Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Broccoli over Rice

This was my new for September slow cooker recipe.  It will not disappoint!  Did I remember to take a picture of it?  Alas, I did not but if you go to original link- the picture there will excite your eyes - and then you should make the recipe.

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Broccoli over Rice

from TheRecipeCritic

Ingredients
4 boneless chicken breasts
14oz can cream of chicken soup
14 oz can cheddar soup
14 oz can chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt <- I did not add this, when I made it!
¼ teaspoon Cajun seasoning
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
1 Cup sour cream
1 12 oz frozen bag broccoli florets or 4 cups fresh broccoli lightly steamed
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

Steps
1.  Spray crockpot with cooking spray and put cream of chicken soup, cheddar soup, chicken broth, salt, cajun seasoning, and garlic salt into the crockpot. Stir the soups and seasonings together until smooth. Place the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot.
2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or HIGH 3 hours. The last 30 minutes of cooking, shred the chicken with two forks and add the broccoli, sour cream, and cheese. Cook for about 30 more minutes until the broccoli is tender and heated through.
3.  Serve over white rice and garnish with more shredded cheese if desired.

The Final Product
First, I used about a pound of chicken tenderloins instead of breasts - just want I happened to have from Costco this week.  I left out the salt - between the cream of chicken soup, the cheddar cheese soup and the chicken broth there is no need for extra salt.  I did not have Cajun seasoning so I switched it out for a 1/4 teaspoon of blackening seasoning and I think that did the trick.  I definitely plan to make it again, especially when the severest of critics says "This is taste-ee!"

Slow Cooker Bacon Smothered Chicken

If bacon is in the title, or heck even just an ingredient, I know I need to try the recipe.  This one made the house smell soo delicious.

Slow Cooker Bacon Smothered Chicken

from SixSistersStuff

Ingredients

8 slices of bacon, cooked and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 cups fat-free chicken broth
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 8 oz package of fat free cream cheese
4 cups egg noodles, uncooked
2 Tbsp. dried parsley

Steps

1. Cook onions on medium heat over the stove top. Cook until they are golden brown.
2.  Add your chicken to the slow cooker; cover with the cooked onions and cooked bacon. Pour your chicken broth over top.
3. Cook on low 4 to 5 hours (or on HIGH 2 to 3 hours). About 15 min. before ready to serve, put your cream cheese in the slow cooker.
4. Cook your egg noodles as directed on the package.  When the slow cooker is ready, shred the chicken and mix well.
5. Then place your chicken on your cooked egg noodles and sprinkle with dried parsley. Serve warm.

The Final Product
Ooops, this is what happens - I forget to take a picture, then I forget to post the recipe.  So when I do get around to posting the recipe, I don't have a picture to remind myself.   The aromas from the slow cooker just made me want to rip open the lid throughout the day - that I do remember.  Overall it was a good dish, it seemed to me to follow the same vein as a beef stroganoff - except not so beefy.  Give it a whirl, at least your nostrils will thank you!

Slow Cooker Tater Tot Casserole

I love tater tots!  Who doesn't??!?!  So I thought I would give this recipe a whirl.  The comments mention that this is crowd pleaser and they like to serve it with salad and be done with it.  That wasn't quite the case when I made it.

Tater Tot Casserole

from The Crockin' Girls

Ingredients

Non-stick Cooking spray
32 oz frozen tater tots
1 lb ground turkey, cooked
dash of fennel seeds
1 cup light sour cream
10.5 oz cream of mushroom soup
4 - 6 pieces cooked and crumbled bacon
2 cups of shredded cheese (I used a combination of cheeses)
1/2 onion diced finely

Steps

1.  Combine the turkey, sour cream, mushroom soup, bacon, 1/2 cheese, and onions in a bowl.
2.  Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray.
3.  Place enough tots in slow cooker to cover the bottom.
4.  Pour half of mixture over the tots.
5.  Use the rest of the tots to make another layer and cover that with the other half of the mixture.
6.  Sprinkle top with remaining cheese.
7.  Cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 5 hours.

The Final Product
I apologize for not having a picture.  Honestly, I would not eat this meal for dinner.  I loved it for breakfast the next morning.  This turned out tasting like a healthier version of corned beef hash (I love corned beef hash!).  It was fantastic with a couple of sunny-side up eggs and a muffin.  So make this yummy meal - but make it for breakfast - you will thank me later!

Oh My!

I have let my little blog go silent for over a month.   How rude of me!  Life has been extremely busy - with visits from grandparents, birthdays, and trips.  I suppose the main culprit of my lackadaisical posting is the final push to train and run the Disneyland Half Marathon.

With a bit of help from the hubby, we completed the 13.1 mile race in 2:12.56.  That put us at just under 10 minute pace.  I am very proud of our accomplishment and I am now looking forward to my next big race - the Big Sur International Marathon in 2015.  I think I might just be crazy.  

They did capture some video of us running, which was super cool.  I am going to see if I can get that posted to blog once I edit it.

I did try out a few new recipes during this time so I am going to try to get those recipes posted soon.  I could not go this whole time without trying something new!

Grilled Pizza

After an amazing cooking class at the aquarium back in May, I finally got up the guts to try making Chef John Ash's Grilled Pizza recipe.  It did not disappoint.  I did have a bit of a hesitant assistant - okay, grill master - oh all right, husband who did most of the at the grill work.  But I think even he was surprised that this worked and we didn't have sticky pizza dough all over the grill.

Grilled Pizza

Chef John Ash

Dough Ingredients

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2 tsp sugar
1 1/1 tsp salt
1/2 cup ground cornmeal or whole wheat flour
3 tbsp olive oil
4 - 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Steps

1.  Using an electric mixer with a dough hook, stir yeast into warm water with sugar.  Then let sit for 5 minutes.
2.  After 5 minutes this mixture should begin to bubble.  Stir in salt, cornmeal, and one tbsp of oil.
3.  Begin slowly adding flour, mixing at a slow speed.  Dough should form a rough ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl after about 4 minutes.  Add additional flour or water if dough is too sticky or dry.
4.  Let dough rest in missing bowl for 15 minutes.  It should be soft.
5.  Remove dough from bowl and divide into 6 equal pieces.  Round each piece into a ball and brush with olive oil.
6.  Place each ball in a ziploc bag, drizzle some additional oil in the bag, and seal the bag.  Let balls sit out for at least 30 minutes.  Refrigerate dough if using next day, or freeze up to 3 months.
7.  Before using and rolling the dough, leave them out for about an hour to come up to room temperature.

Pizza Stuff

olive oil for brushing
Monterey Jack cheese
Pecorino cheese
Mozzarella
Pizza sauce or just some crushed tomatoes in puree
basil
red pepper flakes
or whatever else you would like to top your pizza with

Steps

1.  Set grill to high heat - temperature should read at or above 500 degrees.
2.  Roll dough into 10-inch free form circles about 1/4 in thick.
3.  Brush one side of the dough with olive oil.  Place it oil-side down onto the grill.  Cover the grill.
4.  After a minute or so, check the dough.  It will puff and bubble, the underside should be stiff and there will be some grill marks.
5.  Flip the dough and add toppings to your liking.
6.  Quickly recover the pizza and let cook for another minute or so, until the cheese is melted.
7.  Move pizza to cutting board and cut into wedges.  Enjoy immediately!

The Final Product

I have a convert!  The process turned out to be quite quick and easy.  The dough was just the right amount of crunchy.  I used sliced fresh mozzarella but I think next time I will use shredded - would make it easier to cut when it comes right off the grill.  Try it - I think you will enjoy it.  Lucky us - we have the remaining 3 dough rolls in the freezer to enjoy again at another time.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese

I can not hide it.  I am a Williams-Sonoma junkie.  If I want to kitchen tool, pot, pan, etc, I always check there first.  On one of my many trips there, I walked away with a recipe card for Spaghetti Bolognese.  I think I have been holding on to this card for well over a year.  I tend to shy away from doing Italian dishes in the slow cooker because they are just so much fun to make at the oven or stove.  I had been paring down my cookbook menagerie when I saw this recipe card.  I decided to give it a whirl before it met the doom of some other recipes/books.  I am glad I did - this one can definitely be added to the rotation.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese

adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen

Ingredients

6 oz bacon slices, cut into 1/2-inch slices (I used about had a package of center cut bacon)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 lb ground beef
6 oz tomato paste
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup shredded Italian six cheese mix
1 lb spaghetti cooked, water reserved

Steps

1.  In the slow cooker insert (or use a large sauté pan/skillet) over medium-high heat, cook bacon until crisp (about 10 minutes - I like mine crispy so I went a bit longer).
2.  Spoon off the fat but leave about 1 tbs in the pan.  Add onion and cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
3.  Add the garlic - cooking for another minute.
4.  Add the ground beef, stirring until the beef is no longer pink.
5.  Stir in tomato paste, heavy cream, milk, and cheese.  Remove from heat.
6.  Place insert in slow cooker (or transfer contents of pan to slow cooker).  Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.  When done, you may want to skim any fat from the top of the sauce.
7.  Added the cooked spaghetti to the sauce.  If the sauce is to thick, add some pasta-cooking water to loosen the sauce.
8.  Enjoy immediately!

The Final Product

This was tasty - good enough to satisfy my most severest critic - son number one downed two bowls!  For mom and dad, this was a great starter but needs some herbal/spice additions.  I think next time I will throw in some Penzey's Italian Herb mix (or basil, parsley, and oregano).  For the hubby's part, he said he would want to give it some kick - some red pepper flakes would do the trick.  I might add a little salt in as well next time.  Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Artichokes

We live about a half an hour away from the Artichoke capital of the world - Castroville, CA.  So I thought it high time I cooked with them.  I am familiar with them - I used to have them all the time as a child.  For some odd reason though, I could never remember how to make them.   This recipe is pretty easy to do - although working with artichokes can be a little time consuming.

Slow Cooker Artichokes

Ingredients

4 large artichokes
2 cups chicken broth
at least a cup of herbed bread crumbs (I used garlic and herb bread crumbs)
olive oil

Steps

1.  Wash artichokes.  Cut off the stem at the base so that the artichoke can sit flat.  Then cut off the top inch of the artichoke.
2.  Use kitchen scissors to cut the tops of the outer leaves as they are still prickly.  Pull the out the very center leaves creating a tiny bowl in the center for the bread crumbs.
3.  In a mixing bowl, drizzle some olive oil into the bread crumbs.  Keep adding and mixing the oil until the crumbs begin to clump together.
4.  Fill each artichoke with the bread crumb mixture and cover the top with crumbs.
5.  Place artichokes in slow cooker, drizzle some additional olive oil on top of each, then fill bottom of slow cooker with chicken broth.
6.  Cook on HIGH for 3 - 4 hours.

The Final Product

These were great!  I have not had them in so long and they just hit the spot.  I plan on making them much more frequently now.

Samosas with Kheema

A few days ago my husband got the urge to cook Indian food.  Lately, we have had the pleasure of enjoying samosas made by some of the international students that my husband goes to graduate school with.  So he gave it a whirl this time with a little twist.

Samosas

from An Invitation to Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
oil for frying

Steps

1.  Combine oil and flour.  Rub together.
2.  Add salt and mix.
3.  Slowly add water until you have a firm dough.
4.  Knead for 7 to 10 minutes.
5.  Brush with a little oil, cover with a cloth and set aside until you are ready to use.
6.  Divide dough into 16 - 20 equal balls.
7.  Flatten each ball and roll until it is about 4 inches in diameter.  Cut the round in half.
8.  Wet the edges of the half circles with water, then fill with stuffing.  Press the edges together to seal.
9.  Heat oil for frying.  Fry each samosa for 2 to 3 minutes.  Drain on a paper towel.

Kheema stuffing

Ingredients

2 onions chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
ginger, 2 in long by 1 in wide, chopped
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 stick cinnamon
4 whole cloves
4 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
red pepper flakes to taste
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 large can of tomato
2 lbs ground lamb
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

Steps

1.  Blend onions, garlic, ginger in blender with some water until you have a smooth paste.
2.  Heat oil in dutch oven over medium heat.
3.  Add cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf and red pepper flakes.
4.  When peppers turn dark (10 seconds), add paste from blender.  Fry for about 10 minutes. (add water if food gets stuck to bottom).
5.  Add coriander, cumin, and turmeric.  Fry for 5 minutes.
6.  Add tomato (chopped) and fry for 2 - 3 minutes.
7.  Add meat and salt.  Break up meat until it is browned.
8.  Add 1/2 cup water and lemon juice.
9.  Bring to a boil and cover.  Let simmer for 1 hour.
10.  Take off cover and cook until there is no liquid remaining.  Discard any fat.  It is now ready to use as stuffing.

The Final Product

Super tasty.  Really yummy.  I could have made a meal out of them alone - but we also had chicken and potatoes and naan.  But where is the twist you say?  We started to get a little antsy at the length of time it took to roll out each samosa and fill them.  You may notice in the picture that the samosa have cute little cut edges to them.  Well, we gave it a bit of an Italian twist.  We busted out my ravioli tray! We rolled out two pieces of dough long enough to cover the ravioli tray.  Next we laid one piece of dough down on the tray.  Then wet along the parts that we knew would be cut.  Added filling to each of the ravioli areas, the covered with the other piece of dough.  Then cut the raviolis.  Soooo much faster.  We will definitely try our hands at it again.  It was so good even JT had 3 of them.

Crab Cakes a la Chef John Ash

I vowed after taking the cooking class with Chef John Ash last month that I would take a chance on making crab cakes at home.  Yesterday evening was the fateful day of reckoning!

Crab Cakes

Chef John Ash

Ingredients

1 egg, beaten
5 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp minced parsley
1 tbsp minced green onion
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, white preferred
salt, white pepper, and hot sauce to taste
1 lb fresh cooked Dungeness crab meat, picked over for shells
1/2 cup coarse dry bread crumbs, panko preferred
clarified butter or olive oil

Steps

1.  Combine egg, mayonnaise, parsley, green onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and hot sauce in a large bowl.  Stir to combine.
2.  Stir in crab and then half of the bread crumbs.  Do not over mix.  The cakes should just hold together and be delicate in texture.  Mix in additional bread crumbs if too moist.
3.  Form into 8 mini cakes.
4.  Lightly dust both sides with additional bread crumbs.
5.  Saute in clarified butter or oil until lightly browned on both sides - about 3 minutes per side.
6.  Serve with a little dollop of aioli on top.

Smoked Paprika Aioli

Chef John Ash

Ingredients

4 blanched garlic cloves
1 tbsp olive oil
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp smoked paprika or to taste
Salt, pepper, and drops of lemon juice to taste

Steps

1.  Add all ingredients to a mini food processor and pulse until smooth.
2.  Store refrigerated for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to blend before using.  Makes 3/4 of a cup.

The Final Product

Making crab cakes has always seemed like a daunting task.  The meat is so delicate that I always worry about over working it.   After taking this class with Chef John Ash, I felt more confident and the cakes turned out wonderfully.  I will add that I did not have all of the ingredients listed above.  I traded out the green onions for some Penzey's Minced Onions, used light mayonnaise, and regular Worcestershire sauce.  I kept my mixing of ingredients to a minimum and almost all of my 7 crab cakes (okay I made them bigger) stayed together.  I can't wait to make them again!

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup

June Gloom has hit our area.  It has been relatively gloomy for most of the morning to mid-afternoon.  It makes me yearn for hearty soups, even though it is not exactly what one would call "cold" outside. This soup really hit the spot.

Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup

from Family Fresh Meals

Ingredients

24 oz jar spaghetti sauce
2 cups water
1/4 cup diced onion
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup diced carrots
1lb ground beef, browned
4 cups of loosely packed fresh spinach leaves
4 cups beef broth
8 oz cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
16 oz refrigerated  cheese tortellini (you can also use frozen, just add 30 more minutes to cooking time)

Steps

1. Combine spaghetti sauce, water,  meat, onions, garlic, carrots,  spinach, cream cheese, beef  broth, and mushrooms in a slow-cooker. Cook on LOW for 7 hours, on HIGH  for 5  hours.   

2. Before adding in the tortellini, take a whisk to your soup to break up any chunks of cream cheese. Stir in tortellini.  Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes or until tender and hot.

The Final Product

Wow!  This was totally yummy.  I ate three bowls.  Fantastic - and I don't really like vegetables.  For your reference, I used a 24 oz jar of Bertolli Tomato and Basil sauce.  I used a whole package of baby spinach because I didn't feel like measuring.  My cream cheese was still quite chunky after 7 hours so I had to do a bit of mixing to get the consistency a bit creamier.  I have two ideas for the next time that I throw this in the slow cooker:

1. Cut the spinach in half and add a drained can of kidney beans.
2. Use 8 oz of soft cream cheese and not a block - the soft cream cheese from a container tends to meld better in the slow cooker.

Now go make this soup on those down and dreary days - it will certainly brighten your day.