Black Eyed Pea Soup in the Slowcooker

1 pound dried black eyed peas
1 pound spicy sausage
6 cups chicken broth
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Tabasco sauce

Soak your beans overnight. Drain and pick out the undesirables (broken, discolored beans) in the morning.

Use a 5 to 6 quart slowcooker. Add diced vegetables and beans to slowcooker. Add sliced sausage. Pour in broth, and stir in Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for about 6. Before serving, use a stick blender to smash up about 1 cup of beans. If you don't have a stick blender, scoop out 1 cup of beans, blend them in a traditional blender, and add back to the soup. Don't blend too much---just enough to get the broth thicker and creamy-looking. Add Tabasco sauce to taste.

Review - Wonderful winter recipe. But it's spring time right? Ok, I'll admit it. Even though I'm posting this under Week 12, I really made it weeks ago. I've lost track of what I made when. I'm just proud of myself for keeping up with my resolution and it's almost April. Go me! Back to the soup...Josie called this "black eyes," which in toddler talk came out sounding like "black guys." Jay and I got a nice chuckle out of hearing our 2 year-old say, "I want more black guys." Mature, I know.

Overnight Oatmeal

1/2 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup pearl barley
4 1/2 cups water OR 2 cups apple juice and 2 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried fruit
spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)

The original recipe calls for using a 2-quart slow cooker, but I only have a 6-quart, so I just plopped a smaller casserole dish into the slowcooker. Voila. Smaller slowcooker.

Grease inside of stoneware or casserole dish. Add all ingredients into dish. Stir. Cover and cook overnight for 8 hours. Stir once or twice while cooking. If you have a newborn, like I do, getting up once or twice at night to stir shouldn't be a problem.

Review - I ate WAY too much of this oatmeal! It was so good. I'd never made steel cut oats before. The texture is wonderful. I chose raisins as my dried fruit, because it's all I had on hand, but I'd like to experiment with other fruits (cherries, cranberries, etc.). 

Second Review -  I've made this several times now with different seasonings and dried fruits. My favorite has been dried apricots, with all spice and cinnamon and topped off with a little honey and soy milk.

Jambalaya

1 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp, uncooked
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
8 ounces andouille or kielbasa sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices
3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 bay leaf

In a large skillet cook onion, celery, pepper, and garlic in hot oil until tender. Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, sausage, rice, and seasonings (thyme through bay leaf). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir in shrimp. Return to boiling. Simmer, covered, about 5 minutes until shrimp are opaque and rice is tender.

Review - Fast and easy and everyone liked. It was a tad too spicy for Josie. I think I was a little heavy handed with the red pepper flakes. I love one dish dinners!

Chicken Picatta

I combined two Food Network recipes for this dish: Ina Garten's and Giada De Laurentiis's.

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water
3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate. 

Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner. Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. 

Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

Review - Everyone loved it (toddler included)! My only complaint came from my cookware. Since I was using a non-stick skillet, there were no lovely brown bits to scrape up. This made me sad.

Pork Steaks Braised in White Wine

1 tsp. dried sage leaves, crumbled
1 tsp. dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper
2 center-cut loin pork chops
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup dry white wine

In a small bowl, combine sage, rosemary, garlic, salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Mix into a paste. Press small amounts of mixture firmly onto both sides of each steak and let sit for at least five minutes (I rubbed the marinade on the steaks in the morning and let them sit all day, covered in the fridge).

In a heavy skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil over moderate heat. Place the steaks in the hot oil and butter and brown for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Use tongs to turn the meat. You don't want to pierce the meat with a fork. You will loose the natural juices. Add all but a small portion of wine to the skillet. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the steaks 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness), turning occasionally. When chops are tender, remove from pan to serving platter. Add the remaining wine to the skillet and again deglaze the pan. Pour sauce over chops and serve.

Review - These were really good. The original recipe called for pork chops, but I had pork steaks in the freezer, so that's what I used. The garlic can be increased by a lot. Isn't that true of almost all recipes?

Product Review: We are big garlic lovers in this house. I have to plug my newest kitchen gadget that was a Christmas gift from my dad: the Kuhn-Rikon Epicurian Garlic Press. This thing is amazing! You don't even have to peel the cloves, just pop them in and squeeze. It's a breeze to clean too. It has a lifetime warranty, so you'll never need to buy another garlic press. Ok, my PSA is over.

Chicken Enchilada Chili

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce
2 chopped celery stalks
2 (14.5 oz) cans tomatoes with seasoning
2 (15 oz) cans pinto or kidney beans, undrained (or 1 cup dried pinto beans, soaked overnight)
1 onion, diced (or 1 tablespoon dried, minced onion flakes)
1-2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin

Pour enchilada sauce and canned tomatoes into the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker. Add beans, celery, onion and spices. Stir to combine. Place chicken on top.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until flavors have combined. If you are using dried beans, you may need to cook longer to fully soften the beans. Shred chicken.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

Review - This was good. I'd never purchased canned enchilada sauce before, so I just bought the cheapest (store brand) can I could find. I think the flavor was too mild and didn't have near enough spice. Next time I'll make sure to buy a better brand of enchilada sauce and taste it to make sure it's got enough kick to it.

Chile Verde

4 lbs. chuck roast or pork shoulder/butt
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small onion, diced
10 tomatillos
1 (4-ounce) can diced chilies
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. sage
1 Tbsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Trim fat from roast and place in stoneware. Add diced bell pepper and onion. Finely dice tomatillos or use food processor and pulse. Add chilies and tomatoes to slow cooker. Add garlic and seasonings. Add cilantro to the top of the meat. If your slow cooker releases a lot of steam, place a layer of foil over the top and then cover with the lid. Cook overnight on low, 8-10 hours. Shred with a fork. Let sit on low/warm all day so the meat absorbs the juices. Serve with tortillas, rice, pepper jack cheese, and sour cream.

Review - Really good! Definitely cook over night. You'll wake up to a kitchen that smells wonderful. The meat was very flavorful and was incredibly tender and juicy.

Tamale Pie in the Slow Cooker

Filling
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can corn, drained
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cornbread Topping
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 egg

Use a 4 quart slow cooker. Spray the insides of your stoneware with cooking spray. Dump in the filling ingredients (cheese too) and stir well to distribute the spices. You will not be able to stir this again, so make sure the spices are not clumped together. In a separate bowl, mix the topping ingredients. Pour over the filling and spread batter evenly. Cook on low for 4-7 hours or high for 2-4 hours.

Review - This was good, but the cornbread topping almost doubled the filling. Either cut the cornbread topping in half or double the filling. The consistency of the cornbread was fabulous! It was incredibly moist. Next time I make this I'll add some bell peppers and shredded chicken.