Mary, remember our trip to New York like 12 years ago? "Would you like some plastic chicken?"
Tiff, today I learned something about chicken in the crockpot. The hard way. Well, sort of. It was still good, and edible, just...dry instead of juicy...and didn't absorb the flavors I wanted it to.
I've done chicken in the crockpot many many times, and never had an issue. But apparently, white meat with little fat (such as the boneless, skinless chicken breasts I was cooking with) won't hold its juice when you cook it that long. Next time, I need to either a) do the same recipe but in the oven, b) sear the chicken first to seal in the juices, or c) drown it in liquid. or d) use dark meat.
This is for those of you who think my food always tastes great- it doesn't. Its just that I don't usually share it until I get it right :P. But looks like my family will be my guinea pigs! (with my mom's expertise to help me troubleshoot why certain recipes don't turn out how they should :) )
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
What happened to the 5x5x5 challenge?
Dear Tiffany,
(And anyone else reading this)
In case you were wondering what happened to the 5x5x5 challenge, here it is: I moved twice in two months. That's a lot of work! And now I'm living at home, where I am not the boss of the kitchen or the meal plan, nor do I need to cook every night (because there are 4 adults living here to split the cooking duties, yay!) Will I still be food-blogging? Yes. And once I'm settled in, I'll try to get up at least 2-3 posts per week, but they might be scarce until I finish unpacking. So this challenge will be more like a 5x3x8 challenge (if I get 3 in per week). But 5x5x5 was so much cooler...now I think it needs a new name. Any suggestions?
Talk to you soon!
love,
Joy
(And anyone else reading this)
In case you were wondering what happened to the 5x5x5 challenge, here it is: I moved twice in two months. That's a lot of work! And now I'm living at home, where I am not the boss of the kitchen or the meal plan, nor do I need to cook every night (because there are 4 adults living here to split the cooking duties, yay!) Will I still be food-blogging? Yes. And once I'm settled in, I'll try to get up at least 2-3 posts per week, but they might be scarce until I finish unpacking. So this challenge will be more like a 5x3x8 challenge (if I get 3 in per week). But 5x5x5 was so much cooler...now I think it needs a new name. Any suggestions?
Talk to you soon!
love,
Joy
Friday, August 5, 2011
#25: Slow-Cooker Scalloped Potatoes
Dear Tiffany,
I used to have another recipe for scalloped potatoes that I always used, and it was bookmarked on my old laptop...which is no longer working. Since I couldn't find the other one, I decided to come up with a (sort of) new one! This is partway adapted from this recipe, but I changed some things around- had some ingredients I wanted to use.
This recipe is easy to double.
The Basics:
Prep time: About 20 minutes, then in the crockpot all day.
Good for leftovers: yes!
cost: About $5-$10
servings: 10
The ingredients:
4-5 cups potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 -1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
1/2 cup buttermilk (or even a little more if you need to finish off the container).
Grease your crockpot with butter, oil, or nonstick spray. This recipe will work in a 4 quart slow cooker, or doubled in a 5-6 quart cooker.
Place about 1/2 the potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker. Cover them with half the onion slices, half the flour, half the salt and pepper, half the basil. Cut half the butter into chunks and scatter them over the top, and then spoon about a fourth of the mushroom soup over the top. Add the rest of the potatoes, and repeat with the rest of the onion, salt and pepper, flour, basil, and butter. Spoon the rest of the mushroom soup over the top, and then pour the buttermilk all over. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. About 30 minutes before serving, you can sprinkle some cheese of your choice over the top if you so desire.
Serve and enjoy- but careful! It will be hot!
I forgot to take pictures again...but maybe there will be a good one from dinner last night. If so, I'll add it here later.
-Joy
I used to have another recipe for scalloped potatoes that I always used, and it was bookmarked on my old laptop...which is no longer working. Since I couldn't find the other one, I decided to come up with a (sort of) new one! This is partway adapted from this recipe, but I changed some things around- had some ingredients I wanted to use.
This recipe is easy to double.
The Basics:
Prep time: About 20 minutes, then in the crockpot all day.
Good for leftovers: yes!
cost: About $5-$10
servings: 10
The ingredients:
4-5 cups potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 -1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
1/2 cup buttermilk (or even a little more if you need to finish off the container).
Grease your crockpot with butter, oil, or nonstick spray. This recipe will work in a 4 quart slow cooker, or doubled in a 5-6 quart cooker.
Place about 1/2 the potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker. Cover them with half the onion slices, half the flour, half the salt and pepper, half the basil. Cut half the butter into chunks and scatter them over the top, and then spoon about a fourth of the mushroom soup over the top. Add the rest of the potatoes, and repeat with the rest of the onion, salt and pepper, flour, basil, and butter. Spoon the rest of the mushroom soup over the top, and then pour the buttermilk all over. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. About 30 minutes before serving, you can sprinkle some cheese of your choice over the top if you so desire.
Serve and enjoy- but careful! It will be hot!
I forgot to take pictures again...but maybe there will be a good one from dinner last night. If so, I'll add it here later.
-Joy
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Basil Cornbread!
My last cornbread post was a little confusing, so this one is specific to my "famous" (anita's words) basil cornbread.
This may in fact be the best cornbread you've ever tasted. Don't get intimidated by the recipe, its actually pretty easy. And honestly, if you need to work off stress, stirring stuff is the best.
You can bake this in a 10 inch round cake pan, 9 by 13-inch baking pan or a 12-inch square pan. OR, you can do what I do, and split it into 2 8-inch square pans or 9 inch pie pans, and it will go further. Below you'll see differences between the two options.
The Basics:
Prep time: About 30 minutes + 30 to bake
Good for leftovers: yes!
cost: about $10-$15
servings: 10-20 (depending on the size pan you use)
The ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
6-8 tbsp butter, divided
1-2 cups diced onions
8 ounce log of goat cheese- let it sit out so its nice and soft.
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
3 eggs
3/4-1 cup finely chopped fresh basil.
The Process:
Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet, and start it heating on the stove. Chop your onions and add them to the skillet. Continue to let them cook while you do the rest of the prep, stirring occasionally. (Use 2 onions if you like them a lot or if you are splitting this recipe into 2 pans).
Let the onions cook. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set to the side, and stir your onions.
Turn on the oven to 350 degrees F.
Put your goat cheese in a large mixing bowl. If the cheese is not yet soft, microwave it for about 30 seconds. Whisk your cheese until fluffy. Then add the eggs one at a time, whisking the mixture and scraping the sides of the bowl after adding each egg. Put 2 tbsp butter in a small, microwaveable bowl and microwave for 1 minute to melt. Add melted butter, honey, sugar, and buttermilk to the egg mixture and stir until well blended. Stir your onions.
Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the wets and mix well, then continue to add 1/3 at a time and mix until everything is wet. A little lumpy at this point is ok.
Remove onions from heat, salt and stir and set them to the side. They should be well caramelized by now.
Place 2 tbsp butter in your baking pan and place it in the oven. If you are using 2 pans, each pan should have 2 tbsp butter.
Wash and chop your basil. Try to get basil as small as possible. Mix basil into your batter.
With good oven mitts, remove your pan(s) from the oven, and swirl the now melted butter around in the pans to cover the bottom. Don't splash yourself!
Pour batter into the hot, buttered pan(s). Sprinkle caramelized onions over the top, place the pan(s) back in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. While mine was baking, I prepared my meat for the day and cleaned the kitchen :).
Remove from the oven and let stand for at least 15 minutes before cutting to serve.
Enjoy!
-joy
(This was inspired by/adapted from a recipe I found at smittenkitchen.com.)
This may in fact be the best cornbread you've ever tasted. Don't get intimidated by the recipe, its actually pretty easy. And honestly, if you need to work off stress, stirring stuff is the best.
You can bake this in a 10 inch round cake pan, 9 by 13-inch baking pan or a 12-inch square pan. OR, you can do what I do, and split it into 2 8-inch square pans or 9 inch pie pans, and it will go further. Below you'll see differences between the two options.
The Basics:
Prep time: About 30 minutes + 30 to bake
Good for leftovers: yes!
cost: about $10-$15
servings: 10-20 (depending on the size pan you use)
The ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
6-8 tbsp butter, divided
1-2 cups diced onions
8 ounce log of goat cheese- let it sit out so its nice and soft.
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
3 eggs
3/4-1 cup finely chopped fresh basil.
The Process:
Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet, and start it heating on the stove. Chop your onions and add them to the skillet. Continue to let them cook while you do the rest of the prep, stirring occasionally. (Use 2 onions if you like them a lot or if you are splitting this recipe into 2 pans).
Let the onions cook. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set to the side, and stir your onions.
Turn on the oven to 350 degrees F.
Put your goat cheese in a large mixing bowl. If the cheese is not yet soft, microwave it for about 30 seconds. Whisk your cheese until fluffy. Then add the eggs one at a time, whisking the mixture and scraping the sides of the bowl after adding each egg. Put 2 tbsp butter in a small, microwaveable bowl and microwave for 1 minute to melt. Add melted butter, honey, sugar, and buttermilk to the egg mixture and stir until well blended. Stir your onions.
Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the wets and mix well, then continue to add 1/3 at a time and mix until everything is wet. A little lumpy at this point is ok.
Remove onions from heat, salt and stir and set them to the side. They should be well caramelized by now.
Place 2 tbsp butter in your baking pan and place it in the oven. If you are using 2 pans, each pan should have 2 tbsp butter.
Wash and chop your basil. Try to get basil as small as possible. Mix basil into your batter.
With good oven mitts, remove your pan(s) from the oven, and swirl the now melted butter around in the pans to cover the bottom. Don't splash yourself!
Pour batter into the hot, buttered pan(s). Sprinkle caramelized onions over the top, place the pan(s) back in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. While mine was baking, I prepared my meat for the day and cleaned the kitchen :).
Remove from the oven and let stand for at least 15 minutes before cutting to serve.
Enjoy!
-joy
(This was inspired by/adapted from a recipe I found at smittenkitchen.com.)
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