it on hand) we have on hand, 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, a bit of butter, salt, pepper and horseradish. I just keep adding ingredients until it tastes right and looks to be the right consistency.

I talked about this recipe HERE.

Easy Chicken Santa Fe

Source: from a friend

1-2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans whole kernel corn (15.25 ounce) drained (I used frozen)
2 cups bottled thick and chunky salsa
3-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 8-ounce brick cream cheese (you can use less-fat variety)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. In a 3.5 or 4-quart electric slow cooker, mix together beans, corn, and 1/2 cup salasa. Top with chicken breasts, then pour remaining salsa over chicken.

2. Cover and cook on high heat setting 2.5-3 hours or until chicken is tender and white throughout. Do not overcook or chicken will be tough. Remove chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add back to slow cooker.

3. Add cream cheese (cut into cubes to melt faster) and turn cooker to high heat. Heat until cream cheese melts and blends into sauce. Serve over rice (or in tortillas). Top with shredded cheese. Serves 4.

For the stovetop: Heat oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, cover and cook, 5-6 minutes on each side or until just barely done. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Once chicken has cooled, shred or chop.

Lower heat to medium-low and add salsa to pan. Heat gently. Add corn and beans. Add cream cheese and stir until thoroughly melted. Add chicken back to pan and heat through.

My notes: This is, admittedly, not the prettiest dish to look at but it truly is quick, easy and tasty. There is no chopping (a huge plus on a busy night) and it's still reasonably healthful, provided that you use 1/3-less-fat cream cheese. Many folks even skip the cheddar since the cream cheese adds plenty of cheesey flavor of its own.

I talked about this recipe HERE.