Slow Cooker Barbecue

With fall and cooler weather upon us I'm searching for any and every warm, slow cooker meal that I can find. And what defines fall more than barbecue!?!? Nothing! To me that just screams football season! I found a really great slow cooker barbecue recipe in our local hospital foundation's cookbook. I was a little unsure because I've never cooked that much pork before but it turned out so tender and really good!

Slow Cooker Barbecue
2 to 3 pounds boneless pork
1/3 cup Ketchup
1/3 cup Vinegar
1/3 cup Pineapple Juice
1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons pepper sauce
2 (4 ounce) jars baby food peaches

Trim excess fat from pork. Pack tightly into slow cooker. Combine ketchup, vinegar, pineapple juice, brown sugar, pepper sauce, and peaches in blender container. Process until smooth. Pour sauce over pork. Chill, covered, overnight. Cook on High for 8 to 10 hours or until pork is cooked through.

*Note: I cooked this on high in my slow cooker for 8 hours and it was perfect!

Sesame Salmon and Hunan Noodles

A few years ago my parents went to Colorado and my Mom brought me back Colorado Collage which is the cookbook from the Junior League of Denver. I LOVE collecting Junior League cookbooks from around the country because their recipes are always so good! This cookbook has intimidated me though because all of the recipes sound so sophisticated and are so different than the staples that we make in the South. But a few weeks ago I endeavored to try something. For the past month or so I've been working at finding new recipes in the myriad of cookbooks that I own and so I found this recipe in the Colorado cookbook. Let me tell you, it was a good recipe! There are a few things that I would change the next time I made it (which I'll note at the bottom) but all together a very good (and pretty healthy!) meal!

Sesame Salmon and Hunan Noodles
Serves 4

6-8 ounces dried oriental-style noodles
4 T Sesame Oil, divided
1/2 c Soy Sauce, divided
2 T Rice Wine Vinegar
1 T Sugar
1 T Hot Chili Oil
1 T plus 1 t peeled, minced fresh ginger root, divided
2 T sliced Green Onions
1/3 c Fresh Peas, cut into thirds
1/3 c Shredded Carrots
1/3 c Sliced Fresh Mushrooms
1/3 c Thinly Sliced Red Bell Pepper
3-4 T Fresh Lemon Juice
Freshly Ground Pepper
4 4-ounce Salmon Filet's

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain well, place in a large bowl and toss with 2 T of the Sesame oil. In a small bow, combine 1/4 c of the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, hot chili oil, and 1 t of the ginger. Stir until well blended and add to noodles. Toss to blend. Add green onions, peas, carrots, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Toss and chill 2 hours.

In a shallow glass dish, combine lemon juice, remaining 1/4 c soy sauce, remaining 2 T sesame oil, remaining 1 T ginger and pepper to taste. Add salmon and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill 2 hours. Preheat grill to medium-high. Grill salmon, discarding marinade, 4-5 minutes per side. Serve salmon on noodle mixture. Serve immediately or chill and serve cold.

*Note: I couldn't find 'Rice' Wine vinegar in the grocery store and so I used the 'Wine Vinegar' that was with all of the oriental fixings.
*Note: I couldn't find Hot Chili Oil and so I substituted 1/2 teaspoon of Chili Sauce with Garlic
*Note: I decided to saute the vegetables in olive oil before putting in the pasta, but that's just a personal preference.
*Note: Jason preferred the pasta to be served immediately while still warm. It was ok with the pasta cold but I agree that it would probably be better all hot. And we definitely served it while the salmon was fresh off of the grill!

Baked Corn with Sour Cream

This is one of my absolute favorite side dishes. It is so good and fairly easy to make! It is always a big hit when I take it to gathering's and Jason always gets excited when I say that I'm making it! The only thing is that it doesn't make a ton so if you're planning on taking this for a pot luck or for a lot of people I'd double the recipe. The recipe says that is yields 8 servings but in my experience people take really large servings because it's so good! This is another recipe from Cotton Country.

Baked Corn with Sour Cream
Yields 8 servings

6 strips Bacon
2 T Chopped Onion
2 T Butter
2 T Flour
1/2 t Salt
1 c Sour Cream
2 12-ounce cans Shoe Peg Corn
1 T chopped parsley (optional)

1. Cook and crumble bacon.
2. Cook onion in butter, blend in flour and salt.
3. Add sour cream gradually, stirring to keep smooth.
4. Bring just to a boil and add corn. Cook until heated through.
5. Fold in half of bacon and pour in greased baking dish.
6. Garnish with parsley and remaining bacon.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Burgundy Pork Tenderloin

This is another guest post by my friend Brittanie! She sends me the yummiest recipes! Enjoy!

Burgundy Pork Tenderloin

2 lbs Pork Tenderloin (a pkg usually comes with two 1 lb tenderloins)
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Ground Black Pepper
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
Mushrooms, whatever kind you like, cut up how ever you like
2 cups Red Wine
1 (maybe 2 depending on if it thickens or not) packets dry Brown Gravy Mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place pork in a 9x13 inch baking dish, and sprinkle meat with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Top with onion and mushroom, and pour wine over all.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
4. When done baking, remove meat from baking dish and place on a serving platter. Pour gravy mix into baking dish with wine and cooking juices, and stir until thickened. Slice meat. And cover with gravy.

** Notes: When the meat was done I took it out of the baking dish and put it in some aluminum foil while I mixed the gravy. Then I cut up the meat and put it back in the baking dish. Also, I used two packets of gravy mix and it never thickened, I might not have done it right, but it was still really good!

Chicken Aloha

I'm actually using Cotton Country consistently for the first time in my married life instead of just making the recipes that my Mom has always made so this is another one from that great cookbook! Even though I'm not a big pineapple fan this was a good recipe that was also easy to bake. Just make sure and factor in the cook time! All of these one hour cook times leave us eating dinner rather late!

Chicken Aloha

1 Chicken Breast for each person

1 small bottle Ketchup

1 can Tomato Soup (or Tomato Paste)

1 Bell Pepper, chopped

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/3 Cup Vinegar

1 Teaspoon Dry Mustard

1 can Pineapple Chunks and Juice (I got a regular sized can since it just said "1 can")

1. Place chicken breasts in baking dish.

2. Mix remaining ingredients into sauce and pour over chicken.

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour covered. (In my gas over I only let it cook for 45 minutes covered)

4. Remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes.

5. Serve over rice.