Review of Crockpot Cranberry Chicken With Potatoes
So, the potatoes on the bottom worked out really well. :) They ended up just lighly scented with cranberry, with a slight chickeny taste. I love the way Yukon Golds hold up in the crockpot. They don't get mealy like Russets can; they stay firm but get very smooth when slow-cooked.
The chicken, of course, was a hit. I've never served that chicken to anyone who didn't like it. :)
And it was so easy to have the side cook at the same time as the chicken, I think I will do that again. You may have to increase the cooking time by about 1/2 an hour from the recipe for just the chicken, and it certainly doesn't hurt to let it sit on Warm after that, which is why I love a programmable crockpot.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Menus for weeks starting 2/9 and 2/16
All meals include salad with assorted veggies, croutons, and dressings and assortment of juices. Foods listed for each day are main dish and side or other menu items if applicable. Menus subject to change.
2/9-2/13
Mon. 2/9
Ratatouille
Rolls
Cheese for topping
Tue. 2/10
Kohlsuppe (cabbage soup with Polish sausage)
Rye bread with butter
Thur. 2/12
Company Chicken Casserole
Fri. 2/13
Meatball Subs
2/16-2/20
Mon. 2/16
Moussaka
Tue. 2/17
L'hamraak Garagh (Moroccan Pumpkin Soup)
Yogurt to top soup with
Bread or rolls
Thur. 2/19
Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Rice
Fri. 2/20
Sloppy Joes (buns on side)
2/9-2/13
Mon. 2/9
Ratatouille
Rolls
Cheese for topping
Tue. 2/10
Kohlsuppe (cabbage soup with Polish sausage)
Rye bread with butter
Thur. 2/12
Company Chicken Casserole
Fri. 2/13
Meatball Subs
2/16-2/20
Mon. 2/16
Moussaka
Tue. 2/17
L'hamraak Garagh (Moroccan Pumpkin Soup)
Yogurt to top soup with
Bread or rolls
Thur. 2/19
Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Rice
Fri. 2/20
Sloppy Joes (buns on side)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Thursday, 2/5: Crockpot Cranberry Chicken (with potatoes!)
Crockpot Cranberry Chicken is another family favorite. It started as a Recipezaar recipe, originally from a cookbook, but I have since made some significant changes, so what follows is my "improved" version of the recipe. It's very simple and VERY impressive. I serve it to company quite often. I'm making an alteration but I'll give you my regular recipe first:
4-12 pieces of chicken, bone-in, skin removed (depending on size and how many you want to serve; use less breasts or more thighs, for instance. The recipe originally called for thighs, but I have found that just about any kind of chicken pieces except wings works quite well. Breasts, thighs, drumsticks, a mixture-- whatever you have or like. You can use boneless skinless chicken pieces, but you'll need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. If you had them frozen, you should probably defrost them first.)
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce (I only eat Ocean Spray for eating, but for this recipe, store brand will be fine)
1 tsp. prepared mustard (spicy brown is best, yellow doesn't do much for the flavor; Dijon would be fine, or Cajun or whatever you like)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (but white will do in a pinch)
1 Tbsp. beef boullion powder or granules
1/4 cup dried minced onions (you can omit these if you want though; I did when I was pregnant and couldn't stand the smell and it was okay.)
Put chicken pieces in the bottom of the crockpot. Mix all other ingredients, and pour over chicken, ensuring there is some on each piece. (You may have to lift pieces and use a spoon to spread it around to ensure this.) Cook about 5 1/2 hours on Low or 3 1/2 on High, until chicken is tender.
I usually serve that over rice, with a salad or veggie. That's where the difference is coming in: I'm going to try some potatoes in there. Before I put in the chicken, I'm going to put some Yukon Gold potatoes in, cut into quarters (the long way, like wedges) and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. We'll see how that goes, since I've never done it before!
4-12 pieces of chicken, bone-in, skin removed (depending on size and how many you want to serve; use less breasts or more thighs, for instance. The recipe originally called for thighs, but I have found that just about any kind of chicken pieces except wings works quite well. Breasts, thighs, drumsticks, a mixture-- whatever you have or like. You can use boneless skinless chicken pieces, but you'll need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. If you had them frozen, you should probably defrost them first.)
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce (I only eat Ocean Spray for eating, but for this recipe, store brand will be fine)
1 tsp. prepared mustard (spicy brown is best, yellow doesn't do much for the flavor; Dijon would be fine, or Cajun or whatever you like)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (but white will do in a pinch)
1 Tbsp. beef boullion powder or granules
1/4 cup dried minced onions (you can omit these if you want though; I did when I was pregnant and couldn't stand the smell and it was okay.)
Put chicken pieces in the bottom of the crockpot. Mix all other ingredients, and pour over chicken, ensuring there is some on each piece. (You may have to lift pieces and use a spoon to spread it around to ensure this.) Cook about 5 1/2 hours on Low or 3 1/2 on High, until chicken is tender.
I usually serve that over rice, with a salad or veggie. That's where the difference is coming in: I'm going to try some potatoes in there. Before I put in the chicken, I'm going to put some Yukon Gold potatoes in, cut into quarters (the long way, like wedges) and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. We'll see how that goes, since I've never done it before!
Review of Chili
Okay, not so much a review since it's my tried-and-true recipe, but comments on yesterday's chili:
First off, it was all gone. I don't mean that most of it was gone. I don't mean that they left less than a serving in there like they did with the lasagna last week. I mean it was ALL gone. There was about a Tbsp. left spread around the bottom, and probably only because they couldn't get it out without scraping it with a teaspoon (not a ladle), which is what I had to do to get a taste. LOL.
It turned out as good as it always does-- nothing special, but good. Apparently they really like chili and cornbread though, and it's so easy I think I will have to do that one again.
A few people put hot sauce in it, of course; I cater to people who like it milder because you can always add heat but it's darned tough to take it out.
Everyone Jeff asked said it was quite good. Again, it's not one of those things that gets raves-- but it was all gone at the end of the night. To me, that speaks for itself!
First off, it was all gone. I don't mean that most of it was gone. I don't mean that they left less than a serving in there like they did with the lasagna last week. I mean it was ALL gone. There was about a Tbsp. left spread around the bottom, and probably only because they couldn't get it out without scraping it with a teaspoon (not a ladle), which is what I had to do to get a taste. LOL.
It turned out as good as it always does-- nothing special, but good. Apparently they really like chili and cornbread though, and it's so easy I think I will have to do that one again.
A few people put hot sauce in it, of course; I cater to people who like it milder because you can always add heat but it's darned tough to take it out.
Everyone Jeff asked said it was quite good. Again, it's not one of those things that gets raves-- but it was all gone at the end of the night. To me, that speaks for itself!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Tuesday 2/3: Chili and Cornbread
I made my standard "crockpot chili." Sometimes I make it without beef, in which case it is "food storage chili" because it uses only ingredients I keep in my shelf-stable food storage. It makes a huge batch; believe it or not, I actually always make this much, because it freezes well or will feed us all for about 5 days if kept in the fridge, and it is so easy. And it's not expensive, so why not do the work once for quite a few meals? I make it pretty mild, you can add more chili powder or red pepper or hot sauce as you like to up the heat level if desired.
Drain and rinse (until the water runs pink is good enough; it's not like 3 bean salad where you want it to run clear so it won't stain the other food) 3 27 ounce cans kidney beans (dark or light makes no difference; can also use 1 no. 10 can, which is what I usually do, I get them at Smart and Final, or you can cook dried; you shouldn't use dried straight in the crockpot unless you adjust the liquid accordingly, which I don't have room for since I'm making a huge batch but on the stove it's completely feasable, or if you have a working pressure canner, which I don't right now, you can can your own dried beans to make it even cheaper.) Dump them in the crockpot.
Add 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes and 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (for soupier chili; for more stew-like chili use 1 28 oz. and 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes), undrained.
Add 1 lb.-ish browned and drained ground beef (I did 4 lbs. all at once the other night, might as well; used 1/2 of it for the Nogales Pie and then used 1/2 of what was left tonight; the other part will be Hamburger Helper or something later in the week.)
Add about 1/2 cup dried diced onions, 1/4 cup dark chili powder, 2 Tbsp. cumin, and a shot (about a Tbsp.) of Worchestershire sauce (I only use Lea & Perrins, I just think it tastes better.)
Mix (I just use my hands for this...)
It will cook on Low for at least 6 hours. Ideally it would be stirred once or twice in there, but if not, just stir before serving.
To go with I made a pan (in a disposable cake pan so it doesn't have to come home) of Marie Callender's just-add-water cornbread mix. Yes, I am that lazy. It tastes great and they won't care (or probably know) it's not from scratch. And it's a lot less work and less messy than "real" cornbread (no eggshells, etc.) and tastes just as good! Plus it's shelf-stable too, I keep it as part of my food storage. It's an easy, tasty way to make a complete protein with the beans if you're going vegetarian (though of course it's not vegan.)
Drain and rinse (until the water runs pink is good enough; it's not like 3 bean salad where you want it to run clear so it won't stain the other food) 3 27 ounce cans kidney beans (dark or light makes no difference; can also use 1 no. 10 can, which is what I usually do, I get them at Smart and Final, or you can cook dried; you shouldn't use dried straight in the crockpot unless you adjust the liquid accordingly, which I don't have room for since I'm making a huge batch but on the stove it's completely feasable, or if you have a working pressure canner, which I don't right now, you can can your own dried beans to make it even cheaper.) Dump them in the crockpot.
Add 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes and 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (for soupier chili; for more stew-like chili use 1 28 oz. and 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes), undrained.
Add 1 lb.-ish browned and drained ground beef (I did 4 lbs. all at once the other night, might as well; used 1/2 of it for the Nogales Pie and then used 1/2 of what was left tonight; the other part will be Hamburger Helper or something later in the week.)
Add about 1/2 cup dried diced onions, 1/4 cup dark chili powder, 2 Tbsp. cumin, and a shot (about a Tbsp.) of Worchestershire sauce (I only use Lea & Perrins, I just think it tastes better.)
Mix (I just use my hands for this...)
It will cook on Low for at least 6 hours. Ideally it would be stirred once or twice in there, but if not, just stir before serving.
To go with I made a pan (in a disposable cake pan so it doesn't have to come home) of Marie Callender's just-add-water cornbread mix. Yes, I am that lazy. It tastes great and they won't care (or probably know) it's not from scratch. And it's a lot less work and less messy than "real" cornbread (no eggshells, etc.) and tastes just as good! Plus it's shelf-stable too, I keep it as part of my food storage. It's an easy, tasty way to make a complete protein with the beans if you're going vegetarian (though of course it's not vegan.)
Monday, February 2, 2009
Review of Nogales Pie
The Nogales Pie turned out well. :)
Jeff ended up cooking it on Low for 7 hours, then letting it sit on Warm for a few more hours.
It wasn't quite as spicy as I could have had it, but spicy enough my kids would probably have called it spicy. ;) It could definitely have used a bit of sour cream and some avocado (or guacamole) served on top of it for color, texture and "zest." It was good though. Reminded me of a Tex-Mex lasagna. Quite a decent casserole, definitely suitable for a potluck, and I'm sure it will be made again. It didn't really dry out despite sitting on Warm for quite a while. About 2 servings were even left over.
Some comments:
"It was very very good."
"It smells really good!"
"It's a good thing you're already married to your wife, otherwise we'd have a problem..." (I guess because he'd run off with me? LOL.)
"Can she come cook at my house?"
(They really like this having dinner made for them thing, if you can't tell. ;) )
Edited to add: Emma tried it and just asked for seconds! :o This is the child who lately has shunned anything remotely spicy, including chili. She also claims to not like corn or olives. I guess it's really a winner!
Jeff ended up cooking it on Low for 7 hours, then letting it sit on Warm for a few more hours.
It wasn't quite as spicy as I could have had it, but spicy enough my kids would probably have called it spicy. ;) It could definitely have used a bit of sour cream and some avocado (or guacamole) served on top of it for color, texture and "zest." It was good though. Reminded me of a Tex-Mex lasagna. Quite a decent casserole, definitely suitable for a potluck, and I'm sure it will be made again. It didn't really dry out despite sitting on Warm for quite a while. About 2 servings were even left over.
Some comments:
"It was very very good."
"It smells really good!"
"It's a good thing you're already married to your wife, otherwise we'd have a problem..." (I guess because he'd run off with me? LOL.)
"Can she come cook at my house?"
(They really like this having dinner made for them thing, if you can't tell. ;) )
Edited to add: Emma tried it and just asked for seconds! :o This is the child who lately has shunned anything remotely spicy, including chili. She also claims to not like corn or olives. I guess it's really a winner!
Monday 2/2: Nogales Pie
I started with this recipe.
I made a few changes:
-used 2+ lbs. of beef
-used a whole (2 cup) package of shredded 2% (aka low-fat) Mexican blend cheese
-used 2 onions
-used 5 cloves garlic
-used 3 Tbsp. chili powder and 2 1/2 Tbsp. cumin; omitted oregano (forgot it...)
-used one can tomato sauce and 1 drained 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes (I forgot to double the amount of sauce I bought; it's not something I keep around)
-used 2 cans Ranch Style beans
-used 2 cans no salt added corn
-used 5 corn tortillas on each layer, and ripped into quarters instead of cutting into sixths
-used 2 4.8 ounce cans of sliced olives
-used 2 4 ounce cans of green chiles
Here's how I did the layers:
Tortillas
Half of beef mixture topped with about 1/3 of cheese
Tortillas
One can of beans, one can of corn, one can of olives
Tortillas
Rest of beef mixture, topped with 1/3 of cheese
Tortillas
Other can of beans, other can of corn, other can of olives, topped with rest of cheese
It just filled up my 6 qt. crockpot. It will cook for 5-7 hours on low.
I think it will be pretty mild; people will probably want to put some hot sauce on it.
The lady who posted the recipe calls it Mexican but it feels Tex-Mex to me (despite the lack of liquid smoke) so that's how I'm classifying it.
I made a few changes:
-used 2+ lbs. of beef
-used a whole (2 cup) package of shredded 2% (aka low-fat) Mexican blend cheese
-used 2 onions
-used 5 cloves garlic
-used 3 Tbsp. chili powder and 2 1/2 Tbsp. cumin; omitted oregano (forgot it...)
-used one can tomato sauce and 1 drained 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes (I forgot to double the amount of sauce I bought; it's not something I keep around)
-used 2 cans Ranch Style beans
-used 2 cans no salt added corn
-used 5 corn tortillas on each layer, and ripped into quarters instead of cutting into sixths
-used 2 4.8 ounce cans of sliced olives
-used 2 4 ounce cans of green chiles
Here's how I did the layers:
Tortillas
Half of beef mixture topped with about 1/3 of cheese
Tortillas
One can of beans, one can of corn, one can of olives
Tortillas
Rest of beef mixture, topped with 1/3 of cheese
Tortillas
Other can of beans, other can of corn, other can of olives, topped with rest of cheese
It just filled up my 6 qt. crockpot. It will cook for 5-7 hours on low.
I think it will be pretty mild; people will probably want to put some hot sauce on it.
The lady who posted the recipe calls it Mexican but it feels Tex-Mex to me (despite the lack of liquid smoke) so that's how I'm classifying it.
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