Fall-off-the-Bone Pork Steaks

Fall-off-the-Bone Pork Steaks -- essentially a 5-ingredient meal prepared in the slow cooker
Fall-off-the-bone tender, mouth-watering flavor and an aroma that made our house smell wonderful—this is definitely an easy one-pot meal that I'll make again! It is more of a technique than a specific recipe so I've written the directions in a conversational manner versus the usual recipe format
Even in the midst of stay-at-home COVID-19 orders, I needed a no-fuss evening meal as I had multiple Zoom meetings and several deadlines. So, I thought of the pork steaks that Barry purchased last week when they were on sale. We re-wrapped them so each was in it's own individual bag and put them in the freezer. I just grabbed a couple and without much thought and few expectations, I threw them into the slow cooker. They were so good (and easy) that I decided to create a post. These are the conversational directions . . .

1. Place 2 pork steaks (frozen or thawed) side-by-side in an oval slow cooker. They could also be stacked if you are doing more than two.
2. Sprinkle most of a 1 oz. envelope of Dry Onion Soup Mix over the steaks. Amount can vary according to  preference and number of steaks.
3. Add enough chicken or pork broth or stock to almost cover steaks.
4. Set on HIGH for a couple of hours or until steak becomes tender, then turn to LOW. 
5. About 1 or 1 1/2 hours before ready to eat, add carrots and potatoes; season with salt & pepper. Add a cornstarch slurry and set on HIGH to finish cooking. I used carrot strips and smaller potato chunks so the veggies would cook in the time I allowed. To make a cornstarch slurry: Mix about 1 or 2 Tbsp. cornstarch with 2 to 3 Tbsp. of water.

   

   Above - Vegetables have been added to the pork steak.
   Below: Then a slurry was added and all the ingredients cooked on HIGH for another hour. 

   

The result was fall-on-the-bone tender pork steak that was packed with flavor and aroma . . .

MAKING THE MOST OF LEFTOVERS! Beef Stew with Homemade Dumplings

Monday’s Pot Roast becomes Tuesday’s Beef Stew with Homemade Dumplings. Here’s what happened . . .

BEEF STEW — Monday’s dinner of Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker, complete with veggies, became Tuesday’s Beef Stew. It was easy  . . . after cooling the roast, I cut up the beef and veggies into bite-size pieces before putting them in the refrigerator. Tuesday evening I reheated the roast and veggies in a stockpot on top of the stove, adding additional water (could use broth) to create a stew-like consistency.

DUMPLING — I simply pulled out my homemade Basic Baking Mix and stirred up the mix with milk . . . creating dumplings in a matter of minutes. Check out the recipe that follows.

Dumplings

4 medium dumplings

1 cup Baking Mix  

¼ cup milk

Chopped parsley for garnish, if desired

12 medium dumplings

3 cups Baking Mix  

3/4 cup milk

Chopped parsley for garnish, if desired

Stove-top Method

1.  Add milk to the Mix all at once, stirring about 30 strokes.

2.  Drop by tablespoon on top of boiling stew. Add chopped parsley for garnish if desired.

3.  Cover and boil gently 12 minutes without removing cover.

Oven Method — Prepare as in step #1 & 2 above. Cover and place in hot oven (425° to 450°) about 20 minutes.

 Also, please check out our MIXES and MORE tab at the top of the page.

Cooking for Two – Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker

    Chuck roast was on sale last week so I bought one  -- thinking I would cut it in half for two separate meals.

     Meal one involved a pot roast with potatoes and carrots. Barry’s sister seasons her roast with a package of dry soup mix, which is a quick way to add loads of flavor and creates a very fragrant aroma as it cooks. I adapted her recipe to the slow cooker. Amounts are variable depending on whether you are cooking for two or ten.

     As I remember Lorraine (Barry’s sister) omitted the dredging and browning of the roast and just stuck it in the oven with water and the soup mix. And, I used to do the same when I had less time to spend in the kitchen. However, now I have the time so added the dredging step as it imparts even more flavor. Besides, the flour on the meat (and the extra I mixed in with the water) creates it’s own gravy as your meal cooks.

Pot Roast

I cut the roast in half for us; one piece
went into the slow cooker, the other was
cut up for stew meat.

Chuck Roast

All-purpose flour seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika

Oil (we prefer olive)

1 oz. pkg. of onion soup mix (I used about ¾ of a pkg. for a small roast so increase according for the size of your roast and your taste buds)

Optional seasonings: bay leaf, rosemary sprigs

Water (I used about 1½ - 2 cups for a small roast)

Potatoes, peeled and quartered

Carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

Additional salt and pepper if needed

1.     Dredge (coat) roast in seasoned flour.

2.     Drizzle oil in skillet and heat until hot (medium to medium-high temperature). Add the dredged meat and sear on both sides.

3.     Meanwhile, add a few tablespoons of remaining flour (that was used for dredging) and the soup mix to slow cooker; gradually whisk in water (to avoid lumping). Add additional seasonings of your choice, if desired.

4.     Add seared and browned meat. Set slow cooker on high and cook for a few hours; then add veggies about mid-afternoon; add additional salt and pepper if needed – I turned the slow cooker to the automatic setting at this point. (During my teaching days, I added the meat and veggies to the slow cooker in the morning – set on low.) Add additional water or even broth if needed.

Despite cooking just a small roast, we ended up with leftovers. Hot roast beef sandwiches are good, but we opted for Beef Hash w/ Poached Eggs. Barry simply cut up the remaining roast, potatoes and carrots and sautéed them in a skillet with a little olive oil. He threw in a little frozen corn (peas are good, too) and the leftover gravy and then added a poached egg and some chopped parsley for a delicious supper dish (also great for breakfast) . . . and a wonderful way to recycle last night’s meal.

Even though this half of the roast made two meals, we still have the other half to use. I have a recipe in mind so check back later for Beef Stew over Polenta.