smoky chipotle chicken nachos

The base of this meal is Jonas’ amazing Shredded Chipotle Chicken. I cannot emphasise how amazing it tastes after 6 hours of slow cooking in our wonderful NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker.

The chicken absorbs the wonderful spice of the chipotles (smoked jalapeños) and Jonas breaks it apart into shreds that soak up the sauce it sits in.

The shredded chicken recipe will make enough nachos for a group of 8 people, but if there’s only a few of you then the leftover chicken is a beautiful filling for another meal like tacos, enchiladas or burritos. It’s as versatile as it is tasty.

The best part is just how easy it is to make. Fry up some garlic, onion and chilli, throw all the ingredients into a slow cooker and then shred. That’s it.

Shredded Chipotle Chicken

Jonas’ very own recipe.

Ingredients:
½ brown onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 chipotle chillies in adobo, finely chopped
1kg chicken thighs (no bones)
800g canned organic tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Olive oil, for frying
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Fry onion and garlic until soft.

2. Added chillies and fry until softened.

3. Add all ingredients to slow cooker, cook for 6 hours.

4. Remove chicken, shred into fine strips.

5. Return to sauce, stir through and keep warm until ready to serve.

Smoky Chipotle Chicken Nachos

Jonas’ very own recipe. Serves 8.

Ingredients:

Jonas’ shredded chipotle chicken
Tortilla chips
Cheese
Guacamole
Pico de Gallo
Sour cream
Salsa verde or salsa de chipotle y tomato

Method:

1. Spread tortilla chips over baking tray covered in baking paper. Scatter with cheese and grill until cheese has melted.

2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat the chipotle chicken until warmed through.

3. Once the cheese has melted over tortilla chips, remove from oven and place on serving dish.

4. Top with shredded chicken, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo and sauce of your choice.

5. Eat blissfully, perhaps with a tamarind margarita.

bacon jam

Bacon and jam. Mmmm.

How can bacon slow cooked in maple syrup and sugar be wrong?
That’s right, it can’t.

The first time I saw this recipe, I was in awe.

I emailed Lorraine, (aka Not Quite Nigella) and started asking a bunch of questions. Her answers only intrigued me further.

When I finally got around to making it, I kicked myself for not dabbling sooner.

Not only is it extremely delicious, but it’s incredibly versatile too.

Need to pimp some veggies? Throw in a tablespoon of bacon jam for depth of flavour.

Too tired to cook? Improve a toasted cheese sandwich with a little bacon jam.

After a salty-sweet treat? Melt some chocolate with bacon jam for brilliant little bacon chocolate snacks.

The options are endless, unfortunately the bacon jam supplies are not.

I cooked my bacon jam  in my NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker so that I didn't have to watch the liquid levels over the hours of cooking.

Bacon Jam

A recipe by Not Quite Nigella. Makes a 250ml jar.

Ingredients:
500g smoked bacon (or use regular bacon and liquid smoke)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium brown onion, sliced
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Tabasco sauce (according to taste)
1 cup coffee
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup maple syrup
Black pepper to taste
Extra water


Method:

1. In a non stick pan, fry the bacon in batches until lightly browned and beginning to crisp.

2. Using a pair of scissors cut into 1 inch pieces.

3. Fry the onion and garlic in the rendered bacon fat on medium heat until translucent.

4. Transfer the bacon, onion and garlic into a slow cooker or a heavy based cast iron pot and add the rest of the ingredients except for the water.

5. Stove-top method (Lorraine’s method – 30 mins quicker, but involves stirring and checking)
• Simmer for 2 hours adding ¼ of a cup of water every 25-30 minutes or so and stirring (liquid levels should reduce so you have some juices but not too much).
5. Slow cooker method (Anna’s method – two pots and extra 30min, but less action required)
• Simmer for 2 hours, or longer if you like.
• Return to stove top and simmer to reduce liquid, around 30 minutes.

6. When ready, cool for about 15-20 minutes and then place in a food processor.

7. Pulse for 2-3 seconds so that you leave some texture to the “jam” or of course you could keep whizzing and make it a smoother and more paste like.

Note: it needs to be stored in the refrigerator, but note the texture changes (hardens) when it’s cold.

This post has been featured on the wonderful:

smoky pulled pork

Pulled pork is just magical.

The juicy meat slow cooked for hours until it falls from the bone and then smothered in spicy, smoky sauce and piled high onto soft burger buns.

To. Die. For.

When Kitchenware Direct contacted me and offering to give me a slow cooker of my choice to review on this blog, their email couldn’t have come at a better time.

Jonas and I had been discussing the idea of getting a slow cooker just so we could make pulled pork sliders. We’d eaten them recently at Porteño and had not recovered from their marvellous flavour. We wanted to replicate the magic at home.

So here I was being offered a slow cooker and all I had to do was use it and tell you what I thought about it.

I love my life.

I selected the NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker because it’s not just a slow cooker but also a pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer and soup maker. It’s Kitchenware Direct’s most popular model and after trawling through some online review sights it ranks right up there among the best of its type.

It arrived promptly in a well packaged box, safely cushioned in plastic air bags and styrofoam. When we took it out we cooed and sighed, stroking our shiny baby with all the love of proud new parents.

Once we were ready to use it, we got a bit scared that it might be broken, because the vacuum seal on the lid was wobbly freakishly and didn’t seem too stable, but then we realised we were complete idiots and that once you use the pressure cooking function the valve sucks into place perfectly.

Crisis averted.

We plonked the meat and sauce inside, hit the slow cooker and walked away for a few hours. At the end, we vamped up the intensity with a few minutes of pressure cooking and we were left will a sweet sauce and meat so tender it just peeled away from the bone.

The results were so good that even the highly critical Fabio let out an involuntary exclaim of satisfied praise.

This cooker is definitely easy to use (one couple cooking together, zero arguments) and even easier to clean (good work Jonas).

All the residual fear I had from my high school friend’s horrific pressure cooker accident was dispelled by the quick vacuum seal and the easy steam release valve. No explosions, good times.

My rule when accepting free gifts or meals is simple: if I don’t like it, I won’t write about it.

Well, I love my NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker and I’m not afraid to tell the world! Without the crew at Kitchenware Direct we might never have been introduced, and that would have been a tragedy.

Spicy Pulled Pork

Based on a recipe by Feast on the Cheap. Makes 10 buns.

Ingredients:
2kg pork shoulder, bone in
1 medium brown onion, diced
1 cup carrot, grated
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 chipotle chillies in adobo sauce*
800g can crushed tomatoes
250ml (1 cup) passata (tomato sauce)
250ml (1 cup) ketchup
250ml (1 cup) BBQ sauce
125ml (½ cup) red wine
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from chipotle chillies)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
Olive oil, for frying

To serve:
Hamburger buns
Aioli
Fresh coriander, chopped
Coleslaw

Method:

1. Trim the pork shoulder of skin and excess fat to prevent congealing in the slow cooker.

2. Over medium heat, sauté the onion, carrot, garlic and chipotle chillies in olive oil until the onion is translucent.

3. In a bowl, combine the sautéed vegetables, BBQ sauce, ketchup, crushed tomatoes, passata, adobo sauce, red wine, cider vinegar, dried oregano, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Stir well.

4. Back in the frying pan, sear the pork shoulder and brown on all sides.

5. In the slow cooker, pour a cup or so of sauce into the base to completely cover the bottom.

6. Put the pork shoulder inside the slow cooker and cover completely in sauce. Cover and cook at 100’C for 5 hours.

7. Switch to your pressure cooker setting and cook for another 20 minutes.

8. Remove the pork from the sauce, cool then shred with a fork. Set aside in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap to keep moist.

9. Pour the sauce into a pan and check seasoning. Adjust balance of sweet and sour according to your tastes, then reduce the sauce by simmering for 10 minutes over medium-low heat. Blend into a purée.

10. In a bowl, add enough sauce to pork to allow for a sticky but not soupy mix.

11. Serve on soft hamburger buns topped with aioli, coriander and sides of coleslaw and dill pickles.

Note: If you don’t have a slow and pressure cooker in one, buy one from Kitchenware Direct! Or you can cook it in a slow cooker for 6-7 hours or a large oven pot at 175’C for 4-7 hours, depending on your oven.

* In Australia, chipotle chillies in adobo sauce are sold in cans in Latin American sections of specialist supermarkets like Fiji Markets in Newtown, Sydney. You can buy them online at Fireworks Foods too. Otherwise substitute with Chipotle Tabasco.

This post has been featured on the wonderful slow cooking blog: