Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

We have two types of "nice" dinners in our house. First are the type that involve meticulous planning, lots of time spent in the kitchen, other people are usually invited and it definitely calls for us to be sat at the dining table with napkins.

The second type are still classed as a "nice" dinner, but take a completely different format. They usually happen on a Friday night, or the night before a day off. Its normally just me and hubby, and involves some form of finger food eaten whilst sat on the sofa. Wine is usually the standard accompaniment and instead of napkins we resort to kitchen roll. A lot less formal, but it doesn't mean the meal is any less of a success!

So bearing in mind that Thursday night was officially the start of one life's little joys, a four day bank holiday weekend, it was only right that we needed one of the second type of "nice" dinner.

I knew I had a boneless pork shoulder in the freezer, and didn't need any time to think about what I would make with it. And I sure as hell knew that hubby would have no complaints if I said we were having pulled pork for tea!

Pulled Pork

2kg Boneless Pork Shoulder (keep the string on)

1 onion peeled and roughly chopped in big chunks

3 cloves of garlic squashed with the flat blade of a knife and chopped in half

2 tsp paprika

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock (can use a cube)

2/3 cup of apple juice

3 squirts of Ainsley Harriott BBQ spray (can use tbsp of a standard BBQ sauce)

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

squirt of tomato ketchup

1) The night before place all ingredients in a jug and mix together. Place the pork in a bowl, stab it a couple of times with a knife and pour over the mixture. Cover with cling film and chill overnight.

2) The next day, place the pork and marinade in the slow cooker and cook on low for 10 hours.

3) Remove pork from slow cooker and set to one side.

4) Pour the juices into a saucepan, and boil on high to reduce. You want to be left with a thick sauce, so it may take 20 minutes or so.

5) Whilst this is reducing, remove the string and any fat from the pork, and shred with two forks. The meat should be well cooked and shred easily.

6) Once the meat is shredded and the sauce is reduced, remove any fat and pour the sauce over the meat and stir to coat.

7) Serve pulled pork with whatever you fancy. On this occasion

we served with soft white rolls, shop bought coleslaw (I'm embarrassed that I didn't make my own!), and roasted new potatoes. On previous occasions I've served with with homemade winter coleslaw, salad and oven baked jacket spuds which was a very dreamy combination. The meat can also be used to fill wraps, along with all sorts of salady bits and pieces.

We finished the meal with a bottle of the ever-so wonderful Lindemans Tollana Semillon Chardonnay. Possibly my favourite wine of the moment, and usually on special offer in Sainsbury's on a quite regular basis!

Chicken and Sun-dried Tomato Pilaf

Whilst we were in Devon I happened to miss my dads birthday, so we decided to invite them round for dinner on Sunday night. I hadn't cooked anything from the slow-cooked book since the Frikadeller so decided to roll out something slightly more suited to a nice dinner for your folks.

The parents along with the in-laws are also coming for dinner next Sunday (Mothers Day) so I didn't want to go all out and not have anything to wow them with next week so decided against starters. Mum isn't much of a dessert person and Dad likes a bowl of Onken yoghurt with some banana or muesli, or a slice or two of soreen so that was off the menu too. However I decided that something was needed, and after a root through the fridge I found a packet of beetroot and made the following.

Beetroot Dip

1 packet of vac-packed beetroot, or ideally fresh ones
1 tablespoon of cream (I used soya cream)
lemon juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper
5 fresh mint leaves
half a clove of garlic


Blitz everything up in a mini-chopper or food processor until its fairly smooth.

I served with a bag of Asda value tortilla chips, but it will easily go with crudites. Don't worry about the garlic, its far from overpowering and as long as it wasn't a massive clove and you don't mind the taste you could probably put a whole one in.


For the main course I did the Chicken and Sun-dried Tomato Pilaf


Now we normally eat chicken thighs, turkey thigh meat, or turkey breast, but I happened to have a packet of 5 chicken breasts in the freezer which is just what was called for in this recipe. I decided to do something in the slow cooker, as we had been out all morning and a friend was coming in the afternoon.


Sundried Tomato and Chicken Pilaf



1tbs of olive oil
4 chicken breasts
1 large onion - finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - crushed
1 tin chopped tomatoes
50g of sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced
2 teaspoons of pesto
1 pint chicken stock
200g of normal/wild rice mix
salt and pepper



1) Heat the oil and brown the chicken breast on the presentation side only
2) Fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes and add tinned tomatoes. Add sundried tomatoes and pesto, season with salt and pepper
3) Pour into slow cooker and stir in stock
4) Rinse rice, and add to slow cooker
5) Arrange the chicken on top, brown side up and press them just under the liquid.
6) Cover and cook on high for 3-4hrs


NB. The recipe says to cook for 3-4hrs on high, and I went more for the 4hrs however I think this was a bit long as the rice was a bit too soft for me. In future I would go for 3hrs and if it needed a little longer turn to low. Overall though a really nice dish, and we had it with some lovely steamed veg. Definitely something you can serve for a dinner party, or nice meal with friends.

Kashmiri Butter Chicken

Well I kept to my promise and made the first thing from the Slow Cooker book I blogged about earlier. However it sort of happened by accident! Hubby said he was going to do it and therefore it had to be done ASAP. We had spent the weekend in Newcastle visiting friends and arrived home at about 1:20.....which funnily enough was just in time for the football. Weird how that happens isn't it?! Anyway we went from hubby wanting to make this, to hubby wanting to watch the football and jodgirls being forced to make it instead. Not that I had a massive problem with that. I love nothing better to potter whilst he is watching the footie. I stick Heart FM on really loud and just get on with it.



So off I went.




Kashmiri Butter Chicken
(Ultimate Slow Cooker - Sara Lewis)

2 onions
3 garlic cloves
4cm of root ginger, peeled
1 large red chilli, halved and seeds discarded
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tbs sunflower oil
25g of butter
1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
4 cardamom pods, crushed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground tumeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
300ml chicken stock
1 tbs of light muscavado sugar
2 tbs of tomato puree
5 tbs of double cream
pinch of salt

to garnish
2 tbs of flaked almonds
sprigs of coriander



1) Blend the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli in a food processor
2) Cut each chicken thigh into 4 pieces. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add chicken until all the meat is evenly browned. Lift pieces out with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate
3) Add butter to the pan and when it has melted add the onion paste. Cook until just beginning to colour. Stir in all the crushed seeds and spices. Cook for 1 minutes and then add the stock, sugar, tomato puree and salt. Bring to the boil
4) Transfer chicken to slow cooker, pour onion mixture over the top and make sure the chicken is pressed below the surface. Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours.
6) To serve, stir in the cream and garnish with almonds and corriander.


N.B I halved this and only made it for two, and there wasn't an awful lot in the slow cooker, so it cooked quite a bit quicker than suggested. In the future I would make the full quantity and freeze before adding the cream. Speaking of cream, I dont think it really needs it. I used less than half the amount of Alpro Soya cream, and to be honest I preffered the taste beforehand, but this could be beacuse it was soya cream. The picture was taken before the cream was added, and we served it with plain boiled brown rice.

Ultimate Slow Cooker

Using my slow cooker has become a bit of a regular thing at the moment, especially during these cold times. I have perfected rice pudding, and do a mean chicken and lentil casserole, but tend to cook the same things over and over again. Hubby therefore surprised me last night by bringing me home a present. Ultimate Slow Cooker by Sara Lewis. He got it from the Book People, and it has to be one of the best books I’ve looked at in a long time. Real homey style food, that’s classy enough to serve for friends. Most of the recipes have little tips as well, such as alternative ingredients, at what stage to freeze, or how to make it dairy free. All English recipes as well which I find quite refreshing. The majority of slow cooker cook books, tend to be American and refer to crock pots, with all measurements of zucchini and all purpose flour in cups.

So I sat on the sofa last night and went through it with a bunch of blue stickies and tagged all the recipes I want to try. Here is the list

Caldo Verde
Smoked gammon and mixed bean chowder
Bloody Mary soup with chilli oil
Abruzzi Lamb
Spiced pork chops with sweet potato
Pork, orange and star anise
Sun-dried tomatoe and chicken pilaf
Kashmiri butter chicken
Frikadeller
Chilli black bean stew
Mixed mushroom and lentil braise
Mediterranean fennel with nutty crumble
Cheesy vegetable galette
Sticky toffee apple pudding
Double chocolate and sweet potato cake

So the plan is to try at least two of these a month, more if I can manage it. Providing I can work out how to upload pictures with constantly having to bug hubby, I will post photos of my efforts to accompany.