Broccoli Chicken Bliss

The mix will reduce while cooking... but not this much.  The photo is shy one large bowl full. :)

Broccoli Chicken Bliss

There’s nothing fancy or original about this.  In fact, if you look on the interweb hard enough you’ll probably find it there under someone else’s name with a far better description.  But this is exactly what   I made for myself today because I ended up at the grocery earlier with an idea for a crock pot dinner but no actual ingredients list.  Doh!!!

It’s delicious in a bowl all by itself or could be eaten with other vegetables or rice.  No matter how you eat it you'll find it's just another example of how crock pot cooking is near idiot proof.  Just grab what you like, toss it in, cook 6-8 hrs, and enjoy later.

Ingredients

1-1/2 to 2 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts or thighs as desired – chopped to bite sized pieces

1 lg onion - chopped

3-4 potatoes (red or white) - diced

3-4 stalks of broccoli – cut in small whole pieces

Garlic cloves – as much as you can stand

2 – 12 oz cans Cream of Broccoli soup

Salt & Pepper – to taste

Preparation

Place soup in bottom of crock pot.  Add chopped chicken pieces and mix to blend with soup.  Add onion, potatoes, broccoli, garlic, salt & pepper to taste.  Cook on low for 8 hrs or high for 6 hrs.  Occasionally mix ingredients to get a good blend overall.

Provides 4-6 servings.   It will be as good the first day as it is on the third (if it lasts that long!).

4 Hrs

French Beast Burgundy

As the title of this blog says, it's all about what, "....strike(s) my fancy".  So one day it might be a photog blog, woodworking, something honestly tech, or (like today), food again.  At the risk of overstating the obvious I'm not one to settle into a rut.  Ever.  So today being my one (currently) day a week off, it's become a good day to cook... or what passes for cooking around here.  To that end, this is what is on the menu: 

Oops!  Looks like a couple of bowls short!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour (or more, depending)
4 lbs boneless beef chuck, cut into bite size cubes
4 tbs. olive oil (or whatever it takes ;)
2 onions, sliced (I used one white, one red)
16 button mushrooms, sliced
1 cup fresh parsley, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced (or whatever makes you happy)
4 bay leaves
2 cups burgundy wine (or your favorite cooking red - Italian Tuscany here)
1 cup beef broth (I use a full can of Campbell's)

Fresh garlic, diced, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1.  Combine flour, salt, and pepper.  Dredge (sounds awful!) the beef cubes in the flour mixture and brown in olive oil in a medium skillet.   

2.  Place beef and all remaining ingredients in crock pot, mix thoroughly to combine.

3.  Cook on LOW for 4-6 or 3 hours on HIGH. 

I always modify a recipe, and today was no exception.  In this one I added a couple of cubed red potatoes and three sliced carrots, so by the time everything was in the crock pot it was FULL!  This will not only be my Easter dinner but should last well into the next week.  With the schedule I'm currently working it's nice to have something ready to go in the refrigerator because time feels pretty limited these days.

Oh... that bottle of Tuscany?  It didn't last long after the recipe was mixed. The food was good too!

Enjoy!

4 Hrs

White Chicken Chili

I've published a Red Chicken Chili recipe in the past... so here's its cousin: White.

Ingredients:

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 2-3#, or breasts if you like them better, chopped into bite size pieces

1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)
2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes (any Italian style is great)
1 (15 oz) can chick peas, or cut green beans, drained
1 16 oz jar medium salsa or picante sauce (flavored is often good)
Fresh garlic, diced, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1.  Cut chicken into bite size pieces, season with salt and black pepper.

2.  Heat vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook and stir chicken until browned.  Transfer to slow cooker, draining excess oil.  Add remaining ingredients.

3.  Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or 4 hours on HIGH. 

I made this again today for the first time in a couple of years.  It's another one of my favorites.  Some of the instructions above are completely optional.  For example, it doesn't make any difference to me if the chicken is browned or not.  I also like garlic so I load up just about all my dishes with lots of it.  The salsa sauce is another variable... I've used mango salsa and others.  The mix today is using a Southwest flavored salsa that's given everything a pretty spicy taste.  They're all good, and the variability from one to another makes each batch a little bit different.

4 hrs

Red Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 2-3#

salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
2 (14.5 oz) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes w/ garlic
2 cups chicken stock (broth)
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and washed
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder

Optional extras:

3 medium potatoes, cubed
Fresh garlic, diced, to taste

Preparation:

1.  Cut chicken thighs into bite size pieces, season with salt and black pepper.

2.  Heat vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook and stir chicken until browned and no longer pink in the center, about 8 minutes per side.  Transfer to slow cooker, draining excess oil.  Add remaining ingredients.

3.  Cook on LOW for 8 hours or cook for 4 hours on HIGH. 

After the successful recipe I made last weekend, and the enjoyment of eating it during the week, it was a sure thing I would do something new this weekend.  These really are all pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and tossing in a few extras like potatoes, garlic, carrots, or whatever suits your fancy (and taste buds) only makes it better.  And it really makes the house smell great!  :)

This turned out really well!  Lots of flavor and the jalapeno disappeared into the mix.  So not to worry that it might come out too "hot"... It won't.  This is another one I'll repeat.

Enjoy!

4 Hrs

Slow Cooked Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 2-3#

1/3 cup water

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of mushroom soup

salt and pepper, to taste
3 medium potatoes, cubed
2 medium onions, cubed
Fresh garlic, diced, to taste
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) kernel corn, drained
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

Preparation:

Cut chicken thighs into bite size pieces.  Mix mushroom soup with water in slow cooker.  Add chicken pieces, salt and pepper.  Cook for 1 hour on HIGH, then add all other ingredients and cook on LOW for 8 hours or cook for 4 hours on HIGH.  Serve hot with crackers.

Serves 3 to 6... or 1 for 3-5 days.

It’s been a long time between crockpot uses... never quite understand why I wait so long.  But it was finally time once again, so I got the ingredients above and made a pot of goodness to enjoy today and into the new week.  The house smells great and of course it's delicious!

Cooking with Photoshop

I think this weekend it will be time to do another crockpot recipe. It's been a while. Until then I'll just have to enjoy this... and all those Christmas chocolates that still haunt me in the refrigerator.

(It was so much nicer in the old days when contractors and consultants dropped off bottles of Jack Daniels over the holidays...:)

4 Hrs

Chicken with Grapes

Ingredients:

4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon dry sherry or white wine

8 to 12 ounces fresh mushrooms sliced

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

1 cup green seedless grapes

Preparation:

Place chicken, butter, lemon juice, sherry, mushrooms, and salt and pepper in the slow cooker/Crock Pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and grapes during the last 45 minutes. (May be cooked on high 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours, adding grapes the last 20 minutes. Serve over rice.

Serves 4 to 6... or 1 for 3-5 days.

It’s been a few weeks since the crockpot has been fired up, so last night it was time.  And while this wasn’t eaten over rice it was still excellent in a serving of steamed broccoli.

6-8 Hrs

The pot ‘o gold at the end of the rainbow after a day of overdue yardwork:

  

Beer & Beef Stew

2 1/2 pounds lean beef stew meat, cut in 1-inch cubes

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 carrots, cut in 1-inch slices

2 ribs celery, cut in 1/2-inch slices

2 medium potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes

1 cup beer

1 cup beef broth, or use all beer

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons melted butter

1/3 cup flour

Place all ingredients, except butter and flour in the Crock Pot; mix well. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Mix melted butter with flour; add to the stew. Taste and adjust seasonings. Turn to high and cook until thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serves 6 (or 1 for the better part of a week!).