Ragout de Boulettes or Meatball Stew

This is traditionally served during the holiday season back home, from what I've been told but I, on the other hand, serve it whenever. The kids love it and it is a great comfort food. Tender meatballs in a gravy served with potatoes and veggies. Very simple and very comforting. I have always made this on my stove top but I think the next time, I am going to give my slow cooker a shot at it as per the linked recipe. It's also very freezer friendly, a big bonus in this house!

Ragout de Boulettes
source: Recettes du Québec

Ingredients
3lbs ground pork
1 1/2lbs ground beef
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp allspice
1-2 tbsp salt (we aren't salt fans, so I used less than 1 tbsp)
3 cups water
1 small can chicken stock (aylmer or campbells)  *see note
1 package of St-Hubert's Ragout sauce
grilled flour (for slow cooker method)

In a large bowl, add the breadcrumbs and milk and let sit 10 mins. Next, add the pork, beef, eggs, spices and salt to the breadcrumb/milk combo. Roll the meatballs to about 1-1.5" each. Place the meatballs in pan on the stove top. Cook the meatballs and do not over crowd them. Cook them in batches as needed.
In a large pot, mix the ragout sauce, water and chicken stock. Heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to low-medium and add the meatballs. Let them simmer, stirring carefully occasionally, for about 30-40 mins. Serve with potatoes and some veggies.
If doing them in a slow cooker, roll in some grilled flour once you have rolled the meatballs and place in the slow cooker. Stir together the water, stock and ragout sauce and then add to the slow cooker. Cook on low for approx 10-12 hours.

This recipe makes a lot of meatballs! Very good for family gatherings. Or you can cook them and then freeze them.
*note: I made my stock by using a powder and using half the amount of water so that it would be concentrated like the cans. It worked for me :)

Slow Cooker Pork Roast

Today was a busy day for me. I bake like a crazy lady on Fridays and Saturdays, package everything up Saturday night and then run to the market on Sunday morning for 8am, all with a 2 and 3 year old in tow. So when I come back on Sunday, I really don't feel like cooking a big meal but definitely want to eat one. So the easiest thing for me, is to break out my slow cooker. Now I love the idea of a slow cooker but for some reason, always chose the worst recipes to try and ended up putting my slow cooker away for quite a few years. Then I decided to try again. My slow cooker and I are now pretty good friends. Especially now that I have found a few good websites for recipes that I trust. But today, I decided to venture off and kinda do one on my own. I found a few recipes here and there, and decided to put my own together. And really, it's so simple that I didn't even really put anything together. It's quick and easy and really budget friendly. My boneless pork loin roast cost $5.65. And the rest is very inexpensive. I probably should have used a larger roast but I went with what I had on hand. I served it with some corn and baked potatoes. I think mashed would have been very good but my kids prefer baked. My mother-in-law loved this and so did I. My daughter loved the sauce so much that she was dipping her corn in it! Another winner here for us!

Quick and Easy Slow Cooker Pork Roast
source: Sandra @ Little Bit Little Bite

Ingredients
1 - 3 or 4 pound boneless pork loin roast, trimmed of fat
1 pouch of onion soup mix
2 cups water
few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper
for the gravy: cornstarch and water

I used a 6 qt. slow cooker for this roast.
Place the roast in the slow cooker. Add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce to the roast and some salt and pepper. Measure 2 cups of water and add the pouch of onion soup mix. Stir and pour over the pork roast. Put the lid and turn the slow cooker on. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6.
Once done, remove the pork roast to a plate and tent with foil. Pour the remaining liquid into a small saucepan and put heat on high. Mix 1 tbsp cornstarch with 1 tbsp cold water. Once the sauce has heated up, add the cornstarch mixture (or slurry in cooking) and stir. Your sauce will thicken. If it's still not thick enough for you, simply repeat the step above and create another slurry and add it to your sauce. It took 2 slurry mixtures to get my sauce to the right consistency.
You can either cut your meat and serve with the sauce or you can roughly shred your meat, put it back into the now empty slow cooker and then add your sauce. Mix a little and serve.

Happy Cooking!

My Favorite Roast Pork Recipe

I discovered this recipe back in 2004 (maybe even 2003) when I was working evenings/nights (ok, all hours!) and spent time browsing the net while attending cooking school during the day. I made it once and actually never looked back. I made it for my boyfriend (who is now my hubby) and he said I could never make any other kind of pork roast, it was that good!
With our crazy lives this past year, and hubby being gone for most of it, I hadn't made it in quite some time. But we made it a Sunday meal recently and it is still my go to recipe for pork roasts. Tender, tasty and a nice au jus just tops it off (sorry no photo of it). I thought I would share the recipe with you as even my picky toddlers LOVED it! It's a family favorite for us and maybe it will be for you too!

Roast Pork Loin with Garlic and Rosemary
source: epicurious.com (here)

Ingredients
4 large garlic cloves, pressed
2 tsp dried or 4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt (I use kosher)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 1/2lb bonelss pork loin roast
Olive oil (optional)
red wine or chicken stock (optional)

   Preheat oven 400F. Mix first 4 ingerdients in bowl. Rub a minimal amount of olive oil over roast if you like, makes it easier to rub the mixture onto the roast but is not necessary. Then rub the mixture all over the roast. Place the pork fat side down in the roasting pan. Roast for 30 min. Then turn the pork fat side up and continue roasting for 25 min. longer. Remove from pan and let stand 10 min. If you choose to, start your jus while the pork is resting.
   Deglaze the pan with red wine or chicken stock to make your jus. Cook and reduce a little. Strain if you like. Slice pork and serve au jus.

Happy Sunday!