It’s What’s For Dinner

I thought I’d play along with Karen’s A Week Of Dinner blog-along, although I won’t have pictures of a whole week’s worth of dinners to share, because 1) I hate cooking!! Yup! I wish dinner would just make itself. 2) Most dinners I make just aren’t all that photogenic, and 3) When dinner is ready, I’d rather sit down to eat, than take pictures and have it go cold…cos you know, I never stop at just one picture and have to get different angles and such, to make sure I hopefully end up with something I like ;-)

First dinner is Southern Pork BBQ On Buns, made in the crock pot (aka slow cooker). Found the recipe in a magazine years ago, and will include it below..

Southern Pork BBQ on Buns
3 1/2 lbs boneless pork shoulder roast, cut into 2 1/2-inch chunks, trimmed of visible fat
2/3 cup + 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 cup grated onion
2 tsp minced garlic
4 tsp hot-pepper sauce
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 cup of your favorite bottled barbecue sauce (we use K.C. Masterpiece Original)
8 Hamburger buns

In gallon-size zip top bag, combine pork, 2/3 cup vinegar, onion, garlic, 2 tsp hot-pepper sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, salt and pepper.
Seal bag. Refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours; turn bag a few times.
Transfer pork and marinade to a slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low for 7-8 hours, until meat is fork tender.
Drain in colander over bowl, reserve 1/2 cup skimmed cooking liquid.
In a large bowl, using two forks, shred pork. Add reserved cooking liquid, barbecue sauce, and remaining vinegar and hot-pepper sauce until moistened.
Serve on hamburger buns with coleslaw on the side. Enjoy!

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Next for dinner was Nordic Potato Soup With Ham, also made in the slow cooker. This recipe was in the cook book that came with our slow cooker, and I’ll include it below as well. I served it with fresh baked Italian Herb bead.

Nordic Potato Soup with Ham
3 medium-size thin-skinned potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs total), peeled and diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 smoked ham hock (about 1 lb)
1 Tbsp dry dill weed
2 tsp grated lemon peel*
1/4 tsp ground white pepper*
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 cup whipping cream
Dill sprigs (optional)

In a 3-quart or larger electric slow cooker, combine potatoes, onion, ham hock, dill weed, lemon peel, white pepper and broth. Cover and cook on low until ham hock and potatoes are very tender when pierced (about 7 1/2 – 8 hours)
Lift out ham hock and let stand until cool enough to handle (we cut up the ham before hand and can skip this step)
Meanwhile, remove about 1 cup of the potatoes with a little of the broth, whirl in a blender or food processor until pureed. Return puree to slow cooker (or: use a fork to mash some of the potatoes against the side of the slow cooker to puree them)
In a small bowl, mix corn starch and cream; blend into potato mixture.
Increase cooker heat to high. Remove and discard fat and bone from ham, tear meat into bite-size pieces and stir into soup. Cover and cook, stirring 2-3 times, for 20 more minutes. Garnish with dill sprigs if desired. Enjoy! (Makes 4-6 servings)

15. January, 2013 | Categories: January | Tags: BBQ, Dinner, Food, Food Photography, Macro, Nordic Potato Soup, Photography, Recipe | 20 Comments »