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Crock Lover has now merged with DopamineJunkie.org, now with old and new recipes and meal plans!

Crockpot Osso Bucco

6-8 beef back ribs

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 onion, quartered

2 tomatoes

1 tbsp dried basil

1 beef bouillon

3 cups dry red wine, reduced by simmering in a pot to 1-1/2 cups

 

Combine above ingredients in a 4 quart crockpot, simmer on low for 4 hours. Remove fatty/oily liquid from pot and add wine, rearranging meat pieces as needed. Serve with baked potatoes and cauliflower, and bread for dipping. Mangia!

 

 

Korean Beef Stew

For homegrown Flips, this is the “Korean Beef” that we know from the Kimchi Fastfood Chain:

 

2-3 lbs beef ribs, bone in (also works with pork)

1 large onion, cut into eighths

1 piece ginger, the size of two thumbs

1 head garlic, peeled and crushed

2 bay leaves

1 Korean green chili pepper

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp sesame seeds, roasted in a pan

2 tbsp chopped scallions/green onion springs

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

 

In a 3-quart crockpot, combine beef, half of the onion, bay leaf, soy sauce, water and sugar. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. When tender, add ginger, remaining onion, garlic and chili pepper, change setting to high and cook for 30 minutes. Mix in sesame oil and top with sesame seeds and scallions before serving. Mangia!

 

Conventional Stove: Place the beef in a casserole and fill with water until beef is covered. Add garlic, onion, ginger, chilipeppers and bay leaf, soy sauce and sugar. Simmer for two hours or until meat is tender.
Roast sesame seeds in a hot pot. Top stew with sesame seeds and scallions before serving.

Not Crockpot Recipes but Summer BBQ Ones

For my usual audience…enjoy!

 

 

Sofrito Rice

 

4-5 cups cooked rice, preferably cooked the night before

1 bottle Goya sofrito sauce (ethnic section of the grocery)

1 3-pack of Goya chorizos (or other brand), cut into small pieces

1 cup frozen green peas

 

In a large deep pan, wok or paellera, sautee chorizo pieces in 1-2 tbsp oil until golden and oil becomes red. Add sofrito sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add rice and mix well with the sauce until rice becomes completely red with no more white areas, adding water if necessary.  Allow to cook for 10-15 minutes, mixing occasionally to prevent bottom from burning, until the consistency of fried rice. Season with salt and pepper and add peas at the end. Serves 6-8

 

 

Sweet and Sticky Barbecued Chicken

 

20 chicken wings (or other chicken pieces)
1 bottle dry red wine
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
1/2 head garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Marinate wings in lemon juice, salt and pepper for at least 2 hours.

Bring wine, sugar, soy sauce, ginger and garlic to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture has thickened to the consistency of honey, about 1 hour. Preheat grill. Place wings on grill and brush with sauce. Cook, flip and brush with sauce every 4-5 minutes until cooked.

 

Cucumbers in Vinegar

 

3-4 cucumbers, peeled and sliced into 1/3 inch thick rounds

1 cup white vinegar

½ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup fish sauce

½ cup sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Mix all ingredients except for cucumbers and add sugar/fish sauce or salt as needed. Pour over cucumbers and chill in refrigerator before serving.

 

 

 

Grilled Liempo (Pork Belly)

 

2-3 lbs pork belly, cut into ½ inch thick strips

 

Marinade:

2 cups white vinegar

2 cups soy sauce

1 head garlic

2 tbsp whole peppercorns

Salt to taste

 

Combine marinade ingredients and mix well. Add salt to taste. Marinate pork belly strips at least overnight (two days is best). Grill on high heat until cooked and golden brown. Serve with spicy vinegar.

 

 

Beef & Beer Stew

A great way to use that one lingering bottle in your fridge left over after a party, when you don’t even drink beer.

 

1-2 lbs stewing beef cubes, frozen

1 bottle of beer (any brand)

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp thyme

1 beef bouillon

Cubed potatoes, carrots, sliced mushrooms (optional)

1 tsp flour

 

In a 2-quart crockpot, combine all but last two ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours. When meat is tender, add potatoes, carrots and/or mushrooms. Stir in flour until blended, season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking on low until sauce becomes thickened.  Mangia!

 

 

 

Too Easy Chicken iin Gravy

5 pieces chicken (drumsticks, thighs or quarter breasts), frozen
1 packet Lipton onion soup
1-1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

In 2-quart crockpot, dissolve onion soup powder in 1 cup water. Add frozen chicken pieces. Set on low for 8 hours. After 8 hours, add 2 tablespoons flour dissolved in ½ cup water and mix in. Cook for another 30-minutes to 1 hour. You can add bell peppers or other vegetables at this point, but serving with just the gravy is more than enough. Season with salt and pepper if necessary. You can save the gravy and freeze for later use. Mangia!

Beef Stew

1 lb stewing beef, cut into cubes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
4 small carrots, cut into 1 inch thick rounds
4 bay leaves
1 beef bouillon

In a 4 quart crockpot, combine all ingredients and 1 cup of water. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Season with salt and pepper, add additional bay leaves if necessary.

Easy Braised Beef BBQ Ribs

4-6 pieces beef short ribs
1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce*
1 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar

In a 4-quart crockpot, dissolve barbecue sauce and sugar in water. Add ribs (frozen if cooking for 8 hours, thawed if cooking for 4 hours). Set on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. When cooked, transfer ribs into covered container. Reduce the sauce in a pot until thick, season with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle sauce over warm ribs. Serve with your favorite vegetables or mashed potatoes.

* This recipe was adapted from a Williams-Sonoma recipe calling for their own "smoky bacon barbecue sauce." You're welcome to use whichever one you like. I used a regular grocery store brand.

Four-Ingredient Beef in Gravy

1 pound stewing beef, cut into cubes

1 packet Lipton Onion Soup

1 large green bell pepper cut into strips

2 tbsp flour

 

In a 2-ounce crockpot, combine beef, onion soup and 1 cup water. Set on high for 5 hours or low for 8 hours. In the last 30 minutes to an hour of cooking, dissolve 2 tablespoons flour in ½ cup water and add to stew along with bell peppers. Add salt and pepper to taste. The sauce will thicken like gravy and will be great for dipping bread or on top of rice. Mangia!

Pork Afritada

1 pound pork belly - cut into 1-1/2 inch strips, ½ inch thick
1 medium onion - chopped coarsely
3 medium tomatoes, quartered
4 tablespoons tomato paste, dissolved in 1 cup water
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 large bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 medium potato, diced
2 medium carrots, in 1 inch rounds
3 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

In a 4-quart crockpot combine all but last two ingredients. Set on low for 6-8 hours. In last hour of cooking, add bay leaves and season with salt, pepper or additional fish sauce.

* I have found that the "last hour of cooking" (when you can add the spices and vegetables for additional flavor) is actually a great time to cook your accompanying white rice.

Mangia!

Crockpot Nilagang Baka

Nilaga literally means "boiled," and in Filipino it usually refers to a soupy dish of beef, pork, chicken and vegetables.   I grew up with this dish being served for Sunday lunch, after coming home from Church, with my nanny setting aside the best part for me in a separate bowl: the sinful and deadly beef bone marrow that is stewed to gooey perfection.  This is a great crockpot dish as the meat doesn't fall apart and the low temps allow for maximum flavor.  Alternatively, boiling the ingredients until the meat is tender works well too, and is how this dish is traditionally served. Mangia!
 

Nilagang Baka (Boiled Beef Soup)
 
2 pieces beef shin, bone-in  (additional soup bones add to flavor)
1 medium onion, sliced
Sliced fresh ginger, the size of half an egg (really, you can't put too much ginger, its flavor is key)
1 cube beef bouillon or 1 can beef broth
2 large potatoes, cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
Patis or fish sauce, to taste
½ head small cabbage, sliced
20-30 pieces string beans (optional)
  
Crockpot:  Combine first five ingredients in a 4-quart slow cooker and fill with water until 1-1/2 to 2 inches from the brim. Set on low for 6-8 hours.  Add cabbage and string beans in the last hour of cooking, or cook in separate pot and add to stew before serving. Season with fish sauce. 2-4 servings. Adding more ginger at the same time as the vegetables gives more flavor.
 
Conventional stove:  Combine first four ingredients in a large pot and add water (depending on amount of soup desired), bring to a boil and simmer until beef is tender. Add potatoes and simmer until soft, season with patis. Add cabbage and string beans in last few minutes of cooking. Serve hot. 2-4 servings.

Bistek Filipino

1 lb beef steak, shoulder or chuck

½ cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

3 medium onions, cut into rings

Black pepper

Juice of 2-3 lemons

 

In a 2-ounce crockpot, combine beef, soy sauce, water and 1 of the onions. Set on low for 6-8 hours or until tender. In a separate pot, sauté remaining onions until clear, add beef mixture from crockpot along with black pepper, lemon juice and black pepper to taste. Add soy sauce if necessary. Simmer for 10-15 minutes and serve with rice.

 

 

 

Kare-Kare

6-10 pieces oxtail
1 onion, chopped coarsely
4 tbsp. giniling na bigas (raw rice, roasted brown and ground with a coffee grinder)
1-1/2 Lily's peanut butter
Pechay or bokchoy
String Beans (sitaw), cut into 3 inch pieces 
Eggplant, cut into 2 inch pieces
Achuete/Annatto juice (for aesthetics only)

Cook oxtail with onions enough water to cover them in a crockpot for 5-6 hours on low, or in a pressure cooker for 15-20 minutes. If meat becomes too tender, set aside and cook the stew separately. Transfer to a regular pot, add peanut butter and roasted rice and stir until peanut butter is separated. Simmer for a few minutes until rice thickens. Season with fish sauce. Add achuete/annatto until the right color, and vegetables till cooked, adding bokchoy last. Serve with bagoong (shrimp paste) and steamed rice. 

Mangia!

Curried Lamb Shoulders

2 small lamb shoulder steaks

3 small tomatoes

4 small carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tbsp yellow curry

1 small onion, chopped coarsely

½ Knorr beef bouillon

1 package frozen roti canai bread

 

In a 2-quart crockpot, combine all ingredients and cook on low for 6 hours. Brown roti canai in a pan and serve with stew. The bread is great dipped in the stew’s sauce. Enjoy!

Basil Oxtail

Very flavorful dish with tasty meat falling off the bones. For best results half of the ginger and all of the basil should be added in the last hour of cooking. Mangia!

6-8 medium sized oxtail pieces, frozen if cooking 8 hours, thawed if cooking for less
1 big piece of ginger, about the size of a small egg, sliced (I made slivers with a peeler because I don't like biting into the ginger)
½ cup oyster sauce
4 medium sized carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
About 40 pieces string beans
1 ounce fresh basil or about 1 cup

In a 4-ounce crockpot add oxtail, half of the ginger, carrots and oyster sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours if meat is frozen, 4-6 hours if meat is thawed. When meat is tender, add string beans and basil, and season with more oyster sauce and pepper if necessary, usually in the last hour of cooking.

Serves 3-4 with white rice.

Slowcooker Pot Roast

3 pounds beef chuck for roasting
1 large onion, sliced into eighths lengthwise
5-8 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
4 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 cup dry red wine
½ cup water or beef broth
¼ cube beef bouillon

Pat the beef chuck dry with a paper towel. Using a small knife, poke deep holes in the meat enough to stuff garlic cloves in each hole evenly across the whole chuck of meat. Season chuck with salt and pepper and roll in flour. Sear the beef in a hot pan with olive oil until all sides are brown. Set aside. In crockpot, arrange onions and odds-n-ends and place chuck on top. Pour wine on top of beef, and water/broth and bouillon. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

To make gravy: After 8 hours, spoon 2-3 cups of liquid from pot into a saucepan, and mix in 2-3 tablespoons of flour with a wire whisk. Simmer on low heat until thick, season with salt and pepper if needed. Serve on top of sliced roast or mashed potatoes.

Crockpot Meatloaf

The crockpot is actually perfect for meatloaf because it leaves it moist and crumbly. The resulting “loaf” is shaped more like a pie, but if you keep it away from most of the liquid and fat, it keeps its good odd shape.


2 pounds “meatloaf mix” (1/3 ground beef, 1/3 ground pork, 1/3 ground veal)
1 cup V8 hot and spicy tomato juice
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 egg
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 medium bell pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 ground black pepper
3-4 strips bacon, uncooked

Crockpot: Crumple a few pieces of aluminum foil into balls and drop them into the bottom of the crockpot to prevent the loaf from soaking in the fat. For easy pull-out handles, fold two 30-inch long pieces of foil in half lengthwise. Place in bottom of a 2-qt slow cooker with ends hanging over top edge of cooker, the two strips forming a cross on top of the foil balls. In a large bowl combine meat, tomato juice, oats, egg, chopped onion, bell pepper, salt and pepper. Mix lightly but thoroughly. Press into crockpot and top with bacon strips. Set on low for 6-8 hours. Pull out meatloaf using foil handles and lay on plate. Serve with ketchup or a glaze of ketchup, sugar, and Worcestershire sauce.


Conventional Oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine meat, tomato juice, oats, egg, chopped onion, bell pepper, salt and pepper. Mix lightly but thoroughly. Press into an 8x4 inch loaf pan. Top with bacon strips. Bake for 1 hour, or until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear. Drain. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.


Variation: This is supposed to be a good stand-alone recipe, but I tweaked it and added 3 tablespoons of Goya bottled Sofrito (from the ethnic section of the grocery) and lots of Tabasco into the mixture. I like taste-testing these recipes before cooking by microwaving a dollop of the mixture into a saucer and nuking it for 30 seconds or so. I served it with Filipino spaghetti and it was great, otherwise I would have used a glaze on top by mixing ketchup, brown sugar and lemon juice.

Crockpot Sinigang

Sinigang is a way of cooking meats, fish, shellfish and vegetables in a tamarind broth. Often referred to as the Filipino version of the Thai Tom Yum, it is sour and spicy and is very hearty. It is a good standalone recipe or served with grilled or fried fish. Fish and shellfish should not be cooked in a crockpot as they will disintegrate. If you would like to use these as meats, use a conventional stove and add them after the daikon has cooked. For convenience, fresh tamarind has been replaced by Sinigang Mix (available at any decent Asian market).


Beef or Pork Sinigang


1-1/2 to 2 pounds beef short ribs (lengthwise, not flanken), pork spareribs or sparerib tips
1 whole medium onion, quartered
2 medium tomatoes, halved
1 walnut-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1-2 pieces Korean green chili peppers (or siling pansigang), cut crosswise in half
1 large packet Knorr Sinigang Mix
1 large daikon or labanos (Japanese white radish), cut into rounds 1/3 inch thick
Fish sauce to taste
1 bunch fresh spinach leaves
20-30 pieces string beans


Crockpot: Combine first seven ingredients in a 4-qt crockpot and add enough water until 1-1/2 to 2 inches from the brim. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add remaining ingredients in the last 30 to 60 minutes or steam in a separate pot then add to the stew.


Conventional Stove: Combine first five ingredients in a large pot and add enough water depending on the amount of soup desired. Cook until meat is tender, afterwards add sinigang mix and daikon. When daikon is cooked, season with fish sauce and add vegetables.

Pork Adobo

2 lbs pork butt, spare rib tips, or pork belly, cubed
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup soy sauce (Silver Swan, or any other Filipino brand works, do NOT use Kikkoman or Japanese soy sauce)
5 bay leaves
1 head garlic, crushed
1 tsp black peppercorns


Crockpot: In a 4-quart or larger slow cooker, combine all ingredients and set on low for 6 to 8 hours. (Optional: At about 4 hours the meat should be perfect, you can drain the meat and fry in oil until brown and top with remaining sauce.) Serve with rice.


Conventional Stove: In a large pot, mix all ingredients except for soy sauce. Simmer over medium heat until meat is tender (usually one hour). When meat is soft, add soy sauce and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Drain and fry meat in oil until brown, and top with remaining sauce. Serve with rice.

Crock Lover has now merged with DopamineJunkie.org, now with old and new recipes and meal plans!