Kids Dish

Ordinarily I make mashed potatoes the old fashioned way on the stove top. But this year (since I wasn’t pregnant and could be thankful for the bounty of wine) I decided to prepare just about everything in advance so I could spend as little time in the kitchen as possible on Thanksgiving day. I saw a recipe for slow cooker mashed potatoes on Coconut & Lime that didn’t seem nearly as offensive as the other slow cooker recipes that called for both cream cheese and sour cream. I had all of the ingredients available and almost all were local.

In the end I learned that I much prefer regular mashed potatoes, but if you need the space on the stovetop or you’re cooking for a large group and want to be able to relax and enjoy the party this recipe is a reasonable substitute.

Slow Cooked Garlic Rosemary Mashed Potatoes from Coconut & Lime

Ingredients:
2 1/2 to 3 lb red skin potatoes, quartered (I used white potatoes from Red Earth Farm)
4 cloves garlic, sliced (from Red Earth Farm)
3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock (homemade from chickens from Meadow Run Farm)
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk (Natural by Nature)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary (my garden)
pepper

Directions:
Place in the slow cooker. Add garlic, broth and rosemary. Stir. Cook and cook on high until potatoes are tender, about 3-4 hours. Pour in milk, butter and sour cream, mash. Serve right away or adjust the setting to low to keep warm until you are ready to serve.

I don’t know what the hell I did wrong with this one. I started it yesterday and cooked it on high for four hours. The chicken breast I threw in was still a little frozen so I figured it may need more time than recommended. When I checked the chicken was cooked but the vegetables were still hard as rocks. I turned it to low and let it cook for a few hours more and reheated some leftover lasagna for dinner.

This morning I took the curry out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature for an hour. Then I cooked it on low for four hours. The potatoes and carrots were still rock hard. I took everything out of the crock pot. I left the chicken out to cool and cut the potatoes and carrots into much smaller pieces then returned them to the crock pot and cooked them on high for an hour. Then I added the flour mixture the recipe called for and cooked it for another hour on high. In the meantime I shredded the chicken and put it back in after half an hour.

By this time it was 7 o’clock. My husband got home and we bathed the kids and put them to bed. By 8.45 I remembered that I’d forgotten to add the frozen peas. I threw them in and we ate the curry by 9. At this point the curry had cooked for 14 hours.

The other thing that bugged me was that it tasted entirely too much like the Morrocan style curry which had completely different ingredients. Oh well. Lessons learned. I won’t even bother posting the recipe. Instead I’ll link to this one which is nothing like the one I made and probably doesn’t take as freaking long.

Want to know the real reason I’m so crock pot happy these days? I accidentally poured bacon grease in the oven and the cleaning cycle sets off the smoke detector so haven’t cleaned it yet. I preheated the oven to reheat some pizza the other night and it started to smoke so I turned off the oven and reheated the pizza a slice at a time in the toaster oven. I’m going to have to get on the cleaning before Thanksgiving, but until then the crock pot is working out quite nicely.

Today’s crock pot meal was Red Thai Curry with chicken. It was incredibly easy to assemble. It took about 15 minutes of prep before I just threw a bunch of ingredients into the crock pot and let it cook on low for 6 hours.

Red Thai Curry with Chicken
1 can coconut milk
1 teaspoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons red chili paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4-6 bone in chicken thighs (I used 2 whole chicken legs and 2 wings)
1 onion, chopped medium
2 sweet potatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped small (seeded if you don’t like too much heat)

1 head of broccoli cut into florets

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup basil, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice

Put the coconut milk, chili paste, fish sauce and sugar in the crock pot and stir it around. Add the next five ingredients and cook on low for 5 hours. Remove the chicken and let cool. Turn crock pot to high, add the broccoli and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. In the meantime, remove the chicken from the bone once you can handle it. Add the chicken back into the pot and cook ten minutes more. Add basil, cilantro and lime juice. Serve over rice.

I had no intention of posting this recipe for two reasons:

1. It was not an especially easy dish to make
2. My kid refused to eat it.

Let me start with number one. The dish requires that you start the chicken and the vegetables on the stove top and transfer them to the slow cooker later. After cooking for three hours you’re then supposed to add more to the slow cooker and cook for another hour. Then you’re supposed to remove the chicken from the slow cooker, whisk flour to some stock, add that to the slow cooker and cook it for another half hour. Why bother using the slow cooker if you have to do all of that work? With all of the additions/subtractions you might as well just cook it in a dutch oven and have one less pot to clean.

Then there’s number two. My kid said, “I don’t like chicken.” Then he said, “I don’t like chickpeas.” Then he wanted to eat the flour. He even refused to eat the quinoa I served with the chicken. For dinner he ate a carrot.

But then, later, he was hungry. And not only did he eat the chicken, he ate the chickpeas, the apricots and the onions. Then he ate more chickpeas and more onions. And some quinoa for good measure. So here’s the recipe. I’ve adapted it for a dutch oven, but I’ll add slow cooker directions at the end for those of you who are gluttons for punishment.

2 teaspoons hot paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 stick cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 chicken, 3-4 lbs, cut into 8 pieces (or 3-4 lbs of just chicken thighs and legs, the dark meat is more flavorful)
Salt

6 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, chopped

3 1/2 cups chicken stock (reserve half a cup)
1 cup apricots cut in half
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Pat dry and salt and pepper the chicken. Brown the chicken on both sides in oil in a dutch oven for about ten minutes.
2. Remove the chicken to a plate and add the onions and spices to the dutch oven and cook until soft, about five minutes more.
3. Add the garlic and cook for about 15 seconds.
4. Pour three cups of stock into the dutch oven and scrape up the brown bits.
5. Add the apricots and cinnamon stick and bring to a simmer.
6. Put the chicken back in the pot, add the chickpeas, bring back to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes.
7. Remove the chicken to a plate and cover with foil.
8. Whisk the flour with the remaining stock and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened, and the sauce no longer tastes like flour.
9. Remove from heat and add lemon juice, parsley and cilantro. Serve the chicken and the vegetables over couscous or rice. (I used quinoa)

For the slow cooker follow steps 1-5, only remove the chicken to the slow cooker and pour the simmering stock over the chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours. Add the chickpeas and cook for one hour more. Follow steps 7 and 8 only add the flour mixture to the slow cooker and cook on high for 30 minutes. Then add remaining ingredients and serve.

The cold snuck up on me and suddenly I’m craving warm foods that simmer for hours. Chicken chili fits the bill. If your kids aren’t crazy about vegetables chili is an easy way to sneak them in especially if you serve the chili with tortilla chips and lots of shredded cheese.

This recipe serves 4-6. It freezes well so you can double it and save some for later. Like most stews it improves over night since the flavors have time to meld so it’s even better the next day. I used chicken breast because I had it, but you can use a store bought rotisserie chicken for the meat or any chicken parts you have on hand.

4 boneless chicken breasts, cubed
1 onion chopped medium
1 bell pepper chopped medium
1 hot pepper seeded and chopped fine
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced (1tsp dried)
1 can white beans rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 bunch of kale, stemmed and sliced into ribbons
1 tablespoon chili powder (or more to taste)
2 teaspoons cumin
2 cups water (or chicken stock)
salt
pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large pan. Add onions and peppers. Cook until onions are soft, about five minutes. Add cubed chicken breasts, salt and pepper and cook until opaque but not cooked through. Stir in garlic and oregano and cook for 30 seconds more. Transfer chicken and vegetables to slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.* Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

*If you’re using leftover (cooked) chicken or vegetables you can cook on high for less time.

I like the idea of slow cooking. It doesn’t use as much energy as cooking in the oven or stove top and dinner is on the table with very little effort at the end of the day. So I busted out the crock pot (I actually have a Rival Crock Pot so I’m not speaking generically) for the first time in three years and made a pot roast yesterday. It took about half an hour to prep the ingredients in the morning and by dinner time all I had to do was make a few quick sides. This was only the second time I’ve ever made a pot roast and based on my previous experience I think the slow cooker is the way to go.

5lb roast (chuck, brisket, top or bottom round)
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper
1 lb carrots peeled and chopped
3 onions chopped medium
6 cloves garlic, minced
5 or 6 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 tsp dried)
1 cup red wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup beef stock
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley (don’t substitute dried- just skip it if you don’t have fresh)

Heat the oil in a large pan until shimmering. Pat the roast dry with paper towels and salt and pepper it. Brown the roast on all sides,about ten minutes total. Remove the roast to a plate and add onions and carrots to pan. Cook until onions are soft and translucent and carrots are browned, about five minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. (You can prepare up until this point the night before. Refrigerate the meat and vegetables separately.) Pour in the red wine and scrape up any brown bits. Remove from heat.

Put the roast and its juices in the slow cooker. Pour in the wine and vegetables. Add the remaining ingredients and cook on high for 6-7 hours or low for 9-10. Remove the roast from the slow cooker and let rest for five minutes before slicing. Remove the bay leaves, add the chopped parsley and puree the remaining vegetables into the sauce with a stick blender or in batches in a regular blender and pass as gravy. (You can skip this step, but if your kids don’t love vegetables they won’t suspect they’re lurking in the gravy!)

Serve with a green vegetable or salad and something to sop up the gravy. Mashed potatoes and biscuits are excellent choices.

Kidney beans are a great source of protein and fiber. Named for their kidney shape, they are great in chili. Here’s an easy crock pot recipe you can spice as much or as little as you like. This is also a great recipe for sneaking in vegetables. If you have leftover vegetables you can add them whole, finely chop them, or stick them in the food processor for a few pulses. You can do the same with raw veggies. I often add small pieces of carrots, broccoli and green beans. Sweet potatoes and squash are also good additions.

Crock Pot Chili

Serves 6 to 8.

I’ve been trying to clean out my freezer to make room for Thanksgiving and I found a little more than a pound of stew meat from my buying club and a little less than a quarter of a pound of lamb tenderloin butt. I don’t know what to do with lamb tenderloin butt, especially since it’s such a small amount. And it doesn’t help that the fact that it’s called “butt” just makes me giggle like a nine year old boy. I decided I may as well combine the two and make a big pot of beef stew.

Beef stew is pretty easy to prepare, it just takes a long time to cook. If you like to use a slow cooker, you can do the prep either the night before or the morning of, and let it cook all day. I just cook mine on the stove, but I keep telling myself that I’ll use the slow cooker one of these days.

Beef Stew

Ingredients
* 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 pounds stew meat (you can buy stew meat or buy chuck and cut it into cubes)
* 1 large onion, chopped (I used leeks because I had them)
* 2 cloves of garlic, minced
* 6 large potatoes, peeled and diced (I don’t peel mine)
* 6 carrots, sliced ( I used two handfuls of baby carrots)
* 2 bay leaves
* 3 stalks celery, sliced (I omitted this because I didn’t have any)
* 3 (10.5 ounce) cans beef broth (I used 3 cups homemade turkey stock and a can of beer)
Optional
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon cold water

1. In a large pot or dutch oven heat oil over medium high heat. In a resealable plastic bag mix together the flour, salt and pepper. Add a small handful of meat at a time and shake until well coated; brown in hot oil, about 1 minute per side. Remove the browned meat and continue until all the meat is browned.
2. Lower heat to medium and add onions. Brown onions on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Add garlic to pot and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove the onions and garlic from pot and set aside. Drain excess fat from pot.
3. To pot add potatoes, carrots, celery, reserved onions, browned meat, bay leaf and broth. Stir all together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. For a thicker broth: 1/2 hour before stew is done, combine 3 tablespoons flour and water in a small bowl and mix well, then slowly stir mixture into stew.

For the slow cooker

Personally I think it’s worth browning the beef, but if you’re pressed for time you can omit that step. Put the beef in the slow cooker, pour in the flour mixture, and stir to combine. Stir in the remaining ingredients and follow the cooking time above.

If you don’t like beef, get yourself into a Thanksgiving frame of mind by trying this crockpot turkey roast recipe.

Ham can be found in a number of types of soups - especially bean soups - since it adds so much flavor.

One of my favorites is ham and bean soup. It’s easy to make and inexpensive. Give it a try!

Ham and Bean Soup

1 lb. Great Northern white beans
1 medium onion, chopped
1 T. butter
1 ham hock or if you can’t find decent ham hocks, used diced ham
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse beans and pick out any stragglers (you know, dark or withered beans). Soak in water for at least 4 hours or overnight to soften beans - be sure and check the water level from time to time and add more water if necessary. Rinse thoroughly.

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in large Dutch oven and add beans and ham. Meanwhile, saute onion in melted butter. Remove onion from saucepan with slotted spoon and add to beans and ham. Reduce heat under soup mixture and simmer for approximately 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

ham, beans, soup

It’s supposed to be warm out. It is most definitely not. Weather.com is reporting 54 degrees at almost noon today. That kind of weather calls for hearty dishes. With Polish and German relatives, hearty dishes has come to mean sausages and sauerkraut - and the girls love it!

If you’re not a big fan of sauerkraut, don’t click away just yet. You’ve probably had sauerkraut that was overprocessed or too salty. That’s what happened to me. I couldn’t stand the idea of it before I met my husband. And then I had good sauerkraut. Yum! What a difference! Apparently (and who knew?) the USDA regulations for preservation/processing have resulted in the addition of a lot more salt than is traditionally used.

So, you have a couple of options:

1. Buy good sauerkraut and rinse before using.
2. Make your own.

Sauerkraut

1 large head of cabbage (about 3 pounds)
3 T coarse salt

Remove core from cabbage. With a hand grater or food processor, slice cabbage as thinly as possible. Combine in large bowl with salt.

Transfer to a large glass or ceramic container (ceramic is traditional). Liquid will come out of the cabbage as you tap down by hand. Cover with a damp towel touching cabbage and top with something to weigh it down. Cover again with a layer of plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to ferment. Check after 2 days, scraping anything off of the top. Repack and check every 3 days. The flavor will get better as the saeurkraut ferments. After 2 weeks, give it a try. After 3 weeks, you should eat, refrigerate or can the sauerkraut.

Now, what to do with it?

Reuben sandwiches (yum).

Or try Kielbasa and Sauerkraut.

1 1/2 lbs kielbasa, sliced 1/2 inch thick
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/4 c water or other liquid (I use beer)
30 oz prepared sauerkraut, rinsed and drained or 4 cups homemade sauerkraut
2 tsp dried dill

Now, I’m a huge fan of the crock pot. So, I would make this in a crock pot. If you prefer to cook it on the stove top, use a large pan (a Dutch oven would work) but add more liquid, as necessary.

Here are the easy instructions! Throw everything in the crock pot and walk away. Really. I’d let it cook on low for about 2 hours.

If you’re looking for some more great recipes that incorporate sauerkraut, check out this site.

sauerkraut, dill, kielbasa