I’ve been watching a lot of food tv lately. Chopped All Stars and Top Chef All Stars have captured my attention and my heart. Sadly, they are both over. For now. But I suspect they will be back.
But watching all of these highly trained, very talented chefs compete, cook, and explore their culinary roots has made me question “Why do I cook?”
Beyond the obvious reason of needing to eat, that is. Because if I didn’t want to cook, I really wouldn’t have to. There are plenty of places where I could get prepared meals either already hot and ready for me, or requiring very little other than a pop in the microwave to call them dinner (or breakfast or lunch). And for a while, I did that. It was hard to find time to cook with such a busy life.
Some have said that is the 83-year-old Jewish woman inside me that makes me not only want to cook, but to feed people. Now, I’m neither 83 nor Jewish, but I do love to feed people. I love to make people happy and watch them enjoy something I’ve taken care and love to make for them.
It’s why I’ve made wedding cakes for family and friends. It’s why I used to do a little small-time catering in college. Why I used to make candy at Christmas time and why I still try to give something yummy and homemade for the holidays today.
The next question that begs to be asked is then, “What or who instilled this love in me?”
That’s an easy answer. My parents. My love of food and cooking and baking is ultimately tied up in them. I think one of the reasons I haven’t cooked as much the last few years is because it was hard to cook without thinking of them and I missed them both terribly. As the years go by and the sting of loss dulls, it has been easier to try to be creative in the kitchen again.
Still, many of the things I really love to make are the things I watched them make when I was a child. The crock pot extravaganza is really sort of a tribute to my mom, who was the Queen of the Crock Pot. She made these things called Tijuana Sandwiches. The recipe called for ground beef, refried beans and seasonings. You let it cook for a few hours and right at the end, you add crumbled Fritos. It was so wrong and yet so delicious.
When I cook fried chicken or chicken livers or when I put Tabasco on my eggs or when I cook biscuits and gravy, that’s when I pay tribute to my dad, the King of Skillet Suppers. He taught me how to make milk gravy (for such applications as the fried chicken, sausage gravy for biscuits or the ever popular shit on a shingle) so long ago I don’t measure anything anymore. I can eyeball how much fat, flour and milk need to be combined with the crispy bits in the pan to make nirvana in a skillet.
Pork tenderloin sandwiches? Mom again. She cooked them all the time when we were kids. I remember when the sight of French’s sandwich rolls would make my mouth water because it meant we were having tenderloin sandwiches for dinner.
What makes them so special, you ask? Perhaps it’s that they’re Iowa soul food. A medallion of pork loin pounded very thin, dipped in flour, egg wash and cracker meal, then fried crisp and served with A-1 (and later, American cheese) on a sandwich roll. I’m whimpering a little right now just thinking about it.
When I eat a dill pickle, I long for my dad’s spicy hot dills along with the pickled pearl onions and pickled garlic cloves in the jar. I’m certain I was a stinky child because of it.
I’m sorry, Mom, but you know I never liked your sweet pickles.
But I did admire the work she put into them. And some days I wish I had gotten one of her pickle crocks even though I would never make a 14-day pickle in it. Fourteen days? Yes. Seven days in the brine. Take the plate off the top, scrape off the mold. Rinse the pickles and put them back in the crock with a hot, spiced sugar syrup. Each day for the next seven, drain the syrup off, bring it to the boil and pour it back over the pickles. On the final day, while the syrup heats, put the pickles into pint jars and then ladle the hot syrup into the pickle jars. Apparently, according to the kids from my high school drama picnic, they’re good dipped in cheese whiz.
So along with sharing crock pot recipes, which I know we will all get bored with after so long, I will be sharing food memories as the mood strikes. One thing I learned about people who have a passion for food in the past several weeks, it is a visceral, soul-deep feeling. And the more often you tap into that place when you’re making food, whether it’s for yourself, for your family or for a panel of judges, the better and more satisfying the experience is going to be.
I think the same goes for writing about it.
Thanks for reading, everyone!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Perfect Crock Pot Recipe (and some Top Chef spoilers)
I’ve mentioned my ideal crock pot recipe before. It involves opening packages and cans, dumping stuff in the cooker and leaving it to cook for upwards of 10 hours while I’m at work.
Most of the recipes I’ve been making recently haven’t been that simple. Some have been tasty, some have been downright delicious. But none of them have been as easy as the infamous pot roast of my childhood.
Until now.
Last weekend we were trying to find something that didn’t have tomatoes or beans because our aging digestive systems needed a break. It surprises me how many recipes had one or both of those ingredients in them.
Then I hear Nancy say “Hey! Easy Beef Stew!” And I think, “How easy can this be?”
As easy as the pot roast, actually.
In fact, it was the pot roast.
Let’s compare recipes, shall we?
Pot Roast – 2-3 lb beef roast, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 envelope onion soup mix, 1/4 - 1/3 soup can of water. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Easy Beef Stew – 2 lbs stew meat, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 envelope onion soup mix, 1/3 cup red wine, 1 package sliced mushrooms. Cook on low for 8-12 hours.
The stew got a little fancy, adding wine and extra mushrooms. But essentially they’re they same recipe. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before on my own. It was brilliant!
So Monday morning I dumped the ingredients in the crock pot and turned it on; Monday night I got home from work to a house redolent with the fragrance of hearty stew. I started the rice cooker to cook some rice to go with the stew, added some frozen peas and carrots to the stew for some extra veg.
Et voila! Thirty minutes later dinner was ready. The stew was delicious!!! Particularly over the rice. The recipe says to serve over noodles, which is fine, but there’s something about pouring meat and rich gravy over rice that gets to my culinary soul. My father would definitely have approved!
It was so good, we were sorry when it was gone Thursday night. Next week, we’re going to try it with chicken, cream of chicken soup and some other kind of powdered soup mix. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Now to completely switch gears, I have to express my congratulations to Richard Blais for winning Top Chef All Stars!! I have never been so excited or invested in a reality show. Ever. It was like watching old friends (or enemies), seeing some of my favorite chefs from previous seasons competing again.
I was a fan of Richard’s when he was on Season 4 of Top Chef. He was the guy to beat then, but he choked in the season finale, letting his head get in the way of his gut and letting his self-doubt cripple him.
Going in to All Stars, he was the man to beat, I thought. It was his title to lose. His combination of exquisite taste and knowledge and the playfulness of a little boy make him unique among the men who have come to the top of Top Chef. He is a NICE guy. He’s not an over-confident prick with anger issues.
His lack of confidence in his own ability makes him both endearing and a little irritating sometimes. Sometimes I wanted to hug him and tell him it was going to be okay. Other times I wanted to Gibbs-slap him.
I was so happy for him when he won, I cried as if he was a member of my own family.
That being said, Mike Isabella surprised the hell out of me. I didn’t know until last night’s episode that he had worked for Jose Andres, had run one of his restaurants for two years. Mike took the break between the ‘regular season’ and the ‘post season’ in the Bahamas to study, hone his skills, train and make himself ready for the finale. And it showed. He won the majority of the challenges in the Bahamas. He came out with a truly impressive menu for the finale and really showed his knowledge of how a restaurant runs during the set up portion, talking to the servers, choosing wines. He showed everyone that he really belonged there.
Both chefs presented amazing meals I wish I could have eaten. In the end, what separated those two chefs was very little indeed. During the celebration/consolation shots at the end of the show, Tom Colicchio hugged Mike and said “You may not have won, but you did great and you have a great career ahead of you.”
I am so proud of Richard and I really hope he is able to make his culinary dreams come true!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go add a bunch of chefs to my Twitter.
Most of the recipes I’ve been making recently haven’t been that simple. Some have been tasty, some have been downright delicious. But none of them have been as easy as the infamous pot roast of my childhood.
Until now.
Last weekend we were trying to find something that didn’t have tomatoes or beans because our aging digestive systems needed a break. It surprises me how many recipes had one or both of those ingredients in them.
Then I hear Nancy say “Hey! Easy Beef Stew!” And I think, “How easy can this be?”
As easy as the pot roast, actually.
In fact, it was the pot roast.
Let’s compare recipes, shall we?
Pot Roast – 2-3 lb beef roast, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 envelope onion soup mix, 1/4 - 1/3 soup can of water. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Easy Beef Stew – 2 lbs stew meat, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 envelope onion soup mix, 1/3 cup red wine, 1 package sliced mushrooms. Cook on low for 8-12 hours.
The stew got a little fancy, adding wine and extra mushrooms. But essentially they’re they same recipe. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before on my own. It was brilliant!
So Monday morning I dumped the ingredients in the crock pot and turned it on; Monday night I got home from work to a house redolent with the fragrance of hearty stew. I started the rice cooker to cook some rice to go with the stew, added some frozen peas and carrots to the stew for some extra veg.
Et voila! Thirty minutes later dinner was ready. The stew was delicious!!! Particularly over the rice. The recipe says to serve over noodles, which is fine, but there’s something about pouring meat and rich gravy over rice that gets to my culinary soul. My father would definitely have approved!
It was so good, we were sorry when it was gone Thursday night. Next week, we’re going to try it with chicken, cream of chicken soup and some other kind of powdered soup mix. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Now to completely switch gears, I have to express my congratulations to Richard Blais for winning Top Chef All Stars!! I have never been so excited or invested in a reality show. Ever. It was like watching old friends (or enemies), seeing some of my favorite chefs from previous seasons competing again.
I was a fan of Richard’s when he was on Season 4 of Top Chef. He was the guy to beat then, but he choked in the season finale, letting his head get in the way of his gut and letting his self-doubt cripple him.
Going in to All Stars, he was the man to beat, I thought. It was his title to lose. His combination of exquisite taste and knowledge and the playfulness of a little boy make him unique among the men who have come to the top of Top Chef. He is a NICE guy. He’s not an over-confident prick with anger issues.
His lack of confidence in his own ability makes him both endearing and a little irritating sometimes. Sometimes I wanted to hug him and tell him it was going to be okay. Other times I wanted to Gibbs-slap him.
I was so happy for him when he won, I cried as if he was a member of my own family.
That being said, Mike Isabella surprised the hell out of me. I didn’t know until last night’s episode that he had worked for Jose Andres, had run one of his restaurants for two years. Mike took the break between the ‘regular season’ and the ‘post season’ in the Bahamas to study, hone his skills, train and make himself ready for the finale. And it showed. He won the majority of the challenges in the Bahamas. He came out with a truly impressive menu for the finale and really showed his knowledge of how a restaurant runs during the set up portion, talking to the servers, choosing wines. He showed everyone that he really belonged there.
Both chefs presented amazing meals I wish I could have eaten. In the end, what separated those two chefs was very little indeed. During the celebration/consolation shots at the end of the show, Tom Colicchio hugged Mike and said “You may not have won, but you did great and you have a great career ahead of you.”
I am so proud of Richard and I really hope he is able to make his culinary dreams come true!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go add a bunch of chefs to my Twitter.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Crock Pot Cuban
It kind of sounds like a band name, doesn’t it?
Doesn’t it?
Okay, maybe not.
This week we wanted to try something different. We had recently gotten Cuban sandwiches at a local deli and fell in love. The ham, roast pork, swiss cheese, mustard and dill pickle…what a magical combination. Grill and press the sandwich? Heaven!!
While browsing our cookbooks, I found a recipe for Cuban black beans and rice, aka moros y cristianos.
I was kind of excited. I’d had moros y cristianos (Moors and Christians) at a Cuban restaurant in Seattle several years ago with some gorgeous flank steak. I remember looking forward to the leftovers only to find that they had been stolen from the fridge at work. The meal was good enough that the bitter disappointment of not getting to eat those leftovers still lingers five or six years later.
So I thought, great! I’ll make this crock pot recipe and we can supplement with some protein. It will be fabulous!
A niggling doubt at the back of my mind about cooking rice in the crock pot was profoundly ignored. It must work, right? It’s in the cookbook. Someone must have tested it.
You can see where this is going, can’t you?
Well, it wasn’t as horrible as it might have been. It was actually rather tasty. The rice was cooked with chicken broth, cumin, onions, garlic and jalapeno. So it was bound to be flavorful. The beans were added in the last 20-30 minutes, so they wouldn’t be mushy.
But the rice? Oy, it was mush! Savory, slightly spicy mush. It lasted four nights, so it was great for feeding us all week. But I was definitely ready to trash the crusty, burned bits at the bottom by Thursday night.
Will we make it again? Actually, yes. But next time, we’ll make it in the rice cooker. :o) If that one works, I promise I’ll post the recipe.
Doesn’t it?
Okay, maybe not.
This week we wanted to try something different. We had recently gotten Cuban sandwiches at a local deli and fell in love. The ham, roast pork, swiss cheese, mustard and dill pickle…what a magical combination. Grill and press the sandwich? Heaven!!
While browsing our cookbooks, I found a recipe for Cuban black beans and rice, aka moros y cristianos.
I was kind of excited. I’d had moros y cristianos (Moors and Christians) at a Cuban restaurant in Seattle several years ago with some gorgeous flank steak. I remember looking forward to the leftovers only to find that they had been stolen from the fridge at work. The meal was good enough that the bitter disappointment of not getting to eat those leftovers still lingers five or six years later.
So I thought, great! I’ll make this crock pot recipe and we can supplement with some protein. It will be fabulous!
A niggling doubt at the back of my mind about cooking rice in the crock pot was profoundly ignored. It must work, right? It’s in the cookbook. Someone must have tested it.
You can see where this is going, can’t you?
Well, it wasn’t as horrible as it might have been. It was actually rather tasty. The rice was cooked with chicken broth, cumin, onions, garlic and jalapeno. So it was bound to be flavorful. The beans were added in the last 20-30 minutes, so they wouldn’t be mushy.
But the rice? Oy, it was mush! Savory, slightly spicy mush. It lasted four nights, so it was great for feeding us all week. But I was definitely ready to trash the crusty, burned bits at the bottom by Thursday night.
Will we make it again? Actually, yes. But next time, we’ll make it in the rice cooker. :o) If that one works, I promise I’ll post the recipe.
Friday, March 18, 2011
When you're sick and all you want is soup
or Capsaicin - good for what ails you.
When I picked out this week's recipe for the crock pot, I didn't plan on being sick. No one plans that, right?
But when I finally got around to cooking on Wednesday, I was really glad I'd picked this recipe.
When you're sick, any Jewish mother, aunt or grandmother worth her salt is going to tell you you need chicken soup. Her chicken soup. It has magical healing powers. And even though I'm not Jewish, I believe it.
Okay, so it's not a Jewish mother's chicken soup. But I think it still has some magic in there.
In the book, it's called Chipotle Chicken Casserole. I was a little dubious, because so many of the things I'd made recently were heavy, even gummy in the case of the Thai Chicken. But, I thought, with the broth and the juice from the canned tomatoes, it will hopefully be light enough that it won't turn me off.
Here's the recipe:
From the Crock-Pot Recipe Card Collection cookbook
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
1 teaspoon salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 can (15 oz)navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz)black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes, undrained
1.5 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
Combine everything in a large crock pot and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 3.5-4 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? A couple of things attracted me to this recipe. First was the fact that I had chipotle in adobo in my fridge that needed to be used up. Second, it had two different kinds if beans, which I thought was interesting.
However, the orange juice? I decided to leave that out. Maybe some other time I'll try it, but I just can't see it being good here. Lime or lemon juice, okay. But orange? I just don't think so. If any of you have opinions on that, please, chime in.
By the time I got around to making this recipe this week, it was already Wednesday and I was home sick from work. Smelling the stuff cook, at first all I could smell was the onions and I thought, "Am I going to be able to eat this?" It had never really occurred to me how the aromas evolve during slow cooking. But as the day went on, things started to mellow and I got less worried.
When N got home from work and it was time to eat, the scent of this spicy, savory soup filled the house. It smelled divine. And it was just what the doctor ordered.
The little bit of kick from the chipotle and cumin bathed my sore throat in their warmth. Capsaicin, so 'they' say, can cure many ills. Arthritis pain, sinus problems, and sore throats. It might sting a little at first, but it helps seal sore throat tissue and allow it to heal faster.
The thigh meat was tender and moist without seeming overcooked. I think boneless chicken thighs are my new meat of choice in the crock pot. The onions had pretty much melted, so there was no slimy, weird pieces of onion to turn me off. And I'd added a red bell pepper, which added some nice color and a little more veg to the mix.
This was the perfect thing for us to have this week, given the virus that whipped my ass the last few days.
No, it's not your mother's homemade chicken soup, bubbeleh. But it is a satisfying, healing bowl of soup. Or maybe it's a stew. It sure as hell isn't a casserole, no matter what the title of the recipe says.
Now, I hope you won't mind a digression from all things crock pot here. Remember this week's subtitle? Capsaicin, right?
I've been drinking a lot of tea with cayenne in it the last few days. I learned several years ago in a local production of Singin' in the Rain a never fail recipe for helping sore throats, especially if you can't give yourself vocal rest because you're in the middle of a show. Our Lina Lamont was sick and losing her voice and this is what got her through it.
We got it from our stage manager, Stacy. We called it Citrus Ass Tea, but I'm not sure I ever knew the real name. And I'm not sure I have the real recipe right, but this is how I make it and it works for me.
Peppermint tea
lemon juice
honey
cayenne pepper
Brew the tea, add lemon juice and honey to taste and as much cayenne as you think you can stand. Keep a spoon handy to keep the tea stirred up, otherwise the cayenne will sink to the bottom and you will get a hell of a surprise in those last couple of swallows!
It's not all that pleasant to drink, really, but it doesn't taste all that bad and it sure as hell works.
And now, since I have to sing tomorrow night (for only about 20 minutes, but still), I'm going to make myself some Citrus Ass Tea. Because it's good for what ails me.
Cheers!
When I picked out this week's recipe for the crock pot, I didn't plan on being sick. No one plans that, right?
But when I finally got around to cooking on Wednesday, I was really glad I'd picked this recipe.
When you're sick, any Jewish mother, aunt or grandmother worth her salt is going to tell you you need chicken soup. Her chicken soup. It has magical healing powers. And even though I'm not Jewish, I believe it.
Okay, so it's not a Jewish mother's chicken soup. But I think it still has some magic in there.
In the book, it's called Chipotle Chicken Casserole. I was a little dubious, because so many of the things I'd made recently were heavy, even gummy in the case of the Thai Chicken. But, I thought, with the broth and the juice from the canned tomatoes, it will hopefully be light enough that it won't turn me off.
Here's the recipe:
From the Crock-Pot Recipe Card Collection cookbook
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
1 teaspoon salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 can (15 oz)navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz)black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes, undrained
1.5 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
Combine everything in a large crock pot and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 3.5-4 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? A couple of things attracted me to this recipe. First was the fact that I had chipotle in adobo in my fridge that needed to be used up. Second, it had two different kinds if beans, which I thought was interesting.
However, the orange juice? I decided to leave that out. Maybe some other time I'll try it, but I just can't see it being good here. Lime or lemon juice, okay. But orange? I just don't think so. If any of you have opinions on that, please, chime in.
By the time I got around to making this recipe this week, it was already Wednesday and I was home sick from work. Smelling the stuff cook, at first all I could smell was the onions and I thought, "Am I going to be able to eat this?" It had never really occurred to me how the aromas evolve during slow cooking. But as the day went on, things started to mellow and I got less worried.
When N got home from work and it was time to eat, the scent of this spicy, savory soup filled the house. It smelled divine. And it was just what the doctor ordered.
The little bit of kick from the chipotle and cumin bathed my sore throat in their warmth. Capsaicin, so 'they' say, can cure many ills. Arthritis pain, sinus problems, and sore throats. It might sting a little at first, but it helps seal sore throat tissue and allow it to heal faster.
The thigh meat was tender and moist without seeming overcooked. I think boneless chicken thighs are my new meat of choice in the crock pot. The onions had pretty much melted, so there was no slimy, weird pieces of onion to turn me off. And I'd added a red bell pepper, which added some nice color and a little more veg to the mix.
This was the perfect thing for us to have this week, given the virus that whipped my ass the last few days.
No, it's not your mother's homemade chicken soup, bubbeleh. But it is a satisfying, healing bowl of soup. Or maybe it's a stew. It sure as hell isn't a casserole, no matter what the title of the recipe says.
Now, I hope you won't mind a digression from all things crock pot here. Remember this week's subtitle? Capsaicin, right?
I've been drinking a lot of tea with cayenne in it the last few days. I learned several years ago in a local production of Singin' in the Rain a never fail recipe for helping sore throats, especially if you can't give yourself vocal rest because you're in the middle of a show. Our Lina Lamont was sick and losing her voice and this is what got her through it.
We got it from our stage manager, Stacy. We called it Citrus Ass Tea, but I'm not sure I ever knew the real name. And I'm not sure I have the real recipe right, but this is how I make it and it works for me.
Peppermint tea
lemon juice
honey
cayenne pepper
Brew the tea, add lemon juice and honey to taste and as much cayenne as you think you can stand. Keep a spoon handy to keep the tea stirred up, otherwise the cayenne will sink to the bottom and you will get a hell of a surprise in those last couple of swallows!
It's not all that pleasant to drink, really, but it doesn't taste all that bad and it sure as hell works.
And now, since I have to sing tomorrow night (for only about 20 minutes, but still), I'm going to make myself some Citrus Ass Tea. Because it's good for what ails me.
Cheers!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Who Knew You Could Do That With Salsa or Crock Pots - Not Just For Dinner Anymore
If you remember last week, dear readers, I talked about cooking in the crock pot with salsa. And I mentioned the Thai chicken we were going to make this week.
Well, I gotta tell ya. It was definitely interesting.
It was intended to be, essentially, rama chicken, chicken with spicy peanut sauce. In order to make this happen with minimal effort, the recipe called for mixing a cup of hot salsa, a quarter cup of peanut butter, a couple of tablespoons of soy, fresh ginger and lime juice. Mix, pour over chicken pieces (I used boneless thighs) and cook on low for 8-9 hours.
I will say it was tasty. We ate it over rice and fresh spinach, taking the swimming rama thing as far as we could. Would I call it an unqualified success? Probably not.
Because the chicken was so tender, it fell apart in the sauce, so it looked a bit more like goulash than rama. Also, the salsa I used was more chunky than saucy, so there wasn’t quite enough liquid to keep things moist. That meant the sauce burned a bit on the sides and when I first peeked into the crockput when I got home, the top looked, well, kind of like vomit now that I look back. Kinda brown and chunky. I’m not really selling this, am I? ;o)
This time we were glad that it only made enough for two nights worth of dinners. It wasn’t bad. If it was that bad, we would have tossed it out. But it was heavy and not in a good way. Definitely not something I could eat more than twice in a week.
Thankfully we have a lot more recipes to try. Next time I come around to this one, I'll use some soupier salsa and play around with more soy and lime and maybe some coconut milk. I do love me some peanut sauce.
But enough about dinner. Let’s talk about a meal that doesn’t see enough slow cooked love. Breakfast.
The first time I heard the words ‘crock pot oatmeal’, I thought, “Are you crazy?” That would turn the oatmeal into gluey mush.
I was still among the uninitiated. Then.
Granted, this past week wasn’t my first time. Thanks to the advice of friends and the genius of Alton Brown (rumored to be the love child of Mr. Wizard and the Galloping Gourmet), I tried the overnight oatmeal a few years ago. His recipe is delicious and you really should try it. It’s right here. Do it. I dare you.
When I opened one of our little cookbooks and saw they had an oatmeal recipe, I decided to give it a whirl. We already had the steel cut oats in the pantry. All we needed to get were a couple of apples and some slivered almonds. You dump everything in the pot before you go to bed, turn it on low, et voilá, you wake up to breakfast. Set up the coffee pot on the timer and you don’t have to do a damn thing except dish up and pour in the morning!
This recipe wasn’t quite as good as Alton’s, I must say. Next time, I won’t mess with perfection. I’ll stick with the genius. Still, I’m looking forward to taking the leftovers tomorrow, making them into little cakes and frying them in butter.
And someday I’ll try the bacon and egg breakfast casserole. Because who doesn’t want to wake up to the smell of bacon?
Crockpots. Not just for dinner anymore.
Well, I gotta tell ya. It was definitely interesting.
It was intended to be, essentially, rama chicken, chicken with spicy peanut sauce. In order to make this happen with minimal effort, the recipe called for mixing a cup of hot salsa, a quarter cup of peanut butter, a couple of tablespoons of soy, fresh ginger and lime juice. Mix, pour over chicken pieces (I used boneless thighs) and cook on low for 8-9 hours.
I will say it was tasty. We ate it over rice and fresh spinach, taking the swimming rama thing as far as we could. Would I call it an unqualified success? Probably not.
Because the chicken was so tender, it fell apart in the sauce, so it looked a bit more like goulash than rama. Also, the salsa I used was more chunky than saucy, so there wasn’t quite enough liquid to keep things moist. That meant the sauce burned a bit on the sides and when I first peeked into the crockput when I got home, the top looked, well, kind of like vomit now that I look back. Kinda brown and chunky. I’m not really selling this, am I? ;o)
This time we were glad that it only made enough for two nights worth of dinners. It wasn’t bad. If it was that bad, we would have tossed it out. But it was heavy and not in a good way. Definitely not something I could eat more than twice in a week.
Thankfully we have a lot more recipes to try. Next time I come around to this one, I'll use some soupier salsa and play around with more soy and lime and maybe some coconut milk. I do love me some peanut sauce.
But enough about dinner. Let’s talk about a meal that doesn’t see enough slow cooked love. Breakfast.
The first time I heard the words ‘crock pot oatmeal’, I thought, “Are you crazy?” That would turn the oatmeal into gluey mush.
I was still among the uninitiated. Then.
Granted, this past week wasn’t my first time. Thanks to the advice of friends and the genius of Alton Brown (rumored to be the love child of Mr. Wizard and the Galloping Gourmet), I tried the overnight oatmeal a few years ago. His recipe is delicious and you really should try it. It’s right here. Do it. I dare you.
When I opened one of our little cookbooks and saw they had an oatmeal recipe, I decided to give it a whirl. We already had the steel cut oats in the pantry. All we needed to get were a couple of apples and some slivered almonds. You dump everything in the pot before you go to bed, turn it on low, et voilá, you wake up to breakfast. Set up the coffee pot on the timer and you don’t have to do a damn thing except dish up and pour in the morning!
This recipe wasn’t quite as good as Alton’s, I must say. Next time, I won’t mess with perfection. I’ll stick with the genius. Still, I’m looking forward to taking the leftovers tomorrow, making them into little cakes and frying them in butter.
And someday I’ll try the bacon and egg breakfast casserole. Because who doesn’t want to wake up to the smell of bacon?
Crockpots. Not just for dinner anymore.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Who knew you could do so much with salsa?
Okay, so remember those grocery store checkout stand cookbooks I mentioned last week? Well, we have three of them and, as I said before, we’ve been eating very well out of them for several weeks now.
One of the most surprising things about the recipes we’ve read and tried is the unexpected use of ingredients like salsa. Before this, I thought salsa was just for chips (with or without the Velveeta. But that’s an entry for another day ;o)) But I’d never thought of using it to cook meat in a crock pot. Until now.
My favorite recipe is still one of the first we tried. Beef carnitas. I loaned the book out, so I don’t have exact recipe handy, but I do remember most of it. Two pounds of stew meat, some salsa, beef broth, cumin and chili powder in the crock pot for 6-8 hours. No browning or chopping. Just dump it all in and turn it on low. Fabulous!
When I got home that night, the house smelled glorious. The beef and salsa and spices filled the place with a dark, rich aroma. I couldn’t wait to taste it!
Serving suggestion was corn tortillas, sliced avocado and cheddar cheese. Wanting to make this as easy as possible, I purchased some premade guacamole from Trader Joe’s (Avocado’s Number, which makes me giggle every time I see it!) along with the tortillas and got some pre-shredded cheese.
The result was succulent morsels of spicy beef with a delicious, brothy sauce, wrapped in slightly chewy tortilla and creamy, cool guac. The beef was lean and flavorful, thanks to the hours stewing in the slow cooker. And thanks to the pre-packaged accoutrements, it was easy to put together. A little messy to eat, but neither of us minded.
Fast forward to about a month later. We were now contemplating a chicken chili verde. This time, the only liquid in the recipe was a 16 oz. jar of salsa verde. About two pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast, the salsa, a little cumin and oregano, and some chopping. I was mildly annoyed that I had to actually use some kitchen skills to make this dinner happen, but really, only mildly. I was intrigued by the prospect of cooking meat in nothing but a jar of salsa.
I chopped and diced the onion, yellow pepper and garlic the night before so I could do what I love to do the next morning, throw everything in the pot, turn it on and let it do its magic. The last hour, you add beans, which for this recipe were shelled edamame. Interesting. Not sure I would do that bit again. If I thought it needed beans (which I’m not convinced it does), I’d probably add cannellini or Great Northerns. The edamame were a little toothsome for my taste and didn’t really seem to go with the rest of the dish.
While admittedly not as surprisingly delicious as the carnitas, it was very tasty and satisfying in its own right. I added the cilantro the recipe called for right before serving and also squeezed over a little fresh lime juice to brighten things up. That was my own afterthought. But really, would you do all that and not want to squeeze some lime on top? (Hmmm…suddenly I want a shot of tequila.)
The recipe got a little fancy and gave instructions on how to bake one’s own fresh tortilla chips. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray (I used canola oil spray), arrange fresh corn tortilla wedges in a single layer, spray the wedges with more oil, then bake them at 400 degrees for around 4-6 minutes. Watch them, carefully, though, because they go south very fast! Sprinkle a little salt on when they’re still hot, and presto! Fresh chips! Add a little shredded cheese on top of the chili and you’ve got a rather yummy meal.
Both recipes stretched at least three nights. I think the chili verde actually lasted for four, which was just about the time I get tired of leftovers.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about the use of salsa in these dishes. I mean, they’re essentially variations on Mexican food. But the next recipe we try that has salsa in it truly had me doing a double take.
When I saw the Thai Chicken title, I thought, “Oooh! What makes it Thai? And how can you do it in a crock pot?”
Honestly, I’m a little skeptical. The recipe calls for hot salsa and peanut butter (along with some lime juice and cilantro). That doesn’t sound good at all. In fact, it sounds a little scary. And yet, I’m going to try making it. So far those little cookbooks haven’t steered me wrong!
I want to say thank you to everyone who commented on Facebook last week. Thank you for reading!
But the biggest thanks goes to my partner, Nancy, who declared Friday night Blog Night. She closes bedtime with our son and I get to skip cleaning the kitchen so I can exercise my writing muscles. Thanks, Baby. You rock!
Next Week: It made how much?
One of the most surprising things about the recipes we’ve read and tried is the unexpected use of ingredients like salsa. Before this, I thought salsa was just for chips (with or without the Velveeta. But that’s an entry for another day ;o)) But I’d never thought of using it to cook meat in a crock pot. Until now.
My favorite recipe is still one of the first we tried. Beef carnitas. I loaned the book out, so I don’t have exact recipe handy, but I do remember most of it. Two pounds of stew meat, some salsa, beef broth, cumin and chili powder in the crock pot for 6-8 hours. No browning or chopping. Just dump it all in and turn it on low. Fabulous!
When I got home that night, the house smelled glorious. The beef and salsa and spices filled the place with a dark, rich aroma. I couldn’t wait to taste it!
Serving suggestion was corn tortillas, sliced avocado and cheddar cheese. Wanting to make this as easy as possible, I purchased some premade guacamole from Trader Joe’s (Avocado’s Number, which makes me giggle every time I see it!) along with the tortillas and got some pre-shredded cheese.
The result was succulent morsels of spicy beef with a delicious, brothy sauce, wrapped in slightly chewy tortilla and creamy, cool guac. The beef was lean and flavorful, thanks to the hours stewing in the slow cooker. And thanks to the pre-packaged accoutrements, it was easy to put together. A little messy to eat, but neither of us minded.
Fast forward to about a month later. We were now contemplating a chicken chili verde. This time, the only liquid in the recipe was a 16 oz. jar of salsa verde. About two pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast, the salsa, a little cumin and oregano, and some chopping. I was mildly annoyed that I had to actually use some kitchen skills to make this dinner happen, but really, only mildly. I was intrigued by the prospect of cooking meat in nothing but a jar of salsa.
I chopped and diced the onion, yellow pepper and garlic the night before so I could do what I love to do the next morning, throw everything in the pot, turn it on and let it do its magic. The last hour, you add beans, which for this recipe were shelled edamame. Interesting. Not sure I would do that bit again. If I thought it needed beans (which I’m not convinced it does), I’d probably add cannellini or Great Northerns. The edamame were a little toothsome for my taste and didn’t really seem to go with the rest of the dish.
While admittedly not as surprisingly delicious as the carnitas, it was very tasty and satisfying in its own right. I added the cilantro the recipe called for right before serving and also squeezed over a little fresh lime juice to brighten things up. That was my own afterthought. But really, would you do all that and not want to squeeze some lime on top? (Hmmm…suddenly I want a shot of tequila.)
The recipe got a little fancy and gave instructions on how to bake one’s own fresh tortilla chips. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray (I used canola oil spray), arrange fresh corn tortilla wedges in a single layer, spray the wedges with more oil, then bake them at 400 degrees for around 4-6 minutes. Watch them, carefully, though, because they go south very fast! Sprinkle a little salt on when they’re still hot, and presto! Fresh chips! Add a little shredded cheese on top of the chili and you’ve got a rather yummy meal.
Both recipes stretched at least three nights. I think the chili verde actually lasted for four, which was just about the time I get tired of leftovers.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about the use of salsa in these dishes. I mean, they’re essentially variations on Mexican food. But the next recipe we try that has salsa in it truly had me doing a double take.
When I saw the Thai Chicken title, I thought, “Oooh! What makes it Thai? And how can you do it in a crock pot?”
Honestly, I’m a little skeptical. The recipe calls for hot salsa and peanut butter (along with some lime juice and cilantro). That doesn’t sound good at all. In fact, it sounds a little scary. And yet, I’m going to try making it. So far those little cookbooks haven’t steered me wrong!
I want to say thank you to everyone who commented on Facebook last week. Thank you for reading!
But the biggest thanks goes to my partner, Nancy, who declared Friday night Blog Night. She closes bedtime with our son and I get to skip cleaning the kitchen so I can exercise my writing muscles. Thanks, Baby. You rock!
Next Week: It made how much?
Friday, February 25, 2011
Beginning Again
I’d say this is a beginning, but the beginning of this blog was a couple of years ago as a result of a trip to Vegas. Hence the “Culinary Hedonism”. The time we spent in Sin City was really just an excuse to eat very, very well. We didn’t care about the gambling, though we did find the slots entertaining. We aren’t gamblers. Unless, of course, you count taking a chance on a celebrity chef’s cuisine gambling. Some would.
Nearly three years after this blog began, I find that the hedonism has kind of leaked out of my culinary life. I suppose that’s what happens when you have a day job and a toddler. You give up hedonistic pursuits for more practical things like, say, sleeping.
That’s not to say that one can’t still have adventures, though. And part of the title of this blog is about adventure. For a while it was our semi-monthly veggie and fruit bins, which we have given up on for now. I miss the twice-a-month challenge of what I could do differently with the chard or kale that was in the bin. But working and taking care of a 15-month-old, it’s hard to have time to cook during the week. And the weekends? I’d rather spend them playing with my family.
Given the lack of intensive time to spend at the stove, we’ve turned to a time-honored, middle-American kitchen must-have, the crock pot, to keep us from pissing away our mortgage on delivered pizza and Chinese food.
Crock pot? An adventure? Seriously?
Yes. Seriously.
Until recently, I’d only ever cooked pot roast in my slow cooker. A family staple growing up, it’s the simplest and one of the tastiest memories from my childhood. A 2-3 pound top round roast, a can of cream of mushroom soup and an envelope of dry onion soup mix. Put it in the crock pot on low. Eight hours later, you can shred the meat, mix it into the gravy and serve over toast, rice or mashed potatoes. I’d say it was a slice of heaven, but the meat is too tender to cut. It falls apart if you look at it funny. So maybe a big old spoonful of heaven.
After the turn of the new year, my partner and I decided we needed to work harder to feed ourselves decent food instead of relying on frozen chicken strips and mixed vegetables all the time. We needed to stop eating only foods that could be taken out of the freezer and thrown in the microwave for four minutes or less.
If eating Bobby Flay’s mashed potatoes with cilantro pesto or the hanger steak at Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak was hedonism, then this was utility eating at nearly its worst. We had not yet resorted to boxed mac and cheese or Top Ramen. Yet being the operative word.
So we picked up a couple of grocery store checkstand cookbooks with slow cooker comfort foods in them. One of them was from Prevention, which is a magazine my doctor recommends, so I figured, what the hell?
It’s been an exciting month or so since we started doing something in the crock pot every week. We started with beef carnitas, which is still my favorite, though everything has been delicious so far.
We’ve had turkey sausage cassoulet, pulled pork, beef pot pie, and this week’s adventure, chicken chili verde.
My initial expectations of these recipes were that they would basically require you to dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker, turn it on and leave, returning to the house hours later to the mouth-watering smells of dinner. So when I had to chop onions or brown something before it went into the cooker, I had to ask, is this really saving me time? But being able to come home to find dinner at least mostly ready for me? With still very little preparation? Let’s just say I believe it is saving my sanity. What little of it there is left to me.
I feel a deep-seated responsibility to feed my family. I’ve been doing it since I was about twelve years old when my dad first taught me to make Hamburger Helper. When all else fails, I can always feed people.
It had begun to really stress me out that I had a hard time getting home from work with our son, watching him and keeping him out of trouble, and having something ready for dinner by 6pm. We needed to eat about then to be able to get our son ready for bed by 7pm. And my partner generally wasn’t getting home until 6, so we really couldn’t wait for her to get home to cook.
What a relief it is to come home and have dinner ready to serve. Or be able to take leftovers out of the fridge and heat them up quickly. We’ve had have several weeks of satisfying, tasty meals with relatively little prep time or cleanup. Frankly, it’s been a bit of a revelation.
So all hail the crock pot. It’s not the most hedonistic thing to escape from the ‘70’s, but it is certainly turning into an adventure.
Next week: What yumminess we have wrought.
Nearly three years after this blog began, I find that the hedonism has kind of leaked out of my culinary life. I suppose that’s what happens when you have a day job and a toddler. You give up hedonistic pursuits for more practical things like, say, sleeping.
That’s not to say that one can’t still have adventures, though. And part of the title of this blog is about adventure. For a while it was our semi-monthly veggie and fruit bins, which we have given up on for now. I miss the twice-a-month challenge of what I could do differently with the chard or kale that was in the bin. But working and taking care of a 15-month-old, it’s hard to have time to cook during the week. And the weekends? I’d rather spend them playing with my family.
Given the lack of intensive time to spend at the stove, we’ve turned to a time-honored, middle-American kitchen must-have, the crock pot, to keep us from pissing away our mortgage on delivered pizza and Chinese food.
Crock pot? An adventure? Seriously?
Yes. Seriously.
Until recently, I’d only ever cooked pot roast in my slow cooker. A family staple growing up, it’s the simplest and one of the tastiest memories from my childhood. A 2-3 pound top round roast, a can of cream of mushroom soup and an envelope of dry onion soup mix. Put it in the crock pot on low. Eight hours later, you can shred the meat, mix it into the gravy and serve over toast, rice or mashed potatoes. I’d say it was a slice of heaven, but the meat is too tender to cut. It falls apart if you look at it funny. So maybe a big old spoonful of heaven.
After the turn of the new year, my partner and I decided we needed to work harder to feed ourselves decent food instead of relying on frozen chicken strips and mixed vegetables all the time. We needed to stop eating only foods that could be taken out of the freezer and thrown in the microwave for four minutes or less.
If eating Bobby Flay’s mashed potatoes with cilantro pesto or the hanger steak at Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak was hedonism, then this was utility eating at nearly its worst. We had not yet resorted to boxed mac and cheese or Top Ramen. Yet being the operative word.
So we picked up a couple of grocery store checkstand cookbooks with slow cooker comfort foods in them. One of them was from Prevention, which is a magazine my doctor recommends, so I figured, what the hell?
It’s been an exciting month or so since we started doing something in the crock pot every week. We started with beef carnitas, which is still my favorite, though everything has been delicious so far.
We’ve had turkey sausage cassoulet, pulled pork, beef pot pie, and this week’s adventure, chicken chili verde.
My initial expectations of these recipes were that they would basically require you to dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker, turn it on and leave, returning to the house hours later to the mouth-watering smells of dinner. So when I had to chop onions or brown something before it went into the cooker, I had to ask, is this really saving me time? But being able to come home to find dinner at least mostly ready for me? With still very little preparation? Let’s just say I believe it is saving my sanity. What little of it there is left to me.
I feel a deep-seated responsibility to feed my family. I’ve been doing it since I was about twelve years old when my dad first taught me to make Hamburger Helper. When all else fails, I can always feed people.
It had begun to really stress me out that I had a hard time getting home from work with our son, watching him and keeping him out of trouble, and having something ready for dinner by 6pm. We needed to eat about then to be able to get our son ready for bed by 7pm. And my partner generally wasn’t getting home until 6, so we really couldn’t wait for her to get home to cook.
What a relief it is to come home and have dinner ready to serve. Or be able to take leftovers out of the fridge and heat them up quickly. We’ve had have several weeks of satisfying, tasty meals with relatively little prep time or cleanup. Frankly, it’s been a bit of a revelation.
So all hail the crock pot. It’s not the most hedonistic thing to escape from the ‘70’s, but it is certainly turning into an adventure.
Next week: What yumminess we have wrought.
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