Sweet and Tangy Braised Chuck Roast

Kelly's first rule of living in your own place: buy a Crock Pot!! I did not understand the wonders of the Crock Pot until Mom bought us one not long after we moved in together. At first, my reaction was, What is this newfangled contraption? But now, it is my best friend. There is nothing better than throwing a bunch of crap in a Crock Pot, letting it cook all day, and having dinner ready when you get home. Now that's what I call service!

I found this recipe while flipping through a Good Housekeeping magazine at Craig's grandparent's house. I've made it before (pre-blogging days) so this is a repeat offender!

INGREDIENTS:

-6 2-inch gingersnaps (crumbled)

-2 cups baby carrots

-2 stalks celery, chopped

-1 cup dry red wine

-2 tbsp red wine vinegar

-1/4 cup raisins

-Salt and pepper

-1 boneless beef chuck roas (2 lbs)

DIRECTIONS:

-Combine gingersnaps, carrots, celery, wine, vinegar, raisins, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper in the slow cooker.

-Put roast on top of this veggie layer.

-Cook on low 8-10 hours, or high 6-6.5 hours.

COMMENTS:

-By the time you eat it, the liquid in this one is soooo good. It basically ends up like a stew, because the meat cooks so good that it falls apart. (I know it looks whole in the photo above, but as soon as we stuck a fork in it, it was in pieces.) We used a zinfandel wine that Craig made (yes, he has upgraded to wine making!), and you could taste the flavor in the liquid. Yummyyyy.

-I suggest cutting the fat off the roast before cooking. I forgot to do this and we ended up having to pick it out of the food as we ate. No big deal, just a convenience thing.

-I didn't add the raisins. Not a big raisin fan. But feel free to add them if you dare. :)

Chicken Lasagna

Tonight I delved into my lil box o' recipes that was compiled by all the guests at my bridal shower. It was fun looking through all the suggestions from everybody! I actually have no idea who submitted this one, because there was no name on it. So thank you, bridal shower guest, for this creation.

When I saw the title of the recipe, I thought this would be like traditional lasagna, but with chicken instead of beef. It wasn't until I was getting the ingredients at the store that I realized...it doesn't call for tomato sauce. Eh? I was skeptical after that, but it actually came out great. Read on!

INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 cup margarine

-1/2 cup flour

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp basil

-3 cups chicken broth

-1 egg slightly beaten

-1/2 lb cooked and drained lasagna noodles (9 noodles=3 layers)

-1/2 lb sliced mozzarella

-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

-2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken

-2 cups cottage cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-First, obviously, make sure you've cooked your chicken and lasagna noodles.

-Preheat your oven to 375. In the meantime, melt margarine in a large saucepan. Blend in flour, salt, and basil. Stir in the chicken broth and cook until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Add the chicken.

-Separately mix the cottage cheese with the beaten egg.

-Place 1/3 of the chicken mixture in a 9x13 baking pan. Now a row of noodles. Next, top it with half of the cottage cheese and half of the mozzarella. Then add another layer of noodles. Top that with the rest of the cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese, as well as another 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Next another layer of noodles. Then top it with the rest of the chicken mixture and the parmesan cheese.

-Bake in the oven for 30 minutes covered, 15 minutes uncovered. Eat!

COMMENTS:

-This is really good "comfort food". The chicken mixture is really a gravy-like sauce, but paired with the mozzarella cheese in the noodles (I strongly suggest cutting slices off a hunk of mozzarella, don't use shredded stuff...it's much more gooey and yummy), delicious.

-I substituted ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese. Hey, I'm Italian, my momma done taught me good. Something about cottage cheese in a lasagna just doesn't sit right with me.

-This is my first ever lasagna! Way to go ME!! :)

Campbell's Creamy Dijon Chicken with Rice

This handy little recipe is from allrecipes.com, which I love. I love it mostly because they have an "ingredient search", where you can just plug in an ingredient you want to use, and they tell you all the different things you can make with it. This is ideal for me, because I consistently will come across things in our cabinets that I intended to use in a meal weeks ago, but forgot. Instead of trying to remember what I wanted to use it for, I just find new ideas on allrecipes. Tonight's recipe is courtesy of my need to get rid of a can of Cream of Celery soup.

INGREDIENTS:

-1 tbsp EVOO

-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

-1 (10.75 oz) can of Cream of Celery soup (of course Campbell's recommends theirs)

-2/3 cup water

-1 tbsp Dijon-style mustard

-1/8 tsp ground black pepper

-4 cups hot cooked regular long-grain white rice

DIRECTIONS:

-Heat oil in skillet. Add chicken and cook until browned.

-Add soup, water, mustard, and pepper. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until done. Serve with rice.

COMMENTS:

-How's that for easy? 20 minutes or less, this one. Wanna make it easier? Use instant rice, like we did...ha.

-It tasted pretty good. Nothing exceptional, but a good quick meal for a night when you are maybe really tired from work, even more exhausted from the gym, and just want to sit around and watch CNN coverage of the primaries all night. Just as a for-instance. Go Obama!

Devilish Chicken

This is GOOD STUFF. Another from Rachael's 30 Minute Get Real Meals.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 tbsp EVOO

-2 tsp paprika

-1 tsp dry mustard or 1 tbsp spicy mustard

-Salt and pepper

-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

-1 medium onion, thinly sliced

-4 garlic cloves, chopped

-1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, quartered lengthwise and cut into strips

-1 tbsp tomato paste

-1 tsp crushed hot red pepper flakes

-1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth

-a handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
-In a large skillet, heat the EVOO (twice around the pan) over medium-high heat. Mix the paprika and mustard with some salt and pepper and season chicken breasts on both sides. Add the seasoned chicken to the skillet and brown on the first side for 3 minutes, flip, and then sear on the second side, 2 minutes.

-Remove the chicken and reserve on a plate under a foil tent. To the pan, add the onion, garlic, bell pepper, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes. Cook the veggies for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chicken stock to the veggies and bring it to a simmer. Add the reserved chicken back to the pan and cook for 10 minutes more, turning the chicken over every now and then.

-Remove the chicken from heat, serve with the veggies, and sprinkle with the parsley.

COMMENTS:
-Tasty! There was just enough spice in this one without it being too much. And it was very good with the peppers. (We left out onions, as always.)

-Rachael suggests serving with green beans, but we went with regular ol' salad instead.

-Rather than the whole cook 3 minutes, sear 2 minutes, then cook 10 minutes again later, here's a simpler formula for the chicken: cook it halfway through. Set it aside. Cook the veggies for the proper amount of time. Then cook the chicken the rest of the way through in the pan with the veggies. Much easier than Rachael's complicated math! :)

Pork Loin Chops with Sweet and Hot Peppers

Apologies for the long absence! The holidays and all the craziness leading up to it led to a lack of cooking (and an abundance of trips to Subway). But, we're home again from our fun travels, so I'll lay a new recipe on ya. This one's from Rachael's Get Real Meals book, which Ro inspired me to look into.

INGREDIENTS:

-4 center cut pork loin chops, 1 inch thick

-Salt and pepper

-2 tbsp EVOO

-1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced

-1 orange bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced

-4 jarred red hot Italian cherry peppers, sliced

1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock

-2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (a handful)

DIRECTIONS:

-Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Add 1 tbsp of the EVOO to the pan. Add the chops and cook for 5 minutes on each side.

-After the chops have been cooked through, transfer to a platter and cover with foil. Return the pan to heat and add the remaining tbsp of EVOO and the bell peppers. Saute the peppers, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.

-Add the hot cherry peppers and a splash of their brine to the pan, and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine or stock and scrape up the pan drippings. Arrange the peppers over the chops and sprinkle with parsley.

COMMENTS:

-First, I think Rachael is a big liar about her cooking times. I definitely was cooking longer than 10 minutes. In fact, I had a whole phone conversation with Colleen in the time I cooked the pork and the peppers.

-I used raw red Italian peppers, not jarred ones. So instead of only cooking them for a minute, I sauteed them with the rest of the peppers. Still good!

-Silly me only made 2 pork chops, but didn't divide the rest of the recipe. So I had a plethora of peppers/parsley available. (To be specific, I only used 1 yellow pepper, 1 orange, 4 small Italian peppers, and way less than a handful of parsley.) Make sure you use fewer veggies if only making it for 2!

-Overall, reactions were favorable. The spice from the red peppers was really good, I loved it. And Craig mopped his plate clean (though that may have been because I asked him to do dishes after). :)

Grogonzola and Herb Tenderloin Steaks

More Rachael for you to love. :) This is definitely an adaptation though, because Rachael suggests serving with pasta and roasted garlic/grape tomatoes. So very labor intensive, especially because it involved using the oven. Girlfriend does not have that kind of time on her hands. So I just made the steak.

INGREDIENTS:

-About 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped.

-4 beef tendersloin steaks, about 1 1/4 inch thick

-8-10 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced

-A handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

-1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-Season the steaks with salt and pepper, and the chopped garlic. Drizzle lightly on both sides with EVOO. Combine the sage, parsley and Gorgonzola.

-Heat a skillet over high heat. Add the steaks and sear the meat on both sides; 90 seconds per side should do it.

-Top the meat with the Gorgonzola mixture and keep covered on medium heat for another minute or so, until the cheese has started to melt.

COMMENTS:

-We served this with our old friend asparagus. If you're interested in the roasted garlic/grape tomatoes stuff that Rachael served it with, just ask and I can send the info along.

-As with last night's meal, I don't know where Rachael gets her cooking times from. 90 seconds? We were cooking for easily 10-15 minutes for a medium steak. Be prepared for this.

-The sage...is a little strong, to say the least. This was the first time I cooked with fresh sage and Craig told me too late that a little goes a long way. I think Rachael overdid it on this one. Craig had to pick out any sage leaves he could find. But minus the strong sage taste, this was a pretty good recipe. I'll do 3-4 sage leaves next time!!

Balsamic Chicken with Pesto Gravy

I'M BACK! I know, random unexplained absence. Suffice it to say that Thanksgiving and the events thereafter made it quite difficult to focus on my cooking adventures.

That said, I'm back with some good ol' Rachael Ray recipes again this week. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp EVOO

4 small boneless chicken breasts

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup store-bought pesto

DIRECTIONS:

-In a bowl, combine the vinegar, 2 tbsp of the EVOO, and salt/pepper to taste. Add the chicken and turn to coat.

-Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp of the EVOO. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes on each side.

-Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Add the butter to the skillet, and when it has melted, add the flour and cook for a minute or so. Whisk in the chicken stock and cream and bring up to a simmer to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the pesto.

-Pour the pesto gravy over the chicken and serve.

COMMENTs:

-First, I don't know what planet Rachael was on, cooking that chicken for only 10 minutes. We had ours cooking 20 minutes easily. One thing to watch for: the balsamic vinegar burns when its left to cook that long. We had to turn the chicken a lot in order to prevent this.

-Before the pesto is added, the gravy tastes a lot like regular old gravy. (I've never made "regular old gravy" before so I was excited to find this out.) I ended up adding a little more than the 1/4 cup of pesto Rachael suggested. The pesto gravy was really tasty, made it more interesting than normal gravy.

-Rachael suggests serving with an arugula salad; we went low maintenace with some canned corn. Yum!