Chipotle Pork Soft Tacos

It looks like I'm on the Rachael Ray show today!

I'm sorry for the last minute notice, I only just found out about 4 seconds ago. :-)  The show was taped a few weeks ago during the Great Big Huge Snow Storm of The Year of The Century and I was only supposed to be in New York for 10 hours.

Instead I was there for 3 days.

But all is wonderful, and today is the airing. This is the recipe I used:

The Ingredients

serves 10

4 to 5 pound pork shoulder roast/butt (bone in or out, your choice)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced into rings

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chipotle chile powder

3 tablespoons honey

1 cup orange juice (about 2 oranges, or you can use bottled)

1 cinnamon stick

2 limes, juiced (to add at the very end)

½ cup chopped cilantro leaves (to add at the very end)

Suggested toppings:

corn tortillas for serving

4 cups finely shredded red cabbage

1 cup sour cream

2 cups grated cheese

2 avocados, diced

The Directions

Rub salt and pepper on all sides of the meat, and brown in olive oil on the stovetop in a large skillet. Using kitchen tongs, place the browned meat into your slow cooker. Using the same skillet, caramelize the onion and garlic until transparent and remove from heat. Whisk in the coriander, cumin chipotle chile powder, honey, and orange juice. Pour this mixture evenly over the top of the meat. Toss in the cinnamon stick.

Cover, and cook on low for 10 hours, or on high for about 5 hours. Shred meat completely using two large forks (discard bone if you used a bone-in roast), and stir in fresh lime juice and cilantro leaves.

Serve in warmed corn tortillas with your desired toppings.

The Verdict

I had a ball and feel so very (VERY) fortunate to have had the opportunity to see Rachael again and work with her amazing staff and production team. Thank you again to Tara, Bridget, and David for keeping me safe and warm in New York!

have a wonderful week, and thank you again for your support, kindness, and for being the best people in the history of the world. xoxo steph

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"Grown Up" Green Bean Casserole and Savory Sweet Potato Bake slow cooker recipes

I went to New York for 22 hours this week, and got to cook with Rachael Ray! We talked Thanksgiving in the slow cooker, and how slow cooking is the best thing ever when in comes to Thanksgiving (or any Holiday, really) because the cookers do all the work while you get to enjoy your guests.

I'm so happy I got to go --- it was a great experience, and Rachael couldn't have been any nicer. And! I didn't cry!

It'll air on Monday, November 18th, right in time for you to plan your Thanksgiving dinner. Oh! and Whoopie Goldberg was in the dressing room next to mine and I saw her in the hall but I didn't want to be the freak who hunts down celebrities so I just did a little nod like a cool, calm, collected person would.

I want to share the recipes with you that I made on the show. I came up with them last Saturday after talking with their culinary crew --- they wanted something a bit different. I think you're going to love these, but I must admit that I never took any pictures at all when I recipe-tested. I was too pumped up on adrenaline and our house is in absolute chaos right now because we are moving.

Tomorrow.

(more on that later, but it's a house that is 5 houses away and it doesn't have a kitchen except for one from 1947 and that doesn't count because there is no dishwasher or even a garbage disposal. BUT! It's bigger than this one and I get to have an office for the first time ever and now I have a picture of me and Rachael to hang in it!)

"Grown Up" Green Bean Casserole
serves 8-10

3 tablespoons salted butter
1 1/2 pounds sliced white button mushrooms
1 large yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp of each)
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup chicken broth
2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces 
1 cup French’s onion topping, optional (to add before serving, optional, NOT gluten free)
[just learned on Facebook that a good GF alternative are FunYuns! :-) ]

Heat butter in a large skillet until it has just begun to brown. Add mushrooms and stir. Cover, and cook on medium heat for a good ten minutes, stirring every so often, until mushrooms have shrunk in size and have wilted. Add 2 turns of the pepper grinder to the pan. This will take longer than you think it should – but don’t rush the mushrooms!
Add the onion to the mushrooms, along with a few more turns of the pepper grinder and a light sprinkling of kosher salt. Stir. Cook on med-high heat until the onions are translucent. Drop in the cream cheese and chicken broth. Cover the skillet again, and cook on medium heat until the cheese has melted fully. Turn off the stove.
Put the trimmed and rinsed green beans into an empty 6-quart slow cooker insert, and pour the mushroom mixture evenly over the top. Stir to disperse ingredients. Cover, and cook on low for 5 hours, or on high for about 2 hours. Stir again, and serve as-is, or top with a cup of French Fried onions or the smashed FunYuns.

Savory Sweet Potato Bake
serves 8 to 10

1 tablespoon salted butter
5 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, and sliced in 2-inch rounds that are about 1/4-inch thick.
2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
14 to 16 ounces shredded Gruyere cheese, divided
2 cups heavy cream

Smear the  butter all over the 6-quart insert of your slow cooker. Put 1/3 of the sweet potato rounds into your slow cooker, and sprinkle on 1/3 teaspoon of chipotle chile powder and a 1/3 teaspoon of kosher salt. Add 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Repeat layers until you have run out of ingredients. Pour heavy cream evenly over the top.
Cover, and cook on low for 5 hours, or on high for about 2 hours.

 The Verdict.

They are both so tasty!! I know there's some work to do with the green beans in that you've got to brown the mushrooms and then the onion, but the end effect is amazing. Don't put the onions into the pan until the mushrooms are brown, though, because evidently the mushrooms won't brown because of some reason I can't remember. And I'm kind of jet-lagged and may have had an $8 bottle of Sutter Home wine on the plane.

Anyway. VERY GOOD. The sweet potatoes have a mellow heat that sneaks up the back of your tongue and the salty flavor of the gruyere is to die for. But, Adam didn't really like them. He sort of wants his sweet potatoes to remain sweet. But that's okay because I can make them that way, too!

Have a wonderful day!

Here are some more Thanksgiving Recipes if you need them!:
Round up 1 
Round up 2
Holiday Food

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Slow Cooker Dry Rub Pork Roast

I hope you're having a wonderful Valentine's Day! My kids are off school today, and are in the other room in a chocolate coma, giving me a few minutes to type.

You'll love this pork. Unless you don't like pork. Then you should use a beef chuck roast or something similar.

I had a frozen pork butt/shoulder in the freezer and wanted to make a pulled pork of some sort but wasn't feeling in the mood for barbecue sauce. I threw together this dry rub in a few seconds using pantry staples, and was really happy with the end result. The meat is perfect--- not gloppy wet, not dried out ---- just perfectly seasoned with a very pleasant flavor.

The secret is the anise. Don't be scared that your meat will taste like black licorice --- I'm a red vine kind of girl (THEY ARE NOT GLUTEN FREE!) -- and always steered clear of anything black licorice, and I promise you that the anise just gives a lovely flavor you're not going to be able to recreate without it. A bottle will last you for quite a while, and if you have extra, my friend Jenny made some awesome cookies using anise.

The Ingredients.
serves 6 - 8


1 onion, peeled and sliced into rings
3 to 4 pounds pork roast (butt/shoulder)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground corriander
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon anise seeds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 to 2 limes, for serving (optional)

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the onion rings into the bottom of your cooker, and spread them apart a bit with your fingers. Place the pork directly on top --- my meat was still frozen. If there is netting on your meat, cut it away. 
In a small bowl, combine the sugar and all dry spices to create a rub. Using your fingers, rub this all over the meat, flipping a few times to ensure good coverage.
Cover, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until meat has lost shape and pulls apart easily with a large fork.
Serve over a bed of rice or quinoa, or stuff into pita pockets, lettuce leaves, etc.
I squeezed a bit of lime onto our servings, and enjoyed the contrast in flavors, but it's certainly not necessary.

We had enough leftover for me to reheat on the stovetop (or in the Ninja!) with a 1/2 bottle of barbecue sauce the next day for sandwiches.

The Verdict.

I used to be allergic to pork; this last pregnancy re-programed my body, and I'm so happy that I can now add this meat into our meal rotation.  I like how this seasoning blend doesn't create an overly sweet or sticky or gloppy meat --- not that those features are bad --- I just wasn't particularly in the mood for that, and this fit the bill!

in other news:
I made a DIY standing desk for myself out of an ironing board!

I'm going to be on the Rachael Ray show again next Friday, the 22nd   UPDATED: it's NOW TUESDAY, the 19th!! for a few minutes. It's a 5-year follow-up to the first time I appeared. The premise of the clip is how "Rachael Ray changed my life" and I pretty much cried through the whole thing.... I promise to be more composed next time. :-)

have a wonderful day!!

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Erin Chase, from $5 on Rachael Ray tomorrow, April 21

Good Morning!!

I just wanted to give you a heads up that Erin, from $5 Dinners will be on the Rachael Ray show tomorrow, April 21. I haven't met Erin face-to-face, but she and I have chatted on the phone a few times and through email and instant message.

You can read about her experience with the taping, here.

What I LOVE about reading her RR story, is it started the same way mine did. She emailed the show. I can't even count the number of times I've written in to talk shows-----I do it all the time, and I did it monthly while I was trying to get Totally Together published. It's just something I do. I feel it's better to do something proactive (not the face scrub. although I have tried it----it sort of worked, but then gave me a rash) then wait for stuff to fall in my lap.

But the Rachael Ray show is the only one, ever, who has ever responded.

So! set your dvrs and support Erin. And then go do something that will push you towards whatever goal you're currently working on. (towards whatever goal of which you're currently working?) boy, that sounds pretentious.

In other news,
I completed all my copyedit edits. The book just got FedExed off (which, OH MY is expensive. $68? really? I couldn't believe it.)

and Tiffany, from Eat at Home, interviewed me along with 4 other busy food bloggers about thier go-to family meals.

Have a super wonderful day! I'm spending it doing nothing. :-0

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