All-American Slow Cooking

posted July 4, 2007
  by Pamela Chester, The Savvy Slow Cooker

On our most patriotic holiday, we honor our heritage by cooking all-American favorite foods such as grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, barbecued ribs, barbecued chicken, corn on the cob and coleslaw. And then to top off our patriotic feast, we have desserts like watermelon, fruit cobbler with ice cream, or blueberry and strawberry shortcake. If you are anything like me, then your Independence Day is another holiday about abundance. So you may be having all of the above, and then some.

But what happens when that abundance is too large to fit on your more medium-sized grill? While I dream someday of having a fancy custom built grill that is big enough to cook for the largest of gatherings, right now I make do with a more modestly sized gas grill. And this is a step up from where I was before I had an outdoor space of my own, lugging a mini Weber over to the park so we could grill outside.

Sometimes my grill just barely fits what I am cooking for two people. So if I am to have a few friends over and celebrate Fourth of July in all its glutonous glory, I have to rely on other cooking methods in addition to grilling burgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs and chicken. That’s where the slow cooker comes in. Not only can you get some of your work out of the way early in the day, you will also keep your kitchen (and yourself) cool and calm.

Your guests will love digging into slow cooked barbecued ribs that have been simmering all day long in a rich sauce that includes hot sauce and beer, among other things. Just provide plenty of ice cold beer (to complement the sauce, of course) and wet wipes for cleaning up afterward. Cornbread is the perfect side dish to go along with this feast.

You can also cook some all-American appetizers such as Buffalo-style hot wings in the slow cooker. That way you will have something hot to offer while you grill the rest of your meal. And don’t forget about vegetables. Although grilled vegetables are delicious, if you have run out of room on the grill, you can use the crockpot to help make a couple vegetable side dishes that will be ready to go once you have grilled your main dish. One really all-American side dish is succotash, a mixture of lima beans and corn that originated with Native Americans. Your succotash won’t be “sufferin’ ” if you make it in the crockpot. In fact, this is an easy way to make it since the dry lima beans need to cook all day.

Then to cap off your festivities, you can serve some thick slices of watermelon along with a mixed strawberry and blueberry shortcake. You can simmer the berries with a bit of sugar in your slow cooker just until they give off a little juice (not too long, especially if they are fresh) and then top fresh or store bought shortcake with that and the some freshly whipped cream so your dessert patriotically combines red, white, and blue. Then it’s off to see some fireworks!

Happy 4th of July!

Slow Cooked BBQ Ribs Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/


Serves/Makes: 4
Ready in: > 5 hrs

* 4 pounds country style pork ribs
* 1/4 cup flour
* 1 cup chili or hot sauce
* 1 cup beer
* 1 clove garlic, chopped
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
* 2 teaspoons prepared brown mustard
* 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
* 2 medium onions, sliced and separated into rings

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Roll ribs in flour and arrange on a rack in a roasting pan. Brown ribs on upper level of oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix chili sauce, beer, garlic, sugar, vinegar, mustard, and Tabasco. Pour 1/3 of the sauce into a crock pot. Arrange onion rings and ribs in crockpot and put remaining sauce over all. Cover and cook on low setting for 7 hours or high for 4 hours.


Lima Beans and Corn Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/


Serves/Makes: 10
Ready in: > 5 hrs

* 1 pound dry lima beans
* 1 onion -- chopped
* 3 stalks celery -- sliced
* 2 quarts water
* 1 package frozen corn

Combine all ingredients in crockpot except corn. Turn heat to low; cook for 10 hours.

Add corn and salt and pepper to taste. Heat on high for 30 minutes.

©2008 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction of this article may be made without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.



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