slow cooker

Slow Cooker Ham

Last year on Thanksgiving Eve, my husband casually said, “a ham would be good, too for Thanksgiving dinner”. While I am certain that no one at my house fully understands the planning and prep time that occurs for this feast, I thought about it and decided, okay, we can add ham to the menu. And full disclaimer- I do love a good ham.

So I ran to the store, purchased a ham, not even a fancy one- just a store name, cheapest they had, spiral cut ham.

All hams are precooked. So essentially, you don’t need to cook it to death. You just need to warm it and keep the moisture in. My favorite is a huge, old fashioned picnic ham that just pulls apart when you try to slice it. But on this particular day, there was no time for that and the main course and star of the show was the turkey I had been brining and babysitting for two days…

Thanksgiving morning, I took the packaging off the ham and threw it cut side down into my large, oval slow cooker. And with everything I had going on, I honestly didn’t give a second thought to this ham. It had a glaze packet with it and I mixed it with some water (per the packet direction) and poured over it. And yes, I know, you can mix honey, brown sugar and dijon mustard together and make a wonderful glaze, but honestly, I can’t stress enough about how much I did not care about this ham.

After 4-5 hours on low, I took the cover off to find a watery, sweet smelling, clove infused concoction in the bottom of the slow cooker. I removed the ham and sliced it up on the platter, again, not caring about it. I dumped the watery concoction into a sauce pan, turn the burner on high and try to reduce it. I was sure I could make a sugary, real glaze out of the watery stuff.

It never really reduced, it was still just watery stuff. So I made a cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 1 tbsp cold water) and dumped it into the saucepan. Then the magic happened…there was some type of chemical reaction, a puff of caramel looking stuff came up out of the pan, I jerked it off the burner and thought I was in real trouble. But what transformed was some type of wonderful, thick, sugary, glaze/sauce and I poured it over the ham on the platter.

It was THE BEST HAM I HAVE EVER MADE.

Am I going to recreate it for Easter? Of course, I am! We are doing family Easter Dinner on Saturday night (we do it when we can), so this week I am planning the menu and in addition to the ham we will have roasted carrots, deviled eggs, potato salad, cheesy mashed potatoes, baked beans and a carrot cake trifle.

For the carrot cake trifle, I use my old faithful Trifle Recipe and in place of the vanilla pudding I use cheesecake pudding, and in place of angel food cake I use carrot cake (box mix). I love a trifle because it is best made ahead and that works out well for planning.

For the potato salad, it is not often that someone’s recipe permanently changes the way I do things, but I found a potato salad recipe a few years ago that was very similar to mine- except instead of pickles, they added vinegar to the warm potatoes and let it soak in. I am telling you, it is a game changer. And I will never chop pickles again! Foodiecrush’s Best Potato Salad recipe is wonderful and you should try it.

And the best thing about ham…that leftovers that will transformed into White Bean Soup later in the week.

As for the pairing, I think you always have to have sweet tea with ham. And in addition, of course we will have a bottle of white and red open. I am leaning toward Mer Soleil Silver Chardonnay. It is a great Wagner wine, unoaked, smooth and crisp, just like spring. And the Mer Soleil Reserve Pinot Noir will be a good match for dinner, with hints of cherry and vanilla. These run under $25 a bottle and they are excellent quality wines. Fingers crossed my local store has them in stock. Cheers!

Slow Cooker Ham

One of the best hams I have ever made.

Ingredients

4-7 lb ham (I used spiral, but any half ham would work)

GLAZE
1-2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp dijon mustard
You may use water to thin out the glaze.
You may add clove and/or cinnamon
(You can also use the glaze packet that came with the ham. No judgement here.)

CORNSTARCH SLURRY
1-2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cold water

Directions

In a large oval slow cooker, place the ham cut side down. Pour over glaze and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Remove ham and place on a serving platter. Pour the remaining liquid into a saucepan and boil on medium high to reduce for a few minutes. Turn the heat down to low, and add the cornstarch slurry. Pour the mixture over the ham. Any remaining glaze just pour in a bowl and serve on the side.

Make this recipe your own. Play with the glaze. Add orange juice, pineapple juice, cloves and or cinnamon.

Christy Young Goza

Carnitas (Pork Tacos)

These carnitas are fall apart tender and cook in the slow cooker. The taco garnishments are all your choice. My crew likes fresh jalapenos, sour cream, onions, cilantro, salsa and limes. One thing that is a must when I serve carnitas is fresh lime wedges. There is something about the fatty pork with the acidic lime that makes an absolutely perfect bite.

This pork can also be used for nachos, enchiladas, burritos-basically, anything that you can imagine. If we have leftovers, I may fry an egg in the morning and place on top of some pork for breakfast. You would be surprised at the things I have placed a fried egg on.

I had full intentions of making some fresh guacamole, but the grocery store didn’t cooperate. I had left over pinto beans from a couple of nights ago that I smashed a few times with a potato masher, threw a couple of tablespoons of salsa into and heated them up. I have a gluten sensitivity, so I had corn tortillas for me and flour tortillas for the rest of the family.

Here is the best part: I purchased a huge pork butt at the local grocery store last night. This morning, I pulled it out of the fridge, trimmed off a lot of the fat, cut into large chunks, coated the pieces with taco seasoning and threw into my large slow cooker and placed on low. That was at 8am. When I arrived home at 5pm, the entire house smelled wonderful and it only took me a few minutes to grab all the fixings.

This particular cut of pork is fatty. Before serving, I skimmed 4 cups of fat from the top of the meat. Then I took tongs and just broke up the large chunks and served it right out of the slow cooker. The pork literally fell apart. This cut is also inexpensive, I spent $15 on this large pork butt and will use it for at least 2-3 meals this weekend.

If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can cook it in your oven, covered, at 225 degrees for 8 hours.

Carnitas (Pork Tacos)

These carnitas are fall apart tender and cook in the slow cooker.

Ingredients

1 pork butt or shoulder
1/4 cup taco seasoning of your choice

Directions

Trim the fat from the pork and cut into large chunks. Sprinkle with the seasoning and place in a large slow cooker on low. Drain most of the fat from the crock pot with a measuring cup. Break up the meat chunks with tongs and serve.

Make this recipe your own. Add your favorite garnishments. Or go in an entirely different direction and omit the taco seasoning and add Asian components- sesame oil, teriyaki, soy and/or ginger.

Ribs

These pork ribs are fall off the bone tender and absolutely the most requested main dish at my house. Just last week a friend texted me from the grocery store and asked, “If I buy us ribs, will you cook them?” And that was a resounding “YES!”.

You can use any type of ribs you like. Many people opt for baby back ribs, but I like a little more meat on the bone, so I usually opt for regular ribs (sometimes referred to at St. Louis style).

I am going to list several methods to cook the ribs because ribs should not just be for summer time or when the weather is pretty. We have had ribs for Christmas Dinner-with no complaints.

The Rub: I refuse to discuss “the best rub”. For some in the south, a rub discussion can go sideways in a hurry and before you know it people are yanking their shirts off, ready to rumble. Use your favorite. Use what is affordable. Make your own. But for goodness sakes, don’t skip the rub. It is magic and makes the pork sparkle and shine.

The Sauce: I have spent hours of my life making BBQ sauce. I am not going to say I will not make it again, but I will say I am not in the habit of making my own anymore. I have so many compliments on my sauce….and I am absolutely embarrassed to say what it is, but here it goes: Find the cheapest, sweet BBQ sauce in the grocery store, add to pot, stir in a shot or two of decent whiskey and simmer for a bit. Tada!

Ribs

Servings: 6-8
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These ribs are fall of the bone tender and the easiest ribs you will ever make.

Ingredients

2 slabs of pork ribs
Yellow mustard
BBQ Rub
Sauce

Directions

1. The night before: the back of the ribs have a film or thin white membrane. Take a dry paper towel and loosen it and pull it all the way off. This will allow the mustard and rub to permeate that side of the rib.
2. Squeeze yellow mustard on the ribs and rub in with your hand or paint with a basting brush.
3. Coat with the BBQ rub. When you think you have too much, put more.
4. Flip and repeat the mustard and rub on the back side of the ribs.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.

The next day, take the ribs out of the fridge and bring to room temperature. At least 30-45 minutes on the counter.

SMOKER METHOD:
I use the 2/2 method. When smoker has reached 250-275 degrees, place the ribs on, bone side down for 2 hours. Then remove the ribs and place in a pan and cover with foil for 2 more hours. Slather the ribs with your favorite sauce and turn the heat up to char the ribs or place them on the grill to char.

OVEN METHOD:
Set oven to 275 degrees. I usually cut each rack into 2 pieces to handle easier and fit on the pan nicely. I wrap each piece in foil and place on a baking sheet, bone side down, for 4 hours. Remove from the oven, remove the foil and slather on your favorite sauce. Place under the broiler or on the grill to char.

SLOW COOKER:
Place in a large 6 quart slow cooker on low for 7-8 hours. Remove and slather with sauce. Place under the broiler or on the grill to char.

INSTAPOT:
Add 1 cup water and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar to the Instapot. Cook on manual for 25 minutes. Next, allow the Instapot to release naturally for 10 minutes after the original cook time. Remove and slather with sauce. Place under the broiler or on the grill to char.

There are so many rub combinations and sauces. I encourage you to experiment and think out of the box and make this recipe your own by shaking things up a bit. Last month I went Asian with the ribs…and they were fabulous!