Slow Cooker Ribs

To get you prepared for Memorial day we are posting some classic American meals this week! First up: ribs.

You might say to yourself, “Okay D&E were still in college, how the heck can we afford to buy ribs let alone wait around 8 hours for it to cook?!” Granted this is what Erica thought after Declan came home from grocery shopping all by himself with a large rack of ribs. Nevertheless, Declan insisted that he had a plan (he didn’t at the time but would later Google “what to do with ribs?”)

Enough with the anecdote, we found an insanely easy slow cooker recipe for ribs. As you can see in the recipe below we kept it really simple – just a few spices for the dry rub and then our favorite BBQ sauce. Feel free to doctor it up. And if you have any great tips please share them!

Oh and did we mention these ribs cost $10? That’s half of what you would pay at a restaurant!

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Honestly, it’s like magic: Put stuff in slow cooker, wait, eat delicious ribs.

• Servings – 3 to 4
• Prep time – 10 minutes
• Cook time – 8 hours

Ingredients

• 3 pound rack of ribs
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• Garlic powder
• 12 ounces of your favorite BBQ sauce

Protocol

1. Cut your rack of ribs in half so that they will easily fit into your slow cooker.

2. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder (we didn’t measure, instead we just eyeballed it).

3. Place the ribs in the slow cooker (we placed ours one on top of the other)  and douse with the BBQ sauce.

4. Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours.

5. Serve with some mac and cheese and enjoy!

-D&E

Chicken Mole

Whew. Between graduating, packing, moving across town, unpacking, and Erica starting a new job, we’ve been pretty busy. Taking time to cook has been our goal the last few days (we just moved on Saturday and have been slowly unpacking into our slightly smaller kitchen) and we finally succeeded!

Now, being super hungry and not very patient, we apologize for the pictures – if and when we make this again, we’ll be sure to post some better ones 🙂 It was just so good we had to share it with you!

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Did you know that at any minute you are only 15 minutes away from a delicious, authentic Mexican dish?

• Servings – 3 to 4
• Prep time – 5 minutes
• Cook time – 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 small bell pepper, chopped small (any color; or any other vegetable you want!)
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1.5 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• Sprinkle of cinnamon (eyeball this – maybe around 1/4 teaspoon?)
• 1 can condensed tomato soup (what we had, we’re sure tomato sauce would work too, it just won’t be as thick)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Protocol

1. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a small skillet and saute the bell pepper (or whatever veggie) until tender. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan, saute the onion in some olive oil for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook until the onion is translucent.

3. Stir in the tomato soup, cocoa, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, and chili powder. Taste and add any salt, pepper, and/or more spice if needed. Heat over medium-low until simmering.

4. Stir in the pepper and shredded chicken. If the sauce is too thick, stir in a tablespoon or so of water until it reaches the desired thickness. Heat until everything is combined and heated through.

5. Lastly, stir in the cilantro right before serving. Serve in tortillas or over rice, and enjoy!

-D&E

P.S. Happy 18th birthday to Erica’s favoritest brother, Zack!!

Herbed Pork Tenderloin

Oh hello there! Miss us? Sorry we haven’t posted in 2 weeks; last week was our birthday week so we decided to take a break and this week we have been incredibly busy – registering our car in Pennsylvania (yes, Erica is an official PA resident now!) and figuring out our moving situation (two weeks until we move away from campus to a cute Pittsburgh suburb!). Finally, Erica had a couple tests to study for.

Alright, enough whining. Declan went grocery shopping this week, by himself, without a list. Usually this turns out to be a disaster, however something caught his eye that he couldn’t resist to buy – a $5 pork tenderloin. We’ve never cooked pork tenderloin before but it was cheap and a whole pound so Declan picked it up. We did some research and found some good recipes but ended up making up our own. So here it is kids…

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Where is the tenderloin again? Is that near the axilla?

• Servings – 2
• Prep time – 10 minutes
• Cook time – 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound pork tenderloin patted dry
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 small onion, finely minced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Protocol

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.

2. In a shallow plate, mix together all of the ingredients above except for the pork.

3. Roll the pork in the rub making sure to cover the entire surface.

4. Transfer the pork into a baking dish and roast in the oven for 40 minutes or until the meat reaches 145F (you might want to check around 30-35 min or so).

5. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

6. Serve and enjoy!

-D&E

P.S. Today is Erica’s last class as an undergrad!

Best Cinnamon Toast Ever

So not to simply post everything that’s popular on Pinterest, but this recipe deserves the attention – Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Toast. We never knew we were making cinnamon toast the wrong way our whole lives!!! Pioneer Woman is truly an American hero for opening up our eyes to the real way to make this – so thank you!

Obviously this is supposed to be a breakfast recipe, but we decided to try it out late Monday night. We normally read together every night before bed (you probably either find this cute or weird) and our latest read has been the entire Chronicles of Narnia series. We’re about halfway through – on Book 4: Prince Caspian. Erica grew up on the books so it’s fun to read them together now, 15 years later! Anyway, we wanted a snack and figured what’s better than delicious cinnamon toast late at night? Nothing, except maybe some of Declan’s mom’s cake.

You probably have all of the these ingredients already – so do yourself a favor and make this right now. For whatever meal you happen to be needing: breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack!

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Old dogs can learn new tricks – if the trick is how to make a better cinnamon toast!

• Servings – As many as you want
• Prep time – 5 minutes
• Cook time – 12 minutes

Ingredients

• Butter, softened
• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Vanilla extract
• Bread

Protocol

1. Preheat your oven (or toaster oven!) to 350F.

2. If you need to soften your butter, microwave it for 10-15 seconds but make sure it’s not melty. We used about 1/2 stick (4 tbls) for 5 pieces of bread.

3. Add your cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla (start out with only a few drops) to taste. Use a fork to mash everything together until consistent.

4. Spread the butter mixture onto the pieces of bread and go out all the way to the edges so the bread won’t burn. Place the slices on a foil-lined baking sheet for easy clean-up (particularly useful late when midnight snacking).

5. Bake in the 350F oven for 10 minutes.

6. Switch the oven to broil after the 10 minutes and place the toast under the broiler for 1-2 minutes.  The toast will go very fast, so don’t leave the oven now!

7. Once the top is nice and brown and bubbly, remove from oven. Slice and enjoy!

-D&E

Gnocchi in a Browned Butter Sage Sauce

Need dinner in fifteen minutes? Need to impress someone? Just want something different than the pasta and marinara you make all the time? This recipe is awesomely yummy and can be finished in no time at all! Browned butter is nutty and complements the gnocchi well.

We love sage, but any dried herb would do well here – whatever you have on hand. If you don’t have dried sage but aren’t sure if it’s worth buying, it is delicious on any kind of chicken or pork! If you’re like us and love gnocchi too, try our other recipe – Sweet Creamy Gnocchi.

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How can something this tasty take 15 minutes to make?

• Servings – 2 large
• Prep time – None
• Cook time – 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb gnocchi (tri-colored look extra pretty!)
• 6 tablespoons butter (3/4 stick)
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• Sprinkle of salt and pepper

Protocol

1. Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil.

2. Melt the butter (it goes faster if it’s sliced) over medium heat.  Keep stirring the butter over the heat as it goes through three stages – melted and kind of foamy, no more foam, and finally turning golden brown in color. It’s important that you keep an eye on it so it doesn’t overcook! It goes from brown to black quickly.

3. As soon as you see the golden brown color, remove from heat and pour into a bowl to stop the cooking process. Stir in your teaspoon of sage.

4. By now the the water should be boiling, so add your gnocchi to the pot. Cook according to the instructions on the packaging; most gnocchi take 2-3 minutes to cook.

5. Drain the gnocchi and return to the pot.  Add your butter and sage sauce and taste.  Add any salt and pepper (if you used salted butter you most likely won’t need any additional salt).

6. Serve and enjoy!

-D&E

Spicy Thai Noodles

Today is the first recipe post of 2013 for Cooking in College! It feels good to be back from our honeymoon and transitioning into our daily routines. Our roommate Karin graduated in December and moved out so it is just us two with our cats Rory and Cici. We are really married now!

One thing we missed on our trip was the ability to cook. We did have a kitchen but we were out exploring every day so we didn’t use it. When we got back, the first thing we made was this really easy spicy Thai noodles. It was nice getting back in the kitchen!

This recipe calls for toasted sesame seeds. You can easily make these by, wait for it, toasting some sesame seeds in a pan over medium-low heat for 4 to 5 minutes (just make sure to stir or swirl the pan occasionally). This was totally worth it!

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Fun fact, in Ireland they call “take-out” “take-away.” We are so cultured now.

• Servings – 4
• Prep time – 5 minutes
• Cook time – 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 box Linguine
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (add more for a kick!)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sesame oil
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 6 tablespoons soy sauce

Toppings:

• 1/3 cup toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 chopped green onions
• 2 carrots peeled and shredded
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Protocol

1. Boil the pasta. Once finished, drain and place into a large bowl.

2. In a sauce pan, heat the vegetable oil and sesame oil. Add in the pepper flakes and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.

3. Strain out the pepper flakes and reserve the oil. Whisk in the honey and soy sauce into the oil.

4. Toss the noodles in the sauce until well coated.

5. Add on the toppings, serve and enjoy!

-D&E

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

So we wanted to fit one post in this week to help you guys out with Thanksgiving. If you are totally out of side dish ideas for tomorrow we have a really easy and tasty one here for you – Brussels Sprouts with Bacon! You might be thinking “Who ever eats Brussels sprouts?” and you probably have a good reason to think that. However, before this recipe Erica thought she didn’t like Brussels sprouts but changed her mind after her second helping of this dish! Bacon can do magical things. Now hurry up and get to a grocery store before tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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They’re magically delicious!

• Servings – 4 to 6
• Prep time – 15 minutes
• Cook time – 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds of Brussels sprouts
• 8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

Protocol

1. Cut an “X” into the stem of each Brussels sprout. Set aside.

2. In a large pot, melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté the garlic for 3 minutes over medium heat.

3. Add in the Brussels sprouts into the pot and toss to evenly coat.

4. Add in the chicken broth and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer for 12 to 15 minutes until Brussels sprouts are nice and tender.

5. Drain the liquid and mix in the other 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the bacon crumbles and mix all together.

6. Serve and enjoy!

-D&E