Slow Cooker_ The Best Cookbook Ever - Diane Phillips [103]
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 3-by-1-inch strips
Two 1-pound pork tenderloins
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
slit each chile down one side. Stuff each chile with a strip of cheese. Remove the silver skin from the outside of the pork with a boning knife and discard.
cut each tenderloin lengthwise in half to within ½ inch of the other side and open it like a book. Place the meat on a cutting board, cover with a piece of plastic wrap, and pound the pork evenly ½ inch thick. Sprinkle one tenderloin with half the salt and pepper. Arrange 4 or 5 stuffed chiles on the meat, lining the chiles up parallel with the ends of the meat.
roll up the meat from the short side and tie at 1-inch intervals with kitchen string or silicone loops. Repeat with the second pork tenderloin.
heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add one tenderloin at a time and brown on all sides. Transfer to the slowcooker insert and spoon the sauce over the pork.
cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5 to 6 hours, until the pork is tender. (The pork should register 175°F on an instant-read thermometer.)
remove the pork from the slow-cooker insert, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Skim off any fat from the top of the sauce. Remove the strings from the meat and cut into ½-inch-thick slices. Serve with the sauce.
serves 6–8
Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin
Marinated in teriyaki sauce and then slow cooked, these tenderloins are delicious served on a bed of sesame noodles or an Asian slaw. You also can slice the pork, return it to the sauce, and serve it with skewers as an appetizer.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
Two 1-pound pork tenderloins
whisk the oil, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar together in a bowl until blended. Remove the silver skin from the outside of the pork with a boning knife and discard.
place the tenderloins in a 1-gallon zipper-top plastic bag or 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Pour the marinade over the tenderloins and seal the bag or cover the dish with plastic wrap.
marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning the meat once or twice during that time. Place the marinade and pork in the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.
remove the meat from the sauce, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes. Skim off any fat from the top of the sauce.
cut the meat diagonally in ½-inch-thick slices. Nap each serving of pork with some of the sauce.
serves 6
Ribs
Ribs are messy and finger-licking-good food to serve for a casual backyard picnic or cut down and served as finger food at indoor parties. Spareribs are meatier than baby back ribs, and you will need to cut them into manageable pieces when they are cooked. This is easily accomplished with a cleaver or other sharp knife. So-called country-style spareribs are really blade pork chops that have been split. They are delicious when braised, and the slow-cooker takes good care of them.
Baby Back Ribs
Baby back ribs become sticky and fall-apart tender in the slow cooker. You can serve them as appetizers, but I really prefer them for dinner. The basic preparation is the same. You could vary the sauce to highlight a different cuisine every week and not have a repeat.
Country-Style Ribs
Meaty ribs like these need to be braised in liquid for the meat to fall off the bone and the sauce to absorb the flavors. The basic preparation is the same: the ribs are submerged in the flavorful liquid and cook all day.
Asian Barbecued Baby Back Ribs
Soy and ginger flavor these sticky ribs. Serve them as an appetizer or with rice and Asian slaw for a simple supper with lots of flavor.
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon