Testing my patience with the slow-cooker

Whenever I meet a busy, young professional who cooks I find myself asking them how. When do they have time? What do they make? People either respond by shrugging it off and saying it's not "too difficult" (we all know that's a lie!) or they admit to how much work it takes to plan out their weekly meals. A different friend attributed her success to a slow-cooker. She apparently throws the food into the pot in the morning and has a scrumptious, hot meal waiting when she gets home from work. Sounds too good to be true right? I've been wanting to test a slow-cooker ever since she mentioned it! Unfortunately the overwhelming amount of options on the market and my busy schedule prevented me from taking the plunge. That changed last week. My wonderful Mr. D decided my hospitality in our new, joint-living arrangement was the perfect excuse for a housewarming gift. A slow-cooker is akin to the blender wedding gift in "Father of the Bride," but Mr. D knew I wanted a slow-cooker and picked out just the one I've be pining after.

He got me the Cuisinart PSC-350 3-1/2-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker with removable ceramic pot, touch-pad control panel, 24-hour timer, and automatic keep-warm function. I had to wait a week to test it out, but I found the perfect, "slow-cooker approved" meat at Paulina's market. I decided to test my hand with some gorgeous beef short-ribs cooked barbecue-style. I modified a recipe found on allrecipes.com (recipe link) to give it a little more pizazz and based on Mr. D's consumption I would say the slow cooker was a SUCCESS! The were even a hit with last weeks left-overs. Next time I would try mashed potatoes and corn on the cob, but left over red potatoes and veggies did the trick as well. 

Start with some bone-in beef short ribs. Bone-in is key since they turned out "fall-off the bone" delicious. Liberally sprinkle the ribs with salt and pepper to season. 

Dredge the ribs in flour. Turn your burner on high,  to prepare your pan heat oil and 3 gloves of garlic. Brown meat for about 1 minute on each side. When done, place them in your slow-cooker pot. Your mouth will already be watering at this point.

Change the heat to medium and cook the onions, remaining garlic, and butter in the same saucepan. Stir them around and cook until they start to soften.

 

Add the remaining ingredients and bring your sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for a few more minutes.

Pour the sauce over the short ribs in the slow-cooker. Take a good look at your concotion because it will be locked up in the slow-cooker for the next 9 hours. According to my Cuisinart instructions you are NOT supposed to remove the lid to take-in the appetizing aromas: if you do, it requires an extra 15-20 minutes of additional cooking time. 

Now for the best part. Set it and forget it! Put your slow-cooker on low heat and in nine hours dinner will be served. 

Your meat will be fall-off the bone tender and you will have some amazing barbecue gravy to serve over your accompanying starch. I also chose to remove some of the fat liquid off the surface. 

Mr. D's meat could barely hang on to the bone! His plate looks pretty delicious even though the barbecue short-ribs are being served with last week's, cold leftovers. 


I will definitely be using my slow-cooker again soon! Next on the list is an Indian curry, Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon, and chili in honor of football season.

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Slow-Cooker Barbecue Short Ribs

Prep Time: 35 mins    Cook Time: 9 hours       Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 6-8 large bone-in beef short ribs (a 3.5 quart slow-cooker only fit 6)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 7 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/4 cups beef broth
• 3/4 cup apple cider vineger
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chili sauce (find in the ketchup section)
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard

Directions

1. Sprinkle your short-ribs with a liberal amount of salt and pepper.
2. Dredge ribs in flour, rubbing the flour on the meat to make sure each is thoroughly coated.
3. Heat oil and 3 cloves of garlic in a large saucepan on high heat.
4. Add ribs and brown them on all sides. (shouldn't need more than 1 minute a side)
5. Remove the ribs and set in the ceramic pot of your slow-cooker.
6. In the same saucepan, add onions, remaining garlic, and butter. Let them cook for a few minutes on medium heat until soft.
7. Add remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil.
8. Lower temperature to med-low and cook for a few more minutes.
9. Add liquid to your slow-cooker pot.
10. Cover the pot and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until meat is tender.