Simple Foods

Going along with the "Simple Life" idea I like to cook but don't have the patience to do things like baking bread where I have to wait for it to rise, etc. For me simple is better.

Outside grilling has not been one of my favorite things to do either so I use my oven a lot. For pork ribs I like to use the large turkey bags placed on a large rectangular metal pan. I salt & pepper the meat and place into the bag. Shake some crushed red pepper over them and add about a quart of apple cider vinegar and seal the end making a small vent hole in the top. Bake them at 300 for about 4 hours. the bones will come out with no resistance and the meat will be fork tender.

We love chicken and I like to place chicken pieces into my oval slow cooker and then cover the chicken with a mixture of cream of celery and cream of chicken soup and cook for 4 to 6 hours. The chicken will be falling apart and the sauce is wonderful. So simple.

Barbeque is a staple in the south and my father used to cook a pig every friday when I was young. He cooked it over an open pit using hickory wood and then would chop it up with two cleavers on a section of a tree trunk into BBQ seasoned with only salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and vinegar. I do the same only I cook a pork loin in my pressure cooker and then do the chopping and seasoning. Comes out the same.

Another simple thing to make is stuffed peppers. I use 3 or 4 large green bell peppers with the top cut off, seeds & membrane removed. I mix ground beef with salt, pepper, finely diced onion and an egg. Then I stuff the peppers with this mixture and place in a pot that accomodates the amount I am using. Any extra meat mixture I just make into balls and place around the peppers. I use chickin broth to almost cover the peppers and then add long grain rice just poured around the peppers into the broth, about 1 1/2 cups. Cooks quickly and the peppers give everything such a good flavor. Hope you like some of these.