GARLICKY SAUCED PAN~SEARED CHICKEN

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GARLICKY SAUCED PAN~SEARED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS
♥ 4 T. OLIVE OIL
♥ 1 LARGE PACK OF CHICKEN THIGHS
♥ ½ TSP. SALT
♥ ½ TSP. PEPPER
♥ 2 CUPS SLICED FRESH MUSHROOMS
♥ 1 T. CHILI PEPPER FLAKES
♥ 1½ FISTS OF GARLIC
♥ 2½ CUPS SAUVIGNON BLANC WHITE WINE
♥ ¼ CUP MILK
♥ 2 T. BUTTER
♥ ¼ CUP FRESH CHOPPED PARSLEY
♥ 2 SPRIGS FRESH ROSEMARY

DIRECTIONS
PREHEAT OVEN TO 375°F

HEAT THE OIL IN A DEEP DISH PAN ON YOUR STOVE TOP. (OR LARGE DUTCH OVEN OR CAST IRON POT) CAST IRON WORKS BEST I THINK AND THE DEEPER THE BETTER, YOUR APPLIANCE WILL THANK YOU LATER. SPLASHY GREASE BLAH.

SEASON THE CHICKEN THIGHS WITH SALT AND PEPPER AND PLACE CHICKEN IN THE PAN. SEAR THESE BAD BOYS UP UNTIL GOLDEN AND THE JUICES JUST RUN CLEAR. THEY WILL COOK MORE IN THE SAUCE.

REMOVE THE SEARED CHICKEN FROM THE PAN AND SET ASIDE.

SEPARATE THE GARLIC CLOVES AND PEEL THEM. ADD THE MUSHROOMS, PEPPER FLAKES AND GARLIC CLOVES TO THE CHICKEN PAN AND IT’S LEFTOVER LIQUIDS.

SAUTE UNTIL TENDER AND GOLDEN, BUT MAKE CERTAIN NOT TO BURN THE GARLIC. TILL JUST GOLDEN. GARLIC GOES QUITE BITTER WHEN OVERCOOKED.

ADD THE WINE, MILK, BUTTER AND STIR IN THE PARSLEY.

GENTLY ADD THE CHICKEN BACK TO THE PAN.

ADD THE ROSEMARY SPRIGS AND COVER.

PLACE IN PREHEATED OVEN. BAKE FOR 20-30 MINUTES. TURNING THE CHICKEN OVER HALF WAY THROUGH.

REMOVE FROM OVEN WHEN THE SAUCE STARTS TO REDUCE AND THICKEN UP.

I TRANSFERRED ALL OF THIS TO A HOT FRYING PAN FOR APPEARANCE PURPOSES FOR THIS BLOG BUT YOU CAN CERTAINLY FINISH IT UP IN THE OVEN IF YOU CHOOSE. LESS MESS. HOWEVER IF THE SAUCE IS TOO DRY YOU MAY WANT TO ADD MORE WINE AND LET IT SIMMER A BIT LONGER. THIS WAS DEFINITELY EASIER TO DO ON THE STOVE TOP.

SPOON THE GARLICKY SAUCE OVER THE CHICKEN AND SPRINKLE WITH A LITTLE MORE FRESH PARSLEY AND CHILI PEPPER FLAKES.

SERVED SEARING HOT OVER LINGUINE NOODLES.

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I am needing a large tripod and to get my amazing Canon Rebel T3i camera up and running to do these blog photos now that the “Cooking With Hay” Kitchen is nearing completion!

At the time of making this dish I had cabinets, counters and some lighting in. Oh and the backsplash tile was added but had just been grouted. No appliances, no running water, just a much more appealing place for a food blog photo set.

Regardless, it’s all a vast improvement from the basement temp. kitchen, 2×4 studding and insulation backdrops seen in previous blog photos.

Is ‘garlicky’ even a word ? ? ?

The recipe I was using called for white wine… I have drank wine in the past but by any means, don’t consider myself a wine drinker.

However… GalPal is!

She came to my rescue with some suggestions after I let her know my ingredients and what I was making.

Monkey Bay Sauvigon Blanc from New Zealand was the perfect wine, as this dish was phenomenal. Not too sweet, not to dry. I’m not even going to bother experimenting with other wines.

The bottle… as GalPal mentioned, coordinated nicely with the ingredients needed to make this dish. Thanks for the help Amber!! Guess I should make this for you now hey?!

This pepper tho! Gift from Mother-In-Law and I’ve become quite addicted to it. I use it on my sunny side up eggs in the morning to grilled salmon and everything in between. It’s made just a few hours from my house in Keremeos BC. It’s pepper, onions garlic and herbs and is a great change-up to the regular black pepper or fresh ground peppercorns.

Season the chicken thighs with a little salt and sprinkle of pepper. There is enough flavour coming in the garlic and wine and parsley that not much seasonings are needed on the chicken.

I assure you. This dish packs a savory garlic KA-POW with a mix of fragrant herbs. Absolutely delish my gosh!

My mom is a wonderful cook, and I’ve used many of her recipes to get me into cooking. She got me this gorgeous glazed cast iron KitchenAid dish and this is what I used to pan~sear my chicken thighs. Keeps even heat and kept the splatter in the dish rather than on my stove-top.

I used this dish on the stove top to brown the chicken and saute the mushrooms, chili pepper flakes and the garlic. It also has a lid to cover so this same dish was what I used to baked it up into the perfect saucy chicken while in the oven. From Canadian Tire and I definitely recommend one for your cooking adventures also.

After transferring the chicken, there was a fair amount of liquids, chicken grease and juices, left in the bottom of the pan. I removed most of it and left just a small amount in the bottom to saute the mushrooms and garlic in. Your choice.

Now on the bottom of this dish was a dark golden layer from the chicken juices etc. searing up. Don’t be alarmed… I was thinking to myself… Oh shit, did I ruin this whole thing? Is everything now going to stick and burn?

But the mushrooms and garlic seemed to soften it up and cook together and created such a rich flavourful sauce.

I couldn’t have been more pleased. It is really a good day when things work out for me, haha. I’m sure you’d feel the same. Yay for good cooking. Go me Go. Feel free to do a little booty shakin touchdown dance when things like this happen. It’s all about the simple things in life am I right My Lovelies?! LOL

Adding wine to things like this also acts as a de-glazer for your well cooked pans. Don’t waste that seared liquid. That’s your concentrated flavour right there. Just the same as the bottom of your roaster from your roasts and hams make the best gravies and soup broths.

In this case it’s our deglazer and the base for this sauce. I am not a wino so I will admit that I have always been apprehensive about dishes that are made with wine. If someone made this for me and I ate the whole thing… I don’t think I would have even known it was made with wine. I’m serious! So so so so so so good!

**NOTE: Milk is added for volume. This will help create that thicker fuller sauce to coat the chicken. If you wanted a more concentrated demi-glaze like sauce, you can omit the milk completely. As mentioned in the recipe, you may need to add more wine if you find the sauce to dry when you turn over the chicken half way through cooking.**

Time for the fun! Let’s bring it all together. Gently add the chicken back in once you’ve mixed in the wine, milk, butter and parsley.

Nestle it down in that fragrant garlic bath. Time for these thighs to tantalize.

Cover it with a tight-fitting lid and place it in a preheated oven and bake it up so the sauce can thicken up.

Don’t forget to check it half way through and flip that chicken over. Keep it saucy!

It will look soupy at first. As it continues to cook the sauce will get darker and richer in colour and of course flavour.

Be patient and wait for it. It will look ‘blah’ before it looks ‘ta da’

There it is! TA DA!!!

As mentioned in my recipe, I then transferred my contents of my kitchen aid glazed cast iron dutch oven to a pan for appearance purposes for this blog. LOL

Got to love dirty dishes! LMAO

This pan is worthy of a few photos though. Another splendid purchase from Canadian Tire. I think I’ve gotten every single one of my pans from Canadian Tire over my years. They always have good deals on cookware FYI. Watch the flyers. This is a Heritage Rock Forged Non Stick Pan. It’s got a big capital ‘H’ on the stunning stainless steel handle. My name, being Haley… thus…H-Town bitches…. hahah. Nah my Mommy has one and I used it while at my parents place this spring and of course I fell in love. It having a big ole ‘H’ on it for ‘Cooking With Hay’ is just an added perk. I love this pan so much that I don’t really use any other pans besides The H Rock, this KitchenAid glazed dutch oven or my cast iron dutch oven and griller.

This will be a regular meal cooked in my kitchen. Please give it a try guys! Feedback is always appreciated. As is your SHARES and LIKES on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc…. Sharing is Caring and it would really help expand my page! Love you all! Thanks for your support.

There you have it. Garlicky Sauced Pan~Seared Chicken ♥

♥♥ Thanks for visiting, if you liked this blog please click LIKE below. If you want to follow my blog please scroll to the bottom, click the FOLLOW button and enter in your email address.
Love Haleykins♥♥

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or the “COOKING WITH HAY” tab (top of the page) to see more**

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken ~possibly healthier?

I’ve been staring at a jar of Blue Label PC brand Butter Chicken cooking sauce, that has been sitting on my pantry shelf for a while now. I’ve tried it before, and the flavor is great and it’s supposed to be a lighter, slightly healthier sauce, but I don’t like using store bought sauces, dressings, dips etc. Also, while on the family camping trip last weekend, my brother in law had some given to him so the idea was there. Needless to say, the time has come to try something new, and Butter Chicken it is!

I found a recipe on a website called Half Baked Harvest, and it’s supposed to be a healthier version of Butter Chicken. Is it? I don’t know? I’ve never made it to know if this is less fattening than the norm or not. But i’m going with it. I used fat free greek yogurt and light half and half and as well, lite coconut milk, so mine is even healthier! 🆒

Hubby loves curry, always annoying me with “make some curry stew” or the ever popular, “try making a stew with curry” and on and on and on. I don’t like stew. Almost like soup but… it seems… I don’t know, soggy?! This dish is one that I know we have both enjoyed before and it should please his craving taste buds.

Anyways, I know now, that he is satisfied with his curry cravings, because he told me that I HAVE to mention in here that it was the best ever! He even didn’t mind the extra bit of spice which I will explain later.

I don’t pay him to say these things… but he does have to live with me and he does live by the rule “Happy Wife, Happy Life”. So I leave it at that.

Now let’s get down to the good stuff shall we!

Who doesn’t love yummy warm breads? I do! Especially naan. Look at it up there! Let’s face it. we all like meals like this just so we have something to go with the naan am I right? Now I did BUY the naan, rather than making it, because I’ve discovered that trying one new thing at a time seems to work better than multitasking new things. LOL. Oh I am getting hungry again just typing this out. I am looking forward to leftovers tonight. Ugh, I despise the term leftovers but I always cook enough to have leftovers. I will now go by the term ReHeats when referring to…. well you know, Dinner-ReHeated. 😉

SLOW COOKER BUTTER CHICKEN
Possibly on the healthier side

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt
1 (400ml can) lite coconut milk
1/4 cup light half and half
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 Premade Homemade Garlic Ball, or 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons garam masala
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons curry paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into large bite size cubes
1 small onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons butter
White rice, cooked
Naan bread

DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl combine the yogurt, coconut milk and cream.
Then add in the tomato paste and ginger
Add in the garlic and all your spices and mix it up good.
Spray your slow cooker or crock pot with cooking spray or grease it up with some olive oil.
Next, sprinkle the onions in the bottom.
Then layer the cubed chicken over top the onions.
Pour the yogurt and spice mixture over the chicken, cover the chicken completely with the sauce.
I cooked mine for about 5 hours on high in my slow cooker.
Stirring it about 4 times.
Serve this hot, over fluffy rice and warm naan.
Sprinkle it with a bit of fresh cilantro.

HERE IT IS IN THE WORKS
I just love my camera for this. Now if only I had a few extra hands…

I used chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, obviously, but a friend suggested thighs as they don’t get as dry, however I’m going with the healthier route, and well… that’s what I had in the fridge. 😊 Cut them up into large cubes. Go with fairly large bite size pieces because in a slow cooker, meats will break down as they are tenderizing during the slow cooking process.

This tub of yogurt nearly cost me my life. Don’t doubt for a second that the kitchen is a dangerous place because it is!!! I could not get that damn foil seal off the tub of Greek yogurt. I ended up hacking into it with a butter knife and even that didn’t go through very well. Butter knife slipped off and almost got me the stomach. LOLOLOL It’s a dangerous life as a cook I know, I know. Haha

In a large mixing bowl combine the yogurt, coconut milk and cream,

Then add in the tomato paste and ginger (packaged, I know, but otherwise so much gets wasted in this house as I don’t use ginger that often)


Add in the garlic and all your spices and mix it up good.
**Please take note, the picture above**
See that big pile of dark red spice… Ya that’s Cayenne pepper. .. A whole tablespoon of it and you’ll notice in the recipe above, it should only be 1 teaspoon. My god was it spicy. My lips are still numb. But hubby seemed to not mind. LOL. My gawd!

I used a wisk.

Spray your slow cooker or crock pot with cooking spray or grease it up with some olive oil.
Next, sprinkle the onions in the bottom. Be sure they are fine diced. You shouldn’t have chunks of onion in the end.

Then layer the cubed chicken over top the onions.

Pour the yogurt and spice mixture over the chicken and be sure to cover it completely. Hubby likes it saucy and then you have a reason to eat more naan. 👍😉
I cooked mine for about 5 hours on high. Stirring it about 4 times.
Serve this hot, over fluffy rice and warm naan.
Sprinkle it with a bit of fresh cilantro.
DIG IN 🍴

If you have a good Butter Chicken recipe that you would be willing to share with me please post me a link or put the recipe in the comments. Thanks so much!

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Love Haleykins

Another Greek Chicken Recipe

I found a recipe a few weeks ago while searching the interweb for new ideas. I followed it pretty closely but tweaked it just a bit… more garlic, less oil, etc.
I also added a bit more lemon then required and upon taste testing… too much lemon. So stick with this and you can’t go wrong

GREEK MARINADED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:
1 + 1/4 CUPS PLAIN GREEK YOGURT,FAT FREE
1 T OLIVE OIL
5 CLOVES MINCED GARLIC (or a frozen premade homemade garlic ball 😉)
I LEMON (the juice and as well the zest)
1 T OREGANO
1 T PARSLEY
FRESH CRACKED PEPPER (at your discretion)
12 CHICKEN LEGS and/or CHICKEN THIGHS🍗🍖
DIRECTIONS:
Combine everything, except the chicken, in a bowl.
Place chicken pieces in a large ziplock bag.
Pour the marinade over the chicken. 🍗
Mix the chicken around in the bag for a consistent coating
Seal and chill in the fridge for at least an hour. I did 4 hours 😋 YUM
Preheat oven to 375
Line a large baking dish with parchment like I did or grease the pan
Bake chicken in the pan uncovered for about 1 hour or until slightly crispy and golden brown

We had this along side a super fresh greek salad with light feta cheese and lemon rice pilaf.

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A Very Special Banana Cream Pie with Almond Crust and Chocolate Ganache

He would have been 61 today. May 5th was his birthday and I remember he loved Banana Cream Pie. Today would have been Hubby’s Dad’s birthday. So I wanted to make a special Banana Cream Pie. One that he would have loved. Hubby was touched by this delicious dessert. He said from now on he will carry on the tradition and I will now make him Banana Cream Pie on his Birthday as well.

I found a recipe for a flaky pie crust and I had some sliced almonds left over for salad toppings sooooo, long story short I ground up the almonds in my food processor and then topped up the rest with flour. I think I had just over a half cup of ground almonds. It added a nice flavor to the crust.

Pete’s Banana Cream Pie
with Almond Crust & Chocolate Ganache

The Almond Crust
Ingredients:
2 1/2 C. all purpose flour, plus a bit more for rolling
(I used about 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup of ground almonds)
1 C. butter, almost frozen or very cold in small 1/2 inch cubes
1 t. salt
1 t. sugar
8 T. ice cold water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F
In a food processor mix flour, (ground almonds) salt, & sugar
Add cold butter cubes and pulse about 8 times till it resembles coarse meal with small pieces of butter.
Add the ice cold water by the tablespoon until it starts to stick together. Don ‘t over do it. It should stick together if you squeeze it.
Dump the dough on a clean counter and flatten with the palm of your hand
Seperate in half and form to flat discs
wrap each disc in plastic wrap and chill for an hour
Remove discs from the fridge and let soften for about 10 minutes
Roll out dics on a lightly floured surface
Should be about 12 inches wide and about 1/8 inch thick
Place dough in a pie plate and pierce with a fork all over.
Freeze the pie crust before baking for about an hour, otherwise your crust will melt and slip down the sides
Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown
Let cool

Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients:
1 225 gram box Baker’s Semi Sweet Chocolate chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
2/3 C. Light Half & Half

Directions:
Cubed chocolate in a bowl
Heat the cream in a double boiler so it doesn’t scald until it begins to boil
Pour boiling cream over chocolate and mix till smooth
Let stiffen

Filling:
Ingredients:
2 x 135g boxes Jello Banana Cream Pie cooked pudding mix

Directions:
I’m in the middle of reno’s so I had many things to do today so although I wanted to make my own filling, I cheated and used my back up boxed version. Bad Haleykins, spank me!
Follow directions on box. Should be 3 cups of milk per box so 6 cups of milk and pudding mix, bring to a boil while stirring, let cool stirring twice. Let cool for just a bit

3 sliced bananas
whipping cream

Now the assembly
I should say this makes 2 x 9 inch pies.
After the pie shells cool
pour half the ganache onto the bottom of one pie crust and the remaining half on the other
cover with sliced bananas
Pour half the pudding mix over top of one and the remaining on the other
Chill in the fridge for a few hours
Garnish with whipping cream and chocolate decorations made by yourself by melting a Hershey’s chocolate bar and piping onto wax paper. Let stiffen and lay on a cookie sheet and freeze. Super easy and fun.

Thanks for visiting. 🙂
Haleykins

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GREEK! A meal without Avocado…. Finally! Too much of a good thing as my mom said.

While chatting with my wonderful mother again last night about the Creamy Potato & Cauliflower Soup and Roasted Garlic as well that I had just made, I thought I should ask her about avocado’s. We eat so many avocado’s because they are just sooo tasty and we really enjoy the meals that include this wonderful stuff. Well she said if you were to eat 1 a day you may start to gain weight…. Yikes, we eat more than 1 a day each… sometimes 3! YIKES again! I told her I really like them tho and she responded with… “too much of a good thing”

True!

It’s time to slow down on the avocado’s and so I decided to go Greek for the night!
Here are some new recipies I’ve managed to find and everything tasted really good.

Just some of the things needed for tonights dinner!

LOW FAT GREEK SALAD DRESSING

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fat-free chicken broth

Directions:
Blend all the ingredients and let it sit a couple of hours .

I doubled this recipe to ensure I had enough for everyone for 2 nights.

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GREEK PRAWN & PASTA SALAD

Ingredients:
1 lb of raw prawns (without the shell or tails)
1 tbsp. butter
2 cloves of minced garlic
Salt & pepper
3-4 cups of cooked and cooled pasta (I used rotini noodles)
½ purple onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
½ red pepper, chopped
¼ yellow pepper, chopped
1 cucumber, sliced then quartered
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
I small tub of low fat feta cheese
*feel free to add olives… hubby doesn’t like em….
Low Fat Greek Salad Dressing

Directions:
1. Saute prawns in butter and garlic, season with salt and pepper. Chill in the fridge
2. In a salad bowl add the pasta, feta cheese, onion, peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, prawns and feta cheese. *olives if you choose
3. Gently toss with Low Fat Greek Salad Dressing
4. Garnish with a lemon wedge

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GREEK OVEN BAKED CHICKEN

Ingredients:
4 bone in split chicken breasts (I used chicken legs because I had some in the freezer)
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
3 -4 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced (I used 5 cloves because we love garlic)
3 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions:
1. Mix the olive oil and next 5 ingredients in a 9 X 11 baking dish.
2. Place chicken in the dish, turning them in the marinade a few times. I like to lift the skin and use my hands to spread some of the marinade underneath it. Leave them skin side down in the dish. Cover them and refrigerate overnight.
3. The next day, bake them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Flip and bake an additional 30-40 minutes.
4. turn the broiler on high during the last 5 minutes to brown up the skins.

  

 

In the end I was very pleased!  A very refreshing juicy meal that made the husband quite pleased.  Success!

I would add a little more lemon to the chicken next time and they didn’t make for nearly as long because I used legs instead of breast piecese smaller than they should have been but hey they were what I had leftover in the freezer.

The best part is I have enough left over so I don’t have to make dinner tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!

Creamy Potato & Cauliflower Soup with Roasted Garlic

There was a very good reason for roasting that garlic this afternoon, see previous post.
I was talking with my mom last night and she had made a yummy sounding creamy potato soup. It sounded like a great idea.
She sent me her recipe and with other recipes I found online and my own thoughts, I twisted it!
I made a recipe to suit my tastebuds and to use up more items in my fridge. Those items being chicken stock and… cauliflower!

Here’s the recipe and if you make it, please let me know what you think!

Creamy Potato & Cauliflower Soup with Roasted Garlic

1 ½ fists of roasted garlic
2 cups cooked cauliflower, chopped in (approx) ½ inch chunks (half a head of cauliflower)
1 cup onion, finely diced
2 tbsp. butter
4 cups raw russet potatoes, chopped in even ½ inch cubes (2 large russets)
2 cups water
2 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 cups skim milk
½ cup fat free greek yogurt
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
green onions
cheddar cheese
cooked crumbled bacon

Add butter to soup pot, sauté onions till clear, do not overcook
Add garlic, potatoes, water, and stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender
To the pot, add the cooked cauliflower, milk and greek yogurt, salt & pepper.
Give it all a good mix.
In small batches, puree till smooth and creamy
Pour back into the pot and reheat
You may need to add more milk depending on the consistency, you don’t want it too thick, or maybe you do 🙂

Garnish with more fat free greek yogurt, green onions, cheddar cheese and if you feel sinful, bacon!

I have to say, it tastes soooooo good, I filled a shot glass of it and downed it! Can’t wait for lunch tomorrow!

Filled my backpack with onions and… french bread

I woke up to sunshine in my eyes, shining through the trees in my back yard. It’s been this way the last few mornings. Absolutely beautiful the way the light dances along the walls and over my perfumes. Another nice day.

However I’ve been feeling “blah” lately. Can I use that, non-word? It really is the best word to describe how I feel. I think it’s because I’ve not been out in that sunshine… so this morning I threw my backpack on and pulled out my bike. It was crisp and the air smelled wonderful. There is definitely a different vibe out there now than there was just a few months ago. School kids here school kids there. There’s a kid, there’s another ok you get it. Even the sun looks different than it did before. I appreciated the change.

On my way back through my neighbourhood I stopped at the local market and filled up my backpack with a bunch of….. onions and a loaf of french bread…. Thankfully the bread fit in my bag so I didn’t have to finish my bike ride with a loaf of bread sticking out the top…. Time to fire up the slow cooker.

Upon purchasing my new slow cooker a few weeks ago, I’ve been filling up my book with new recipes to try. A basic, and one in which I’ve only ever tried twice in my life, caught my eye. French Onion Soup.

Now I’m excited to get this going. I’ve recently had two addictions…. onions and red pepper flakes. I’ve been going through onions like a crazy person gone mad. Luckily I wear contact lenses and thus…. no burning or teary eyes! Yes the rumor is true. Also, red pepper flakes…. why can’t they go in every meal? Give me one good reason why they can’t.  Mmmmmm spicy.

FRENCH ONION IN THE SLOW COOKER

Ingredients

3 Cans beef broth (I prefer Swanson)

3 T butter

2 yellow onions

¾ T sugar

1/3 C cooking sherry

1 t salt

Slices of crusty bread (I used french)

Gruyere Cheese (I had swiss in the fridge)

Directions

Turn slow cooker on to high

Add butter

Slice onions into rings and separate the rings from each other with your hands

When butter is melted add in the onion rings

Toss to coat onions evenly in the butter

Add beef broth, sugar, sherry, and salt

Cook on high for about 7-8 hours or low for about 10

It’s done when the onions are translucent and softened.

To Serve

Set your oven to broil

Toast a slice of bread for each person.

Cut the cheese into slices (My swiss was presliced)

Spoon soup into individual oven safe bowls

Cheese goes on the toasted bread

Float each piece of cheese toast in each bowl.   And hope they fit…

Place bowls of soup and cheese toast on a cookie sheet or baking pan for ease and safety

Put em in the oven under the broiler.

Broil for a few minutes until cheese is melty and slightly golden

Serves 4-6

While I had the butter melting in the slow cooker to start the soup, I started in on the next dish.  So incredibly glad I started this one early as I had no idea, nor did I even begin to think about just how long it would take!  OMG.  I made Beef Pot Stickers to go with Soup.  The filling itself is easy to make…. But it took a very long time to assemble each one.

I love gyoza and always order it when we have sushi..  It becomes the usual with our sushi order.  If you don’t know what gyoza are, well they are basically pork dumplings but I guess they can be made various ways.  They are fried on one side and slightly steamed I believe.  Yum Yum Yum  in my Tum Tum.  These are similar, and although I have not yet fried them up for dinner…. I can’t imagine them not being tasty

BEEF POT STICKERS

Ingredients

2 lbs extra lean ground beef

1 egg white

½ a carrot, finely diced

4 green onions, finely chopped

½ yellow onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 red pepper, finely chopped

3T oyster sauce

3T soy sauce

72 wonton wrappers

1 egg yolk, beaten

Directions

In a food processor, combine the beef and egg white and grind to a paste.

Mix in the carrot, green onion, yellow onion, garlic, red pepper and the oyster sauce and soy sauce.

Lay 4 wonton wrappers out on a clean, dry surface, then place 1 Tablespoon beef mixture into the center of each wrapper. Wet all four sides with a pastry brush or your finger, then fold the bottom right-hand corner up the top left-hand corner and seal the edges, being careful to remove all air pockets. Transfer potsticker to a wax paper-lined baking sheet and press down gently to create a flat bottom.

Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Annoying!!!

To freeze: Place baking sheet into the freezer until potstickers are frozen solid. Transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag. When ready to eat, cook the same way as fresh.

To cook: Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a medium-sized skillet. Place potstickers, being careful not to crowd, into the skillet, getting oil on the bottom of each potsticker. Cook until golden brown on the bottom, then add enough water to come 1/3 of the way up the potstickers. Place a lid on top and let the potstickers steam for 2-3 minutes.

When there is just a couple Tablespoons water left in the skillet, remove the lid and allow the water to cook out and the potsticker bottoms to crisp back up. Use a spatula to gently unstick the wrappers from the skillet and serve with Au Jus dipping sauce (heat ingredients in a small saucepan or in the microwave.)

Serve as is or with chili-sauce-spiked soy sauce.

I don’t know how many wonton wrappers I originally had… I didn’t count and I ran out.  So I had to run out to the store.  The new ones seemed to work out quite a bit faster.  Don’t ask me why, but a trip to the grocery store when I had already been cooking for an hour was annoying!

Well I’m about to pull it altogether and serve Hubby his dinner.  Hopefully it all goes as planned. Wish me luck!

I’ll touch back later and add in some pics!

ANOTHER SCHOOL YEAR ~ ANOTHER BAG LUNCH

  
I started this blog a few weeks ago for various reasons but I had no idea it would be used mainly to share yummy recipes with you…  I hope you don’t mind but here’s another… but it’s a gooder too!

The start of the school year reminds me of when I was in school… of course I can remember because it wasn’t THAT long ago geez… My mommy always put a lot of effort into our lunches, more specifically the snack or ‘treat’ part of it.  There was always something yummy and delicious that she had slaved over the night before…  My favorite, and a favorite of a few of my fellow classmates, was her Land O Lakes Glazed Apple Pie Bar recipe.  Like apple pie but better and you can hold it in your hand.  Once completely cooled it was just like candy!  She made these every so often and I’ve loved loved loved them.  If know me, you would know that I didn’t like food that much growing up… well not food just what it tastes like and their textures.  I was a picky eater that’s for sure but she couldn’t go wrong with these.

I made them a few nights ago in honor of the approaching school year.  Perhaps you have young children and would like to knock your kids socks off with these yummy bars in their lunch this year.   Or maybe you think it’s too much sugar… but if you do want to make them the recipe is below 😉

  

GLAZED APPLE PIE BARS

(source: http://www.landolakes.com)

60 min.prep time 1:45 total time

36 bars

Ingredients

Pastry

1 Land O Lakes® All-Natural Egg, separated, reserve egg white

1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup cold Land O Lakes® Butter, cut into chunks

Filling

1 cup crushed corn flakes

8 to 10 medium (8 cups) tart cooking apples, peeled, sliced

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 reserved Land O Lakes® All-Natural Egg white

2 tablespoons sugar

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Beat egg yolk in small bowl. Add 1/2 cup milk; mix well. Set aside.

Combine flour and salt in medium bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in egg yolk mixture with fork until dough forms a ball. Divide dough in half.

Roll out half of dough on lightly floured surface into 15×10-inch rectangle; place onto bottom of ungreased 15x10x1 inch jelly-roll pan. Sprinkle with corn flakes; top with apples.

Combine 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and nutmeg in small bowl. Sprinkle over apples. Roll remaining half of dough into 15 1/2×10 1/2-inch rectangle; place over apples.

Beat reserved egg white with fork until foamy; brush over top crust. Combine remaining cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar in small bowl; sprinkle over crust. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until lightly browned.

Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk for desired glazing consistency in small bowl. Drizzle over warm bars.

  
– If pastry dough does not form a ball easily, add up to 1 tablespoon additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time.

– To easily transfer pastry to jelly-roll pan, fold pastry in half; fold in half again. Place folded corner at center of pan. Unfold pastry carefully.

– Top pastry should be rolled on lightly floured surface slightly larger than bottom pastry to allow pastry to cover filling easily.