I got the idea for tonight's dinner from my sister in-law, Nichole. My mom tells me Nichole makes a mean Boston butt in the slow cooker. Mom recommended that I cook a crock pot Boston butt for the Remler menu but with a Big Green Eggthusiast in the house, I dare not venture into Boston butt territory. But then I started thinking--if Boston butt cooks well in a slow cooker, wouldn't ribs do the same? I decided to find out.So Sunday at the Publix I bought four racks of ribs for tonight's dinner. Then last night, I took my crock pot out of the cabinet and lined it with my Reynolds Slow Cooker Liner, ready to be filled up in the morning.
So at 6:00 am, I padded into the kitchen, made a pot of coffee and got started on the ribs. Here's how I made them:
1. I sprinkled them with Big Green Egg seasoning.
2. I put them in the crock pot.
3. I turned it on.
That's it!
When Lawson got home from school, he turned off the crock pot because that's his usual job. Then when I got home, I made the slaw.
You have to understand that my step-mother's slaw has been family legend for the past three decades. BB serves that slaw at almost every meal. We used to tease her that she kept a giant slaw vat in her smoke house. I always assumed that her recipe was a secret. But then last summer, Davis asked her for the recipe, and she just told him right there. Just like that.
Davis immediately got to work making his own slaw, and BB was so delighted that he was making it that she gave him his very own food processor. Now whenever we eat pork, we also need slaw.
BB's slaw has a distinctive flavor because it has bell pepper in it. Well, when I got home from work today, I thought I had three green bell peppers in my bag, but I only had two. And I had to reserve those two peppers for Thursday because Stephen's going to use them in the Homebuilders' Association of Greater Savannah chili cookoff. So I used a red bell pepper instead.
The slaw tasted the same, but I won't use a red pepper again. At first the red bits of pepper gave the chopped cabbage kind of a pepperminty look. But once I added the dressing, the slaw just looked bloody. From across the kitchen, the plastic slaw bowl looked like some poor animal had been mutilated in it. Eew.
Dinner was still a success. I had three or four ribs. So did Stephen. Davis and Lawson demolished the rest. The meat just fell off the bone. I'll recommend slow cooker ribs to anybody. Everybody joined the clean plate club tonight, and Stephen requested that I cheat on the Remler menu and repeat the ribs before I exhaust all my other options.
I'm thinking about it.
Meanwhile, tonight's dinner score is ribs 100, slaw 1 1/2.
3 comments:
The bloody slaw imagery has probably cured me of eating anything with red bell pepper again! Ha.
So did you do 8 hours low heat? And only the seasoning on the ribs?
My 9 y.old adores? worships? deifies? ribs. There is not a word to describe his ravenous affection for them.
Here is a slow cooker recipe you might like. It's from "Weight Watchers Weekly" Dec. 27 - Jan. 2, 2010, issue.
A serving is 8 points, but they are big servings. I eat half a serving for 4 points, and it's plenty of food.
The recipe calls for the lasagna to cook on low for 4 -6 hours. I think the lasagna tastes better when it cooks closer to 4 hours than 6. I've not tried the suggestions for filling foods and shiitake mushrooms at the end of the recipe.
Slow Cooker Lasagna
Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef (with 7% fat)
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium garlic clove, minced
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella, shredded, divided
6 dry lasagna noodles, no-cook
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Make It!
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion, and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes; simmer 5 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella.
Spoon 1/3 beef mixture into a 5-qt. slow cooker. Break 3 lasagna sheets in half and arrange over beef mixture; top with half of ricotta mixture. Repeat with another layer and finish with remaining 1/3 of beef mixture.
Cover slow cooker and cook on low setting for 4 to 6 hours. Remove cover; turn off heat and season to taste, if desired.
In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella and Parmesan; sprinkle over beef mixture. Cover and set aside until cheese melts and the lasagna firms up, about 10 minutes.
To boost this with Filling Foods, add a can of zucchini in tomato sauce to the meat mixture. You can also add 2 cups of sliced shiitake mushrooms.
Here's another Weight Watchers lasagna recipe that is meatless, but tastes delicious. It makes eight 5-point servings.
I've made the recipe with no-cook lasagna noodles. The last time I made it, I added layers of yellow squash and fresh spinach leaves - YUMMY! Next time I am going to add sliced eggplant.
TOMATO AND PEPPER LASAGNA
Ingredients:
24 oz. store-bought marinara sauce
1 cup canned diced tomatoes, fire-roasted, drained
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano suggested
1/4 cup fat-free egg substitute
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
6 items dry lasagna noodles, regular or whole-wheat
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, water-packed, cut into thin strips.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small pot, combine marinara sauce and tomatoes; set over low heat and simmer for 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses; stir to combine. Stir in egg substitute, salt, pepper, and oregano.
Spoon 1 cup of sauce in bottom of an 11 x 17-inch glass baking dish. Arrange 2 lasagna noodles over sauce, down center of dish. Spread half of cheese mixture (about 1 cup) over noodles; top with pepper strips. Place 2 more noodles on top; spread with remaining cheese mixture. Top with 1 cup of marinara sauce; place remaining 2 lasagna noodles on top. Spoon remaining sauce over top and gently press down on lasagna.
Cover dish loosely with aluminum foil; bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake until sauce is lightly browned and noodles are tender when tested with a knife, about 10 to 15 minutes more. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes to firm up slightly. Slice into 8 pieces and serve. Yields 1 piece per serving.
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