I'm the Crock Pot Man. :-)





Green Chile Stew ! Absolutely Marvelous!


2 - 3 lbs pork, cut in 1/2 inch or larger pieces
1 lg onion, cut in large pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, minced
2 - 16 oz. cans tomatoes, peeled & diced ( 3 med to large fresh diced tomatoes are preferred)
1 - 2 tsp cumin
6 - 8 chopped green chiles ( Hatches Chiles are THE preference.)
1/4 cup chopped Cilantro leaves
salt and pepper to taste


Pork: A boneless Pork Roast, thick Pork Chops, or lean boneless Pork Ribs work well. The less gristle, tendon, and fat the better. I've bought Pork Shoulder Roasts on sale and they work very well ( much less expensive too).

Two ways to prepare:

1) Put pork, 1/2 of the onion, salt and pepper in a large pot. Cover with water at least 2" above meat. Bring to a boil and simmer until meat is tender, save about 2 cups of the broth. ( I skim the fatty broth from the top of the pot as it's boiling.) ( If the meat is fatty you may want to cook it a day ahead. Remove meat from broth and refrigerate both. Skim off cooled fat and trim meat. )
In a large skillet, combine: diced green chiles, garlic, onion, bell pepper, cumin, and cilantro. Add enough of the broth to saute and keep covered until onion and pepper is soft. Add tomatoes ( with juice), and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Add to large pot with cooked pork. If you don't have enough broth to cover about 1/2 inch add a can of chicken broth. Let this cook on low, uncovered, for about one hour.
When finished cooking, you can now thicken it to your taste with cornstarch. ( mix 2 - 3 tbsp of cornstarch in a half cup of cold water, mix well in the cup, and add to the pot slowly, stirring constantly.)

2) Put the pork ( cut away as much fat on the outside as you can ) in a Crock pot, cover with about 1 inch of boiling water, and turn to HIGH temp overnight. In the morning, remove the Pork and put on a plate or dish and wrap with Plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator.
Remove any stray bones from the broth in the crockpot using a spoon or strainer. Combine all ingredients ( except the cornstarch ) and cover the crockpot again. Leave on HIGH temperature till suppertime.
Thicken with cornstarch if desired. Remove the pork from the refrigerator. You can easily use your fingers to peel off any gristle, or bone, or fat from the pork. Tear or cut the pork into the size chunks you wish ( l like em big ), and drop into the pot. Gently stir to mix ingredients ( too much mixing breaks up the nice big chunks of tender Pork ). DONE!
Ingredients can be increased or decreased to your liking. I like LOTS of pork, and chiles. Less on the bell pepper. Experiment until you hit a WINNER!

Printable Page for Green Chile Stew



LIMA BEAN & HAM SOUP


Ingredients:
1 lb. bag of quality Lima Beans
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 cup Uncle Ben's "Natural Whole Grain Instant Brown Rice"
1 Yellow Onion
1 - 4oz. can Mushroom Stems and Pieces
2 lbs. Cooked Ham
Directions:
Big crock pot... About 8:00pm at night ... 1 lb. of Large (quality) Lima beans.. rinse and pick out bad ones... put in a crock pot and cover with BOILING or HOT water... sprinkle in a little salt and turn crock pot on HIGH.. Stirring a couple of times and make sure they are covered with water BEFORE you go to bed! They will soak up a lot of water so check and keep adding water until they stop soaking water before you go to bed.
In the morning.. bout 8:00am you can turn crock pot to low heat... The fun starts at 7:00pm or there abouts.. We begin cooking!!!!
Add 1 teaspoon of black pepper to beans and stir in. Turn the crock pot to HIGH temperature.
Add 1 cup of Uncle Ben's "Natural Whole Grain Instant Brown Rice" to crock pot and stir in.
Dice 1 yellow onion and cook in margarine or butter until tender but not yet brown. Add to crock pot and stir in when done.
Put 1 4oz. can (drained) of Mushroom Pieces and Stems in the skillet and brown slightly in margarine or butter. Add to crock pot and stir in when done.
To a fry pan add 2 lbs of diced (to desired size, I do about 1/2" cubes, fairly large) Cooked ham. Saute in margarine or butter until slighly browned. (Don't eat the ham.. hands off! *Laughing*) Add to crock pot and stir in.. Don't drain any of the extra drippings from any of these steps when cooking in the fry pan! The juices are some of the best part...
Let heat up on HIGH heat until you are ready to go to bed.. just cover with water and reduce heat to LOW.
Next morning!!! YES!! mmm try not to eat the whole thing for breakfast!!
Add water (if you have room :-) ...) for a soupier meal or leave as is and will make a very thick main dish. Makes about 8 16oz. storage containers (at least that is how I measure it). Freeze extra.. is wonderful any time!

Printable Page for Lima Bean & Ham Soup



MY BEEF STEW!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Stew meat
2 10 3/4 oz. cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 6 oz. cans of mushroom buttons and pieces (1 if you prefer)
2 cans of water
1 cup of Carrots cut in short sticks
2 Medium sized white baking potatoes peeled and cut in bite sized pieces
6 scallions cut thinly including some of the green blade
4 beef boullion cubes
Salt and Cracked Pepper

Directions:
Turn the crockpot on high to start heating. Cook stew meat in a covered frying pan until no longer pink, but don't overcook. Put meat AND it's juices in the crock pot, add Cream of Mushroom Soup, onions, and mushroom buttons. Add 2 cans of water and 4 beef boullion cubes to the pan and return to a boil, reduce heat and stir until the cubes dissolve.
Pour pan liquids into crock pot, sprinkle with kosher salt & cracked pepper, mix and cover, let cook on high 2 hrs or more.
Prepare carrots and potatoes and add to the crockpot 4 to 6 hrs before serving. Mix well and cover. Turn heat to low.
For a soupier stew, increase water to 4 cans.

Printable Page for My Beef Stew



For Chili - Queso Stuff Dip Doo Dah


3 - 15 oz Cans of Staggs Chunkero Chili with Beans
1 - 15 oz Can of Ranch Style Beans
1 - 20 oz Can of Refried Beans
2 - 10 1/2oz Cans of Campbells Fiesta Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 - Diced Red Bell Pepper
5 - Hatches Mild Green Chilies (roasted preferrably. Blend or dice.)
1/4 cup Diced Yellow onion
1 lb. Ground Beef
4 - eggs
Directions:
Add Chili, diced Bell Pepper, blended Chilies, Beans to crock pot and turn to high temperature. Pan fry hamburger and drain. Add hamburger to crock pot.
Cook diced yellow onions in butter in skillet till brown or soft, add to crock pot. Allow ingredients to cook and heat overnight on low temperature setting.
In the morning add 4 eggs and blend into mixture. Add Cheddar Cheese Soup and allow to remain at Low Heat until lunch or dinner. Stir mixture occasionaly through the day to prevent sticking to the bottom.

Printable Page for Chili Queso

Printable Page for All these recipes.




RETURN TO MY HOME PAGE

Return to the Recipe Page