Pineapple Pork Tenderlon

• 3 pound pork tenderloin
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 orange bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 2 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 16 ounces canned pineapple

Combine meat, sugar, spices, and cornstarch in a plastic zipper bag. Seal and shake well to coat. Pour the contents of the bag into the Crock Pot. Add the garlic and peppers. Pour in the soy sauce, apple juice, and pineapple. (The key with softer veggies like peppers are to put them on top of the meat so they aren't simmering in liquid all day, or add later on in the process.)

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-6. Serve with rice.

adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

Fesenjen Chicken (Chicken with Walnuts and Pomegranate)

• 2 lbs of chicken thighs (about 8), skin and excess fat removed (I bought them boneless and skinless and they were fine. )
• 3 cups of walnuts
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of pomegranate molasses (I used about half of this)
• 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds or dried barberries, for garnish

Put chicken thighs in 4-Quart Slow Cooker.

In a large skillet, toast the walnuts over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes. Transfer the walnuts to a food processor and finely chop them. Add the walnuts and bay leaf to the cookers. Pour in 1 2/3 cups water (I used chicken stock to compensate for the lack of bones) and cook, covered, on the low setting for 3 to 4 hours.

Using tongs, remove the chicken thighs to a board and put the meat off the bone in large chunks. Set aside.

Turn the cooker to the high setting. Stir the sugar and pomegranate molasses into the sauce and cook, uncovered, for 1 hour until the sauce is thickened. Return chicken to slow cooker and cook until heated through. (You can speed this up and get a thicker sauce by pouring the slow cooker juices, molasses and sugar into a large saucepan, bringing it all to a boil over high heat, boiling it for 25 minutes, then adding the chicken to heat through.) Discard the bay leaf. Serve hot, sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.

Serves 4, Or 2 Big Eaters

Adapted from Secrets of Slow Cooking

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

• 4 lb pork roast
• 2 medium onions, sliced to about 1/4 inch
• 10 whole cloves
• light beer (room temp)
• water (warm)
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder (optional)
• 16 oz chipotle BBQ sauce (or your favorite BBQ sauce)
• salt
• pepper

Late on the night before you're going to eat it (I was up at midnight) slice the onions. Line the bottom of the pot with the slices from one of the onions.

You can trim the roast of excess fat, I didn't go too crazy with this step. It's extra work and you're going to cook off the fat anyway.

Stick the cloves into the meat. You'll be fishing these out later, so put them somewhere they'll be easy to get to. No need to bury them deep.

Place the roast in the cooker on top of the onions.

Dump in the liquid smoke and garlic powder. Since you'll be using BBQ sauce later, this is not all that important if you don't have these ingredients. Feel free to skip this step.

Put the remaining onion slices on top of the roast.

Now, use a combination of the beer and water to fill up the slow cooker 2/3 of the way up the side. If you've got plenty of beer, use all beer. If you don't like beer, use all water. I use a light beer because I think a hoppy beer is too strong for food that's being slow-cooked. Slow cooking tends to make flavors stronger.

Put the cover on and set the thing on low (or just "on" if you only have one setting) and go away. Alternately, I like to set it on "high" for an hour and then switch to "low." This helps get the ingredients up to temperature quicker. (It doesn't help the slow cooker heat up faster, but it will cause the slow cooker to reach a higher temperature, which means it will take less time for the internal temperature of the roast to hit that desirable level.)

Let it sit for 8 to 12 hours. More than 12 is not a problem if the thing is on low with a lid on it. The lid is supposed to keep moisture in, and hopefully the roast will be fairly swimming in its own juices by that time. You have a lot of time flexibility once it's safely cooked. More cooking is better in this recipe, which is why I did it overnight.

If you don't want to start it the night before, you can do this: start it in the morning as early as you can and let it go for a few hours on high. An hour on high is usually worth 2 on low. So starting at 6 on high and switching to low at 8 means it's had the equivalent of 12 hours by the time 4 PM rolls around.

When the roast is cooked, it should be basically falling apart. Very little is holding it together anymore, since you've cooked away all the fat and connective tissue. Remove the roast with a large spoon and fork. It's hot, be careful! It should break apart. Remove the cloves and any bones. And chunks of fat that remain can also be discarded. All that's left is fairly lean and delicious pork.

Shred it with a fork. This should be very easy if the roast has cooked for 12 hours.

Dump all the onions and liquid out of the slow cooker.

Place the meat back in there. Add the BBQ sauce. If dinner is still hours away, add some water to moisten the mixture and keep it moist. Use your judgment here. Salt and pepper to taste.

At dinner time, serve on your favorite rolls with fresh cole slaw.

A nice garnish can be made by slicing another onion and softening the onion rings in a tsp of butter and a tsp of oil. The stringy onions can be added atop the shredded pork on each open-faced sandwich.

It's really, really good. Especially for a recipe where the most work you did was sticking the cloves in there and pulling them back out. And waiting.

Pork Chile Verde

Walk into almost any taqueria in this country and you will find chile verde on the menu. The chile will likely be made with chunks of pork shoulder, slow cooked in a green chile sauce of jalapeno chiles, garlic, and tomatillos. It's a favorite filling for burritos and tacos, and wonderful just on its own with a bit of rice and tortillas. Many recipes call for puréeing raw tomatillos and adding them to the pork to cook. In this recipe we roast the tomatillos first, browning their skins, to bring out more flavor.

• 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
• 5 garlic cloves, not peeled
• 2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
• 2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles (optional)
• 1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped
• 3 1/2 to 4 pounds pork shoulder (also called pork butt), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 to 2-inch cubes
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil
• 2 yellow onions
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp of chopped fresh oregano or 1 Tbsp of dried oregano
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• Pinch of ground cloves

1. Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well. Cut in half and place cut side down, along with 5 unpeeled garlic cloves, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin. Remove from oven, let cool enough to handle.

If you want the additional flavor of chiles other than jalapenos, you can add a couple Anaheim or poblano chiles. Either use canned green chiles or roast fresh chilies over a gas flame or under the broiler until blackened all around. Let cool in a bag, remove the skin, seeds, and stem.

2. Place tomatillos, skins included, into blender. Remove the now roasted garlic cloves from their skins, add them to the blender. Add chopped Jalapeño peppers, other chilies (if you are using them), and cilantro to the blender. Pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.

3. Season the pork cubes generously with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat and brown pork chunks well on all sides. Work in batches so that the pork is not crowded in the pan and has a better chance to brown well. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, lift pork out of pan and place in bowl, set aside.

4. Pour off excess fat, anything beyond a tablespoon, and place the onions and garlic in the same skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until limp, about 5 minutes. If your skillet is large enough to cook the entire batch of chile verde, with the sauce and meat, then add the pork back to the pan. If not, get a large soup pot and add the onion mixture and the pork to it. Add the oregano to the pan. Add the tomatillo chile verde sauce to the pork and onions. Add the chicken stock (enough to cover the meat). Add a pinch of ground cloves. Add a little salt and pepper. (Not too much as the chile verde will continue to cook down and concentrate a bit.)

5. Bring to a boil and reduce to a slight simmer. Cook for 2-3 hours uncovered or until the pork is fork tender.

Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with Spanish rice and warmed flour tortillas or freshly made corn tortillas.

Serves 8.

from Simply Recipes (see original for step-by-step photos)

Red Sauce for Spaghetti and Meatballs

• olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• tomato paste
• splash red wine
• 1 can whole tomatoes in juice
• 1/2 t. dried oregano
• 1/2 t. dried basil

Saute garlic in olive oil until it just starts to color. Add tomato paste and stir for a few seconds, then add wine. Add tomatoes (trim any skins or tough bits and strain off most of the juice) and mash with a potato masher. Add dried herbs and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and simmer for a hour on the stovetop or several hours in the crockpot. Check consistency: if too thin, allow to simmer lid off until slightly reduced.

Makes slightly more than enough to sauce 1/2 box spaghetti.

Lamb Stew with Spinach and Garbanzo Beans

• 1 1/4 pounds lamb shoulder or stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• 1 cup canned chicken broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 tsp each of cumin, coriander, cinnamon
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1 10-ounce package ready-to-use spinach leaves

Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add lamb and sauté until brown, about 10 minutes. Add onion, carrots, and garlic and sauté until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add garbanzo beans, broth, tomatoes, and lemon juice and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover pot and simmer gently until lamb is tender, about 1 hour.

Add spinach to stew. Cover and cook until spinach wilts, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Season stew with salt and pepper. Serve over rice or couscous.

Pork Chili Verde

• 3-5 lbs pork
• 1 can chicken broth
• onion
• garlic
• cumin
• green chile enchilada sauce
• jar green salsa
• can roasted green chiles
• flour tortillas
• cheese

Cut up and brown pork, about 3-5 lbs, depending, add a can of chicken broth, some onion, garlic, a little cumin, and large can of green chile enchilada sauce. Cook till meat is tender, and add up to a large jar of green chile salsa (contains tomatillos) and sauce. Crock pot for 7 hours and shred meat.

Depending on quantity I may also add a whole large can of roasted green chiles. We use flour tortillas, and cheese, main dish or leftovers make great burritos, or even omlettes.

Wassail Punch

• 2 quarts apple cider
• 2 cups orange juice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 12 whole cloves
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

In a slow-cooker or a large pot over low heat, combine apple cider, orange juice and lemon juice. Season with cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer. If using a slow cooker, allow to simmer all day. Serve hot.

Yield: 12 servings