The One Where Crouton Returns // Slow-Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

It’s been a while. Have you missed me? Probably not, but I know you’ve missed Crouton. I don’t have much time, but she’s been doing a little shopping and learning how to play the piano lately. Really — I have proof. I promise.

She’s also been doing some slow-cooker cooking. Oh, wait, that’s me. Well, Crouton helps by rubbing against my legs, attempting to trip me, and climbing up my clothing whenever possible. So, same thing basically.

Recipe Redux: Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

I’m so excited, I can hardly contain myself. It’s nearly football season!

Yes, it’s going to be a strange college ‘ball season for this Penn Stater over here. New head coach, new uniforms, no chance for a bowl game — but I’m still celebrating all things Blue and White beginning this weekend. And, I’m getting ready for NFL season, too, having just finished my fantasy football draft.

Yep, this girl plays fantasy football. Don’t ask questions.

So I’m returning to a recipe I have shared in the past, but with a much better photo. My husband loves these little saucy meatballs, so there’s a good chance they’ll be gracing our Sunday dinner table quite often over the next few months.

Flank Steak with Easy Tomato “Gravy”

Flank steak — often marked as “London Broil” — is often one of the cheapest cuts of meat available, especially when you catch it on sale. Typically, directions for cooking it call for grilling or broiling it for a few minutes on each side, and then cutting it against the grain and serving it as-is.

I’m not really sure what’s wrong with me, but I’ve never thought this method of preparation was particularly good. Therefore, I thought maybe I could treat it like a roast and throw it in the crockpot all day.

So I did, and it turned out well. But once it was done, the liquid the steak had cooked it was too soup to serve as any sort of sauce over the side of pasta I was planning. Hmm — what to do?

I decided to treat it kind of like a gravy, adding liquid to a pan and letting it reduce to create a concentrated tomato sauce flavor. I started with just a canned of diced tomatoes and let it cook down until it was almost caramelized. Then I slowly began adding the liquid from the slow cooker and letting it boil down. Add liquid, boil ’til reduced, repeat. It created a delicious tomato “gravy” to put over the pasta and sauce.

Flank Steak with Easy Tomato “Gravy”
2 pound flank steak, often labeled as “London Broil”
1 cup red wine
2 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, smashed
A drizzle of olive oil
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano

Combine all but one can diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours, until the meat is tender and falling apart.

Remove the meat from the Crock Pot to a plate and set aside. Add one 14.5-ounce can of tomatoes to a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Add the liquid from the slow cooker a half cup to 3-4 cup at a time and let it boil, stirring occasionally. When the liquid has reduced, add more, until all the liquid has been used. It should be a sauce-like consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Serve over pasta, rice, potatoes, or your choice of starch.

Spicy Boneless Pork Ribs in Tomato Sauce

This easy-to-make dish is quickly becoming my go-to meal when company visiting, served with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli. It was the dinner that got us through Hurricane Irene, as well as what I made when my father came to visit my husband’s and my new house in mid-October.

What’s so great about it is that you dump everything into the slow cooker and then let it cook while you go about your business? What could be easier?

If you don’t have a slow cooker, they can also be made in the oven.

Ingredients
1 pound boneless pork ribs (often labeled country-style)
8 ounces tomato sauce
14 ounces diced tomatoes, drained
½ cup red wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (or one teaspoon dried)
Salt and pepper to taste

In the oven
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork ribs and brown on all sides. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, red wine, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Make sure the ribs are coated with sauce. Put the pan in the oven and cook for 3 to 3 ½ hours until the ribs are tender and easily fall apart. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh oregano.
Slow cooker
Combine all ingredients except for oregano in a large slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh oregano.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

I’ve owned a slow cooker for a long time. I think I got my first basic gadget in mid-college, so I’ve been slow-cooking like a pro for at least seven years. But lately, I don’t know what it is … I’m just a slow-cookin’ fool.

I think it’s just because it makes my life so much easier. Take pot roast, for instance. By its nature, pot roast is not a hard food to cook. But it does take a long time — at least, if you want the meat to be tender — and when it’s in the oven, you can’t leave the house.

(There are some people out there who also won’t leave the house when the slow cooker is running. Call me crazy, but I call them crazy. Isn’t that the whole point of it?)

So this pot roast I’m about to share with you is not only easy, but it’s absolutely delicious. Sometimes it’s a marvel to me that something so good can come about using only four or five ingredients. It just fits nicely with my cooking philosophy: “The best food is the simplest food.

Basic Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Serves four … unless you’re my husband and me, who devoured all of it in one night.

3-pound chuck roast
Olive oil
3/4 cup red wine
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 onion, chopped
Chopped potatoes (as many that will fit around the meat in your slow cooker)
Baby carrots (ditto)

Place the chopped onions on the bottom of the slow cooker. Put the roast on top of it. Drizzle the top of the roast with olive oil and then sprinkle on the oregano. Arrange the potatoes around the meat, then pour red wine around the circumference of the pot. Turn the slow cooker on low and cook for 6 hours. Open it up, push the carrots in wherever you can find space, and cook for another hour. The meat will be perfect, but the carrots won’t be mushy.