Sounds like a good plan and you should know how to do the process in both ways.
Black Krim does sound like an exciting find.
You have plenty of reading for tonight, LOL, on gardens.
I wanted to close this window, hours ago, started with3 tabs and now have 30 that are full of links to check......
I must get some self control....
Have fun, that is what you are meant to do.
Dr. Bill should be on in a minute, LOL, wrong in an hour, you don’t have the same time as me.
Spokane, WA, is to have a chill factor of 20 below, tonight, per the news, so much for global warming.
I must get some self control...
You make me laugh with your comments. Reading through the earlier part of this thread (I'm up to about 6300 now) I find I look forward to your posts. I stop and read your posts carefully to see what you are going to say next. How faithful you have been on this thread! It's a real treasure. FR is lucky to have you. I will try to contribute more but maybe someone can learn from my beginner questions. LOL
Anything going on with the scanner tonite? Are you listening?
http://entire-of-itself.blogspot.com/2007/02/soup-to-rescue.html
Don’t want to cook but want a good dinner? Soup to the rescue!
When I worked I just crawled home exhausted most nights, and then collapsed in a corner! Soup was my salvation then in cool weather; big main course salads were my salvation in hot weather. It’s winter now, so let’s talk about soup first.
Even now that I am retired, there are many nights when I just don’t want to cook; and yet I want a meal that has both great taste and good nutrition. Soup fulfills both these requirements. It is also very cheap, and most soups freeze very well.
I’m not talking about little watery soups, but big hearty soups with some substance to them - soups that are a complete meal with a whole wheat roll or a slice of whole wheat bread. (Or even white bread, if you must!)
There are many different soups that are good for this purpose; I’ll mention just a few:
* Beef Vegetable Soup
* Chunky Calico Chicken Soup
* French-style Vegetable Soup - my current favorite! (Recipe follows.)
* Lentil Soup - there are many lentil soup recipes
* Split Pea Soup
* Hearty Tomato Soup
* Black Bean Soup - my recipe is on this blog, in the
post entitled ‘Eating Beans and Rice’.
* Hamburger Soup - ground beef and many vegetables
* Ribollita - Italian-style vegetable soup with Italian bread.
* Minestrone
There are many more. But even with only the soups I have listed above, you can have lots of variety and you won’t be bored eating the same thing all the time.
First, a few general tips on making and freezing your soups:
1. Don’t use pieces of potato in soup that you will freeze. Pieces of potato turn into nasty horrible cardboard (bad texture, bad taste) when you freeze them.
2. The more fresh veggies you can use in your soup (as opposed to frozen veggies), the better your soup will be. But hey, we live in the real world; not the ideal world. Sometimes I have to use some frozen vegetables, but I can
always use fresh carrots, onions, garlic, celery, and cabbage.
3. If you put frozen peas in soup, cook them separately and just put them in the bottom of the bowl you will eat the soup from, then pour the hot soup over them. They don’t reheat well, they get nasty, and they don’t freeze well either. This way, they won’t be in the soup that you either freeze or reheat.
4. To make the soup hearty, you can add a drained, rinsed can or two of beans. I prefer cannelini beans for this. My second choice would be other white beans. Dried, home-cooked beans are even better. But again: we live in the real world. Sometimes I have home-cooked beans and sometimes I do not.
You can cook and can (bottle) beans at home, but I’ve not reached that exalted state of organization yet. It would be A Very Good Thing to have home-canned beans and maybe someday I will. In the meantime, canned beans are fine
if you drain and rinse them to remove most of the added salt.
5. If you have a food processor, you can grate up a pound or two of cheddar (or other cheese) and freeze it in plastic freezer bags. Then you just need to take out some grated cheese when you start heating your frozen soup. The cheese is put in the soup when you dish it out. This also adds heartiness to your soup.
6. I don’t like to use plastic containers in the microwave. So I bought several small glass (Pyrex) containers of various sizes and shapes. One is just the right size to heat a one-person-meal amount of soup (for us, this is two bowls of soup per person). This is very convenient. Of course, you can reheat soup on the stove top also, if you prefer.
7. Soup can be frozen in the small Zip-Loc (or other brand) ‘disposable’ containers. In spite of the fact that the manufacturer would like you to dispose of the container after one use, you can wash them and re-use them indefinitely. They stack in the freezer, which is good. I have a lot of these containers in a ‘one meal size’. Theoretically, you can heat soup in the microwave in these, but I prefer to put the container in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes, then slide the soup out of the container, and heat it in a glass container in the microwave.
8. You can also freeze soup in plastic freezer bags. In that case, when the bags are sealed, put them all flat on a cookie sheet or plastic tray and freeze them that way. Otherwise, they slump down between the bars of the freezer shelf and stick to the bars. When your bags of soup are frozen, and
nice and flat, then take them off the cookie sheet and stack them on the freezer shelf. You cannot reheat in the frozen bags - just put the frozen bag of soup in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes, and then you can slide the soup out of the bag and reheat in the microwave (see #6, above) or on the stove top.
9. If you make a big pot of soup, don’t wait for it to cool down naturally - it can take too long to become completely cool: this gives bacteria too much time to grow. Put the pot in a sink of cold water (with ice cubes, if you have them), and stir the soup gently. Replace the water with fresh cold water if it gets warm. Then freeze your cooled soup. Or put the pot outside for a while in the snow, if you have deep snow. (At the moment, we have about two feet of snow on the ground! That would cool a big pot of soup pretty fast, I think.)
French Style Vegetable Soup
This is my current favorite soup; it is very loosely based on ‘The Soup - French Style’ from The Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread Cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon.
The amounts listed here actually made ten meals of soup. Each meal also included some kind of bread or roll, and often included grated cheddar served in the soup.
Ingredients:
* 2 very large onions or equivalent amounts of smaller onions
* 8 small cloves of garlic
* 2 stalks of celery
* 2 carrots
* 1 parsnip
* 1 large handful of fresh green beans
* 6 large mushrooms
* about 1/3 of a small head of cabbage
* 1/2 a 32-oz bottle of V-8 juice
* about 1-2 cups of white wine (didn’t measure)
* 2 28-oz cans of whole tomatoes (or diced tomatoes)
* 1 can of canellini beans, drained and rinsed
* various herbs - basil, thyme, marjoram, a little tarragon
* tamari (also called ‘shoyu’ - a superior kind of soy sauce)
Pretty cheap! Very healthy!
This is almost a minestrone - if you add cooked elbow macaroni, then it would be minestrone. It took about an hour’s work. Well, I’ll spend an hour to have ten nutritious and delicious meals meals any time. Warning: this soup is addictive. I’ve made it three times so far this winter, and will be making it again today. You can cut the quantities down, of course, and I usually make a smaller amount than given here.
By the way, this is one reason why I really love my food processor. You can cut all the veggies with a knife and cutting board and - indeed - you can do a more uniform and a prettier job with a knife and cutting board. But using the food processor makes the job go very fast.
I don’t care about pretty in soup; I care about taste. Obviously, if you don’t have a food processor, slice or chop by hand.
OK, from the beginning, this is how I make this soup:
I use the food processor for every veggie in the soup (except the canned tomatoes).
Chop 2 large onions and 8 small cloves of garlic in the food processor, put them in a bowl. Slice two stalks of celery with their leaves (try to buy nice leafy ones). Slice two peeled carrots.
Sauté all this in a a little olive oil. I do not have a large soup pot that will saute worth a darn, so I Sauté in another pan and then transfer everything to the large soup pot. I would like to get a better large soup pot someday.
Transfer the sautéed veggies to your big soup pot. Add two 28-oz cans of diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes - if using whole tomatoes put them in a bowl first and quickly chop them up. Top and tail the green beans, then slice them. Slice a peeled parsnip. Add the green beans and parsnip to the soup pot. Add a lot of white wine, maybe about 2 cups.
Add dried Italian parsley, basil, also some thyme, marjoram, and a little tarragon. Also some tamari. (When I last made this soup, I wanted to measure to be able to tell you how much of each, but I couldn’t bear to slow the process down; my back really hurt at the time.)
Add about one pint (two cups) of low-sodium V-8 juice (tomato juice can substitute for this) and some water.
Bring the soup to a boil, then turn the flame down so it will just simmer. Cover the pot and let the soup simmer gently for about 40 minues.
Clean and slice the mushrooms. Slice the 1/3 head of cabbage finely. Add them to the soup pot. Drain the canellini beans in a colander and rinse them with cold water. Add the beans to the soup pot. Bring to a simmer again, and let the soup simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes - just until the mushrooms and cabbage are soft and taste cooked.
Taste - add more herbs or tamari if you think it needs them.
Frozen peas: just a few. I don’t like frozen peas when reheated, whereas the rest of the soup reheats just fine. So I cook the peas separately, and just put some peas in each of the bowls before I dish the soup out.
Add grated cheese to the soup after it is dished out, if you wish. Grate black pepper over your bowl of soup if you wish, also.
This seems like a lot of work, but I want to emphasize that you are making about ten meals at a time. It’s really not that much work considering how many meals you are making and how good it is.
Pat
16 February 2007
Copyright © 2007 Patricia Meadows
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/
Caramel Crunch Bars
I had taken a pretty long lay off from making desserts. I’m not really sure why, but it may have had something to do with it being summer and wanting to focus more on the BBQ meats. I was inspired to try to do a little spin on one of my favorite candy bars, Nestle Crunch. The question was whether or not I could make this delicacy for myself. I have to say this recipe met and exceeded my expectations. The only thing I need to worry about now is making sure I don’t eat the whole thing. Fortunately, I can take a lot of my leftovers into the office where I have a solid group to help me eat all of this.
Ingredients
1 20z squeeze bottle of Caramel Sundae Syrup
2 single serving containers (4.6 oz total) of Cocoa Crispies
6 Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Symphony bars (about 26 ounces total)
If you thought this was an easy recipe to make you were correct! Pour the cocoa crispies into the bottom of your crockpot and spread out evenly. Break up the chocolate bars into one or two square pieces and distribute evenly on top of the cereal. Set your crockpot to on hour on high.
After about 30 minutes take off the top and shift the the chocolate pieces around. Some will have melted a little more than others. After another 30 min all of the chocolate should be melted. Test it with a fork because it may still appear to retain some of it’s shape even though it is completed melted. Stir the chocolate and cereal with a big spoon until the cereal is evenly coated. Spread the cereal out on a sheet of wax paper about 1/4 inch deep and put in the fridge for an hour to cool.
Top the now cooled mixture evenly with your caramel sauce and you are ready to go! As you can see, the caramel does get a little messy so if you are more of straight up crunch bar fan you may want to hold off.
The results actually tastes exactly like a nestle crunch bar, only more chocolaty thanks to the better chocolate and cocoa crispies. Enjoy!
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/05/quick-easy-bbq-sauce.html
Quick & Easy BBQ Sauce
Saw a recipe on epicurious for BBQ sauce that looked pretty good. I made a few modifications to it and overall am pretty pleased with the results. Camera is on the fritz so no photos this time I’m afraid.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons of butter
1 medium onion (chopped into small pieces)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
16 oz ketchup
1/3 of a cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
Melt the butter down in a saucepan and saute the onion for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic in and cook for about another minute. Add in everything else except for the hot sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the hot sauce and give one final stir before transferring to a bowl.
Put the bowl in the fridge for about an hour to allow the sauce to thicken up an serve over your favorite meats.
Going Hog Wild
Sorry for the lapse between posts. Don’t think I haven’t been working on some new things though. As I mentioned before I planned to test out the concept of flavor injection. That is, using a syringe like device to inject liquid marinades deep into meat prior to cooking. With memorial day around the corner, I opted to go with the classics and make some pulled pork along with a homemade BBQ sauce.
I also was able to find a bone in pork shoulder at the supermarket. This was especially nice because I have heard a lot about how the bone flavor the meat during the cooking process. Let’s start with the Pork.
Ingredients
1 bone in pork shoulder (about 4-5 lbs)
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of liquid smoke
1 tablespoon of water
1 tablespoon of honey
4+ tablespoons of your favorite bbq rub
You can make your own rub if you like. I usually buy my own because I’m pretty limited on space but I have made one quick recipe which works fine.
In a bowl or measuring cup, mix the Worcestershire sauce, water, liquid smoke and honey until even blended. Fill your flavor injector up as shown above and push the needle into a thick part of the pork shoulder and press down on the syringe to release the flavor into the meat. I recommend making about 5 to 6 insertions. Pour the remaining liquid over the meat and turn it a few times to make sure it is evenly coated. Apply your dry rub even over the meat and put the meat in your crockpot on low for 12 hours.
If you have been able to find a bone in pork shoulder (this recipe works fine with a pork butt or pork loin) you will be able to literally pull the shoulder bone out cleanly as can be seen above. Take the pork out of the crockpot (be careful as it will fall apart) and use two forks to shred the meat. Using a spoon or turkey baster, apply the juices left in your crockpot to the meat to add back little moisture.
You can pick up a flavor injector at any kitchen store for about $5-7 and it is definitely a worthwhile investment. If you don’t have one on hand, pouring the mixture over the meat works fine as well.
Now for the sauce...
Ingredients
2.5 cups of ketchup
1.5 cups of brown sugar
5 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of molasses
1 tablespoon of honey
3 teaspoons hot sauce
1 small onion chopped
Saute the onion in a pan with olive oil. Mix together all the remaining ingredients until evenly blended. Pour the mixture over the onions and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir one final time and pour the sauce into a bowl and container and put in the fridge for a few hours to cool. Definitely a little wiggle room here. I like spicy food so if you prefer a sauce that is a little sweeter, you may want to cut back a little on the mustard and hot sauce and taste test your sauce until it suits you.
Here are my results. While I didn’t wind up with any leftovers to take home, as long as people enjoyed it that is good enough for me.
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/06/going-hog-wild.html
[Different amounts in this BBQ sauce...several photos.]
Quick and Easy BBQ spice rub
In the event that you do not have access to a store that sells spice rubs, below is a pretty good recipe for a basic spice rub. This goes well with chicken and pork, but could be used with beef as well.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons of chili powder
2 tablespoons of black pepper
4 tablespoons of paprika
1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
I would recommend buying pre-made rubs individually if they are available to you because they are pretty cheap and effective, but if you have a fully stocked spice cabinet, this works great to.
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/03/quick-and-easy-bbq-spice-rub.html
Recipe For Sweet Potatoes
As promised, I’m going to start putting my recipes from this past weekend’s festivities up. We’ll start off with the sweet potatoes.
JC’s Sugared Sweet Potatoes (serves 7-10)
Ingredients
-6 Large Sweet Potatoes
-1 Cup of Brown Sugar
-2 tablespoons of butter
-3/4 of a cup of 2% milk
-2 teaspoons of Cinnamon
Rinse and peel the sweet potatoes and then cut width wise into about 6-7 smaller circular pieces. Chop these pieces further into 3 to four smaller stick like pieces. Throw out the end pieces which tend to be on the tougher side.
In your crockpot put down a layer of sweet potato pieces that just covers the bottom. Add about 1/4 of your brown sugar evenly over the top along with a few pieces of butter (I recommend using a knife to shave off thin strips of butter). Repeat this process until all of your sweet potatoes are in the crockpot (6 large ones should take it to about the top). Be liberal with the brown sugar and butter and add more on top if you run out before using all of the sweet potatoes.
Set your crockpot to either 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high depending on how much time you have. I don’t think you lose a lot by cooking them on high so I would opt for that. After they are done cooking use a potato masher to break them down. If the potato masher doesn’t go through the potatoes easily, they need to cook for longer until they are soft and easily mashed.
Mash the potatoes thoroughly (if you like lumpy sweet potatoes by all means mash less). Add in the milk, Cinnamon and a couple extra tablespoons of brown sugar and stir until all the ingredients have been mixed. Feel free to improvise with whole milk or cream if that is how you like it or add any honey, maple syrup or other sweeteners you have around.
I can’t stress enough that using a crockpot allows you to take a recipe and make it your own.
Enjoy
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/03/recipe-for-sweet-potatoes.html
Great Ribs... Terrible Superbowl
I am writing this entry in semi state of shock as I try to recover to the Pats crushing defeat to the Giants. This is compounded by the fact that I currently live in Manhattan and I will have this defeat rubbed in my face in the morning at work.
On a happier note the ribs were a great success. The basic recipe is as follows:
Ingredients:
3 lbs baby back ribs
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons (or more) or your favorite spice rub
1 jar of your favorite BBQ sauce
Directions:
1.) In a large bowl pour the apple cider vinegar over the ribs and turn the ribs over to apply and even coat.
2.) Pour the rub evenly over the ribs (make sure to apply it to both sides)
3.) Place the ribs on a preheated broiler pan and cook for 15 minutes (make sure to rotate and turn the slabs of ribs about every 3 minutes to avoid burning them)
4.) Take out the ribs and cut them into sets of 2 to 3 ribs (so they will fit in the crockpot)
5.) Put the cut up ribs into the crockpot and apply BBQ liberally
6.) Set the crockpot to 6 hours on high
7.) Every two hours add a little bit more BBQ sauce onto the ribs
8.) After 6 hours are complete, cook the ribs on low for one more hour and add more BBQ sauce
9.) Remove ribs and serve
Here are some photos of my results..
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/02/great-ribs-terrible-superbowl.html
Easy BBQ Chicken
Having had great success with beef and pork I decided that I would give chicken a shot even though I had some reservations about the meat drying out. As it turns out, dark meat chicken has plenty of fat and moisture and works great in the crockpot.
Easy BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
8 boneless/skinless Chicken thighs (about 2 lbs)
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 Tablespoons of BBQ rub of choice (store bought or homemade works great)
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar 1 Tablespoon Honey
1 Medium Onion, chopped
3-4 tablespoons of your favorite BBQ Sauce
In a large bowl, combine the chicken thighs with the Worcestershire sauce, honey, brown sugar and bbq rub and stir until the chicken is evenly coated.
Rough Chop the onion into bite size pieces and add to the chicken and top with your BBQ sauce of choice.
Give everything one final stir before setting your crockpot to low for 9 hours
After the meat has finished cooking remove the chicken and onions from the crock pot and put into a bowl or plastic container. Shred the chicken with two forks and spoon the juices left in the crock pot back onto the meat along with a little BBQ sauce if you so choose.
Stir everything together one last time. The chicken can be served on it’s own or on a roll with BBQ sauce. A couple dashes of apple cider or white vinegar also gives it a nice flavor as well.
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/03/easy-bbq-chicken.html
Teriyaki Drumsticks
Slight change of plans here. I was going to make teriyaki pulled pork, but then I got invited to a poker night. I thought it might be easier to play hold em with chicken drumstick in hand as opposed to trying to tackle a pulled pork sandwich, generally a two handed job. However, I stayed true to my mission of making it teriyaki style.
Ingredients
25 skinless chicken drumsticks
3 tablespoons Chinese five-spice powder
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 teaspoons alt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bottle thicker style teriyaki sauce
According to the label on the spice jar, Chinese five-spice powder is a blend of ginger, nutmeg, allspice cloves, pepper, thyme and star anise. Now I’m noticing that this appears to be six ingredients, but maybe I am missing something here. I also found it amusing that Iron Chef has rolled out a line of sauces (pictured above). Good to see that they are finding some other revenue opportunities. Mighty fine sauce though so it looks like they are on the right track, but back to business here.
Put all of the spices into a shallow container or dish and stir together. Roll each drumstick in the spice blend and then place into the crockpot. Cook on low for 7 hours. After 6 hours open the crockpot (cardinal sin here I know) and pour about 6 tablespoons of your teriyaki sauce over the top.
Cook for one more hour and then transfer cooked drumsticks with a tongs onto a place. Drizzle with a little more teriyaki sauce and then put in the fridge for a few hours before serving. I really think these are best served cold because the meat is almost falling off the bone when they are finished cooking and a little time in the fridge allows the meat not only to absorb a little more flavor but also to reconnect to the bone so it won’t completely fall apart while you are eating it.
All in all the drumsticks were a hit and I got third place which meant I got my $20 buy in back so I can’t complain.
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/07/teriyaki-drumsticks.html
I wanted to put the recipe up for this in case somebody else wanted to try to make it. One really great thing about Crockpot BBQ is that you can pretty much make it up as you go along, adding different things and it pretty much always comes out great because the slow cooking process makes your meat taste unbelievable so as long as you are not adding things milk and pickle juice you will definitely get some good results. That being said here is the recipe for the BBQ beef I made in the last post.
BBQ Beef a la Budweiser
Ingredients
2lbs of Cubed Chuck Steak or stew meat
1 tablespoon (roughly) of Worcestershire sauce
1/3 of a cup of your favorite spice rub (enough to cover all of the meat)
1 tablespoon of honey
1/3 of a beer (I went with Bud, but I would bet that there are better options)
1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
Directions
1.)Put the beef cubes into a large bowl
2.)Pour the Worcestershire sauce and honey over the meat and stir it with a large spoon until the meat is evenly coated
3.)Sprinkle your rub on the meat and slowly stir it with a spoon (so it doesn’t go flying everywhere) until evenly coated
4.)Pour the beef cubes into your crockpot and spread evenly along the bottom. Add the beer in as well.
5.)Cover your crockpot and set it for 12 hours on low
6.)Amuse yourself for 12 hours (going to work or sleeping are usually good options)
7.)Once 12 hours is up you will notice that a good amount of liquid has built up around the meat. I recommend draining the vast majority of it because the meat will already be very moist and does not need the additional fat.
8.)Using two forks, gently shred the beef (it will come apart very easily) and add your BBQ sauce
9.)Give it a good stir and you are ready to serve.
As you can see here the leftovers heat up just fine. I had a pretty good hunch I would be eating it soon so I kept it in the fridge, but the freezer works great too. On a side note the sugar snap peas over there are really good to. I bought them in the freezer section and they were actually really crisp and tasted fresh. Green Giant makes them (they are called Simply Steam). I gave mine a quick spray of pam and then a couple shakes of BBQ rub and they make a great addition to your meal without a whole lot of effort.
A few thoughts
In retrospect I somewhat regret buying the meat from Gristedes. Not that Gristedes is a bad supermarket or that my BBQ wasn’t good, but when I was in Fairway (A New York grocery store that has an full butcher shop inside) I couldn’t help but notice how much better everything looks. Since the cuts of meat primarily used in BBQ (Pork Shoulder, Chuck Steak, Brisket etc...) are so cheap (about $5 a lb) it might be worth paying a little extra for a higher quality product.
This also holds true for BBQ sauce as well. There is a whole lot of crap out there made by various food conglomerates and consisting primarily of corn syrup, artificial color and other stuff I can’t even pronounce. You will really do yourself a favor if spend a little more on a quality product. Bonesuckin Sauce (http://www.bonesuckin.com/) is really great stuff, but there are a lot of others out there. The main thing to look for is that there is no corn syrup or other artificial stuff and that the sauce is made up things like molasses, brown sugar and the like. Be careful because there a lot of BBQ sauces that give the appearance of being all natural but in fact are made up of the same stuff that the Kraft BBQ sauce is made from.
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/01/bbq-beef-follow-up.html
Brisket Recipe
I don’t know how I forgot to take a picture of the results of my brisket, but unfortunately there is nothing left to take a picture of. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed though.
24 Hour Marinaded BBQ Brisket
Ingredients
6 lbs of Beef Brisket
6 tablespoons of your favorite BBQ spice rub
4 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of liquid smoke
2 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
The first step is to trim off any excess fat from the brisket. There tends to be a layer on the top that is about 1/4 inch thick. The meat has plenty of interior marbling so you will will still end up with moist brisket even if you trim off the top fat.
In a small bowl mix together the Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, water, honey and brown sugar until evenly blended. Put the brisket in a large bowl or pan and pour the liquid mixture over the meat, turning the meat multiple times until evenly coated. Pour out any excess liquid mixture that has not been absorbed by the meat. Add your dry rub liberally to the brisket (don’t hold back, the more the merrier here) and make sure all sides are evenly covered. Put the brisket in a plastic bag (I would double up to make sure sauce doesn’t drip into the fridge) and leave for 24 hours.
Put the brisket into your crockpot and set on low for 12 hours. Pour a little BBQ sauce on top of the meat and then let cook for 12 hours. Once completed, put the brisket in a pan and shred using 2 forks. There should be a decent amount of liquid left in the crockpot from the juices of the brisket. Using a large spoon, drizzle the 1/2 of the remaining juices over the meat (this adds some moisture back to the meat as well as flavor). Add the remainder of your BBQ sauce in and stir until evenly distributed.
I recommend putting the brisket in a 250 degree oven for about 20 minutes right before serving. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of your rub and drizzle some BBQ sauce on top to give it a a little more of crust.
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/03/brisket-recipe.html
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/
A Tour of BBQ Sauces
Over the years I have tried a lot of different types of BBQ sauce. I thought I would run through a little exercise for myself to decide which one is my favorite. If anyone would like to throw their two cents in, please feel free. I have broken down the competitors as follows:
1.) Memphis Style
A moderately thick, sweeter sauce made up tomato, vinegar and brown sugar base with additional spices ranging from mild to hot.
2.) Kansas City Style
A very thick and sweet sauce with a tomato and molasses base.
3.) St. Louis
A tomato and vinegar based sauce that is essentially a thinner, less sweet version of Kansas City style BBQ sauce.
4.) South Carolina
A mustard based based sauce that is generally paired with pulled pork.
Now I fully recognize that this list is far from complete. I have not yet had the privilege to travel to some of U.S BBQ hotbeds, something I’m hoping to do next summer. I am going off what I have the most experience with for this comparison.
Now I do like Memphis and Kansas City Style sauces a lot. The thicker texture and sweet flavor make both of them a nice complement to any meat. My only issue would be, and this does depend on the sauce, that these types of sauces can sometimes overwhelm the flavor of the rub and the meat and should be used sparingly so that they provide good flavor without masking the taste of the meat you have been cooking for 14 hours.
South Carolina is also a great sauce, especially with Pork, but is generally a little thinner and depending on the sauce can be a little too tangy for my tastes.
What I have found is that I like a good balance of texture, sweetness and just the right amount of tanginess (not sure if this is a word or not, but you see where I am going). In the end my conclusion is that I am a St. Louis BBQ sauce guy. It’s not too thick, not too sweet and works well with pork, brisket, ribs and just about any other barbequed meat out there.
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/06/three-meat-chili.html
Three Meat Chili
The heat wave finally broke in NYC so it was high time to make some chili. This recipe has a larger number of ingredients than I usually use, but is quite simple to make.
Ingredients
1.5 lbs of ground meat (pork, veal, beef)
5 cloves of garlic chopped
2 medium onions chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 green pepper chopped
1 150z jar of pasta sauce
2 15oz cans of red beans drained
1 150z can of refried beans
1 150z can diced tomatoes with jalapenos
7 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons cumin
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons hot sauce
6 oz of beer
In a pan, cook the onions, garlic, salt and pepper in the olive oil for about 3-4 minutes. Add in your meat (you can definitely use only beef or turkey here too) and cook until the meat is fully browned. Use your spatula to break up the meat into small pieces as you go. Once all the meat is browned remove from heat and set aside. I had planned to use only ground sirloin here, but when I saw the 3 meat pack at the grocery store I figured it was worth a shot.
In a large bowl, add all of the remaining ingredients and stir until fully blended. Add in your meat and onions and stir again until fully combined. Pour the mixture into your crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours.
Based on my research it seems that most folks advocate refrigerating your chili overnight to allow the flavors to meld together. I went with this recommendation and it was worth the wait.
Microwave a portion of chili for about 1.5 minutes. Top with some shredded cheese (I prefer cheddar) and microwave for another minute until the cheese is melted. If you like it a little more spicy add some hot sauce and you are good to go.
If there was ever a dish made for the crockpot it would have to be chili. The slow cooking really allowed all of the flavors to merge and resulted in a rich, meaty chili that will probably feed me for the next week or so. I’ll definitely have to do some more experimenting with chili as I am a big fan of both turkey and white bean chili as well.
DD’s Baked Beans
Nothing like a good batch of baked beans to warm you up on a cold March evening. I’m really happy with how these came out. I have never been much of a baked bean person, but I think that a lot of that had to do with my primary experience being eating them from a can. In addition, when your rent is dangerously close to half your monthly income it is important to conserve where you can. Hope you enjoy!
Ingredients
3 15.5 oz cans of white beans
1 15.5 oz can of red kidney beans
1 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion rough chopped
12 slices of turkey bacon (or regular if preferred)
2 tablespoons of molasses
3/4 of a cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of BBQ seasonings (optional)
In a pan, cook the turkey bacon until crisp and set aside.
Pour the white and red beans into a strainer to drain out the majority of the liquid and add to the crockpot. Add in the tomatoes, onions, brown sugar and BBQ seasonings. Roughly crumble the bacon and top and stir the mixture until the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Set your crockpot to low and cook for 9 hours, giving it a quick stir after 4.5 hours.
If I got to do this over again I would have added 1/2 cup of ketchup for a little more flavor and texture. I think these bean go great as a side dish, but can also be the main even accompanied by some bread for dipping. I through a little hot sauce on mine for spice, but they are great as is if you like things a little more mild. Sour cream would also probably go well also.
This recipe will easily feed 4-6 people as a dinner and freeze and reheat really well.
http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/2008/03/dds-baked-beans.html
http://mjpuzzlemom.wordpress.com/
Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole
Posted by: mj
* In: Freezer Food Friday| Once A Month Cooking
* 6 Comments
Welcome to Freezer Food Friday!
freezer-food-friday
I am sorry about missing last weeks meme, but I was taking a mini-vacation at my favorite hospital. That is the way things go. Link your posts below, I am looking forward to visiting your blogs and seeing what goodies you have to share.
Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole
Prep: 35 minutes Total: 55 minutes
Choose best-quality tuna that’s packed in olive oil for this dish.
Even after draining it, you’ll get moister, richer results than if you used water-packed tuna.
Serves 8.
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for baking dishes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound wide egg noodles
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
4 cans (6 ounces each) tuna in olive oil, drained
1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained and thickly sliced
5 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly oil two 8-inch square (or other shallow 2-quart) baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until 2 minutes short of al dente; drain, and return to pot.
Meanwhile, in a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add bell peppers; season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer.
Remove from heat; add mixture to noodles in pot, along with tuna, artichoke hearts, and scallions. Season with salt and pepper, and toss. Divide between prepared baking dishes, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes.
To Freeze: Prepare through step 3; cool to room temperature. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and freeze up to three months.
To Bake from Frozen: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake, covered with foil, until center is warm, about 2 hours. Uncover, and bake until top is browned, about 20 minutes more.
To Bake from Thawed: Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake, covered with foil, until center is warm, about 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake until top is browned, about 20 minutes more.
Slow-Cooker Beef Goulash
Posted by: mj
* In: Beef| Slow Cooking Thursday| crockpot
* 2 Comments
Today is Slow Cooking Thursday, hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom . Share a recipe on your blog and go link it at her blog.
Slow-Cooker Beef Goulash
Serves 8
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 medium onions, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup sweet paprika
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
Salt
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 5-pound boneless beef chuck-eye roast, trimmed and cut into 11/2-inch chunks
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Minute tapioca
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup sour cream
Ground black pepper
1. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Add the onions, garlic paprika, tomato paste, caraway seeds and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the onions are softened, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits. Make ahead: Transfer this mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate.
2. Transfer the onion mixture to the slow cooker and stir in the meat, soy sauce, tapioca and bay leaves until evenly combined. Cover and cook on low until meat is tender, 9 to 11 hours (high 5 to 6 hours).
3. Discard bay leaves. Remove 1 cup of the juice and stir in the sour cream. Add to crock; season with salt and pepper to taste.
Comments
Taste: 5; prep 4. Prepare (hands on) in 20 minutes. Serve over cooked egg noodles. Beef was tender; used half-smoked paprika instead of sweet for a flavorful twist.
From “The Best Make-Ahead Recipe” cookbook
PEPPERMINT BARK
Posted by: mj
PEPPERMINT BARK
1 (7.5-ounce) package hard peppermint candies, unwrapped
1 pound white chocolate, chopped (do not use chips)
2 cups puffed rice cereal
Coat a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray; line with wax paper. Place candies in a doubled resealable plastic bag; seal, and wrap in a kitchen towel. Using a rolling pin or skillet, crush candies into tiny pieces. Sift to separate crushed candy from fine powder, reserving fine powder for another use; set crushed candy aside.
Place white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in rice cereal.
Pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet; using a spatula, spread evenly to a ¼ -inch thickness.
Sprinkle with crushed candy; with a piece of wax paper covering entire surface, press in gently. Chill until firm, 20 to 30 minutes (no longer, as candy will begin to get moist).
Peel wax paper off. Break bark into 2-inch pieces. Store at room temperature in an airtight container up to 1 week. Makes 36 pieces.
PER SERVING: Calories 101 (38% fat) Fat 4 g (2 g sat) Cholesterol 2 mg Sodium 11 mg No fiber Carbohydrates 14 g Protein 1 g
SOURCE: Adapted from Everyday Food (December, 2005)/www.marthastewart.com
Posted by: mj
Heavenly Hash Cake
From Holly Clegg
Rich chocolate cake with a gooey marshmallow layer and Chocolate Icing with toasted pecans epitomizes southern indulgence and chocoholic perfection.
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow crème
Chocolate Icing (recipe below)
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 13 9 2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In mixing bowl, beat together oil, vanilla, and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and beat well.
3. In small bowl, combine water and cocoa. Add to mixing bowl and mix well.
4. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add to mixing bowl alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched.
6. Carefully spread marshmallow crème over hot cake. Pour Chocolate Icing evenly over marshmallow layer. Sprinkle with pecans. Cool and cut into squares.
Makes 28 servings.
Paula Deen’s Amazing Pot Roast
Posted by: mj
Paula Deen’s Amazing Pot Roast
1 (3- to 4-pound) boneless chuck roast*
¾ teaspoon garlic salt
1½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup quartered onion wedges
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 10¾-oz. can cream of mushroom soup
¼ cup red wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon beef bouillon granules
¾ cup water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix the salt, pepper and garlic salt in a small bowl. Press the seasonings into the roast on both sides. Heat oil in a large skillet and brown the roast, searing it on both sides, before placing it into a roasting pan or casserole dish.
Add onions and garlic to skillet for 1 to 2 minutes and pour over the roast. Combine the mushroom soup, wine, Worcestershire sauce and beef bouillon in a bowl. Pour over the roast, add water and bay leaves. Cover with foil or lid and bake for 3 to 3½ hours or until tender.
Remove and discard the bay leaves.
*If using a smaller cut of meat, adjust cooking time accordingly.
**For crock pot preparation, sear roast, place in slow cooker and follow directions above. If liquid does not cover all ingredients, add additional wine (easy now) and water as needed. Cook on low setting for 8 hours.
Tags: Beef, crockpot, roast beef
Chicken Ole’
Posted by: mj
Chicken Ole’
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons grated onion
11/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
12 flour tortillas, each torn into 6 to 8 pieces
3 to 4 cups cubed, cooked chicken
1 (7-ounce) jar salsa
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
Combine soups, sour cream, onion and 11/2 cups cheese. Place one-third of each of the following in layers in slow cooker; torn tortillas, soup mixture, chicken and salsa. Repeat layers 2 more times. Cover. Cook on low 4 to 5 hours. Do not cook on high. Gently stir. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Cover and cook on low another 15 to 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips and lettuce.
Yields 8 servings.
http://mjpuzzlemom.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/easiest-crock-pot-chicken-and-biscuits-recipe/
This week I am highlighting a recipe that I have made several times. This is a favorite here. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Easiest Crock Pot Chicken and Biscuits
I found this recipe in a Women’s Day Magazine entilted Slow Cooking.
4 servings
4¼ hours 10 min prep
2 cups cooked chicken ( I used diced raw breasts )
10 3/4 ounces condensed cream of mushroom soup
10 3/4 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup
2 (10 3/4 ounce) soup cans water ( I used chicken broth and omitted the bouillon )
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
16 ounces buttermilk biscuits (8)
Combine all ingredients in crock pot except biscuits; blend well.
Cut biscuits into quarters, stir into mixture.
Cover; cook on Low 4 to 6 hours stirring occasionally or until biscuits are cooked.
My contribition comes from the website of one of my favorite restaurants, Mimi’s Cafe. I used to go to this restaurant frequently just to eat their delicious corn chowder soup!
When Oronzo and I made the commitment to eat at home more often, to save money, I knew that I had to find a way to still be able to eat my Mimi’s Cafe corn chowder soup. Thank goodness for the internet because I discovered their recipe online! It’s so yummy!
Mimi’s Cafe Corn Chowder Soup
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 cups frozen corn, thawed
6 tablespoons onion, chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup celery, large dice
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups hot water
1 pinch white pepper
2 cups raw potato, peeled and cut in 1/2” cubes
3 tablespoons flour
1 quart Half & Half
Directions:
On medium heat, melt butter, then simmer onion and celery for 5 minutes until soft, but not brown.
Add water, potatoes, corn and seasonings. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are barely tender.
Whisk the flour into 1 cup of the Half & Half, and stir into the soup. Add the remaining 3 cups of Half & Half. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the soup has thickened to a creamy consistency.
Correct the seasoning with additional salt and pepper if needed. In order to correct the consistency or the soup you may add a little milk to make it thinner. To make the soup thicker, simmer another 5-10 minutes.
Bon Appetite!
http://overwhelmedwithjoy.blogspot.com/
http://familycorner.blogspot.com/2007/11/slow-cooking-thursday_08.html
SMOKEHOUSE CHICKEN
1 whole chicken
1/4 cup liquid smoke
1. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry.
2. Place in crock pot, breast side down.
3. Pour liquid smoke over top.
4. Cover and cook on low until done, about 10 hours, or until chicken is cooked to desired tenderness. (some crock pots cook faster than others, even on low).
If desired, salt your chicken inside and out before placing in crock pot. I’ve recently learned that some liquid smoke has added ingredients, and that will also affect the results — the kind I use is only “water and smoke.” Also, cooking times vary with different crock pots and with the size of your chicken. When I prepare this, I use a chicken weighing between 4 and 4 1/2 pounds. Your chicken may be done in less than 10 hours — use your judgement based on past experience with your crock pot.
http://fullbellies.blogspot.com/2008/09/pizzeria-pot-pie.html
Pizzeria Pot Pie!
I’m a huge fan of the Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks and as a matter of fact, I collect them. I know that I can always find a simple, quick but delicious recipe on there.
This is from the Autumn Cookbook and the kids love it.
Photobucket
PIZZERIA POT PIE
1 lb. ground turkey sausage (I use maple sausage)
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms (I use a small can, drained)
1 c. green pepper, chopped
14 1/2 oz. can chunky pizza sauce (I couldn’t find it at the commissary so I used a 15 oz bottle of normal pizza sauce)
2 c. biscuit baking mix
1/4 c. milk
1 egg, beaten (I just add it whole)
2 T. grated Parmesan Cheese
Brown sausage and onion in a skillet over medium heat; drain. Stir in mushrooms, pepper and pizza sauce;
spoon into an ungreased 3-quart casserole dish and set aside.
Stir baking mix, milk, egg and cheese together until dough forms. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10 times (I just kneaded mine in the bowl).Pat into a 9-inch circle; cut into 6 wedges.
Arrange wedges over sauce mixture.
Bake uncovered, at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until crust is golden.
Serves 6