Beef Stew with Beer and Collards

Continuing my quest for dumping beer into my slow cooker I came across this recipe in The Healthy Slow Cooker cookbook.  I love dark leafy greens but the only way I've ever eaten collard greens is the way my dad made them ...with lots of bacon and sugar (he kind of had to make them that way to get us kids to eat them).  I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty they came out of the slow cooker, and the meat just disintegrated it was so tender.  Make sure you are in the mood for a meaty meal cause this one is!
Give yourself some prep time when planning this for dinner.  Also note that you will need not only the regular cooking time but another hour when you add in the greens. I have to say for the extra time it took to prepare this meal I was a little disappointed it didn't have more depth in the flavor, it still was good but not crazy good.  Though Jeff made the Cheddar Beer Biscuits to go with the stew and whooyeee that made it so much better!

Carbonnade with Collards

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil (approx)
• 2 lbs trimmed stewing beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cups dark beer (little more than one bottle)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp paprika, dissolved in 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 8 cups collard greens, stems removed and chopped

1. In a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium high heat for 30 seconds. Add the beef in batches, stirring till just browned (about 5 minutes). Add more olive oil as necessary. Transfer browned beef to slow cooker. 

2. In the same skillet reduce heat to medium and add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring often, till they start to soften. Stir in garlic, thyme, salt, & pepper and cook 1 minute. Add flour and cook until lightly brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Add beer, chicken stock, and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute scraping up all the yummy brown bits in the bottom of the pan.

3. Pour mixture over beef in slow cooker and mix well. Cover and cook low 8 hours or high 4 hours.

4. Add paprika mixture and stir well. Add chopped collard greens in batches, making sure all gets submerged in the stew. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour more. Discard bay leaves before serving (if you can find them :)

Slow Cooker Cheddar Beer Chicken with Biscuits

This Christmas my mom got me my very own crock-pot and I've had fun throwing random food in there to slow cook for hours. My newest thing is finding new ways to cook with beer. Yes beer! I know it sounds odd since I don't even like to drink beer but somehow the flavor is just wonderful in food.  So seeing this recipe in Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade recipe book I just had to try it, I mean bacon and beer and chicken and cheese?  It had me at bacon.
I recommend using a beer with lots of flavor, none of that light no calorie stuff (I used Bass's Pale Ale which has a nice flavor).
While I had a bottle of beer open I also made some quick Cheddar Beer Biscuits to go with the meal and WOW!!! .... that is all I can say about that. 
Enjoy and Cheers!!

Slow Cooker Cheddar Beer Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion
• 1 lb red potatoes (about 6-8 small potatoes)
• 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Garlic powder, salt, & ground black pepper (or you just have garlic salt then just use that & ground pepper)
• 1 can (10 oz) Campbell's cheddar cheese condensed soup
• 3/4 cup + 1/4 cup beer
• 3/4 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled 

1. In a slow cooker pour in the 1/4 cup beer. Peel and dice the onion and throw in the cooker. Wash and slice in half the red potatoes and dump on top of the onions.

2. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with garlic powder, salt, & pepper. Place in slow cooker on top of the veggies.

3. In a small bowl whisk together the can of soup with the remaining 3/4 cup beer. Blend in the bacon crumbles and pour over the top of the chicken breasts (dont mix it in with the veggies just pour on top, it will cook down by itself)

4. Cover and cook on Low for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours (be sure to not overcook as chicken will dry out).  Spoon lots of the juice over the chicken when you serve it and sop it up with the Cheddar Beer Biscuits (recipe below).

Cheddar Beer Biscuits

(makes 8 large biscuits)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 2/3 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 cup beer
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (not packed)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut the shortening in with a pastry blender or a butter knife until the mixture is well blended and crumbly.

3. With a spoon mix in the sugar, beer, and cheese until just blended.  Drop large spoonfuls on an ungreased baking sheet and bake 14-16 minutes, till the bottom is light brown.

Here kitty kitty ...

Ok so here is the real reason I have not posted since the beginning of the New Year..... we got a kitten.  Well a 6 month old kitten but soooooo cute and wonderful and distracting from anything of importance. Even Jeff isn't immune to the kitten's charms :)

Time to start posting again!

My New Years Resolution list for 2011 includes posting more on my Blog. So apparently I suck at that one considering its the end of the month and no posts yet!  I am still cooking and trying new things and even taking pictures but making it from my camera and scrap paper to Posting has been a challenge.
No more excuses Patricia! Time to crack that whip!

Daring Cooks July Challenge: Nut Butters!

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

This month's challenge was something else I had never tried to cook with or make from scratch.  I was really surprised at how simple and easy it was to make your own nut butter and how much flavor it adds to food.
I went with the Chicken with Pecan Cream & Mushrooms adapted from Cooking Light to try it out and was not disappointed.  Even Jeff scarfed it down, though it had lots of the dreaded mushrooms in it, and almost licked the pan clean of the pecan cream.  The only thing that I would change is to get a better food processor to chop the nuts up, we ended up with an almost smooth nut butter but it didn't really drizzle on the pasta like a creamy Alfredo sauce.  Very tasty flavor and something I will definitely experiment with in the future, maybe a walnut cream sauce?

Grandma's Meatballs

I thought the most appropriate recipe to post next in honor of my Grandma would be her famous meatballs.  Every Christmas we would go to her house for a feast of spaghetti & meatballs (with of course the sounds of the Dallas Cowboys game playing in the background). We always looked forward to Grandma's party and it was such a treat to have all our family together again so soon after Thanksgiving.

My mom came to visit a month ago and I talked her into letting me in on the secret to making a really good meatball the old Italian way.  Now you can spice it up anyway you want but the real trick is the eggs/ meat/ bread crumbs ratio.  My mom told me that her grandmother, who was blind when she came to live with them, could tell how many more eggs to add to the meat just by feeling it with her hands and would know if my mom left out an egg.  Instead of trying to learn the feel method I really appreciate this simple recipe for the basic meatball. 

Now the meat can be all ground beef but its more traditional to make some of it pork (for example 3 pounds ground beef plus 1 pound ground pork). I have had it both ways and both taste great so go with what you have (or what is on sale :)

The recipe below is not your usual one so judge how many meatballs you would like to make by how much meat you buy.  I made the above mentioned 4 lbs meat and came out with about 50 golf ball sized meatballs, freezing most of them for later use.  Just make sure you cool completely before sticking them into a freezer bag.

Grandma's Meatballs

3 eggs per pound of meat

2 Tbsp plain bread crumbs per pound of meat

 (so for 4 pounds of meat that would be a dozen eggs and 8 Tbsp breadcrumbs)

Seasoning for 4 lbs of meat (example)

• 1/3 - 1/2 cup Italian seasoning blend (if using a no-salt version add 2 tsp salt)

If you don't have an Italian seasoning blend you can use what I play with below, adjusting to your tastes & mood. Or just add spices till it smells good like I usually do.

• 3 Tbsp Parsley 
• 2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
• 2 Tbsp Basil
• 1 Tbsp Oregano
• 1 Tbsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Place meat in a large bowl and make a well in the center.  Crack open your eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork. Pour eggs into meat well.

2. Add all of your seasonings to the eggs and beat once more. Sprinkle the bread crumbs around the edge on the meat and get your hands ready for some mixing.  Start squishing and folding the meat over the eggs and thoroughly blend together, don't worry if at first it looks too wet, it will come together.

3. Place a heavy frying pan on the stove and fill it to 1/4 in. - 1/2 in. deep with regular oil (canola or vegetable).  Turn heat to medium/medium high and heat oil till you hear a sizzle when a drop of water hits it. Start forming the meat into golf ball sized meatballs and place in frying pan in a clockwise direction being sure to fill as much of the pan with meatballs without letting them touching too much.

4. Leave the meatballs alone for about 2-3 minutes till the bottom looks dark brown.  Using a fork turn each meatball on its side, starting with the first one you dropped in the pan.  Cook that side till brown and then roll the meatball with your fork to sit on any uncooked sides. Keep rolling and watching till all sides are dark brown.  Remove and place on a large cookie sheet to cool. 

**be sure to not let your oil sit on the heat long without meatballs in it, keep the assembly moving**

Don't deny yourself the tasty way to make your spaghetti sauce pop.  Take the meatballs you will be eating and heat them with your sauce on the stove with a low simmer.  The meat will absorb the sauce and flavor it at the same time.  This is also how I thaw my frozen meatballs. 

heaven is a homemade meatball sandwich

Sad News

Last night my Grandma passed away. She was such a beautiful, strong person and the rock of my family.

Words cannot express how much I will miss her.

I love you Grandma.

Meatless Monday - Roasted Garlic Hummus

I love hummus, it makes such a satisfying dip and spread for sandwiches. Its too expensive to buy pre-made all the time so I like to whip up a cheaper version at home. I used to use only chickpeas but I saw someone once make it with great northern beans and have made it that way since.  Jeff also is a fan of the northern beans, it is slightly creamer and sweeter than chickpeas. I omit the Tahini usually used in hummus cause frankly I have a hard time finding it here and it saves me a little extra $$.

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1 (15oz) can of Great Northern Beans
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 bulb garlic
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut top off garlic bulb and drizzle a little olive oil on the cut portion.  Place on baking sheet top side up and roast in oven for 40 minutes.  Cool and the roasted garlic should be able to be easily squeezed from the skin.

2. In a food processor combine the can of beans (drained), olive oil, lemon juice, roasted garlic cloves, salt & pepper. Pulse till smooth.

My delicious lunch veggie wrap: tortilla with hummus spread, grated carrots, onion, spinach, cucumber and sliced tomato.

Yum Yum!

The Daring Cooks May Challenge - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh. 

I finally invited my sister & husband over for a Daring Cooks Challenge recipe and they were in for a treat. I have made enchiladas before but never with my own homemade tortillas and enchilada sauce.
The end result was fabulous, really authentic and totally homemade (even the chicken stock). I got the recipe for homemade tortillas from Mangio da Sola, really easy to follow and great instructional video.  To put it all together I poured some of the green chile sauce in a casserole dish, then placed the tortilla, cover in sauce, monterey jack cheese, grilled chicken, cheese, sauce, another tortilla etc... till I had a stack four tortilla high.  Bake in oven at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

I will definitely be making this again, it was just too delicious! 

I also enjoyed the challenge of actually not getting my enchilada sauce from a can. Tomatillos are something I pass by in the supermarket (this was the first time I have ever even picked one up) so it was great to take a crack at this never used vegetable.

 Making the enchilada sauce was actually pretty easy ... roasting the fresh chilies in our oven was quite the adventure. My birds let me know when they needed to be taken out by their squawking... boy the air in our house was spicy!  It was actually fun to burn something on purpose, this is something I can definitely do! Check out the before and after pictures:

After charring the chilies close in a paper bag till cooled, then scrape skins off with a knife.  I made sure I wore gloves to remove the skins, getting pepper in your eye is something you will always remember and never, hopefully, repeat. Discard the skins and seeds and you are left with flavorful chilies (do not rinse with water).

Green Chile Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1½ pounds Fresh Anaheim chiles (about eight 6 to 8 inch chiles), Charred & skins removed
• 4-6 Tomatillos, stems & outer papery skin removed 
• 4 cups Chicken broth
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons yellow onion, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ tsp Kosher salt (add more to taste)
• ¼ tsp Black Pepper (add more to taste)
• 2 tablespoons Cornstarch (dissolve in 2 tablespoons water, for thickening) 
• Couple dashes of Hot sauce (optional)

1. Place tomatillos in a medium sauce pan with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5-10 minutes till soft. Remove from water and puree in blender till smooth.  

2. Pour puree into saucepan with chicken stock, chopped green chilies, onion, oregano, garlic, salt & pepper. Adjust salt & pepper to your taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add the cornstarch that has been dissolved in water and simmer again for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add hot sauce if you want more heat.

Sweet Zucchini Bread

Kittens have been on my mind lately, I want one so bad but can't!  We have two parakeets who usually spend half their day flying around outside their cage and we don't want to walk in on them acting out an episode of Spartacus (you know, the last episode).  So cute pictures will have to do for now .... of course kittens that look like loaves of bread is especially high on my awwww factor.

Speaking of bread....
I had some leftover zucchini from the veggie lasagna and I couldn't help but think of my mom's Zucchini Bread we used to love growing up. I was too impatient to get her recipe (I want it NOW) so I found a really good one on Allrecipes.com.
Wow this was a good recipe, very moist and the crust was almost like a crumbly pie crust.  The smell of cinnamon in the house had Jeff climbing the walls, he couldn't wait till it was done.  I highly recommend trying this, its simple, fast, and (kinda) nutritious .... it has zucchini in it so that counts right?  Of course I had to add a 1/4 cup chocolate chips in the food processor with the walnuts.  They were dark chocolate chips....for our health you know  ;)

Zucchini Bread Recipe Link