Superbowl Bites: Pulled Pork Nachos

Nachos are another go to game food for me.

Actually when we go to the bar to watch any sport, I always crave nachos.  The problem is the boy always wants wings, hence the Buffalo Chicken Nachos I made last year.  They were delicious, but this year was all about taking one dish and turning it into a couple of different things. 

That's where these nachos come in.  I had the Beer Braised Pulled Pork leftover, so why not turn it into a delicious tray of nachos?

Superbowl Eats: Beer Braised Pulled Pork

Who doesn't love a pulled pork sammy?

If you don't I'm sorry but you don't know what your missing.

What's great about this recipe is that it can be paired with any nu,ber of BBQ sauces for a completely personalized experience.  I think I'm going to make a tangy Carolina-style sauce to go with this, and I might have to work on a sweet and spicy one for the Boy.  Either way this is great jumping off point for whatever your favorite is.

Pomegranate Ancho Pulled Pork

 This is the best recipe I've come up with in awhile and it's all mine.  It came together with ingredients I had on hand either stuff I bought because I knew I'd use it or just general pantry items I've amassed, with the exception of the pomegranate molasses.  But the molasses are something I've been wanting to make and use and the boy loves pulled pork.  It's my favorite kind of meal, one that serves my purposes and his, as well as I meal where I don't have to spend an hour at the grocery store.

I added in the ancho chili because I like a little heat in my pulled pork, and happened to have picked up some chile's that I hadn't yet used.  The chile's where the real wild card here because I was completely guessing about how much to use to get that perfect balance of sweet, tart and heat and having never worked with them before this could go quite badly.  I went with it though, picked a number I thought would be tasty and prayed that we wouldn't be ordering in pizza.

Superbowl Turkey Chili

OK folks, as many of you know I'm engaged. Well our date is set for this summer and I have a dress, planning is going swimmingly. It's all good. Except for this whole dress thing. While I'm perfectly happy with how I look in it know. I am completely buying into the hype that this is the most photographed day of your life, blah, blah. That being said I'm working out and modifying my diet to get to where I want to be. I'm going to use you my dear readers to help keep me honest. This all came about because I had a less than good food weekend, as can be seen in my recent Beer Bistro review. While I know I'm the type of person that needs to be able to taste things, I think I need to get better at only taking one bite of something bad and learning to moderate what I'm eating better. Case in point, the corn dogs and frites I had at Beer Bistro. The point is, I'll be writing a bit about the food I'm eating as well as what I'm cooking in a effort to help me be more mindful of what I put into my mouth, in a effort to better fit into my fabulous dress.

Now on to why you are reading this post, a fabulously tasty and easy chili for your Superbowl Celebration this weekend . Last week, a co-worker asked me last week for a slow cooker chili recipe to make for a Superbowl gather she is attending. I've made plenty of chili's this winter so far, but haven't ever really written down what I did. In an effort give her an accurate recipe and because I love having chili around for quick and easy dinners after a long day in the office. I set out to make some this weekend. Plus using turkey and lots of beans makes chili a protein and fiber rich option that paired with a green salad is a very well-rounded meal. I'm also trying to counter balance the bad from the weekend with some good this week. But for the good also has to be tasty and full of flavor.

Maple Whiskey Pulled Chicken

If you are a regular reader of my blog you might have noticed that I use the slow cooker regularly and often use it to make pulled meats. Mostly it's been pork, but since chicken was on sale last week decided to do a twist on the BBQ Pulled Chicken I made last summer. Being in Canada it only seemed fit to use some pure Canadian maple syrup for sweetness and you can't go wrong with booze in BBQ sauce.

Maple Whiskey Pulled Chicken

2 1/2 lbs of chicken (I used 4 large boneless chicken breasts and 4 boneless chicken thighs)
1 cup of low sodium tomato sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup whiskey
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp grainy mustard
1 1/2 tsp hickory liquid smoke
1 medium onion - chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper

1. In a 6 quart slow cooker mix together all the ingredients, except the chicken. Add in chicken and cook on low for 5 hours.
2. When cook time is up, remove chicken pieces and shred with two forks. Return shredded meat to sauce and mix it all together. Serve on warmed multi-grain rolls with red onion and 3 year old cheddar.


This pulled chicken is delicious. You are hit with the heat of cayenne on your first bite, but it finishes with the sweetness of the maple syrup. It's very different from the other pulled meats I've made, mostly because I usually use chipotle peppers which give an underlying heat throughout. I like the way the heat comes first and the sweet finishes off, it's great on a sandwich and also good scrambled in with some eggs. The boy was a fan too, especially since he initially thought it was pork! It was my first time using liquid smoke and it definitely added a much need flavor element to this dish, making it taste more authentic and almost like summer.

This is a super easy slow cooker meal that you can set to cook when you leave for work and even if it turns down to warm for a few hours before you get home it just infuses the flavor in the meat that much more. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pork Roast

My obsession with my slow cooker is not anything new to any of my regular readers. I love how slow food tastes, how flavorful it is and I also love the ease of starting something in the morning and being able to come home to a finished meal at the end of a long day of work. Since the boy has been back to work over the past few weeks we've utilized the slow cooker more and more. Of the most successful recipes is a pork roast I made last week.

Garlic & Herb Pork Roast

1 3-4 lb boneless Pork Shoulder Roast
2 tsp crushed fennel seed - I used my mortar and pestle to crush the seeds
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground sage
3 cloves garlic - finely minced
3 Tbsp dijon mustard
3/4 cup white wine
salt & pepper

1. Trim pork roast of any excess fat. Liberally salt & pepper the entire roast.
2. In a small bowl combine fennel, mustard powder, thyme, sage, garlic and dijon. Rub the mustard paste all over the roast. Place it in the slow cooker.
3. Pour white wine over roast. Set slow cooker to cook on low for 8-10 hours.



The garlic and herbs coupled with the slow cooking really infused the roast with tons of flavor. Since we both worked late the day I made this, I ended up just putting the pork on sandwiches. I used tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and pesto mayonnaise (just some jarred pesto mixed with mayo) on a thin wheat bun and threw it under the broiler to melt the cheese. It was really tasty. A 3 lb roast always leaves us with leftovers, which is always good. The boy cut up some of the leftovers and heated them in a skillet with some chopped onions which went really well with the sweet potato gnocchi and some steamed broccoli. Then for breakfast I cubed up the rest of the leftovers and sauteed it with some black beans for a yummy black bean and pork hash that went really well with eggs. Enjoy!

Gotta love some Cajun

In honor of this this season's Top Chef finale taking place in New Orleans and Mardi Gras being yesterday I decided to make my own Cajun-inspired meal. I say Cajun-inspired because neither of these recipes are specifically labeled as Cajun, but for the soup I took into account alot of the spices that are used in Cajun cuisine and the shrimp are just something my family calls Cajun Shrimp and the first time dad made them we had them on our version of Po'Boys. Now in the event that anyone who actually know Cajun cuisine intimately reads this, please know that this is just a Northern Girl's interpretation of what I have learned are Cajun flavors.

Now that that's out of the way, onto the food. I made a slow cooker Black Bean & Corn Soup and Spicy Cajun Shrimp. Because I knew I wanted to incorporate some Cajun flavors I did some research. The most important component in Cajun & Creole cuisine is "the holy trinity" which is onions, bell pepper and celery all chopped up and sauteed in oil or fat. This is the base of many of the traditional dishes and where I decided to start my soup. I also used cayenne and bay leaf because according to the write up on Cajun cuisine on Wikipedia, they are spice commonly used as well

Black Bean & Corn soup

1 lb dry black bean
10 oz frozen corn
2 stalks celery - chopped
1 small white onion - chopped
1 green bell pepper - chopped
6 cups chicken stock - this can also be made in the slow cooker I loosely followed this recipe to make mine)
1 can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 bay leaves
salt & pepper

1. Let beans sit covered in water overnight. In the morning drain beans. Put chopped vegetables at the bottom of slow cooker. Pour drained beans on top and add in frozen corn.
2. In a bowl mix together tomato sauce, salt, pepper & cayenne. Pour onto of vegetables in slow cooker. Add in chicken stock and bay leaves. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hrs.
3. Enjoy topped with chopped scallion and creme fraiche



This soup was one of those throw everything in the slow cooker and see what happens and what happened was very tasty. The broth was amazing! Heat with just the right amout of sweet from the corn. It's definitely a brothy soup, but if you prefer something thicker you can either mash up some of the beans in this recipe or use 1/2 lb of dried black beans and 1 can of refried black beans. You can also tailor the amount of cayenne to your liking. I like spice and this has a nice heat that comes at the end of each bite. If you are sensitive to spice I'd cut pack to 1 tsp or maybe even 1/2 tsp.

Onto a family crowd pleaser Spicy Cajun Shrimp. My dad first made these years ago and they have become a go to in our family ever since.

Spicy Cajun Shrimp

1 lb of shrimp - shelled & deveined
4 cloves garlic - finely minced
1/4 olive oil
1 tsp paprika or Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic
1 tsp crushed red pepper flake
2 Tbsp dry sherry or dry white wine (I used dry white wine)
1 Tbsp lemon juice

1. Place the oven rack in the top position, just a few inches from the broiler. Preheat broiler. While preheating place an oven safe skillet or a boiler pan in the oven to heat.
2. While the oven is heating mix together all ingredients. Carefully pour into heated pan and broil for 4-5 minutes until shrimp are pink and golden.
3. Serve with crusty bread and spicy mayo (I mixed some mayonnaise with chipotle puree and a few pinches of sugar)

I love these shrimp they are a great appetizer or great with a meal. Had the soup been thicker I may have even served them on top of the soup and not used the bread or spicy mayo. I did cut back a bit on the red pepper flake, simply because I knew the soup had some heat and I didn't want everything to be really spicy.

The boy gave both dishes a thumbs up which was impressive since I knew going in that he's not a huge black bean fan. It was a nice low-key Mardi Gras inspired feast. Enjoy!

Chipotle Mango Pulled Pork

Now let me start of by saying this is not the most SB Friendly meal. It's not the worst, but the SB Diet generally tells you to stay away from fattier cuts of meat, i.e. pork shoulder. I supposed I could've have made this with a pork tenderloin but it just didn't seem to be the best use of pork tenderloin, plus pork shoulder was on sale last week and I'm a sucker for a sale especially when it's something that I know I can use the leftovers for another fabulous meal (stay tuned for this pulled pork in another dish this weekend). That being said I think I did a good job, save for the cut of meat in keeping this as a fairly healthy meal otherwise.

Now that I've cleared my conscious about my little diet break, let me say that I think this is the perfect recipe for this blog. Why, you ask? Well because it is a wonderful combination of spicy and sweet and a great homage to all things Piccante Dolce. This one is my own and completely a function of what we had in the house and what was on sale this past week (pork shoulder and mangoes). Chipotle peppers are one of my favorites because they add a nice mellow heat to everything. They are the kind of canned ingredient I always have on hand (along with canned tomatoes and white beans) and I just thought would go perfectly with mango. Here you go:

Chipotle Mango Pulled Pork

1 3-4 lb pork shoulder - trimmed of any excess fat (trying to be SB conscious)
1 - 2 large mangoes - cubed
1 large onion - diced
4 cloves of garlic - minced
2-4 chipotle chilis canned in adobo - seeded deveined and chopped (depending on how much heat you want)
1 Tbsp adobo from the canned chilis
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup whiskey
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp mustard powder
salt & pepper
buns or bread of your choice
sliced avocado for garnish - optional

1. Place pork shoulder in slow cooker and cover with vinegar, ketchup, whiskey, mango, onions, garlic, chilis, adobo and spices. Set to cook for 8 hours on high.
2. At the end of the cook time, carefully remove the pro shoulder from the slow cooker and shred with two forks. Return to the slow cooker and stir with the remaining liquid.
3. Serve on toasted buns topped with sliced avocado and cole slaw on the side.

This was such and easy meal and perfect for a day I knew I'd be working late. I threw it all in the slow cooker before work and hen I got home I shredded the pork while the boy threw together the cole slaw (SB friendly slaw). I think the cole slaw would be great on the sandwiches but we both really wanted to just get the flavor of the pork, so opted for it on the side.

Boy did the pork have serious flavor! It was pretty spicy but in that nice mellow chipotle way. If you are sensitive to spice I'd suggest using only 2 or 3 peppers, I used 4 and we both loved it. The boy thought the heat was perfect (it was one of the first things he said). I only used 1 mango and kicked myself for not add the 1/2 I had leftover after making mango salsa a few nights earlier. There was a definite sweetness to the pork but I would've liked just a bit more mango flavor [NOTE: THE NEXT DAY THE PORK HAD THE PERFECT AMOUNT OF SWEETNESS AND SPICE, SO I TAKE BACK MY COMMENT ABOUT ADDING MORE MANGO]. But all in all this was a winner with layers of flavor a mild sweetness at first followed up with the spice and heat. Since we aren't eating a ton of carbs at home I opted not to buy buns just for this one meal and we just used toasted whole grain bread (Dempsters Ancient Grains is awesome!) for our sandwiches. I topped the sandwiches with some sliced avocado and found that it offered just the right amount of freshness to really balance out the spicy sweet pork. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

So I'm not sure if anyone knows this, but it's winter and winter is COLD in Toronto. Very cold. It makes me crave comfort food all the time. This past Saturday the boy and I took the day to do very little but sleep in, hang out, and watch movies. We haven't done that since I moved here and were long overdue. I wanted to make us a great dinner that wouldn't require much effort. My brother had mentioned an amazing Pot Roast that my mom made last week, so I called Mom to find out what she did. I took the basic ingredients she used and turning it into my own dish using my slow cooker. Check it out:

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

1 3 lb top sirloin roast
1 cup red wine

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp tomato paste

5 springs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves smashed

1 small onion quartered
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
Salt & Pepper

1. Heat a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over roast. Brown each side of the roast, this should take approx 10 mins to get every side caramelized and browned. Put the roast in the slow cooker liner.
2. Deglaze the pot with the cup of red wine, cooking off the alcohol and getting all the brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the can of tomatoes and tomato paste to the red wine. Do not cook, just stir to combine. Pour over roast.
3. Add Thyme, bay leaves, onions and garlic to slow cooker and set on low for 5 hours.
4. When cook time is finished, remove roast to a cutting board, strain garlic, onion, thyme and bay leaves from the sauce left in liner. In a sauce pan melt tbsp of butter with tbsp of flour over medium heat until golden brown. Slowly stream in sauce left in the slow cooker, to thicken and make a gravy. Ad salt & pepper to taste.
5. Slice meat against the grain and serve with gravy.

This was the perfect thing for dinner on a cold winter night. It was flavorful and belly warming and oh-so-easy. I had gone to the store looking for a chuck roast but all they had was sirloin, I think this dish would be great with a chuck roast or just about any roast that benefits from a long slow braise. Next time I may chop up some carrots to add to the sauce for a touch more sweetness and richness.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the tasty side dish we had with this. Enjoy!

Carnitas

Ever since I've moved to Toronto I've been craving good Mexican food, specifically tacos. Based on the few times I've tried I've found it's basically impossible and doesn't exist in this city. That being said, I have a list of three or four more places to try and plan to, but with lowered expectations. I've come to terms with the fact that if I want the kind of Mexican I had available to me in LA, I'll have to make it at home. This weekend I bought Ultimate Slow Cooker, it's chock full of interesting slow cooker recipes and a Carnitas recipe that I decided to try first to help with my taco craving.

For those of you that don't know Carnitas (according to Wikipedia) " is a type of braised or roasted (often after first being simmered) pork in Mexican cuisine. It can also be made from beef using a chuck roast, although using pork seems to be the more common method."

I've only ever had pork carnitas and I LOVE it in tacos. The boy had never had it before and loves pork so it was an obvious choice for our house. I used the recipe for a 5-6 quart slow cooker, if you have a 3-4 quart one half all measurements. Below the Carnitas recipe is one for the fresh pico de gallo that I threw together to go on the tacos.

Carnitas
from Ultimate Slow Cooker, a Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication

1 4lb boneless pork shoulder roast
2 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
4 tsp cumin seeds
8 cloves garlic - minced
2 tsp dried oregano - crushed
6 bay leaves
3 14 oz cans of chicken broth
4 tsp finely shredded lime peel
1/4 cup lime juice

1. Sprinkle pork generously with salt & pepper. Place in slow cooker
2. To make a bouquet garni, cut a 6-inch square from a double thickness of 100% cotton cheesecloth. Place peppercorns, cumin seeds, garlic, oregano, and bay leaves in center of cheesecloth square. Bring up corners of cheesecloth; tie with clean 100% cotton kitchen string. (I didn't have kitchen string and just cut a larger square and tied the corners into a knot to secure the spices) Add to slow cooker. Add broth.
3. Cook on low heat setting for 10 to 12 hours of on high heat setting for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.
4. Using a slotted spoon, remove pork from slow cooker. Discard bouquet garni and cooking liquid. Using two forks, coarsely shred pork; discard any fat. Sprinkle pork with lime peel and lime juice; toss to mix. Serve with tortillas, sour cream and salsa (or pico de gallo).


Pico de Gallo

1 small onion - diced
2 roma tomatoes - seeded and diced
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1 handful cilantro - roughly chopped
1 lime - juiced
salt & pepper

Toss first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Taste and salt & pepper accordingly. Let sit for at least 30 mins. Can keep in an airtight container for at least 3-4 days.


I really enjoyed this recipe, and so did the boy. The one thing I would change is I'd hold back from mixing the lime peel & juice with the meat and serve the tacos with lime wedges so people can add lime as they like. Alot of times carnitas is fried up after the braising and pulling to get nice crispy bits all over. If I were to make this on a weekend (when I had more time), I would throw it in a heated skillet to crisp it up just a bit.

I think tacos are best with soft corn tortillas. They are hard to come by here in Toronto and I wasn't thrilled with the ones I finally found, so I may be trying to make homemade tortillas sometime in the near future. If you are able to find store bought soft corn tortillas, make sure to heat them either in the microwave for a quick 10-15 secs or wrapped in a towel in the oven. This brings out the flavor but also makes them more flexible and easier to handle.

Hope you enjoy this one as much as we did!

Chicken Cacciatore (Hunter's Chicken)

Cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian. Most of you know my affinity for Italian cuisine and my growing love for my slow cooker. Well, I had a ton of tomato sauce leftover from last week's eggplant parm and 3 huge bone in chicken breasts in my freezer. With the insanely hot weather we are having in LA this week, I figured this was the best time to break out the slow cooker and use some stuff we already had. Even though I've been baking alot more recently, I still try to keep most of our dinners low-carb if I can, so that was one goal here, the second was to truly make it a one pot meal. Traditional cacciatore's have tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and occasionally peppers. Those are all great veggies that are of course in mine, but I wanted to add something else and decided on zucchini because the sis loves it and I felt it would be able to hold up in the slow cooker. See my recipe below:

Chicken Cacciatore
serves 4-6

3 large bone-in chicken breasts (approx 2 lbs, I'm not sure of the weight I used, but you can use bone in or boneless and I would say approx 2 lbs of chicken would be good)
1 large onion thinly sliced
3 cups Simple Tomato Sauce (you can also use canned tomatoes)
8 oz sliced Baby Bella mushroom
1 large green bell pepper cut into 1 inch chunks
2-3 zucchini cut into 1/2 thick slices
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp or more dried oregano (is you use canned tomatoes I would up the oregano to a tbsp)
2 tsps or more dried thyme
1 tsp crushed red pepper (I didn't do this, but the sis and I both agreed it could use some heat)
salt & pepper to taste

1. Line the bottom of you slow cooker with the onions.
2. Layer the chicken breasts on top of the onions.
3. In a large bowl mix all the other ingredients and pour on top of the chicken.
4. Set slow cooker to cook on low for 7 hours. My chicken fell off the bone into big chunks making it easy to serve and eat. Just try to pull the bones before serving.

If you go the route of using canned tomatoes, I would first cut back the tomatoes to 2 1/2 cups and add 1 cup of red wine. Then mix 2-3 cloves of crushed garlic into the tomato-veggie mixture. I skipped these steps since there is garlic and wine already in my sauce.

This was a great hearty meal that would be good served over pasta or with potatoes or even with a nice crusty piece of bread. We actually enjoyed it solo with a bit of parmesan sprinkled on top. Using the slow cooker makes it something easy to have ready when you come home from work, but also good in the heat when you don't feel like cooking. If you try it let me know how you tweak the ingredients to suit your needs. Enjoy!

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Last night I hosted my monthly book club. We always do a pot luck with whoever is hosting making the main dish. I love having the girls over, but hate to rush home and cook something, so I was determined to use my slow cooker to make things easier. I wanted to do something with chicken and something that was relatively simple, but flavorful. I came across this recipe from Eating Well for BBQ Pulled Chicken. I love pulled pork, but know not everyone eats pork, so doing a version with chicken is a great and healthy alternative. This dish was one of the easiest things I've ever made. I threw all the ingredients into the slow cooker before I went to work, set it on low and when I came home the house smelled of BBQ and dinner was almost ready! The only changes I made was using a combination of thigh and breast meat and I have a whole jar of molasses from my grilled peaches so I decided to use that in place of honey.

BBQ Pulled Chicken

from Eating Well
serves 8

1 8-ounce can reduced-sodium tomato sauce
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey (I subbed molasses for the honey)
1 tablespoon sweet or smoked paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat (I used 1.75 lbs of thigh and .75 lbs of breast)
1 small onion, finely chopped1 clove garlic, minced

1. Stir tomato sauce, chiles, vinegar, honey, paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ground chipotle and salt in a 6-quart slow cooker until smooth. Add chicken, onion and garlic; stir to combine.
2. Put the lid on and cook on low until the chicken can be pulled apart, about 5 hours.
3. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with a fork. Return the chicken to the sauce, stir well and serve.

The chicken was great on a Whole Wheat Honey bun with a bit of red onion. The ground chipotle added some nice mellow heat to the dish, but as I like spice in these kinds of things I think I'll add a bit more next time.

Everyone really seemed to enjoy this and it went well with the treats everyone brought. We had a bevy of tasty picnic-type sides: Mac & Cheese (Trader Joe's frozen mac is surprisingly quite tasty!), Garlic Fries, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, Mixed green salad with heirloom tomatoes & red onion and it was all finished off with tasty cupcakes from Crumbs. So we had a tasty feast, talked about the book quite a bit and the entire group recommends it, which doesn't always happen. If you are looking for a quick and fun read (and haven't read it already) check out Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.