Twenty years ago, we were given a slow cooker from my husband's grandmother. I have to admit, it sat in my cupboard for almost as much time traveling with us through many moves, neglected and never used.
I discovered it last winter. I couldn't take it anymore - after way too much time spent shuttling kids from after-school activities and simultaneously trying to put dinner food on the table, I needed some ideas for cooking good food while I was not in the kitchen.
Imagine, the answer had been sitting in my cupboard for two decades.
Getting back into the kitchen
A slow cooker, also known as a crock pot, is an electric casserole dish that cooks food with slow, steady moist heat. The best part is it cooks food for you while you are away from the kitchen, literally doing the work for you.
Slow cookers have made their way back into the kitchens of today's cooks who do not have large amounts of time to spend cooking but who want a flavorful, home-cooked end product.
They are magical, really. In the morning, the ingredients go in, and when you return later in the day, they have turned into something fabulous-smelling and wonderful-tasting.
A new twist on the traditional
While I know tacos are a staple meal in many family's homes because they are easy and appeal to a wide variety of tastes, this recipe for slow-cooked pork probably is not.
Most people brown ground beef, chicken or turkey and add a dry pouch of premade spice ingredients and water to the meat. This is fine, and I have done it many, many times. But try making this pork. This is the way taco meat was meant to be.
The caramelized flavor from a little browning of the meat and onions and the spice from the chili powder, cumin and a touch of oregano, together with the slow simmering in the cooker, make this meat extremely flavorful. This is what the dry package is trying to emulate!
The best part is, after six to eight hours of slow cooking, you won't even have to cut the meat: You can easily shred it with a fork.
Pile the meat on a platter, and serve it along with shredded lettuce, grated jack or cheddar cheese, chopped ripe tomatoes and whatever else you like in your tacos.
At our house, we roll the meat and toppings in store-bought corn tortillas that I cook, individually, in a pan sprayed with a little vegetable oil for about 30 seconds on each side, over medium heat.
Linda Burner Augustine is a freelance cooking teacher, food writer and consultant who lives in Madison Park. She can be reached at mptimes@ nwlink.com.
Slow-Cooked Pork for Tacos
(makes 5-6 servings)
Searing the pork and sautéing the onions, garlic and spices prior to putting them in the slow cooker gives more flavor. You can also use this meat with a little barbecue sauce and shredded cabbage on toasted French bread for a warm dinner sandwich.
2-3 pounds boneless pork shoulder
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon salt
Heat vegetable oil in heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat; add pork. Cook until browned and seared, about 2 minutes. Turn and repeat process. Transfer pork to slow cooker.*
In the same pan used for browing pork, turn heat down to medium and add onion and garlic and cook and stir until softened and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook 1 minute. Add chicken broth; bring to simmer then remove from heat. Add bay leaf to pork, along with tomatoes and chicken-broth mixture. Sprinkle in salt.
Cover slow cooker with lid. Cook on low setting until pork is cooked through (internal temperature 160 degrees F.) and very tender, about 6-8 hours.
Remove pork from slow cooker; allow sitting at room temperature until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes, then shred or slice into thin pieces.
*Note: If you do not have a slow cooker, you can still prepare this pork, using an oven-proof, medium-size casserole dish or roasting pan with a lid. Follow the recipe above, but use 2 cups of chicken broth instead of 1 cup (liquid should come to about 3/4 inch up side of pork). Cook, covered, in a 325 degrees F. oven until pork is cooked through (internal temperature of 160 degrees F.) and tender, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, adding additional chicken broth or water if necessary.
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