Crock Pot Bean and Sausage Soup

We are all about the comfort foods right now and this soup came about because of a craving for cassoulet. Now, this is by no means a cassoulet, but it's a kissing cousin with its slow cooked beans and sausage.

You could not get much easier than this dinner. It's pretty much a throw everything in the crock pot and let it simmer all day sort of thing, I didn't even bother crisping the bacon before cooking. It smells amazing and is full of wonderful slow cooked flavor.

A few notes on this dish: You could easily skip the kale, but we are always looking for ways to get a dark leafy green in the winter. The only thing I might do differently next time is add the sausage the same time as the kale. It got a pretty soft texture from the long cooking. The soup gets a lot of its flavor from the sausage, but that last hour should be enough time for that to happen.

Crock Pot Bean and Sausage Soup

1 c dried white or yellow beans (we used Rancho Gordo Yellow Indian Woman Beans)
12 oz smoked andouille sausage links, sliced into rounds
2 slices smoked bacon, chopped
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
2 springs fresh thyme
5 c chicken broth or if you are using a good hearty stock a mix of stock and water
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thin
2 bay leaves
2 c frozen pearl onions
4 oz chopped kale
salt and pepper

Rinse the beans. Put everything except the kale in the crock pot. Set to high and let cook for about 4 hours. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add the kale. Let cook about another hour until the beans are nice and tender.  Serve with a good crusty bread.

Makes 4 - 5 servings.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2012 Kathy Lewinski

Korean-Style Crock Pot Short Ribs

We've had some short ribs in the freezer for awhile that I had mental tags for Korean short ribs. I know they are often gilled, but I wanted to do them in a chock pot. Why? Because cooking in the crock pot is so easy.

I'm sure these are not traditional in anyway, but I looked at lots of different recipes for the sauce and they are seemed to have very similar ingredients. It's a pretty simple mixture yet full of flavor. Cooking the ribs in a crock pot braises them until they are fall off the bone tender. Perfect with just a little jasmine rice.

Once thing I will say is short ribs are quite fatty and a lot of that fat cooks into the sauce. We didn't use any of the sauce left in the pot, so it didn't really matter to us. Though I think that sauce would be really tasty if it was let to set for a bit, the grease skimmed off the top and then reheated.

Korean-Style Crock Pot Short Ribs
(You may feel like you are buying a lot of meat per serving here, but short ribs have a lot of bone and fat in them)

1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c rice wine
1 T honey
1/2 t sesame oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 scallions, sliced
1 - 1.25 lbs Short RIbs, cut into separate ribs

Mix everything but the short ribs in a small crock pot*. Add the ribs, they should be covered about half way by the liquid. Cover and turn the crock pot to high. Let cook for about 3 hours, turning the ribs once. When the ribs are starting to fall off the bone, turn the crock pot to low and let cook another 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

2 servings.

We have a small crock pot that we got at Target for like $7. It is the perfect size to fit these three ribs and have the sauce come up about halfway. If you only have a large crock pot and are doing a small amount of ribs you may need to make more sauce. You could also do this in an oven-proof pan in the oven at a low temp.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2011 Kathy Lewinski

24-Hour Crock Pot Beef Two Ways

Since we got 1/8th of a cow last year we still have some big roasts in our freezer that are best served by a long, slow cook. Matt's mom told us that one of their favorite way to use those roasts is to let them cook all day in beer in the crock pot. Then they had lots of moist, flavorful, tender beef to use in other recipes. Of course, we tried it right away.

We started with a 3 1/2 pound chuck roast with the bone still in it. Matt cut it into piece so it would fit in the crock pot. Then he added enough beer to just cover the meat, for us that was 1 1/2 bottles of Schell's Minnesota Wild Rice Farmhouse Ale. Then he sprinkled in 1 teaspoon each of oregano, garlic powder & onion powder. Turn the crock pot to low & just let it do it's thing for 20 - 24 hours. All the fat will have broken down & the beef will be incredibly tender. We separated the beef from the cooking liquid then let the liquid chill so we could easily remove the fat from it. You could of course eat the beef as it is at this point with a little of the sauce but we turned it into two other quick meals.

24-Hour Crock Pot Beef Sandwiches

For the first meal we turned the cooking juice from the beef into a sweet & tangy bbq style sauce. Mix a little sauce into the shredded meat & serve on a roll for a sandwich that will make you think of summer.

Sauce

2/3 c of cooking liquid
1/3 c ketchup
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c brown mustard
1 T malt vinegar
1/2 t chipotle powder

Whisk together & simmer for 20 minutes until thickened.

Makes enough for 4 - 5 sandwiches depending on how saucy you like them.

24-Hour Crock Pot Beef Chili

The remaining meat was used to make this hearty, smokey chili.

1 c dried pinto beans
3 1/2 c water
1/2 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 c yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 T Mexican oregano
2 t ancho chili powder
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t ground chipotle
1/2 t smoked paprika
1/2 t epazote
1 - 3 jalapenos, seeded & sliced (use as many as you like)
1 1/2 pounds 24-Hour Crock Pot Beef
14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
kosher salt

Simmer the beans in the water until tender, 2 - 3 hours (we do this in a small crock pot). Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid, & set aside.

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion & sauté until translucent. Add the garlic, spices & jalapenos. Stir while cooking for another minute. Stir in the tomatoes, reserved bean cooking liquid & beef. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat & let simmer at least 30 minutes. Add the beans & salt to taste. Heat through. Serve with cheddar cheese & sour cream.

4 - 5 servings.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

Guinness Beef Stew

If I had a pub this is totally the type of dish I'd serve as cold weather pub grub. Hearty beef stew cooked in Guinness over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes. It would be especially good if you could eat it in front of a roaring fire with a nice pint of beer to wash it all down.

The stew is cooked all day in a crock pot which makes for little hands on time. I choose to sear my meat before adding it to the crock pot. I know it adds a little more prep time & an extra pot to clean but, I find I like the texture of the meat better after this step & the flour in this step helps thicken the stew a little.

Guinness Beef Stew

1 T olive oil
1 lb stew beef
1/4 c flour
salt & pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) Guinness
2 carrots, cut into 1 - 2 inches pieces
2 parsnips, cut into 1 - 2 inch pieces
1 large leek, white & light green parts sliced

1 t dried thyme

1/2 t dried marjoram

1 bay leaf

10 crimini mushrooms, cut in half

mashed potatoes (I made mine out of red skin potatoes & kept the skins on)

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Put the stew beef in a plastic bag, add the flour & some salt & pepper then shake to coat the beef. Cook the beef in the hot skillet until brown on all sides. Move the beef to a crock pot. Pour about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the Guinness into the hot skillet & bring to a boil to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour over the beef in the crock pot.

Add the carrots, parsnips and leeks to the crock pot. Add the remaining Guinness, thyme, marjoram & bay leaf. Cover & turn the crock pot to low. Let cook 5 - 6 hours until the vegetables are tender & the meat is falling apart. Add the mushrooms & cook for 1 more hour. (If you feel the stew is a little thin, turn the crock pot to high & remove the lid for the last hour, this will help reduce it). Check for seasoning & add salt & pepper to taste.

Serve the stew over hot mashed potatoes.

Serves 3 - 4

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

Crockpot Shredded Beef

Its 17 degrees outside so we certainly aren't pulling out the grill to do any slow cooking right now. But we still crave the fork tender meat you get from cooking that way. Matt's answer was to grab the crockpot, throw in a beef roast & a tangy bbq sauce & let the whole thing cook all day.

The smell that filled our house was so incredible I couldn't help but go steal some pieces from the pot as the beef got tender. And boy did the beef ever get tender.

We really liked the tanginess of the sauce. It reminded me quite a bit of the tang of Carolina Mop we made this summer for pork. We served the beef on sweet onion rolls & Matt said they were his grown-up sloppy joes.

Crockpot Shredded Beef

1 T Dijon mustard
1/2 c bbq sauce (We use Wee Willy's. Minnesotans who know how to make bbq sauce!)
1 T red wine vinegar
6 oz beer (we used a pilsner)
1 1/4 lb boneless beef roast (we used a beef round tip roast)

Mix the dijon, bbq sauce & red wine vinegar in your crockpot. Cut the roast in half so it fills the whole bottom of the crockpot.

Put the roast into the crockpot & flip to coat both sides. Pour the beer over the top. Set crockpot to low & cook for 6 - 8 hours, until the beef pulls apart easily with a fork.

Remove the beef from the crockpot, leaving the sauce, & shred with a fork. Strain any fat from the top of the sauce. Mix as much sauce as you'd like into the shredded beef.

4 servings

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

While I was making this week's menu Matt suggested I use the half a beef round we had in the freezer to make a pot roast.

To me that seemed like the perfect excuse to use the crock pot. Some days there is just nothing better than letting your food slow cook all day until its ready to eat without much fuss. The slow cooking made for a flavorful dish & some really, tender juicy meat, no knife needed. They flavor (& smell) that really stood out to me was the fresh rosemary, I so happy I had some on hand. This is one of those comforting meals you just crave in the middle of winter.

You could make the juices in the pot into a gravy at the end by mixing in a little cornstarch mixed with water but we chose to just ladle a little over the meat & vegetables like an au jus.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

1 T olive oil
3/4 lb boneless beef roast
salt & pepper
1 large carrot, cut into large slices
1 large parsnip, cut into large slices
1 russet potato, peeled, cut in half & then each half quartered
1 large onion, peeled & quartered
1 garlic clove, smashed
1/2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 spring fresh rosemary, leaves removed from the stem & chopped (or 1/2 t dried)
1/2 t dried thyme
1/2 t dried morjoram
1 1/2 c beef or chicken broth (I used a mixture)

In a skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Salt & pepper the roast on all sides. Add the the skillet & cook until brown on all sides. Remove & place in crock pot.

Surround the beef with the carrots, parsnips, potatoes & onions.

Mix the garlic, Worchestershire, rosemary, thyme, marjoram & broth together. Season generously with salt & pepper. Pour over the beef & vegetables. Cook on low for 7 hours.

2 servings