Italian Slow Cooker Variation

During our almost 29 straight days of sun here in Seattle we had maybe 2 cloudy, cool nights. On one of them, we decided to make comfort food suitable for a dark day in December. This is absolutely one of my favorite dinners for simple reasons - I just love the taste of tomatoes, rosemary, wine, and braised anything, but also because upon opening the door after work the house is filled with the smell of a meal all ready to go.
The Creamy, Cheesy Polenta for the side dish is key for my enjoyment, but if you're in a hurry it would be a great with buttery noddles or roasted potatoes. It's made the exact same way as our Slow Cooker Pork Taco Filling so I've just copied those instructions with a little variation.

Slow Cooker Pork, Italian Flavors

3 to 4 pounds pork
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup red wine*
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 - 2 big springs of fresh rosemary
1 T oregano
2 bay leaves
tiniest smidge of cinnamon

• Trim the fat from whatever boneless pork is on sale (but don't go crazy, fat=flavor). If you're doing meat in the oven, the fat renders and drips into the pan, but if you're doing meat in the slow cooker all the fat stays in the cooker.
• Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and brown it on all sides - you're not cooking it now, just creating flavor (because brown also = flavor). Put the meat in the slow cooker and put the lid on.
• In the same pan, saute the onion until the edges start to brown, scraping up any good bits the pork left behind. Then add the garlic and saute just until it starts to brown.
• Add the the tomatoes and wine and boil for about 5 minutes (save this pan to the side in case you need to reduce a little wine later to add in).
  
• Pour this over the meat in the cooker, add the bay leaves and rosemary, and give it a bit of a stir so that the meat is coated. Scrape down the inside of the cooker so that no sauce is splashed above the line of sauce/meat (this helps with clean-up and prevents burned edges).
  
• Cook on High for 6 to 8 hours.*
• Break the meat into chunks and serve it over Creamy, Cheesy Polenta (be sure to spoon the sauce over the top).

* I have an old slow cooker so High is plenty high enough, but I'm not sure it really equals the High of a new, fancy cooker. If you have a hot cooker (or if you're not sure), check to see if it needs more liquid after 6 hours. If yes, add another cup of wine, but be sure to simmer the wine for about 5 minutes first. Wine added right to the cooker can make the dish taste a little alcoholy.

Creamy, Cheesy Polenta

Oh yum. I know it's not for everyone (especially my friend who can't stand creamy things), but I love polenta. It's a savory version of cream of wheat, basically, and I love cream of wheat. Polenta, like risotto, has an undeserved reputation for being both time-consuming and labor-intensive, but that's not entirely accurate. Besides, there are decent instant polentas and pre-made polenta loaves that are simple to doctor up. The Bob's Red Mill Polenta that I buy actually says Corn Grits in big letters on the bag as well. Who knew?
This recipe is pretty much straight from The New Best Recipe. I love this cookbook.

Creamy, Cheesy Polenta

1 cup polenta (medium grind cornmeal or Grits)
4 cups water
2 T butter
handful Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

• Bring the water to a boil in a medium, heavy-duty sauce pan or pot. Add a pinch of salt and then slowly add the polenta to the water while really stirring.
• Reduce the heat to really low and cover. Stir this for about 10 seconds every 5 minutes (that's the Best Recipe anal-ness coming through) being sure to scrape the edges and sides well.
• After about 20 minutes it should be soft and smooth (some recipes say 30 minutes, but I've never had it take that long). Stir in the butter, Parmesan, and pepper.
• Serve immediately because it can get hard. If that happens, add a little boiling water and stir over low heat until smooth again. This won't work multiple times, so if you know you need to make the polenta in advance, just cook it halfway and finish when you're just about ready to eat.
  

Jambalaya

Even snap peas fresh from the Farmer's Market couldn't make this Jambalaya photograph better. Don't hold that against it. This is one of my favorite fast, fake recipes. I promised myself I'd stop actually putting the word "fake" in the recipe titles because most of them are simplified versions of already known dishes. When I worked at The Still Life in Fremont I had to come up with tons of soup ideas. With the help of the awesome book Culinary Artistry, I figured out that any great combination of flavors can be turned into a simple version. The great combo in Jambalaya is tomatoes, rice, bell peppers, seasonings, and Andouille sausage. Traditionally, there would be other proteins (chicken, shrimp, ham), but this is a fast home version.

Jambalaya

2-3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 red or green bell pepper, cut bute-sized
3 or 4 Andouille sausages, sliced (It's a little like kielbasa, so you can substitute anything else that's smoky and spicy. Aidells makes a brand that is in a lot of stores around here.)
1 recipe of our easy Spanish Rice which is:
1 cup white rice
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup water
1 onion, diced
1T oregano
1t garlic powder
1T cumin
1T chili powder
smidge of cinnamon & cayenne
1T butter

• Saute the onion (in a little oil) in a smallish pot with a good lid.
• When the onions have just started to brown, add the garlic, peppers, and sausage and saute until the edges are starting to brown. Most Andouille that I've seen is pre-cooked so it won't need a lot of time here. If you're using raw sausage, just cook it a little longer
• Add the rice and sprinkle in all the spices (no salt) and saute until you're worried they're sticking to the pot.
• Stir in the butter, water, and tomatoes and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover for 20 to 30 minutes.
  
• I know that rice usually has a strict time for cooking and you're not supposed to take the lid off, but I find that with all the added extras that doesn't work quite as well. I sneak a peak after 20 minutes, give it a little stir and then usually cook it for about 5 minutes more.
  
• When it's finished, add salt to taste. I like a dollop of sour cream, but that's optional (and not traditional).