Fix-It and Forget-It Holiday Main Dishes and Sides (2 page)

Note:

If you have a helpful butcher, ask him/her to pound the steak for you.

Beef Burgundy

Joyce Kaut
, Rochester, NY

Makes 6 servings

Prep. Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 3¼-4¼ hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 3- to 4-qt.

2 slices bacon, cut in squares

2 lbs. sirloin tip,
or
round, steak, cubed

¼ cup flour

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. seasoning salt

¼ tsp. dried marjoram

¼ tsp. dried thyme

¼ tsp. pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1 beef bouillon cube, crushed

1 cup burgundy wine

¼ lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1-1½ cups ketchup

2 Tbsp. cornstarch,
optional

2 Tbsp. cold water,
optional

1. Cook bacon in skillet until crisp and browned. Remove bacon, reserving drippings.
   
2. Coat beef with flour and brown on all sides in bacon drippings. (Don’t crowd the skillet so the beef browns rather than steams.)
   
3. Combine steak, bacon drippings, bacon, seasonings and herbs, garlic, bouillon, and wine in slow cooker.
   
4. Cover. Cook on Low 4 hours (or 3 hours, if you’ve browned the beef well in Step 2), or until beef is just tender.
   
5. Stir in mushrooms and ketchup.
   
6. Dissolve cornstarch in water in a small bowl. Stir into slow cooker—if sauce is not as thick as you wish.
   
7. Cover. Cook on High 15 minutes, until sauce thickens.
   

Try serving this over
noodles
.

Barbecued Ribs

Virginia Bender

Dover, DE

Makes 6 servings

Prep. Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 8-10 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 6-qt.

4 lbs. pork ribs

½ cup brown sugar

12-oz. jar chili sauce

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. hot sauce

1. Place ribs in slow cooker.
   
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a good-sized bowl.
   
3. Pour half of sauce over ribs.
   
4. Cover. Cook on Low 8-10 hours.
   
5. Serve with remaining sauce.
   

Autumn Harvest Pork Loin

Stacy Schmucker Stoltzfus

Enola, PA

Makes 4-6 servings

Prep. Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 5-6 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 5-qt.

1 cup cider,
or
apple juice

1½-2-lb. pork loin

salt

pepper

2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced

1½ whole butternut squashes, peeled and cubed

½ cup brown sugar

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. dried thyme

¼ tsp. dried sage

1. Heat cider in hot skillet. Sear pork loin on all sides in cider.
   
2. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper on all sides. Place in slow cooker, along with pan juices.
   
3. In a good-sized bowl, combine apples and squash. Sprinkle with sugar and herbs. Stir. Spoon around pork loin in cooker.
   
4. Cover. Cook on Low 5-6 hours.
   
5. Remove pork from cooker. Let stand 10-15 minutes. Slice into ½”-thick slices.
   
6. Serve topped with apples and squash.
   

No Fuss Pork and Sauerkraut

Vera M. Kuhns

Harrisonburg, VA

Makes 12 servings

Prep. Time: 10-15 minutes

Cooking Time: 4-5 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 5-qt.

3-lb. pork roast

3 2-lb. pkgs. sauerkraut (drain off juice from 1 pkg.)

2 apples, peeled and sliced

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup apple juice

1. Place meat in large slow cooker.
   
2. Place sauerkraut on top of meat.
   
3. Add apples and brown sugar. Add juice.
   
4. Cover. Cook on High 4-5 hours.
   

I think this is made to be eaten with
mashed potatoes
.

Tip:

If your slow cooker isn’t large enough to hold all the ingredients, cook one package of sauerkraut and half the apples, brown sugar, and apple juice in another cooker. Mix the ingredients of both cookers together before serving.

Variations:

1. Replace brown sugar with ¼ cup honey.
   
2. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. dried basil over contents of slow cooker at end of Step 3.
   

Jean Harris Robinson

Pemberton, NJ

Oxford Canal Chops Deluxe

Willard E. Roth
, Elkhart, IN

Makes 6 servings

Prep. Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 4 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 5-qt.

6 6-oz. boneless pork chops

¼ cup flour

1 tsp. powdered garlic

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. dried basil and/or dried oregano

2 medium onions, sliced

2 Tbsp. oil

1 cup burgundy wine

14½-oz. can beef broth

1 soup can water

6-oz. can tomato sauce

8 oz. dried apricots

½ lb. fresh mushroom caps

1. Shake chops in bag with flour and seasonings.
   
2. Glaze onions in oil in medium hot skillet. Add chops and brown on both sides.
   
3. Pour any remaining flour over chops in skillet.
   
4. In large bowl mix together wine, broth, water, and tomato sauce. Pour over meat. Bring to boil.
   
5. Remove chops from skillet and place in cooker.
   
6. Layer in apricots and mushrooms. Pour heated broth over top.
   
7. Cover. Cook on Low 2½ hours, and then on High 1½ hours, or until chops are just tender.
   

This is a great dish to serve with the Celtic speciality Bubble and Squeak—
Irish potatoes mashed with green cabbage or brussels sprouts
.

Note:

My favorite memory with this recipe was the time I prepared it in the tiny kitchen of a houseboat on the Oxford Canal and then shared it with five friends. It was a hit!