Slowwww down

Two slow cooker recipes for hygge vibes

First and foremost, hope every one had a lovely Thanksgiving. I can say with certainty that I ate way too much, but as always, am thankful for good food, family, friends, and dogs (not necessarily in that order). I’m especially thankful, this year, and every, for Mrs. CWD, as she constantly blows me away with everything she does.

(That wasn’t just a plug to get her to do the dishes tonight ;) )

Anyway, let’s let’s jump into the cooking. This time of year, especially here in the Northeast — where it’s dark by 4pm — it can be depressing to have to cook dinner at the end of the day. No light, no motivation. That’s why I think the slow cooker is key. When you’re doing your weekly grocery shopping, just grab whatever big hunk of meat looks good, and you’ve got a delightful little meal in, oh, eight hours or so. And the best part about it is that the prep work can be as minimal as you want.

This week, we had two meals made this way: adobo pulled pork and tomato-braised chuck roast. Here’s how you can make both of them (but maybe only shoot for one this weekend).

If pork is up your alley, find yourself a 4-5lb hunk of pork shoulder and season it liberally with salt, pepper, chili powder, and/or Holy Voodoo seasoning. Pop that into the slow cooker. Roughly chop an onion and grate some ginger, and place those in with the pork. If you have any dried chili peppers, deseed them and add those in as well. Squeeze a lime or two on top, pour in some chicken stock to cover about 1/3 of the pork, and set that baby to slow for 6-8 hours. Enjoy with rice and beans, or on a tortilla.

If you’d rather go with some beef (since it’s what’s for dinner), season a 4-5lb chuck roast with salt and pepper and a little garlic and drop that into the slow cooker. Add one 28-oz can of tomatoes (diced or whole) and a heavy glug of red wine. If you have them, some carrots would go nicely with this as well. Set the slow cooker to low and let it ride for about 8 hours. Enjoy with pasta (maybe egg noodles?) or even mashed potatoes.

And there you have it. Two recipes for the price of one newsletter! Let me know if you get around to making either — both are delightful and Mrs. CWD and I both highlighted them as a “good” of the day we ate them.

Enjoy the weekend and get a workout in — it’s eating season!