The Epic Pork

Partly because everyone seems to be making it or asking me for the recipe, partly because I've chucked one in to slowcook overnight for tomorrow's tea... here it is.  The manna from heaven that is slowcooked bbq pulled pork.

I can't claim the original inspiration for this, it was passed to me by someone I shared internet forum space with yonks ago.  She turned out to be a nutter, so the pulled pork may be her one sane contribution to humanity!  Do try to make your own BBQ sauce, and don't be put off by the list of ingredients, it's not complicated in the least to just throw it all into the pan.  You don't even have to be too exact about measuring, I've made it so many times that I just approximate, aim and chuck!  If you like a fiery kick, add more chilli. I never bother with the salt, and use reduced salt/sugar ketchup to make me happier about feeding it to the delicate-kidneyed snarflings, but equally you can use basics/value/smartprice ketchup, it doesn't need to be premium branded stuff.

Without any further ado - the pork.  It makes lots.  You will enjoy eating the leftovers!

To make the pork:

Get a boneless pork joint - shoulder is a cheap cut and works well - and stick it in the slowcooker with some form of liquid - cider, apple juice, pineapple juice, cola, water, whatever - about half a mugful. Cook on low for at least 8 hours.

When it's cooked, remove the meat, hive off a mugful of the liquid in the slowcooker and set this aside. Drain the rest away.

Cut the fat off the pork and chuck it. Using 2 forks, shred the meat, then return it to the slowcooker.

Use the liquid to make a BBQ sauce. You could use a bought one but I think this is nicer:



BBQ sauce

about 2tbsps/a hunk of butter
Small onion, pureed or finely chopped
mugful of ketchup
mugful of cooking liquor or water
tsp salt (I don't use salt in mine and it's fine)
1/2 tsp pepper
spoonful jarred garlic or a couple of cloves, blitzed with the onion
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp vinegar (balsamic is nice)
2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
2 tbsp brown sugar/honey/golden syrup/whatever sugar you have lying around
1tsp paprika (pref smoked)
pinch chilli flakes (optional)

Melt the butter, saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes, chuck in everything else, simmer for 20 mins. Throw over the pork and stir to coat it and leave it in the slow cooker to all warm through for as long as you can wait.

You can serve with jacket spuds or in floury rolls or tortilla wraps, with beans, coleslaw, corn on the cob, all the above...

Winter Beef

Mmmmm, more slowcooker goodies.  What do you mean, you haven't bought a slowcooker yet?  To Argos with ye, now!

This isn't really a casserole, it doesn't have the requisite gravisauciness.  It's hard to define, really, if you don't really want to use the words 'beefy goodness'.  The beef just falls apart, the veg cook down to create a mass of... beefy goodness.

Well, you make it then try to describe it then, go on!

Serves 4 generously.  Chills/freezes well.

approx 1kg caesserole beef pieces
1 red cabbage, finely shredded
3 smallish parsnips, chopped
250ml red wine
2 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 tsp coarge ground black pepper
gravy granules, or 2 x beef stock cubes and thickening granules or cornflour.

Put everything bar the gravy granules in a slowcooker.  Cook for 8 hours on low.  If you plan on thickening with gravy, don't use stock cubes, it will be too salty, but if you're thickening with cornflour or similar, add 2 stock cubes now for flavour.

Before serving, stir in a few tsp of gravy granules or a little cornflour/cold water paste, and cook for 5-10 minutes more until thickened.

Serve with creamy mash, veg, or piled on top of a crisp-skinned, buttered jacket.

Ch, ch, ch....

This is yummy, Spanish-style peasant fare at it most ribsticking fine.  Warming, fragrant and filling, you can make it in the slowcooker, oven on a low heat or even in a pan.  Serve with veg, rice, mash or crusty bread on a cold night for a dose of happy.

Chicken, chorizo and chickpea casserole, serves 2 big, 2 small with possibility of leftovers.  Freezes well.

1 red onion, sliced
approx 600g diced boneless chicken, or approx 8 thighs, cut up
1 chorizo ring, cut into chunky slices
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 small carton passata
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 cloves garlic, or the equivalant of garlic puree/paste/granules

Throw it all in the slowcooker.  Cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Serve!

Or... pop in an oven proof lidded casserole dish and cook ina low oven for 2-2.5 hours.

Or... saute the onion in a little oil, add the chorizo and cook a minute or so.  Add the chopped chicken and stir to coat in the by-now-fragrant oil.  Sizzle for a few minutes then add everything else and simmer for 20 minutes or so until thickened.

Very small people may struggle with the chorizo, and it's a little salty - if cooking for babies, maybe leave out the chorizo, frying it off separately and adding to yours after their portion has been served up.  For toddlers, pick the chorizo out of theirs, maybe giving them one small chunk cut into manageable pieces, just to try!

I massively favour chicken thigh fillet for this dish over breast meat - it slowcooks so much better, and is cheaper and more tender.  If you like chicken on the bone, you could substitute one chicken leg per person in the oven-cooked version.

Beef pie

I make a slowcooker and a non-slowcooker version of this hearty pie.  I'll share the slowcooker version here, as it's what I made yesterday, and the other I'll share another time. 

You can throw the carrots into the slowcooker with the beef if you like, I like them a little al dente so cook them just before putting the pies in the oven, it only takes ten minutes.

Feeds 2 adults and 2 small people.

1 pack lean casserole steak, approx 500g
3-4 sticks of celery, finely sliced
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1tsp ground black pepper
1tsp dried mixed herbs
2-3 carrots
1 beef stock cube
gravy granules, cornflour or thickening granules
1 pack ready rolled puff pastry
1 egg and splash of milk, beaten together

Put the beef, onion, celery, garlic, herbs, pepper and stock cube in the slowcooker with a mugful of boiling water.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

to serve:

Cut the carrots into chunks and boil for 10 minutes. Drain, reserving the water.  Stir into the beef mix.  Thicken the liquid with cornflour, thickening granules or a little gravy granules (if serving to babies, avoid using gravy, as it ramps up the salt content; if you need to add another stock cube for flavour try to use a reduced salt version).  If more gravy is needed, use the cooking water from the carrots and thicken accordingly.  Tip into a pie dish, cut a lid to fit from the rolled puff pastry, brush with the egg wash and bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes until puffed up and golden brown.

Serve with peas or mixed vegetables.

You can make one big pie, or individual pies if you have a selection of dishes.  I am fortunate enough to have some charmingly 50's-retro Mason Cash pie dishes, so I get to make big pies and baby pies, thus...

Cute, no?

Curry in a...

..complete lack of hurry.

I love my slowcooker, and would recommend anyone who doesn't have one to run their ass to their nearest electrical retailer and pick one up, especially now that we're in the grip of autumn and hurtling towards winter.

This chicken curry is probably about as authentically Indian as the 'Indian Elephant' my daughter made out of a milk carton the other week, but it is tasty-good and brilliant for those nights when you're busy all day and just want something warm and slightly indulgent that you can eat five minutes after stumbling through the door.  Packets of heat and eat rice for such emergency moments are a storecupboard staple.

Chicken thighs stand up so much better to slowcooking than chicken breasts (in my not so humble opinion).  They're also cheaper and contain more iron.  You can substitute out any veg you don't like, and likewise add in some you do, or add halved baby new potatoes and dispense with rice altogether.

Serves 4 adults generously, or 2 adults and 2 snarflings with leftovers for worky lunches.  Scale down, or cook a batch and freeze some in portions, if you're feeding fewer.

Mango chicken curry

Approx 8 large chicken thigh fillets, skinless and boneless
2-3 peppers of any colour
half a punnet of baby closed cup mushrooms, rinsed
half a jar of Pataks Korma curry paste
Large can (approx 800g) mango puree/pulp*
sachet / 1/4 standard block creamed coconut
teaspoon each of mustard seeds and black onion seeds, not essential if you don't have them.

Snip the thighs into about 4 pieces each, using kitchen scissors.  Roughly chop the peppers.

Throw all ingredients into a slowcooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Serve with rice, naan bread, or whatever you fancy.

Yes,the curry paste in a jar is a bit cheaty, but when you're trying to feed two children breakfast, pack a lunch, fill in school trip permission slips and find a clean polo shirt, you don't always want to be blending 14 different types of spice.  Just sayin'.

* Sainsbury's does an own-brand of this in an 822g can.  I've also bought Indian-branded cans of the same size in Asda, or check Indian grocers.