Smoky Slow Cooker Chili
"From Cooking Light January 2009. Country-style ribs are cut from the shoulder and are perfect for this. I have not made this yet, but it seems like a winner. Prep time is estimated."
- Ready In:
- 8hrs 35mins
- Ingredients:
- 23
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 3 cups chopped onions
- 1 3⁄4 cups chopped green bell peppers
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup beer, lager-style
- 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 (12 1/2 ounce) cans plum tomatoes, undrained and chopped
- 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, no-salt, drained
- 1 (7 3/4 ounce) can mexican hot tomato sauce
- 1 smoked ham hock, about 8 oz
- 1 1⁄2 tablespoons sugar
- 1⁄2 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 1⁄2 cup finely chopped green onion
- 1⁄2 cup crumbled queso fresco, about 2 oz
- 8 lime wedges
directions
- Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray.
- Add ground pork and cook for 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well and transfer to slow cooker.
- Recoat skillet with cooking spray. Add pork shoulder and cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer pork to slow cooker.
- Recoat skillet with cooking spray. Add onion and bell pepper, and saute 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add garlic, saute 1 minute, then add tomato paste and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Stir in beer, cook a minute or two, then pour all over the meat in the slow cooker.
- Add 1/4 tsp salt, chili powder, cumin, oregano, black pepper, tomatillos, bay leaves, tomatoes, pinto beans, tomato sauce and ham hock to the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours until meat is tender or on LOW for 8 hours.
- Remove and discard ham hock and bay leaves.
- Add 1/4 tsp salt and the sugar, stir well.
- Top each serving with 1 tbl each of cilantro, green onions and queso fresco. Serve with a lime wedge.
- This can also be done on the stove, using 12 ozs beer and simmering, covered, for 2 1/2 to3 hours or until the pork is tender.
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Reviews
-
I am a dedicated Cooking Light subscriber and have made this recipe many times. It is my son's favorite chili! He loves the addition of lime at the end. We use the ham hock, unlike other reviewers, and I find that it adds another dimension of smokiness to the recipe.<br/><br/>It is not for the new cook. It is not the simplest recipe to prepare. There are a lot of ingredients and having all the ingredients measured, chopped ahead of time helps with the preparation. But, the flavor is so worth the effort! -
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Great chili !!! I did omit the ham hock, and used regular tomato saucen this. Made for a great little dinner last night. The flavors are great great great.. Thanks for posting, as we all enjoyed. Made for 1-2-3 hits -
Great and different chili! Skipped the ham hock and only used 1 Tablespoon chili powder which seemed to be the perfect amount for us. Thanks for sharing!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
duonyte
United States
My screen name is a diminutive in Lithuanian for bread, so you won't be suprised to learn that I love to bake bread. In recent years I have been baking a lot of sourdough breads and have several starters sitting in my refrigerator. But I like to cook a lot of other things, as well, especially from various cultures. The cat wishes I would concentrate on meat and fish... I joined a few years ago but started posting recipes and participating in forums just recently - I wish I had done so earlier. Recipezaar is a great community! Right now I am a co-host for the Breads and Baking and the Eastern Europe forums - I hope to see you there!
