Welcome to Crock Pot Wednesday. I hope you will join me this week by linking up a favorite slow cooker recipe with Mister Linky below.
With the arrival of crisp autumn days and nights, many of us are preparing chili and soup these days. This chili recipe comes from Cooking Light, one of my favorite cooking magazines. It was listed as a staff favorite for 2009, so I knew I would have to try it. You should as well; it is delicious with just a hint of smokiness. It is a nice change from my more traditional chili and Hubby has given it a “thumbs up” rating. That’s as good as it gets:)
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 pound boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 3 cups chopped onion
- 1 3/4 cups chopped green bell pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup lager-style beer
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 6 tomatillos, quartered
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans plum tomatoes, undrained and chopped
- 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added pinto beans, drained (These can be omitted if you prefer no-bean chili.)
- 1 (7 3/4-ounce) can Mexican hot-style tomato sauce (such as El Paso) (I couldn’t locate this, so I substituted regular tomato sauce and blended it with a couple of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. )
- 1 smoked ham hock (about 8 ounces)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled queso fresco
- 8 lime wedges
Preparation
1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add ground pork to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to slightly crumble. Drain well. Transfer pork to an electric slow cooker.
2. Recoat pan with cooking spray. Add pork shoulder; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, turning occasionally. Transfer pork to slow cooker.
3. Recoat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in beer; cook 1 minute. Transfer onion mixture to slow cooker. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, chili powder, and next 9 ingredients (through ham hock) to slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 5 hours or until meat is tender. Remove bay leaves and ham hock; discard. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and sugar. Ladle about 1 1/3 cups chili into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 1 tablespoon cilantro, 1 tablespoon green onions, and 1 tablespoon cheese. Serve each serving with 1 lime wedge.
Note: You can also cook the chili in a slow cooker on LOW for 8 hours. For cooking chili on the stovetop, use a total of 12 ounces beer and simmer, covered, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the pork shoulder is tender.
Linked to:
Menu Plan Monday
Tasty Tuesdays
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesdays at the Table
Slow Cooker Thursday
It has been in the 20’s with 50 MPH winds all week…it is definitely crockpot weather here.
Sounds delicious and great for fall weather. I finally bought a slow cooker this weekend.
MMMMMMM,..;what an excellent stew!! I so love the flavours you have used!!
Just lovely!
oh my!! that sounds divine!! 🙂
I live for Chili! Just made me add that to this weeks list. xoxo
SC
Mmmm… that’s gonna be one yummy supper!
Looks delish, Debbie. I think I have the “Mr. Linky thing” figured out. Will see tomorrow when I post my crockpot corn chowder.
Yum, yum! I’m so happy it’s soup season. 🙂
Mmmmm … this sounds like a great chili! Will be trying this one out.
I love cooking chili in my slow cooker on chilly days! The aroma permeates the house and we anxiously await dinnertime!
Finally got my act together and made it to Crockpot Wednesday. The chili looks great!!!!
This looks great with the tomatillos and the pork, both ingredients I love.
sounds really yummy — i can almost smell the goodness from here!
Sounds yummy! I’m always looking for a new chili recipe variations!
My 2nd post to your Crockpot Wednesday! thanks for inspiring me!
do you think black beans or maybe northerns would be ok, those are the only beans hubby tolerates!! 🙂 this sounds so good!!!
I love all this inspiration. So glad to have a crock pot now! Thanks for the invite and I will be back!
What an interesting chili recipe! I am definetly going to have to give it a try!
What an interesting chili recipe! I am definetly going to have to give it a try!
I’m a little late to the party, but looking forward to a good time. Thanksgiving is at my house this year so I’ll be looking for something easy for Wednesday night when everyone gets here. Crockpot sounds like it would be a great solution!
Christi @ A Southern Life
I love chili and soups in colder weather. Thanks for the recipe.
We have had a lot of soup here the past few weeks. It is so easy to just throw it in a crock pot and set. Have a great week.
Kinda late, but I finally remembered to come by and link something up! Lots of good stuff here – I have referred friends to you as a good crockpot recipe resource!