Crockpot Korean Beef: For tacos, banh mi or rice bowls

Here in the West, Korean cuisine is known mostly for its beef dishes like bulgogi or galbi. Now, that's probably short-changing the breadth of Korean fare, since there are plenty of Korean dishes that make brilliant use of vegetables. At the same time, it seems Korean cooks know how to make the most of even the most affordable cuts of meat.

This recipe was inspired by the notion that you can always do more with less, especially when a delicious marinade is involved.

If you’ve never experienced the sweet-salty, gingery flavor of slow cooked Korean beef, this is your lucky day. This easy crockpot version is the perfect solution for easy weeknight dinners or leisurely weekend fare. The marinade uses ingredients that you probably already have on hand, 

Pair this flavorful shredded beef with kimchi or slaw for Korean tacos. Make homemade banh mi sandwiches. Or, for a quick weeknight dinner, serve it over rice with sauteed spinach, shredded carrots, scallions, and sliced cucumbers for a Korean beef rice bowl.

Crockpot Korean Beef

©BURP!

Slow Cooker Bolognese: For those busier than average weeknights

Despite the supposed arrival of spring, it's been rainy and cool here in Wisconsin.  And we've been busier than ever.

In addition to the food and dining writing I've been doing for OnMilwaukee.com, I also recently took a spot on the editorial panel for Edible Milwaukee magazine, which is launching here in Milwaukee in May. So, we've volunteered to spearhead the planning for a fund-raising gala to celebrate the release of the first issue of the magazine.  Needless to say, we've been up to our elbows making requests for silent auction donations and working with the chefs from Milwaukee Food for Thought, an amazing group of community-minded chefs, to make sure the event is as awesome as we envision it will be in our heads.

We've also been busy with our MKEfoodies group, which has really taken off in the past year. We just pulled together our first ever Milwaukee Food Swap, which took place on April 14th (and was an amazing amount of fun).  And we're currently planning our second annual Walker's Point Food Crawl, which will take place on June 1, 2013. So, we've been writing up press releases, chatting up area restaurants, and trying to think of ways to make this year's event even bigger and better than ever.

So, we haven't had much time for cooking. What that means is, we've had to get kind of clever about our planning to ensure that we're still eating as healthfully as possible. In part, that means we've been relying on our trusty crockpot to do some of the work for us.

Fortunately, some recipes are just MADE for the crockpot. And this is one of them: old fashioned long-simmering bolognese sauce. 

You’ve heard the legends of long-simmered Bolognese made by Italian grandmothers of old. And you've probably also seen the recipes that claim to give you a quick alternative to this classic sauce.

Well, the quick recipes are a joke.  And the legends are true. Slow cooking makes any Bolognese better. Fortunately, this version makes use of the crockpot so you needn’t sit home all day waiting for your sauce to reduce.

But, don’t scrimp on the details. A half-hour of prep work gives you at least ten hours to take it easy as your sauce cooks. And it makes enough for multiple meals or one feast for a small army... oh, and it freezes well, to boot!

You will need at least a 6 1/2 quart sized crockpot for this recipe (alternatively, split up the amount between two smaller crockpots). Because steam rises from the sauce as it cooks, it’s best to place the slow cooker on a counter with no cabinetry overhead.  

Rustic Crockpot Bolognese Sauce

©BURP!

The Best of Burp! 2012

 Difficult to believe we're coming to the end of another great year. As it gets to be this time, we always find ourselves looking back, reflecting, and planning for what's ahead -- and that includes a whole new look for 2013. We've been working with a friend and very talented graphic designer, Noel Tanner, to revamp our logo and give the site a bit of a new look in 2013.  If you want a preview, check out our new icon on Facebook. Otherwise, just stay tuned.

In the meantime, we'd like to thank you for your readership, your comments, and your feedback. Burp! wouldn't couldn't exist without you!

As a thanks to all of you, we figured we'd share the top 12 posts on Burp! from 2012 (in order of popularity) ... just in case you missed them.

Top 12 Posts of 2012
These are in order of popularity, # 1 being the most popular post.

1. Crockpot Turkey Meatloaf and Lessons Learned
2. Sweet and Spicy Butter Roasted Chickpeas
3. Roasted Radishes with Tarragon Butter
4. Kicking off Grilled Cheese Month: Melthouse Bistro
5. St. Patrick's Day Recipes
6. No Fuss Spiral Sliced Ham with Pineapple Chutney
7. Coffee Rubbed Ribeye with Chipotle Butter
8. Wonton Crisps - Four Ways
9. Roasted Cauliflower with Rosemary Browned Butter
10. Uses for Sumac: Za'atar Potatoes
11. Easy Baked Chimichangas
12. Creamed Celeriac Soup with Potatoes, Sausage, and Kale 
    

Share in the Comments

As always, we're always listening and open to your feedback.  What was YOUR favorite post? What would you like to see more of in 2013?

©BURP! 

Imagine Autumn: Crockpot Pork Roast with Melted Apples

 Imagine a pork roast so tender it shreds with the tap of a fork, its aroma redolent of sweet apples and woodsy herbs, and its meat so succulent that it takes your breath away. 

This is that roast.

It starts where most good roast recipe begin - with a good quality pork shoulder, preferably procured from a trusted butcher.  In this case, it was a beautifully marbled roast from a local farm that we pulled out of the freezer and thawed.

The thawed roast spent the night marinating in a mixture of herbs de Provence and garlic before undergoing a quick sear in melted butter, a nice deglaze with white wine, and a day-long braise in the crockpot with some sliced apples and onions.

You can probably imagine the smell emanating from the crockpot as the roast cooks -- the perfume of the apples and herbs swirling about the kitchen, augmented by the savory richness of the pork and garlic.

You can probably imagine the flavor of the savory apple and onion laden sauce that tastes just perfect adorning the meat, but also somehow melts seamlessly into that pile of buttery mashed potatoes you've placed alongside.

But, you probably can’t imagine an easier or more delicious autumn dinner for even the  busiest of weeknights.  So, try it out and enjoy.

Crockpot Pork Roast with Melted Apples

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Crockpot Turkey Meatloaf and Lessons Learned

 This isn't the first time that we've admitted to you that, sometimes, recipes don't turn out exactly the way we'd hoped.  And, undoubtedly, it won't be the last.  After all, we feel pretty strongly that blogging isn't only about sharing the wins and making yourself look like an all-star culinary genius. Sometimes, it's more about sharing the journey. And about all the things we've learned along the way.

So, today, let's talk meatloaf.

This was our first attempt at crockpot meatloaf. And it's not likely to be our last.  But, if we attempt this recipe again, there will definitely be some tweaking.

First, some great things about this recipe.  We managed to create a deliciously tender loaf using only ground turkey -- not a small feat, if you've ever made turkey meatloaf before. The trick, add a grated apple to the filling.

We also learned a great new aluminum foil trick to make it easier to remove a crockpot meatloaf from your slow cooker.  A few strips of strategically placed foil make all the difference -- and you won't have to fiddle around trying to get a spatula down into and underneath your meatloaf ever again.

Another great thing about this meatloaf was the flavor.  Herbs de Provence adds a great counterpoint to the subtle sweetness that the apple adds, and the flavors held up really well to the long slow cooking in the crockpot.

But, there are a few things we'd change.

First, we'd fiddle around with the amount of vegetables we put into the loaf.  While it felt virtuous to get a boatload of extra nutrients into a meatloaf, the additional vegetable "filler" made the meatloaf a bit TOO moist.  Although we're fans of a deliciously tender loaf, we'd prefer one that held up a bit better to slicing.  Before we pull out all the vegetables, though, I think we'll try adding an egg or two to the mix.

We also found that, although quite a number of meatloaf recipes call for you to "flatten" your meatloaf and shape it to the shape of your slow cooker (which, as you can see, we did), in our opinion it resulted in too squatty of a loaf.  So, we won't be doing that next time.

All things considered, this wasn't the worst weeknight meal we've ever had. Especially when served up with a hearty scoop of creamy mashed potatoes and our favorite stovetop braised brussels sprouts with blue cheese.  But, as usual, our cooking is in a constant state of evolution. And so is our meatloaf.

Got any great crockpot meatloaf secrets to share?

Crockpot Turkey Meatloaf

 ©BURP! W here Food Happens

Cuban Pulled Pork: Next to Bacon

If you have been reading our blog for any length of time, it probably won't shock you when I suggest that pulled pork ranks exceedingly high on our "OMG" list.   The fact of the matter is, it's the next closest thing to bacon in my book.

Cuban pork also happens to have a special place in Lo's heart. For years, Lo's friend Gail taunted her with stories about her mother's delicious empanadas.  She shared recipes for her fool-proof flank steak, mango bread, and the always memorable Psycho Chicken.  She taught Lo to make a great pot of beans.  She also introduced Lo to the concept of marinating pork in orange juice, lime, and garlic -- which, if you've never tried it, is an absolute miracle.

So, when Lo stumbled upon Rebecca from Foodie with Family's recipe on Facebook, I knew it was only a matter of time before we'd be indulging in this wonderful Cuban variation on pulled pork.

We didn't use a roast as mentioned in the original recipe since we already had some country style pork ribs in the fridge just begging to be used. We suspect that the fact that the meat was cut up into pieces assisted in intensifying the deliciously citrusy flavor of the meat since we were able to layer the seasonings in between each piece of meat, thereby increasing the surface area that was exposed to the orange-garlic deliciousness.

Yes, the recipe is a process.  But, no, it doesn't require a great deal of hands-on time.  It simply requires a bit of patience... and maybe some self-control, since the smell that emanates from that slow cooker is bound to drive you a little bit insane.

This pork is so tender, so flavorful that you just might not know exactly what to do with it first.  But, trust us when we say that, once you taste it, you'll have no hesitation in finding ways to get it into your belly!

Might we suggest the first night to simply wrap a bit of that luscious meat in a warm corn tortilla and have a side of black beans and rice? Maybe the next night, you could make a pizza with pork, jack cheese, and some refried beans... Or throw together a nice pulled pork panini with plenty of deliciously creamy cheese, as we did.

Of course, if you tire of eating pulled pork every night of the week, you should also be assured that it freezes impeccably, so you can always save it and recreate the perfection that is pulled pork all over again some other time.  And doesn't that sound awesome?

So, pour your margaritas (I have a recipe I'll share with you later this week) or Cuban Sidecars and enjoy this delicious Cuban pork however you desire.


Cuban Pork
Suggested listening: Buena Vista Social Club 

Revised to include a quick note for those of you thinking of making this recipe: Pay attention to DAY 2 of the recipe, and don't skip the additional finishing sauce!  The addition of the pork sauce reduction to the meat really ramps up the flavor of this dish. 


©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

Sloppy Lentils: Crockpot Staple

Is anyone else struggling to be inspired in the kitchen?

If not -- well, maybe you don't want to waste your time on this time-saving post.

If yes -- then please read on.

Seems to me that all of our energy during the month of December is sucked up by holiday preparations, decorating, and gift shopping.  If I spend any of my creative energies on cooking, it's pointed in the direction of our annual holiday feasting -- not everyday weeknight dinner fare.

But, I'm making peace with that reality.  


This week, life sent us -- not lemons -- but a bag of lentils from the Indian grocer. So with that, my friends, we made.... sloppy lentils.

A vegetarian riff on everyone's favorite comfort food sandwich, the sloppy joe, sloppy lentils is absolutely brimming with deliciously healthy vegetables (just look at all those delicious pieces of carrot and onion poking out from beneath the lentils).

Best of all, you can whip up this dish in the blink of an eyeball. Even on a weeknight.

You will really like this idea if you answer "TRUE" to two or more of the following statements:
1) You are preoccupied with more important activities than cooking (sad but true).
2) You own a crockpot.
3) You are not allergic to legumes.
4) It's cold outside and you're looking for something warm and filling to eat.

Even better than the fact that this can be made in a crockpot, it can also be made ahead.  Because it just so happens that this dish tastes even better the next day.  And even the next.  So, make up a whole vat of it.  You may not need to make dinner again for a whole week ;)

Sloppy Lentils



©BURP! Where Food Happens

Cead Mille Failte: Corned Beef Brisket

I've been cooking up (and/or eating) Irish Day feasts for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, we looked forward to the tradition of boiled corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots that always awaited us on St. Patrick's Day. There were also often green bread or bagels for lunch, and even sometimes (when we were lucky) a green snowball.

My sister and I always had quite the fun sneaking into mom's store of green food coloring and dying everything green on the feast o' St. Pat's. Most years the mashed potatoes ended up green. The beer was ALWAYS dyed green by the end of the evening. And one year, we even managed to swirl a bit into the butter on the dinner table.

You can imagine what a joyful day it was when I brought Peef into the fold and introduced him to my family's traditional St. Patrick's day dinners. He had NO idea how Irish he really was until he sipped a pint o' stout and took a bite of a traditional boiled dinner. These days, Peef claims to be a long-lost Leprechaunian soul whose spirit was whisked into the present regions by an Enchanted Blarney wind. He fancies that I married him for his gold, and he's spent the past ten years keepin' it from me like a good little Leprechaun. heh!

These days, Peef and I have taken on the tradition of making the annual Irish feast. Although the side dishes have a tendency to change, the one constant is the corned beef. Yes, we realize that beef probably wasn't traditional fare eaten by Irish peasants back in the day (it was more likely mutton or seafood on feast days), but it sure is tasty. Burp's brisket is a delicious variation on the usual -- a brisket, braised in stout, with a dash of dill, some garlic, a bit of pepper, and some clove thrown in for good measure. It takes a couple of hours to prepare, but you can also short-cut the process by prepping it in the crockpot.

Ready to begin? Alright. Let's go!
It doesn't take a whole lot of ingredients to make yourself a kick-butt St. Patty's day brisket. Just a bit of good, local, Irish stout, some tomato paste, a bit of dill, some brown sugar, a few peppercorns, and about 3-4 whole cloves.
You mix all of those seemingly incongruous ingredients into a virtual witch's brew of schlurk. (Schlurk is a lovely word; use it well and often). Make all the gross faces you like at this juncture... but believe you me, when all of this is over, you're gonna wish you didn't scoff at me and my crazy concoctions.
At this point, you want to draw the Boy of the house out of his dark hiding place and hand him the package of disgusting looking corned beefyness. Boys know what to do with this sort of thing. The appropriate treatment goes something like this: Unwrap package of meat. Ignore the fact that the weird red gelly stuff is really grossing you out. Turn on the tap. Place the meat beneath the cold running waters. Pray for cleanliness.
Now that the meat is nice and squeaky clean, you can let it mingle with some veggies in the big gorgeous dutch oven your parents bought you for Christmas. That meat does love hangin' with its veggie kinfolk, doesn't it? Reminds us all that we're all woven from the same fabric. Amen.
OK, enough of the silliness. It's back to cooking.
Now, go back and get that bowl of schlurk that you lovingly prepared earlier. You whisked it well, didn't you? Hope so! Cuz now you want to pour that mess right over the top of Mr. Meat and his Veggie Friends. Get him going at a nice simmer, and leave him there for a good... 3 hours or so. Start checking him for doneness at around 2 1/2 hours, keeping in mind that every meat has his own time frame. Some take 3 hours. Others take 4. You can't rush love, honey.
When you pull him out of his bath, you might choose (as I do) to slip him into the oven for a while to brown up his exterior bits. But, that's completely up to you.
Any way you slice it (we suggest thinly, and across the grain), this corned beef is going to be flavorful and tender. And just perfect for your Irish Day feasting. Or reuben sammiches. Or breakfast hash. Or whatever your lil heart desires.

We like to serve him up with a nice glass of our favorite local stout (Lakefront Brewery Snake Chaser), a nice big bowl of cheesy colcannon with leeks, and some steamed carrots. Oh, yes -- and don't forget the horseradish!

Burp's Corned Beef Brisket

Erin Go Bragh!
And if corned beef isn't quite enough o' the green for you, check out these Seven Weird Green Foods.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Winter Comfort: Black Bean Chili with Mushrooms

It was four winters ago now that I discovered this fantastic chili recipe. I remember it well. I was sorting through cooking magazines on a Saturday afternoon when I came upon a copy of the new Eating Well. A long-time fan of the magazine, I was bummed out when they ceased publication in 1999 -- and equally thrilled when they revived the magazine in 2002. Although the new publication turned out to be a far cry from the original, I still enjoyed the intelligent articles and occasionally found a recipe that gave me inspiration.

Glancing through the recipes, I saw black bean mushroom chili... and I was intrigued enough to give the ingredient list a peek. Cardamom & mustard seeds... interesting. Tomatillos... nice. At the time, the recipe was a bit of a stretch for us; but, we were adventurous sorts. And it seemed to give us another option for using up all that quick roasted tomatillo sauce in the freezer.

I'm actually NOT a big fan of the crockpot, but I'm a huge fan of frying spices. So, when I saw that the instructions called for a nice singe on the mustard seeds, I was hopelessly hooked.
The first indication that the recipe would be a winner was the smell of the house when we walked in after a long day's work and found the chili bubbling away. Rich, savory... meaty even.
Spooning the soup into bowls, we noted that the color was fabulous. The beans were creamy and flavorful. And that cardamom? Well, it disappeared seamlessly into the dish, imparting intrigue to a soup that might otherwise have fallen a bit flat.
It's gotten to be such a staple around our house that I almost don't need a recipe. In fact, we've departed so far from the original in this case that I actually sat down the other night and typed out the entire process.
Try it for yourself!
Black Bean Chili with Mushrooms


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Peef & Lo's Favorite Corned Beef

It's hard to believe that we're celebrating our 10th St. Patrick's Day together this year. But, as you can imagine, that means we've had plenty of time to try our hand at quite a number of corned beef recipes. This one is now our tried and true favorite.

We love the slightly sweet braising liquid, and we heartily approve of what the dill, peppercorns, and clove add to the flavor of the beef. The flavor is not overpowering, but the savory smell is enough to drive you crazy during the last hour or two of cooking.

This brisket is delicious right out of the pot, but we often continue the braise for a bit in the oven, just to crisp things up a bit (try 45-60 minutes at 300ºF, with a bit of additional beer in the bottom of the pan).

Today, we'll be serving the brisket as part of our St. Patrick's Day feast:

Peef & Lo's Corned beef
Cabbage & Leek gratin
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Baby carrots
Guinness soda bread

And for dessert:
Irish whiskey cake
Baileys Irish cream custard (from Kopp's)



©BURP! Where Food Happens