Search Results for: Pulled pork

Simple Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

October 10, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 3 Comments

When I make pulled pork normally it’s a bit of a long, drawn out affair. I make up a rub, massage it all in and leave overnight to soak in. I then cook for at least 8 hours in a traditional oven before pulling.

It’s pretty amazing and I make it every few months or so.

I don’t always have the time or inclination for the fuss of proper pulled pork so I’ve created my own cheats version which also happens to be very budget friendly due to the cheap cut of meat and also the low energy from cooking via the slow cooker.

This simple pulled pork has only 5 ingredients, can be prepared in 5 minutes or less and popped into the slow cooker in the morning ready for dinner that evening. Oh and it tastes incredible.

Simple Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

You will need:

1 Pork Shoulder ( I used a 1kg shoulder from Aldi which cost just £2.89)
3 tbsp of dark brown sugar or molasses
2 tbsp of sweet smoked paprika
2 tbsp of mustard ( I used English)
1/2 tsp of Crushed black pepper
* Optional – 4 tbsp of your fave BBQ sauce – we love Newmans sticky hickory.

Prepare your pork shoulder by quickly removing the string, skin and fat and setting aside. Rub in your mustard, sugar, black pepper and paprika – get as much into the meat as you can.

Place in the slow cooker on high for 4hours then low for 5. You could just put on low for about 12 hours instead. Test your pork is ready by using a fork to pull some meat, if it comes away easily and is tender then it’s ready to pull. Drain the liquid into a jug then use two forks to pull the meat apart. Now you have two options, you can return some of the cooking liquid to the pot and mix in with the meat and serve which tastes fabulous or if you want more of a barbecue style taste you can add your BBQ sauce. Mix and replace lid, leave on low until ready to serve.

Notes:

You can use a larger piece of meat just adapt the cooking times and amounts of seasoning.

You do not need to add liquid. The meat will provide enough liquid.

There are lots of different ways you can serve pulled pork. To top an epic burger is a fave of ours but I do love it served simply in a fresh white bread roll. So good.

This serves 4 quite easily.

BBQ pulled pork

October 15, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 4 Comments

I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect pulled pork recipe for ages and I’ve scoured the web for one that sounds just right but couldn’t find what I wanted until a twitter friend ( @babberblog ) mentioned that he had a great recipe and very kindly agreed to email it to me. Fast forward about two weeks and we were on a few days break at an apartment in a holiday park in Woolacombe and I thought that it was the ideal time to try out this recipe.. The fact that I wouldn’t be paying for the 8 hours of slow cooking in a gas oven may have swayed that decision.

I bought all the required herbs and spices locally ( well the ones I didn’t already have) and then picked up a big pork shoulder in Tescos. We didn’t know where the nearest butchers was and I was convinced that a basic pork shoulder from Tesco wouldn’t be great but it really really was.

So anyway here are the ingredients you need, I’ll show you the ingredients listI was given then how I adapted it slightly to suit me:

Babberblogs pulled pork:

A big Pork shoulder
2 tbsp American Mustard
10 tbsp Dark brown sugar
10 tbsp white sugar
6 tbsp Paprika
3 tbsp Sea salt (coarse ground)
3 tbsp Garlic granules
2 tbsp Black pepper (freshly ground)
2 tbsp Ginger powder
2 tbsp Onion powder
2 tbsp Rosemary (ground)
2 tbsp Celery seeds (coarse ground)

My slightly adapted list:

Biggest pork shoulder Tescos had, it cost me just £4 ( not on offer)
2 tbsp Colmans English Mustard ( could not find American anywhere at the time)
8 tbsp Billingtons Molasses
8 tbsp white sugar
5tbsp Paprika
1tbsp smoked Paprika
2 tbsp standard sea salt
1 tbsp Maldon smoked sea salt
3 tbsp garlic granules
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
2 tbsp Rosemary
2 tbsp celery seeds
1/2 an onion chopped thickly

As you can see there are no massive changes, the mustard was substituted due to me not being able to find the American mustard. The salt, pepper and Paprika were substituted in some part due to personal taste as I love variety in my seasonings and also to encourage some smokiness and the chopped onion which I added just for the overnight marinade was because I forgot to get onion powder. The major change for me was swapping the brown sugar for molasses. Molasses are more expensive but the taste difference is incredible as well as creating a sticky BBQ sauce … Yum.

How to cook:

The night before you want to cook your pork mix all your dry ingredients into a bowl before rinsing the shoulder in cold water and removing the skin and trimming the fat down to a 1cm layer. Rub the mustard into your pork, massaging it in to every bit of the meat and leave to sit for 30 minutes. After the 30 mins has elapsed rub your dry mix into the meat. You may find there is too much mix for your meat depending on the size of the shoulder. I used it all! Wrap your meat in clingfilm or sit in a bowl and cover in clingfilm which is what I did and place in fridge.

The next day remove your meat from the fridge several hours before you want to cook it and allow to get to room temperature. Place in roasting tin and cook at 120C/gas mark 1/2 for 6 hours before double wrapping in foil and cooking for further two hours. Do not be tempted to check on your meat just leave until the time is up. After the 8 hours remove from oven and leave to sit in foil for 30 minutes as I think this will make it even more tender. Whilst you do this return your roasting tray to oven to warm up the sticky sauce at the bottom.

Open your foil return meat to the tray and tear apart with two forks stirring into the sticky sauce as you do. Serve immediately or cover in foil to keep warm.

I served mine in tortilla wraps with fresh green leafy salad and coleslaw and a teeny amount of Gefen BBQ sauce. There was no need for sauce really as it was very moisty and tasty. It was equally good the next day in rolls and even 2 days later when we gave some to Izzys grandparents to take home.

Definitely worth trying and thanks so much to Lewis @babberblog for sharing the recipe with me.

Let me know if you try this 🙂

Slow Cooker Lemon & Herb Soda Bread

March 25, 2017 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 4 Comments

I go through phases of slow cooking. I will use it every day for a week then I’ll pack it away and almost forget it’s there for a month or two. Typically I use my slow cooker for joints of meat or to make casseroles or pulled pork but I have made a few puddings in there such as my popular hot cross bun & butter pudding and this week I decided to try making slow cooker soda bread. Now if you are a regular reader you will know that I make soda bread fairly regularly, at least twice a month and I always have the staple ingredients in my cupboards. It is good to know I can make a loaf from scratch with minimal prep and have it on the table within the hour if I use my traditional oven method. I was curious as to how it would work in the slow cooker and if the taste and texture would compare so I had a bit of a bread day yesterday and made 3 loaves to test my recipe.

And it worked surprisingly well. The concerns I had were mainly that the texture wouldn’t be the same and that it wouldn’t get a crust, I’m happy to say I was wrong. The external appearance is slightly different to my oven baked loaves as it isn’t quite as golden brown but the actual crust and texture were pretty spot on. The great thing about soda bread is how much you can adapt it, you can add any types of herbs or seasonings, you could even try adding chocolate chips or raisins for a sweet take on it. For this loaf I chose to add lemon zest and dried thyme for a subtle but delicious flavour. I tried two different methods when making my loaves, for one loaf I used baking parchment to line my slow cooker dish and for the others I sprinkled the dish with flour and placed the dough straight in. The finished product was much the same with a slightly crispier base on the ones I baked without parchment but the loaf was far easier to remove when using the parchment.

Slow Cooker Lemon & Herb Soda Bread

You will need:

400g self raising flour

275ml buttermilk ( I make my own using normal semi skimmed milk and a tablespoon of lemon juice, leave to sit for 5 minutes before using)

1.5 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

1tbsp dried thyme

Zest of 1 lemon

Mix your flour , bicarb, lemon zest and herbs in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Make a well in the centre of your mixture and add your buttermilk, don’t add it all at once go slowly and mix until you form a slightly sticky dough – you may not need the whole 275ml of liquid. Tip dough onto a floured surface and knead very lightly until you get a rounded dough. Place carefully into slow cooker dish onto your parchment or a floured dish and score a cross into the dough, go quite deep when scoring but don’t cut all the way through.

Sprinkle with flour and place lid on slow cooker, cook on high for 2.5 hours, remove lid and cook for a further 10 minutes ( I found this avoided any slight sogginess on top ). Remove from slow cooker, leave to cool and enjoy slathered with butter. Soda bread does not stay fresh for long, it is best eaten the day its made although the next day it makes great croutons or toast.

And here is a quick close up peek of the actual texture and inside of the loaf, as you can see it is exactly as a normal loaf of soda bread would look.

What do you like to cook in your slow cooker? I often share slow cooker recipes on my Facebook page, you can check my page out here.

Feasting & Drinking At Camp Bestival 2016

August 1, 2016 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 6 Comments

I returned from a busy and rather tiring weekend at Camp Bestival in Dorset last night. As always one of the focal points of the festival for me was The Feast Collective. There was a spectacular array of food on offer and I indulged myself. The vibe around the Feast Collective tent was as always buzzing with the best tunes from DJ BBQ, the FC host. Here is a brief round up of the food and drink I enjoyed, keep an eye out for my full review coming up in the next few weeks.

Low and slow from DJ BBQ and crew.. I really enjoyed the Piggyback: a pulled pork cheeseburger. Too good. As a real food lover it was fascinating to be able to watch and smell the smoking and cooking process.

Loaded fries from The Lem Lem Kitchen, a delicious combo of fries, spicy beef, garlic mayo and jalapeños.

The girls loved fruit lollies from Polar Pops especially The Little Red Pop.

Incredible chicken rendang from Makatcha

Churros from The Chocolate Bear Kitchen, gluten free as well as vegan.

The best buttermilk chicken I have ever tried from Butchies.

Onto the drink. This year there was a special experience from Brancott Estate which I really enjoyed with the first ever Virtual Reality trip to New Zealand to discover the history of Brancott. You could feel the breeze, smell the wine and see the fruits and vegetables rolling through the air in front of you – it was hard to stop myself reaching out. I cannot quite explain what an enjoyable and truly interesting experience it was – I urge you to try it if you see them at any other festivals. The wine I sampled throughout the weekend along with the friendly and extremely knowledgable staff ( special shout out to Pedro ) made for an enjoyable time.

What really impressed me this year was the vast array of food on offer which was suitable for people with allergies. I always worry at festivals or generally on holiday that we won’t be able to find food for my youngest child Chloe who is gluten, dairy and soya free as well as bananas but we found so many dishes for her to try including some rather awesome churros from the inclusive eatery The Chocolate Bear Kitchen. To see her face light up with pleasure at being able to eat the same food as the rest of us was particularly enjoyable for me as a parent.

I am an ambassador for Camp Bestival and as such my tickets and some of the meals were included for the purpose of a review.

Father’s Day Gift Guide 2016

May 24, 2016 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

Wow the last year seems to have come around a little too speedily for my liking! It seems like only a few months since I wrote my gift guide for 2015 yet here we are again a full 12 months later.

I do think that as as time goes on we do seem to find cause for commercialism and unnecessary present giving at many times throughout the year but I have always enjoyed both Mothering Sunday and Father’s Day. When I was a child I loved creating a special gift or saving my pennies up for my mam or dads favourite sweets. Now I am a mother these days are even more important to me. I see how incredibly hard the job of a parent is and I know how lucky I am to have parents who take that job seriously, I get to see my Dad playing with my own children, making them laugh and giving them treats – its a special time. I also see what a great Dad my children have playing with them, loving them and being the strong, caring parent they need him to be.

Anyway we all know the gift isn’t the most important part of the day, making your parent or partner a cup of tea or coffee in bed, letting them have that extra 30 mins snooze. Helping your child create cards to give or choosing special words to write in cards to your own parents. I think we need to continuously remind ourselves to show our thanks all year around but having one day just to focus on them and their role as parents is a great idea and one we embrace as a family.

If you are stuck for ideas on what to get for the men in your life, read on…

Foodie Gifts:

OXO have lots of cool products for kitchen gadgets or BBQ tools including these Meat Shredding Claws that are perfect for making brisket or pulled pork:

These OXO tongs are great for both kitchen and BBQ’s, we used ours on a recent camping trip:

Homesense UK have so many cool food and drink products, I have made small hampers for both my other half and father in law from some of the cool sauces and oils in there, they both love to cook ( and eat ) so I can sometimes combine that with a cool kitchen tool or dish to accompany it. They also sell some really lovely coffees, so pick up a cafetiere, a cool mug and a special blend and its the perfect gift! They have a really wide range of other products too from garden to homeware so if you only want to hit one shop to buy for a few different people its the perfect place to go.

Other Gift Ideas:

You will know I am a fan of the Lumie Bodyclocks, I use my Lumie Clock Elite every day and I recommend them to everyone I know! The Lumie Bodyclock ACTIVE 250 is a great present for Dads who need help with their sleep patterns, for sports training and much more.

Braun have also got some great grooming gifts and this year I recommend the Braun Multi Groomer its an all in one shaver, styler and trimmer so ideal for all the hipster Dads.

Eco Vessel have a really cool double insulated mug which keeps coffee hot or beer cold – your choice!!?

I love this Beer and sock set from Shock Top Beer too:

Tesco have teamed up with The Neales to launch a touching charity single, ‘I’ll be there’ is a brand new song by the father and sons group, available in a specially designed sleeve, so people can show their dad the love and appreciation he deserves and support a great cause too. All proceeds will go to The British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK, charities that are focused on diseases that affect many dads across Britain, so every purchase of the single helps ensure dads can enjoy Father’s Day for years to come. It can be purchased instore or via iTunes.

If all else fails and you forget to buy a gift.. give the gift of home baking! Why not try my Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake?

* Some items were gifted for the purpose of this feature.

Slow Cooker Recipes For Summer

April 29, 2016 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 6 Comments

There was a time when I believed my slow cooker was only to be used to create comfort food in the Autumn throughout to Winter months. It was all stews and casseroles but how times have changed! I use mine at least once a week to create dishes or to slow cook hunks of meat or whole chickens but I have used it for puddings and cakes too. Now that Summer is nearly here its time to try out some new dishes. I’ve collected a selection of recipes from my fellow food bloggers as well as one or two of my own:

Starting with Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken from the Hungry Healthy Happy blog

Next up is this Lemon & Herb Chicken With Asparagus from the Queen of slow cooking Bakingqueen74:

Another Lemon based dish, my Lemon, Honey, Garlic and Rosemary Chicken:

Fed up of Pulled Pork? Try this Pulled Lamb In White Wine from FabFood4All.

This Pork Meatballs in Tomato Sauce recipe from Lovely Appetite looks delicious:

Slow Cooker Allspice, Lemon and Orange Chicken from Recipes From A Pantry:

BBQ Chicken Thighs from me!

Slow Cooker Lamb Ras El Hangout from Farmers Girl Kitchen:

Finally this Veggie Stew With Mushroom Dumplings from Tin & Thyme:

8 Slow Cooker Meals You Need To Try

November 1, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 5 Comments

How often do you use your Slow Cooker? Is it one of your most used gadgets or gathering dust in your cupboard? I use mine at least once a week and I’ve got lots of recipes I make on a regular basis. Here I share with you some brilliant slow cooker recipes from fellow bloggers and one or two of mine too:

You can’t beat a warming stew and this beef & chorizo stew will certainly hit the spot:

How about some delicious Balsamic Chicken:

Or this Ox Cheek Ragu:

Spice up your dinner with this Lamb Shank Rogan Josh:

This is one of my recipes for the simplest Pulled Pork which is also incredibly tasty:

This is one I really want to try, Beef Brisket. Doesn’t it look amazing?

Or for a twist try this Yellow Chilli Brisket instead:

Is your household full of coughs and colds? I know we are. Try my chicken noodle soup, it may not be a cure but it definitely helps me feel better:

There are also a whole host of other dishes you can make, for example did you know you could make jacket potatoes in they slow cooker?

More Slow Cooker posts coming up including desserts and even homemade Christmas gifts.

The Feast Collective & An Interview With DJ BBQ

July 15, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 4 Comments

The Feast Collective is my very favourite part of Camp Bestival. Mr Tumble may be my childrens favourite but the Feast Collective is without a doubt mine.

This years Feast Collective is shaping up to be an amazing culinary delight. DJ BBQ will be running the show. DJ BBQ is one of the Jamie Oliver FoodTube presenters as well as an awesome DJ. He will be telling you all about what’s on offer and mixing up some fabulous tunes for you to enjoy your dinner to.

This years offerings come from:

Biblos
The Cake Shop Bakery
The Cauldron
Dorshi
Happy Maki
Korrito
Le Rac Shack
Milgi
Seadog
Shrimpy
The Thoroughly Wild Meat Co
Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen

Plus much more..

Some food I tried at last years Feast Collective

Now let’s find out a little bit more from DJ BBQ shall we?

1.First of all, a question you have probably been asked a million times.. Why the spandex? Not that we don’t love it of course 😉

Well, I like to show off and it came from my DJ’n gigs. I would do multiple costume changes during my sets like Beyonce would do during a live show. I think a lot of DJ’s are boring to watch behind the decks so I wanted to give the crowd a bit more of a performance. Plus, I’m crap at mixing records so it is a distraction technique. hahaha.

2.What is your crowd pleaser dish?

It’s gotta be our 21 hour smoked pulled pork on Wild Cherry, Sweet Chestnut, and Oak. Our burgers are pretty special as well. We’ll be doing a blend of flank, brisket, and chuck at Camp Bestival as well as rad babe and dude(kid) burgers.

3.What do you enjoy most about cooking at festivals?

I like talking to the people and playing fun party tunes. We spin lots of vinyl at Camp Bestival which goes down well. Watching parents drag their kids over to show them the record and saying, “this is what we use to listen to when we were young!” The kids just looking confused as they normally don’t understand the process of a needle on a record. I also love serving up the best pulled pork in Europe.

4.It’s clear that you enjoy what you do with regards to both food and music. Did you imagine 10 years ago that you would be cooking up meat for thousands and entertaining many more in your spandex suit?

I had the epiphany at RockNess on the banks of Lochness about 8 years ago. I wanted to create a destination where people could eat and party. This is why I love the Feast collective. We have the best area of the entire Camp Bestival.

5.Is there one recipe in your book that people have to try?

My Dad’s Iowa flank steak recipe. So easy and tasty. Plus my kick ass fish tacos are to die for.

6.What is your earliest food memory?

I remember going fishing on the atlantic ocean with my grandaddy and catchin loads of croakers and spots. We’d spend hours cleaning about 100-200 fish. Bringing them home for grandma to cook up a fish fry. She’d coat them in corn meal and fry em up in a cast iron skillet. Soooo good. She served this bread called Spoon Bread that i’m currently trying to recreate. I also remember shucking corn with my Dad by the grill. He’s from Iowa and they eat a lot of corn.

7.Tell us something not many people know about you?

I have eight nipples. How cool would that be. Hmmmm. I used to make snowboarding movies for a living in the 90’s. We lived in an old school american school bus and travelled the planet making movies. I also delivered my third son on the living room floor with the help of my neighbor, Clare. The 999 lady helped on the phone as well.

8.In your time as DJ BBQ what has been your favourite event/festival?

When Rob Da Bank came over to our set up on the Saturday and saying, “I heard you had THE best soundsystem rocking last night of my entire festival.” YUP! we did.

9.Is there any band/artist you are excited to see at Camp Bestival 2015?

I haven’t seen the lineup yet. I just like listening to our crew of DJ’s. We easily have the best vinyl Dj in Europe. Neal Birnie, Everything is Everything.

10. And finally what will you be feeding us at CB?

We will be serving the world’s best smoked pulled pork and amazing burgers. Kids sizes and adult sizes and Giant sizes with the Ultimate Piggyback.
We may also be bringing over some German Bockwurst from the Black Forest courtesy of Herman ze German. We’ll also have merch and my book for sale as well. More than happy to sign it.

Me and DJ BBQ at last years festival:

Thanks to Christian Stevenson aka DJ BBQ for chatting to us and watch out for my post tomorrow sharing two of his fantastic recipes.

Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

August 26, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 2 Comments

I was very much a believer that Slow Cookers were just for casseroles, stews and curries until a few months ago. I made lasagne in mine and realised it can be adapted for most things.

I’ve tried joints of meat, pulled pork and various other dishes.

Last night I made the most beautiful whole chicken so I thought I would share with you how I did it.

You will need:

1 small whole chicken
2 banana shallots sliced in half
1 carrot cut into long strips
1 large potato diced
Fresh herbs – I used thyme and rosemary ( no need to chop)
1 clove of black garlic
1 chicken stock cube
1/2 lemon
100 ml or so of boiling water
1tso of olive oil

Turn your slow cooker on high. Place the oil, herbs, garlic and veg in the bottom of slow cooker. Now add your stock cube and water. Prepare your chicken by placing 1/2 a lemon in the cavity and sprinkling a little black pepper over it and place breast down on top of your veg. Put the lid on and leave for about 4 & 1/2 – 5 &1/2 hours depending on your slow cooker. Check that your chicken is cooked. I used a meat probe just to be sure. Preheat your oven to the highest setting and then pop into a baking dish with all of your veg leaving the herbs and stock in the slow cooker. Cook for about 15 minutes until your chicken looks as good as it smells. Pull out and rest for at least 10 minutes.

Now take your stock out of the slow cooker using a sieve and pouring into a jug or bowl. Discard your herbs and let stock cool to room temp before putting in the fridge or freezer. You could use your stock immediately to make gravy if you wanted but I fancied my chicken with sautéed potatoes and asparagus instead of in a traditional dinner so I’m planning to use my stock for another meal.

I’m feeling a little addicted to slow cooking at the moment so expect lots more recipes over the coming months.

What’s your favourite slow cooker recipe?

A Serious Food Blogger?

April 24, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

Are you a serious food blogger?

Am I?

Apparently not. To be a serious food blogger you have to blog only about food. Just food. All the live long day.

I blog about other things, inbetween copious posts about food festivals, restaurant reviews, recipes, meal plans..waffling about food..and waffles. But I’m not a serious food blogger. Or so I’ve been told.

I was annoyed by this. I still am. This blog was born out of a love for food and my family but without the food but I probably wouldn’t have started it. I used to tweet photos of my meals ( we all do it ) and recipe ideas to my small but loyal group of twitter followers and people started to suggest that I write my recipes up in a blog. That was one of the reasons I began.

Two years on and I still get a thrill when I write about food, or when someone tells me they followed one of my recipes and it was successful. Or when twitter followers tell me that one of my recipes is now their families favourite meal – that’s you Amanda. I get samples of amazing products, invites to events and I get to write about my favourite topic. Plus I’m now an official blogger for the BBC Good Food Show – how cool is that?

Just because I don’t write purely about one subject doesn’t mean that it’s not hugely important to me. Because it is. It really is.

Sad as it may sound to some of you I am a complete and utter food nerd. I love food. I could spend hours, days..weeks discussing the best way to cook pulled pork or how I get my cakes to rise. I will however at some point in between tell you all about my amazing family because I love them too. In fact I love them more. YES more than food. Madness I tell you.

I may also blather about things like breastfeeding and music festivals because I’m passionate about them.

If any of it doesn’t interest you then please just move onto the next post which I do hope does interest you!

So there it is. I’m a super serious Food Blogger. I don’t care who knows it.

End of rant.

Search Results for: Pulled pork

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