Saturday, January 12, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
This is what I'm hoping for
While we were cleaning the kitchen, I assigned my 11 year old to water the herb garden.
She started inquiring about which plant was which and I suggested she just take a nibble of one.... I gave her a bit of chive and told her to tell me what it tasted like. "Oniony" was her response. She continued sampling each one and when she came to the cilantro, she couldn't get enough! She mentioned how much it reminded her of Tex-Mex back home and I told her how easy it was to make it. Before I knew it, we were looking up recipes at allrecipes.com and we made pico de gallo.
This is what I'm really pushing for here. To have my kids appreciate this fresh food and make it themselves. We had a great time!
She started inquiring about which plant was which and I suggested she just take a nibble of one.... I gave her a bit of chive and told her to tell me what it tasted like. "Oniony" was her response. She continued sampling each one and when she came to the cilantro, she couldn't get enough! She mentioned how much it reminded her of Tex-Mex back home and I told her how easy it was to make it. Before I knew it, we were looking up recipes at allrecipes.com and we made pico de gallo.
This is what I'm really pushing for here. To have my kids appreciate this fresh food and make it themselves. We had a great time!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Where's the Beef?
I seem to be tap dancing around this elusive beef roast. Well, it's actually still marinating. It all goes back to that planning thing...
When I announced that the beef was going to be on the table the day after I tried to copy KFC, I had forgotten to take into consideration that we had friends coming into town and that we would be driving to Dubai over the dinner hour and dinner had to be eaten out early. So, the roast out to be good since it will ultimately be marinating for 3 days by the time we eat it.
Meanwhile, friends are in town and we have been out enjoying Abu Dhabi like we're all seeing it for the first time again. Today, we toured the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi and then came back to our house and had Turkey soup - something my husband cooked up with Christmas dinner leftovers and it had no recipe - Turkey, rice, corn and some appropriate spices. That's how he rolls. But we also had a salad - lettuce, cucumber and yellow onion and I made a dressing for it.
It's called Szechwan Dressing...
It came out of the Whole Foods cookbook I have. I skipped the crushed red pepper flakes because when I sampled the new red pepper flakes that I had bought left my tongue numb from the heat.
It was yummy. Perfect for our lunch. :)
Fast forward to dinner, we went out. :)
When I announced that the beef was going to be on the table the day after I tried to copy KFC, I had forgotten to take into consideration that we had friends coming into town and that we would be driving to Dubai over the dinner hour and dinner had to be eaten out early. So, the roast out to be good since it will ultimately be marinating for 3 days by the time we eat it.
Meanwhile, friends are in town and we have been out enjoying Abu Dhabi like we're all seeing it for the first time again. Today, we toured the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi and then came back to our house and had Turkey soup - something my husband cooked up with Christmas dinner leftovers and it had no recipe - Turkey, rice, corn and some appropriate spices. That's how he rolls. But we also had a salad - lettuce, cucumber and yellow onion and I made a dressing for it.
It's called Szechwan Dressing...
1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
salt to taste
It came out of the Whole Foods cookbook I have. I skipped the crushed red pepper flakes because when I sampled the new red pepper flakes that I had bought left my tongue numb from the heat.
It was yummy. Perfect for our lunch. :)
Fast forward to dinner, we went out. :)
Lebanese Flower
Our favorite restaurant!
Now, Lebanese is not truly an Arabic cuisine. But it's found its way into the hearts of the people here and this is one of the best, if not THE best restaurant for Lebanese in Abu Dhabi.
Falafel, Shwarma, Kofta, Arayes. It's always reasonably priced and always delicious!!
Here's the Shwarma grill. The chicken cooks all day on this stack and then when it is served, it's shaved off in thing slices.
There was even a Christmas Tree!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Wasn't feeling brave today
My day started having an enjoyable coffee with a friend as part of a larger group and felt an encouragement regarding my blog from yesterday. After coffee, I went grocery shopping. I nipped into Tim Horton's for a bagel and a chance to think about what I needed at the store. I was shopping blind - no list - another thing I want to improve about my cooking is my planning menus ahead and shopping with a list, which can also be a juggle because you could put some planning together and then get to the market and discover that item you needed is out of stock and it may be months before you see it again. Apparently, years ago when there was a problem with an author in Denmark who said something negative about Islam and so all of the UAE stopped importing butter and other products from Denmark until there was some sort of resolution and somebody got over there issues... or maybe they just wanted their favorite butter back. Anyway, I digress... I just need to improve my planning.
I was not terribly excited to get groceries. After yesterday's disaster, I was not feeling very encouraged by the selection of meat entrees. Even my husband made comments about eating more vegetarian-based meals. But I needed other essentials - laundry soap and such - so I could not avoid it. I went and grabbed all the non-food based essentials and started moving towards the foods section. I thought about the space I currently have in my fridge, which was not much. The holidays and my other recent attempts at some unique and inspired dishes have left me with quite a few odds and ends that I should try to use up in the next few days. That led me to thinking about my freezer and the conversation David and I had about getting a deep freeze - an uncommon appliance here. But I went over to the appliance department of the supermarket (kinda like a Super Target/Walmart) and Voila, I bought a freezer and it will be delivered on Saturday. I finished up the grocery shopping. I didn't buy anything too terribly excited. I did buy a roast so that we might have a second chance.
But I came home and was fighting a headache and truly was dreading making dinner. I was not feeling at all motivated to make anything for dinner worthy of my blog. It was going to be a very busy evening with church youth and my son had company over - big boys who really like to eat good food. So, I opted for an old standby - fried chicken. Not exactly the healthy endeavor I wanted to move toward when I started this blog, but this is not going to happen overnight, is it?
When I was thinking about the space in my fridge and odds and ends, I thought about my earlier attempt weeks ago to try and copy the KFC "Secret Herbs and Spices" and I had some of that sample leftover - enough for dinner. There are copycat recipes for just about everything. While I did not think that this chicken tastes like KFC, my family thinks this is better.
I was not terribly excited to get groceries. After yesterday's disaster, I was not feeling very encouraged by the selection of meat entrees. Even my husband made comments about eating more vegetarian-based meals. But I needed other essentials - laundry soap and such - so I could not avoid it. I went and grabbed all the non-food based essentials and started moving towards the foods section. I thought about the space I currently have in my fridge, which was not much. The holidays and my other recent attempts at some unique and inspired dishes have left me with quite a few odds and ends that I should try to use up in the next few days. That led me to thinking about my freezer and the conversation David and I had about getting a deep freeze - an uncommon appliance here. But I went over to the appliance department of the supermarket (kinda like a Super Target/Walmart) and Voila, I bought a freezer and it will be delivered on Saturday. I finished up the grocery shopping. I didn't buy anything too terribly excited. I did buy a roast so that we might have a second chance.
But I came home and was fighting a headache and truly was dreading making dinner. I was not feeling at all motivated to make anything for dinner worthy of my blog. It was going to be a very busy evening with church youth and my son had company over - big boys who really like to eat good food. So, I opted for an old standby - fried chicken. Not exactly the healthy endeavor I wanted to move toward when I started this blog, but this is not going to happen overnight, is it?
When I was thinking about the space in my fridge and odds and ends, I thought about my earlier attempt weeks ago to try and copy the KFC "Secret Herbs and Spices" and I had some of that sample leftover - enough for dinner. There are copycat recipes for just about everything. While I did not think that this chicken tastes like KFC, my family thinks this is better.
From 11 Secret Herbs and Spices( Kfc Copycat)
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon onion salt
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon basil leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon marjoram leaves, crushed finely
Directions:
Combine all ingredients as listed in a small jar with a tight fitting lid (baby food jars work good). Shake mixture to combine. Stores for months. Keep out of direct sunlight, heat and humidity.
I had all of this mixed together but did not follow the recipe from the website simply because I had forgotten about the rest of it. I took 3 Tbsp of this mixture and put it in with a heaping cup of flour. I put 4 eggs into a dipping bowl and a splash of milk and commenced my assembly line of frying chicken.
I am always pleasantly surprised when something I cook actually comes out of the pan looking like the original cook's photo.
The rest of the meal was the resurrected potatoes and snow peas from yesterday's disaster. The snow peas were simple. I don't think I mentioned them yesterday, but I can tell you what I did. I took a bowl full of snow peas - about two cups worth - and put about enough olive oil to coat them and a Tablespoon or so of a salt-free mixture of herbs. If I had been in the states, I would probably just use something like Mrs. Dash. But I can't get that here and so I just used a generic blend of herbs good on veggies and just a pinch of salt. I mixed that altogether by hand and it was ready to go in the oven last night for about 15 minutes. But since THAT didn't happen, we had to bring it back to life with a splash more oil and David just stir-fried it for me in a pan. Not as good as it would have been yesterday, but not gone to waste either.
The other side item was the English Potatoes that were also salvaged from last nights meal. They tasted just perfect.
Well, not the healthy meal I wish I had put some forethought into... but healthier than the bucket of KFC I might have ordered in a different time. Baby Steps.
Tomorrow, we go for a do-over on the roast.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Day One, a super-mega-FAIL
I started my morning announcing my new blogging endeavor and was determined to put a great deal of effort into the blog and into my effort to really cook well for my family. It is my husband's birthday and the plan was to make him a nice dinner and a cake. My daughter Natalie wanted to learn how to make a pot roast and my husband David's only request for the dinner was English roasted potatoes and a red velvet cake. Sounds easy, doesn't it?
The roast we were going to cook was something that David picked out with Natalie at a grocery story called "LuLu". We get most of our meat from LuLu but it can be a bit of a gamble as to the quality of any cut of meat. The meat is labeled with the name of the country that the beef was raised in - New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, Brazil, etc. This particular roast came from New Zealand. But even if the beef was raised there, the quality is still not something you can depend on and I would not be surprised at all if some beef cuts were mislabeled.
I instructed Natalie when she got out of bed this morning to go and quickly take the beef roast out of the refrigerator because I was concerned that it may be still partially frozen from having just been pulled from the freezer the day before. When I went down to investigate for myself, I saw that it was indeed still frozen and my husband was also concerned that it was not going to be fatty enough to be on the rotisserie. I recommended to Natalie that we put the meat in a marinade to improve the flavor and speed up the thawing process. We found a marinade we could agree on - a basic red wine marinade. Natalie astutely pointed out that since the marinade would not be on very long that perhaps we should make it an injectable marinade - no problem - we just used garlic powder and fine herbs and put it in the blender. Not a big deal
I instructed Natalie to put the roast into a Ziploc bag and then we poured the marinade over it, reserving some for the injection we would do in a few hours. Natalie sealed the Ziploc and went to flip and it spilled all over the floor AND ME!! Truthfully, there was plenty of marinade was left in the bag and the meat was still marinating but oh, the MESS!!! We busted out laughing!!
Would now be a bad time to mention I have a maid? Living here in Abu Dhabi, we decided to have a live-in housekeeper because life here can be very time-consuming and difficult. Our housekeeper came to us out of a difficult situation and we feel blessed to be in a position to not only help her and give her a job, but to have a maid is a *huge* blessing.
But, guess what? She left for her annual vacation yesterday and so I was left to my own devices to clean it up but the odd part was that I wasn't 100% sure where all of the cleaning supplies were!!
Anyway, it took a while to get the floor cleaned up. I've always thought it very strange that there are drains in every floor of this house, but today I particularly appreciated it.
I had to go and take my clothes (fortunately I was still wearing my pajamas) straight to the washer and get a shower and wash off the marinade that had now dried to my toes. By the time I was done getting cleaned up, it was time to think about the red velvet cake. Fortunately, the kitchen floor dried quickly. >Sigh.<
I found a fantastic recipe for the red velvet cake. We have had some disastrous experiments with red velvet cake in the past and did not want another experience like that again. But, I found a great red velvet cake recipe online and Natalie and I worked on mixing it up. Mixing it up went incredibly smoothly and we really had fun and worked well together. My other daughter Morgan even joined in and helped grease the baking pans while the oven was pre-heating. The pans are a special cake pan with a pop-out bottom. The bottoms are weighted to keep the batter from leaking.
So, the cake batter was put together but as I poured it into the pans I noted that the batter was much thinner than a typical cake batter and I was a bit concerned about baking them in these pans but once the batter was poured in, there was no leakage on the counter. I continued to put them in the oven.
No sooner did I have the batter in the oven, that I could smell burning cake batter. I checked and sure enough, the batter was leaking but it was truly too late to swap the batter to a different pan. We put a layer of tin foil in quickly to try and catch the dripping cake as the kitchen started filling with the smoke of burning cake batter. Eventually, the cake did seal off and stop leaking and once it was finished, it was the best tasting red velvet cake I have ever had. I had been able to remove the tin foil when it had stopped leaking and the rest of the burnt cake was easy to scrape out of the oven drip pan.
Once the cake was out, we could put in the roast in. The injection method did not work like we wanted to - our marinade was still a bit to thick for the injection needle - so we just poked holes with the injection needle. So, the roast was in the oven and I had a while before I would need to start on the potatoes. Despite the issues we had had earlier, everything was coming along and the only reminder of the earlier disasters was the spot of marinade I'd missed on the floor and the smell of burnt cake lingering in my clothes.
So, I started the potatoes and had Morgan help me a bit with those. They had to be peeled and then cut up into pieces. But I went to check on the roast and discovered it was on the brink of being overcooked. I took it out and then sort of pressed dinner into high gear because the roast had cooked so quickly. I realized much later that I had forgotten to boil the potatoes, but by then David was home and resting after working on his birthday. I was worried that I had over cooked the roast and so I cut off a piece and found it perfectly moist..... but it tasted terrible. There was no marinade that could make that piece of meat better. It was bad. I called David downstairs and directed him to taste the beef and he agreed with me. It was bad. What a disappointment. I don't think I could have tried any harder to get a good dinner on the table.
I was just about at the end of my patience and I realized I also had not bought cat food and took the opportunity for David and I to have a quick run to the pet store to buy it and in the meantime, Natalie had the cake frosted.
David came to the rescue by recommending that we just go out to eat. We went to the Brauhaus and just took the cake with us and served it there. We even got the whole pub to sing Happy Birthday to David.
A heck of a Day to start a blog on gourmet cooking at home.
If you're curious about the recipes -
Traditional English Roast Potatoes
Red Velvet Cake
The roast we were going to cook was something that David picked out with Natalie at a grocery story called "LuLu". We get most of our meat from LuLu but it can be a bit of a gamble as to the quality of any cut of meat. The meat is labeled with the name of the country that the beef was raised in - New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, Brazil, etc. This particular roast came from New Zealand. But even if the beef was raised there, the quality is still not something you can depend on and I would not be surprised at all if some beef cuts were mislabeled.
I instructed Natalie when she got out of bed this morning to go and quickly take the beef roast out of the refrigerator because I was concerned that it may be still partially frozen from having just been pulled from the freezer the day before. When I went down to investigate for myself, I saw that it was indeed still frozen and my husband was also concerned that it was not going to be fatty enough to be on the rotisserie. I recommended to Natalie that we put the meat in a marinade to improve the flavor and speed up the thawing process. We found a marinade we could agree on - a basic red wine marinade. Natalie astutely pointed out that since the marinade would not be on very long that perhaps we should make it an injectable marinade - no problem - we just used garlic powder and fine herbs and put it in the blender. Not a big deal
I instructed Natalie to put the roast into a Ziploc bag and then we poured the marinade over it, reserving some for the injection we would do in a few hours. Natalie sealed the Ziploc and went to flip and it spilled all over the floor AND ME!! Truthfully, there was plenty of marinade was left in the bag and the meat was still marinating but oh, the MESS!!! We busted out laughing!!
Would now be a bad time to mention I have a maid? Living here in Abu Dhabi, we decided to have a live-in housekeeper because life here can be very time-consuming and difficult. Our housekeeper came to us out of a difficult situation and we feel blessed to be in a position to not only help her and give her a job, but to have a maid is a *huge* blessing.
But, guess what? She left for her annual vacation yesterday and so I was left to my own devices to clean it up but the odd part was that I wasn't 100% sure where all of the cleaning supplies were!!
Anyway, it took a while to get the floor cleaned up. I've always thought it very strange that there are drains in every floor of this house, but today I particularly appreciated it.
I had to go and take my clothes (fortunately I was still wearing my pajamas) straight to the washer and get a shower and wash off the marinade that had now dried to my toes. By the time I was done getting cleaned up, it was time to think about the red velvet cake. Fortunately, the kitchen floor dried quickly. >Sigh.<
I found a fantastic recipe for the red velvet cake. We have had some disastrous experiments with red velvet cake in the past and did not want another experience like that again. But, I found a great red velvet cake recipe online and Natalie and I worked on mixing it up. Mixing it up went incredibly smoothly and we really had fun and worked well together. My other daughter Morgan even joined in and helped grease the baking pans while the oven was pre-heating. The pans are a special cake pan with a pop-out bottom. The bottoms are weighted to keep the batter from leaking.
So, the cake batter was put together but as I poured it into the pans I noted that the batter was much thinner than a typical cake batter and I was a bit concerned about baking them in these pans but once the batter was poured in, there was no leakage on the counter. I continued to put them in the oven.
No sooner did I have the batter in the oven, that I could smell burning cake batter. I checked and sure enough, the batter was leaking but it was truly too late to swap the batter to a different pan. We put a layer of tin foil in quickly to try and catch the dripping cake as the kitchen started filling with the smoke of burning cake batter. Eventually, the cake did seal off and stop leaking and once it was finished, it was the best tasting red velvet cake I have ever had. I had been able to remove the tin foil when it had stopped leaking and the rest of the burnt cake was easy to scrape out of the oven drip pan.
Once the cake was out, we could put in the roast in. The injection method did not work like we wanted to - our marinade was still a bit to thick for the injection needle - so we just poked holes with the injection needle. So, the roast was in the oven and I had a while before I would need to start on the potatoes. Despite the issues we had had earlier, everything was coming along and the only reminder of the earlier disasters was the spot of marinade I'd missed on the floor and the smell of burnt cake lingering in my clothes.
So, I started the potatoes and had Morgan help me a bit with those. They had to be peeled and then cut up into pieces. But I went to check on the roast and discovered it was on the brink of being overcooked. I took it out and then sort of pressed dinner into high gear because the roast had cooked so quickly. I realized much later that I had forgotten to boil the potatoes, but by then David was home and resting after working on his birthday. I was worried that I had over cooked the roast and so I cut off a piece and found it perfectly moist..... but it tasted terrible. There was no marinade that could make that piece of meat better. It was bad. I called David downstairs and directed him to taste the beef and he agreed with me. It was bad. What a disappointment. I don't think I could have tried any harder to get a good dinner on the table.
I was just about at the end of my patience and I realized I also had not bought cat food and took the opportunity for David and I to have a quick run to the pet store to buy it and in the meantime, Natalie had the cake frosted.
David came to the rescue by recommending that we just go out to eat. We went to the Brauhaus and just took the cake with us and served it there. We even got the whole pub to sing Happy Birthday to David.
A heck of a Day to start a blog on gourmet cooking at home.
If you're curious about the recipes -
Traditional English Roast Potatoes
Red Velvet Cake
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
3 years later, a new resolution
There has been a title change on this blog. It used to be a blog about CrockPot cooking entitled "Meals for Moms on the Move". But my resolution for 2013 is to be a better cook. It's not that I overly depended on my CrockPot - using a CrockPot for cooking is still a valuable tool - but I did not necessarily want to start a 2nd cooking blog... I just wanted to share my journey from a mom using a CrockPot to someone who just wants to be a better cook.
Since starting this blog (the CrockPot Blog), I have moved to Abu Dhabi. In our first year here, my husband had an accident and life became very hectic and crazy busy. He had ruptured his Achilles tendon and for a first year of experiencing a new lifestyle, an injured husband and a completely new culture, we found ourselves eating out... and eating out A LOT. Did you know that Abu Dhabi is the most expensive city for restaurant eating in the world? We learned it the hard way and in the past several months, I have been trying to cook more at home. What our eating out DID teach me is to enjoy really, really, really well cooked and well spiced food. We've had Arabic food, Indian, Asian, Arabian versions of American food! LOL!!! We can tour the world of cuisine and never leave the island of Abu Dhabi.
So, my blog is about trying to bring that really good cuisine home - try to make it palatable for a family of a few robust eaters and some picky eaters - and I count myself as one of those picky eaters.
When I decided to look into this concept and this New Year's resolution, I googled "Be a better cook" and I must laugh at what first came up in the search. One of the first results was 9 Simple Ways to Be a Better Cook. It recommends good tools, good pre-preparation, etc. If this idea of being a better cook really grabs your attention, that website has some good rabbit trails you might want to follow and gives me some good ideas for me to cover as I go through this journey. Anyway... back to my train of thought... another link in the first page of Google results was Train Yourself to be a Better Cook. I must laugh at the disparity between the first result I mentioned at this one. I think they are *worlds* away from each other and for some people, it's a very long journey - years - between the need for good tools and the "need" for having 4 different types of salt in your pantry.
I confess that I think that I am on the side of this journey where I am going to be looking at the 4 different types of salt rather than the purchase of a good set of knives. That's where I am at. But it's taken me a long time to get there.
Let's see where this journey goes, shall we? I think we'll start tonight... but I'm not going to make a rack of lamb with desert truffles... but it's my husband's birthday and my daughter wants to make him a very nice meal. She's 13 and my pickiest eater. But she wants to make him a very nice roast. She likes it and he likes it. I'll share with you how it turns out.
Since starting this blog (the CrockPot Blog), I have moved to Abu Dhabi. In our first year here, my husband had an accident and life became very hectic and crazy busy. He had ruptured his Achilles tendon and for a first year of experiencing a new lifestyle, an injured husband and a completely new culture, we found ourselves eating out... and eating out A LOT. Did you know that Abu Dhabi is the most expensive city for restaurant eating in the world? We learned it the hard way and in the past several months, I have been trying to cook more at home. What our eating out DID teach me is to enjoy really, really, really well cooked and well spiced food. We've had Arabic food, Indian, Asian, Arabian versions of American food! LOL!!! We can tour the world of cuisine and never leave the island of Abu Dhabi.
So, my blog is about trying to bring that really good cuisine home - try to make it palatable for a family of a few robust eaters and some picky eaters - and I count myself as one of those picky eaters.
When I decided to look into this concept and this New Year's resolution, I googled "Be a better cook" and I must laugh at what first came up in the search. One of the first results was 9 Simple Ways to Be a Better Cook. It recommends good tools, good pre-preparation, etc. If this idea of being a better cook really grabs your attention, that website has some good rabbit trails you might want to follow and gives me some good ideas for me to cover as I go through this journey. Anyway... back to my train of thought... another link in the first page of Google results was Train Yourself to be a Better Cook. I must laugh at the disparity between the first result I mentioned at this one. I think they are *worlds* away from each other and for some people, it's a very long journey - years - between the need for good tools and the "need" for having 4 different types of salt in your pantry.
I confess that I think that I am on the side of this journey where I am going to be looking at the 4 different types of salt rather than the purchase of a good set of knives. That's where I am at. But it's taken me a long time to get there.
Let's see where this journey goes, shall we? I think we'll start tonight... but I'm not going to make a rack of lamb with desert truffles... but it's my husband's birthday and my daughter wants to make him a very nice meal. She's 13 and my pickiest eater. But she wants to make him a very nice roast. She likes it and he likes it. I'll share with you how it turns out.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Sweet and Tangy Pot Roast
From my old CrockPot Blog-
I picked up another Taste of Home crock pot cookbook magazines at the check out. This recipe was in it. This would be perfect for a less-than-perfect cut of roast beef. I didn't get it in the crock pot in time for the recommended 9-10 hours. If you make it, it definetely cook it for the recommended time.
1 boneless beef chuck roast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup red wine or beef broth
1 envelope brown gravy mix
2 tsps Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp garlic powder
3 TBSP cornstarch
1/4 c cold water
Cut meat in half and place in 5 qt slow cooker. Sprinkl ewith salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the water, ketchup, wine or broth, gravy mix, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder, pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until meat is tender.
Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until gravy is thickened. Remove meat from slow cooker. Slice and serve with gravy.
I picked up another Taste of Home crock pot cookbook magazines at the check out. This recipe was in it. This would be perfect for a less-than-perfect cut of roast beef. I didn't get it in the crock pot in time for the recommended 9-10 hours. If you make it, it definetely cook it for the recommended time.
1 boneless beef chuck roast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup red wine or beef broth
1 envelope brown gravy mix
2 tsps Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp garlic powder
3 TBSP cornstarch
1/4 c cold water
Cut meat in half and place in 5 qt slow cooker. Sprinkl ewith salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the water, ketchup, wine or broth, gravy mix, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder, pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until meat is tender.
Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until gravy is thickened. Remove meat from slow cooker. Slice and serve with gravy.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup
From my old CrockPot Blog-
I recently posted the recipe I use for Roast Chicken. I did cook that this week and had a lot of leftovers. I found this soup on my friend Kelly's cooking blog and I made it. It was fantastic!!! I am very much not a soup person, but this was really good.
The only thing I did differently was that I added more water to cook the rice in the soup. That's it!
I recently posted the recipe I use for Roast Chicken. I did cook that this week and had a lot of leftovers. I found this soup on my friend Kelly's cooking blog and I made it. It was fantastic!!! I am very much not a soup person, but this was really good.
- 1/2 c. chopped carrot
- 1/3 c. finely chopped onion
- 1/3 c. chopped celery
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2T butter (I, of course, only use margarine)
- 1/4 c. flour (soft white works great)
- 2 14-1/2 oz. cans chicken broth (I use homemade from the freezer)
- 2 c. cooked rice (I use brown)
- 1 c. cubed cooked chicken
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 cup milk (I use Lactose-free 2% milk))
- 2 T lemon juice
The only thing I did differently was that I added more water to cook the rice in the soup. That's it!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Roast/Fried Chicken Seasoning
I found a recipe for "Mimi's Sticky Chicken" several years ago on a homeschool forum I participate in.
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Mix these spices together and spread evenly over a whole 3lb chicken. The actual recipe suggests putting 1 cup of chopped onions in the empty chicken cavity. I usually skip that part, I might do it if my husband is going to be home. But normally not.
Cook at 225 deg. for 5 hours. It's a wonderful meal!
I found myself making this recipe so often, I decided once to just mix all the spices together at once. Here are the spices multiplied by 6. One chicken would need 2 TBSP of this spice mixture. This means that you could make 6 roast chickens with this mixture. I just mix it up and put it in a gladware container.
- 4 TBSP salt
- 2 TBSP paprika
- 1.5 TBSP cayenne pepper
- 1 TBSP onion powder
- 1 TBSP thyme
- 1 TBSP white pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp pepper
I also use this mixture for fried chicken. I put 1 TBSP of this spice mixture into a 1/2 cup of flour for a fried chicken seasoning. I sometimes add a bit more paprika because that's what I like.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Crockpot Pizza
From my old CrockPot Blog-
When I was looking for a recipe like this, I found several and I have just combined them into this one that works for us.
Crockpot Pizza - feeds 6
1 lb hamburger, browned and well drained
8oz shredded mozarella
1/4 c chopped onion
1/2 package sliced pepperoni - chopped
half a package of rotini (spiral) pasta
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup (substitute)4 oz mushrooms
1 jars pizza sauce
Brown hamburger with onion. Mix hamburger, onion, pepperoni, cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms and pizza sauce together in Crockpot. Cook on low for 4 hours.
Just before you are ready to serve, cook pasta. Add the pasta and shredded cheese to the sauce mixture in crockpot and cook together until the cheese in melted - about 15 minutes.
When I was looking for a recipe like this, I found several and I have just combined them into this one that works for us.
Crockpot Pizza - feeds 6
1 lb hamburger, browned and well drained
8oz shredded mozarella
1/4 c chopped onion
1/2 package sliced pepperoni - chopped
half a package of rotini (spiral) pasta
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup (substitute)4 oz mushrooms
1 jars pizza sauce
Brown hamburger with onion. Mix hamburger, onion, pepperoni, cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms and pizza sauce together in Crockpot. Cook on low for 4 hours.
Just before you are ready to serve, cook pasta. Add the pasta and shredded cheese to the sauce mixture in crockpot and cook together until the cheese in melted - about 15 minutes.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
From my old CrockPot Blog-
We are having Thanksgiving over at my sister's house this year. Our plan is to keep the menu very simple. My husband is not home for the holiday and he is the one who loves a lot of variety. So, while I will miss him - we have a simpler menu!
I'm not usually very creative on Thanksgiving. But the other day I was listening to our local Christian Radio station and they had a guest chef on - Clive Berkman. I had never heard of him but he had some very interested recipes and a wonderful testimony.
I tracked down the radio station's website and found the recipes.
COOKING WITH CLIVE.
I'm going to try the stuffing, I think. It does sound wonderful.
But I'll probably have a sample of "Stove Top" available!
THANKSGIVING DAY EDIT -
I declare that the Stuffing/dressing recipe is a HIT. It was phenomenal!!
We are having Thanksgiving over at my sister's house this year. Our plan is to keep the menu very simple. My husband is not home for the holiday and he is the one who loves a lot of variety. So, while I will miss him - we have a simpler menu!
I'm not usually very creative on Thanksgiving. But the other day I was listening to our local Christian Radio station and they had a guest chef on - Clive Berkman. I had never heard of him but he had some very interested recipes and a wonderful testimony.
I tracked down the radio station's website and found the recipes.
COOKING WITH CLIVE.
I'm going to try the stuffing, I think. It does sound wonderful.
But I'll probably have a sample of "Stove Top" available!
THANKSGIVING DAY EDIT -
I declare that the Stuffing/dressing recipe is a HIT. It was phenomenal!!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Country French Beef Stew
From my old CrockPot Blog-
Country French Beef Stew
6 slices bacon; cut into 1/2 in pieces
1 (3 lbs) boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed; cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion; cut into 1/2 in wedges
3 cups ready to serve baby carrots
1 cup red Zinfandel wine OR nonalcoholic red wine
3/4 cup beef broth
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes undrained
1 pkg (8 oz) sliced fresh mushrooms; (3 cups)
1/2 cup julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes; (not oil-packed)
Hot cooked noodles;
if desired Chopped fresh parsley OR basil leaves; if desired 1.
Spray 5 to 6 quart slow cooker with coking spray. In a 12-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Place the bacon in cooker. Discard all but 1 TBSP bacon fat in skillet, Cook beef in bacon fat in batches, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown. Stir onion into beef. Cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Spoon mixture into cooker. 2. Stir carrots, wine, broth, flour, basil, thyme, salt, pepper and canned diced tomatoes into mixture in cooker. 3. Cover; cook on LOW heat setting 7 to 8 hours. 4. Stir in mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. Cover; cook on LOW heat setting 20 to 30 minutes longer or until sun-dried tomatoes are tender. Serve mixture over noodles; sprinkle with parsley.
Country French Beef Stew
6 slices bacon; cut into 1/2 in pieces
1 (3 lbs) boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed; cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion; cut into 1/2 in wedges
3 cups ready to serve baby carrots
1 cup red Zinfandel wine OR nonalcoholic red wine
3/4 cup beef broth
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes undrained
1 pkg (8 oz) sliced fresh mushrooms; (3 cups)
1/2 cup julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes; (not oil-packed)
Hot cooked noodles;
if desired Chopped fresh parsley OR basil leaves; if desired 1.
Spray 5 to 6 quart slow cooker with coking spray. In a 12-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Place the bacon in cooker. Discard all but 1 TBSP bacon fat in skillet, Cook beef in bacon fat in batches, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown. Stir onion into beef. Cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Spoon mixture into cooker. 2. Stir carrots, wine, broth, flour, basil, thyme, salt, pepper and canned diced tomatoes into mixture in cooker. 3. Cover; cook on LOW heat setting 7 to 8 hours. 4. Stir in mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. Cover; cook on LOW heat setting 20 to 30 minutes longer or until sun-dried tomatoes are tender. Serve mixture over noodles; sprinkle with parsley.
Pork Chops with Apples, Sweet Potatoes, and Sauerkraut
From my old CrockPot Blog-
4 (1 inch thick) boneless pork chops
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 medium onion, sliced
2 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 (16 ounce) can sauerkraut, drained
DIRECTIONS
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray. Quickly brown the pork chops on each side. Set aside.
Arrange sweet potato slices in the bottom of a 3 to 4 quart slow cooker. Cover with the onion slices, then the apple slices. Sprinkle brown sugar, nutmeg and salt over the apples, and grind a little pepper. Place the pork chops on top of the pile, and cover with sauerkraut. Cover, and cook on Low for about 5 hours. It can go an extra hour without drying out though.
Serve pork and vegetables with juice from the slow cooker spooned over them.
4 (1 inch thick) boneless pork chops
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 medium onion, sliced
2 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 (16 ounce) can sauerkraut, drained
DIRECTIONS
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray. Quickly brown the pork chops on each side. Set aside.
Arrange sweet potato slices in the bottom of a 3 to 4 quart slow cooker. Cover with the onion slices, then the apple slices. Sprinkle brown sugar, nutmeg and salt over the apples, and grind a little pepper. Place the pork chops on top of the pile, and cover with sauerkraut. Cover, and cook on Low for about 5 hours. It can go an extra hour without drying out though.
Serve pork and vegetables with juice from the slow cooker spooned over them.
Basil Chicken Merlot
From my old CrockPot Blog-
Basil Chicken Merlot with Wild Mushrooms
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 pounds roasting chicken, cut into individual pieces, skinned
1½ cups crimini mushrooms, cleaned and thickly sliced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
6 ounce can tomato paste
1/3 cup Merlot, or other dry red wine
1 teaspoon ground oregano
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
3 cups cooked ziti pasta, drained
Romano cheese for garnish
Directions:
In a large skillet on stovetop set to medium-high heat, heat oil.
Once the oil is hot, brown one-half of the chicken pieces on each side about 3 to 5 minutes, turning once. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and repeat with the remaining chicken. Set all of the browned chicken aside.
Heat the remaining oil in the skillet and add the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Sauté these vegetables for 7-8 minutes or until the onions are soft.
Place the stoneware on the slow cooker heating base and add the vegetables. Arrange the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the broth, tomato paste, wine, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours or on Low for 7 to 9 hours. Stir in the fresh basil. Spoon the pasta into a deep, large serving bowl or platter. Ladle the chicken and mushrooms over the pasta and spoon the extra sauce over all. Garnish with the Romano cheese.
Basil Chicken Merlot with Wild Mushrooms
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 pounds roasting chicken, cut into individual pieces, skinned
1½ cups crimini mushrooms, cleaned and thickly sliced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
6 ounce can tomato paste
1/3 cup Merlot, or other dry red wine
1 teaspoon ground oregano
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
3 cups cooked ziti pasta, drained
Romano cheese for garnish
Directions:
In a large skillet on stovetop set to medium-high heat, heat oil.
Once the oil is hot, brown one-half of the chicken pieces on each side about 3 to 5 minutes, turning once. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and repeat with the remaining chicken. Set all of the browned chicken aside.
Heat the remaining oil in the skillet and add the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Sauté these vegetables for 7-8 minutes or until the onions are soft.
Place the stoneware on the slow cooker heating base and add the vegetables. Arrange the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the broth, tomato paste, wine, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours or on Low for 7 to 9 hours. Stir in the fresh basil. Spoon the pasta into a deep, large serving bowl or platter. Ladle the chicken and mushrooms over the pasta and spoon the extra sauce over all. Garnish with the Romano cheese.
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
From my old CrockPot Blog-
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
I accidently made this with too many potatoes. I used 4 lbs of potatoes and I sliced them in my food processor. My husband is sure that it is better with more potatoes as I did it. He may just be being nice, but I do agree with him.
I actually have not tried this in the Crock Pot yet. I am concerned about the cream and how it will work in a Crock Pot. I might be able to get away with it if I don't put the cream in until about 30 minutes before I serve it. I'll update here if I ever try it via Crock Pot.
~~~Andrea~~~
Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
I accidently made this with too many potatoes. I used 4 lbs of potatoes and I sliced them in my food processor. My husband is sure that it is better with more potatoes as I did it. He may just be being nice, but I do agree with him.
I actually have not tried this in the Crock Pot yet. I am concerned about the cream and how it will work in a Crock Pot. I might be able to get away with it if I don't put the cream in until about 30 minutes before I serve it. I'll update here if I ever try it via Crock Pot.
~~~Andrea~~~
Chicken and Artichokes
From my old CrockPot Blog-
1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless chicken breast halves, skin removed
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 package frozen artichokes, 8 to 12 ounces (I used 1 can of artichoke hearts, quartered)
1 cup chicken broth, (you may need to use the whole can)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (3 to 4 ounces) sliced ripe olives
1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 teaspoons curry powder, or to taste
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups hot cooked rice
PREPARATION:Rinse chicken; pat dry and set aside. In a 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker combine the mushrooms, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, chicken broth, chopped onion, sliced olives, and wine. Stir in tapioca, curry powder, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add chicken to crockpot; spoon some of the tomato mixture over chicken.Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Serve with hot cooked rice.Makes 6 to 8 servings
***Notes***
This was the first time I ever made something with tapioca as the thickener. It turned out wonderful! The first time I made it, I left out the olives. The 2nd time I made it, I did make it with olives. I still didn't eat them. But my husband raved about it with the olives!
1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless chicken breast halves, skin removed
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 package frozen artichokes, 8 to 12 ounces (I used 1 can of artichoke hearts, quartered)
1 cup chicken broth, (you may need to use the whole can)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (3 to 4 ounces) sliced ripe olives
1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 teaspoons curry powder, or to taste
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups hot cooked rice
PREPARATION:Rinse chicken; pat dry and set aside. In a 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker combine the mushrooms, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, chicken broth, chopped onion, sliced olives, and wine. Stir in tapioca, curry powder, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add chicken to crockpot; spoon some of the tomato mixture over chicken.Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Serve with hot cooked rice.Makes 6 to 8 servings
***Notes***
This was the first time I ever made something with tapioca as the thickener. It turned out wonderful! The first time I made it, I left out the olives. The 2nd time I made it, I did make it with olives. I still didn't eat them. But my husband raved about it with the olives!
Pork and Black Bean Chili
From my old CrockPot Blog-
Black Bean Chili With Pork Recipe
1 lb. boneless pork, cut into cubes
2 (16 oz.) cans black beans drained
1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 med. tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 sm. red onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 t. ground cumin
2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. salt
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 c. sour cream
2 T. chopped cilantro
In a crockpot, stir together pork, beans, bell pepper, tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and tomato sauce. Cover and cook on low 8 to 9 hours. Spoon into bowls and top with sour cream and cilantro.Crockpot Black Bean Chili With Pork Recipe 1 lb. boneless pork, cut into cubes2 (16 oz.) cans black beans, drained1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped1 med. tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped1 sm. red onion, thinly sliced1 clove garlic, crushed1/2 t. ground cumin2 t. chili powder1/2 t. salt1 can tomato sauce1/2 c. sour cream2 T. chopped cilantroIn a crockpot, stir together pork, beans, bell pepper, tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and tomato sauce. Cover and cook on low 8 to 9 hours. Spoon into bowls and top with sour cream and cilantro.
**My Notes**
I never seem to have fresh cilantro around and truthfully, I don't like it that much. So, I skip it. I've also used a Can of Rotell in place of the peppers. If I do that, I adjust how much tomato I use.
~~~Andrea~~~
Black Bean Chili With Pork Recipe
1 lb. boneless pork, cut into cubes
2 (16 oz.) cans black beans drained
1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 med. tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 sm. red onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 t. ground cumin
2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. salt
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 c. sour cream
2 T. chopped cilantro
In a crockpot, stir together pork, beans, bell pepper, tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and tomato sauce. Cover and cook on low 8 to 9 hours. Spoon into bowls and top with sour cream and cilantro.Crockpot Black Bean Chili With Pork Recipe 1 lb. boneless pork, cut into cubes2 (16 oz.) cans black beans, drained1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped1 med. tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped1 sm. red onion, thinly sliced1 clove garlic, crushed1/2 t. ground cumin2 t. chili powder1/2 t. salt1 can tomato sauce1/2 c. sour cream2 T. chopped cilantroIn a crockpot, stir together pork, beans, bell pepper, tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and tomato sauce. Cover and cook on low 8 to 9 hours. Spoon into bowls and top with sour cream and cilantro.
**My Notes**
I never seem to have fresh cilantro around and truthfully, I don't like it that much. So, I skip it. I've also used a Can of Rotell in place of the peppers. If I do that, I adjust how much tomato I use.
~~~Andrea~~~
What's Cookin'?
Several weeks ago on a homeschool forum I heard about a blog of someone who had committed to using her Crock Pot every day for a year. I felt inspired to try and use my Crock Pots more. Before this, I had used my Crock Pot for soups, stews and the occassional chicken. I'm excited about the recipes I have found and I want to share them.
~~~Andrea~~~
~~~Andrea~~~
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