Southern Feast

I've been making some repeat offenders lately (spaghetti, chili, etc.), but this week I had a hankerin' for some soul food. Monday was a work holiday for me and since my boyfriend had to work, I thought I'd treat him to a Southern feast when he got home. The menu was Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, truffled macaroni and cheese, mustard greens, and cornbread. This is the food I grew up on, so recipes weren't required. However, the one complaint about this meal is that everything takes about the same amount time to cook and I'm just one little girl with 2 hands. You should've heard me screaming "Ow!" while trying to flip the popping steaks while mixing cornbread without letting the preheated oil in the oven ignite into flames. But meals where a lot is going on at once make me feel accomplished when I get to sit down and eat 'em. This one was well worth it and the boyfriend most definitely agreed. In fact, I think he said he was "the luckiest boy in the world for having a girl who could cook stuff like that." I'd have to agree... ;)

BTW, have I mentioned lately how heinous I find those plates? Heinous!

Spicy Shrimp & Pasta Casserole

A One Pot Shot success! Finally! Hooray!

I went back to trusty FoodNetwork.com and found this recipe from Paula Deen. It sounded so strange that I decided I just had to try it, especially since it included a few of the bf's favorite things-- angel hair pasta and salsa. I bet he never thought he'd get those 2 items together and I certainly never thought I'd mix them! It has some Italian, Mexican, and Greek flavors going on, but it works. Trust me. It works. As a general rule, seafood and cheese do not mix. Except in this recipe. I found that it's not cheesy at all, just creamy. A few things I did differently...

-I accidentally ended up with mozzarella instead of Swiss cheese. I don't think it made much difference, but next time I would go for Swiss.
-I used Greek yogurt instead of plain because I like that little tang.
-I used a full box of angel hair because I wanted lots of leftovers. In retrospect, I probably should've upped the liquids a bit more, but it turned out fine anyway.
-I used hot salsa. We like it hot.
-I tossed my shrimp in salt, pepper, cayenne, and red pepper flakes. Again, we like it hot. And the title of the recipe is "spicy" but it only calls for "mild salsa." No ma'am, Ms. Paula. I want some spice!

I served it with a side salad and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

My picture taking skills are terrible, especially when I'm hungry. I snap a pic and dive in. And since I'd decided to send my gluttonous January out with a bang, we topped this meal off with a lazy version of a hot fudge brownie sundae. Little Debbie brownie + chocolate syrup + zap in microwave for 25 seconds + vanilla ice cream + more hot syrup. Mmmmm!

Unsuccessful One Potters

I haven't posted any updates lately because I haven't cooked anything worthy of sharing. As a former food snob, all of my recipes came from Food Network chefs and they were always good. Lately, I've been testing out easy things I find on Pinterest and have been underwhelmed. Then I get annoyed and frustrated and cook something tried and true that I've already posted on here (Mexi Mix, spaghetti, etc.). The latest disappointment was these crock pot chicken and dumplings: http://www.bubblecrumb.com/2010/02/14/crock-pot-chicken-and-dumplings-recipe/

Now as a true GRITS (Girl Raised In The South), I know my dumplin's. These were not my mama's dumplin's and it just made me angry. The onion was overpowering and stunk the house up for days. The biscuits did not cook up in 30 minutes and never got that fluffy, dumplin' texture. They just didn't hit the spot. Thank the baby Jesus for a boyfriend who eats anything or else I'd be really mad. Luckily, they don't go to waste and he's so patient with all my experimenting when he probably secretly wishes I'd just cook the dinners that are both delicious and make me happy!

One thing I did make from Pinterest that was pretty good and easy was this Pizza Pasta Casserole: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pizza-Pasta-Casserole
My one complaint is that the jar of spaghetti sauce I used was a little sweet for my liking. I don't do sugar in my homemade sauce, so I would probably just make my own next time.

I do plan on trying a few things out for the Super Bowl, so hopefully they'll be good enough to post about. Stay tuned and wish me luck!

Crock Pot Adaptaions - Learning from Failure

I had an underwhelming cooking day on Sunday. I wanted to stay in the kitchen so I wouldn't care about the Falcons game (yep, they lost), so I decided to make this s'more cobbler and a variant of this chicken, rice, and broccoli. Well, the s'more cobbler was a'right. It was rich and gooey and needed less melted marshmallows and more graham crackers. The chicken, rice, and broccoli was just a mushy mess.  It was the first I'd ever heard of converted vs. unconverted rice and I tried to speed the process along by cooking it all on high for 3-4 hours instead of on low for 6-8.  I think that's what caused the mushiness. However, my bf eats anything and both are all gone 4 days later. Whew!

My friend Heather has requested I take a stab at converting this recipe here for Great Green Chili to a crockpot recipe. Given the crockpot mushiness, I'm not sure how good at this I'll be, but I've learned a few things from my failures.  Namely, rice needs to be cooked low and slow and undisturbed OR cooked separately and stirred in at the end. I've also learned other little tricks, such as small veggies (mushrooms, green peas, pearl onions, etc.) don't need to cook all day. You just add them in for the last 30-60 minutes. Also, fresh herbs added just before serving add a little freshness to anything!

So, if I were to cook this in the crockpot (and I just might have to try it soon), this is what I would do:

1. Let's combine their steps 1 and 2 for the most part. Put the chicken, chilies, garlic, cumin, jalapeños and hominy* in the crockpot. Mix the gravy mix with the broth and pour on top of everything else.
2. Cook on low for 6 hours or high on 3. I don't think anything will turn to mush here.
*A note on hominy. I don't have much experience with it. If this does turn out mushy or you're scared of the hominy going mushy, add it for the last hour of cooking.
3. You'll notice I left out the cilantro, one of my most favorite flavors. I would add that 1/2 cup of fresh chopped cilantro during the last 30 minutes or so to just keep the flavor extra fresh.
4. Proceed with steps 3-5 and enjoy!

Heather, if you try this in the crockpot, do let us know how it turns out. And if it sucks? Well, I apologize in advance! Thanks for the blog post suggestion!

French Pot Roast - In a Slow Cooker

I've been meaning to post this one for a while, but I got sidetracked with the holidays and an impromptu escape to Key West.  My friend Heather pinned this on Pinterest and I immediately repinned it to my own board.  I left work one day at lunch and threw it all in the crockpot. Definitely couldn't whip up Julia's boeuf bourguignonne in that amount of time, huh? http://recipes.womenshealthmag.com/Recipe/french-pot-roast.aspx

It was good.  Not great.  Just good.  But it was easy and there weren't any leftovers, so it was still a success.  I originally served it with buttered egg noodles and roasted broccoli, but the bf ate it for numerous lunches with some leftover mashed potatoes (which he preferred, I think).

I definitely added more peas and mushrooms and onions than it called for.  It just still tasted like it was missing something to me.  Given that it's from Women's Health magazine, maybe the problem is just that it didn't have enough fattening deliciousness for my tastebuds?

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken

Here is a super easy crock pot recipe for you-- buffalo chicken!  I found this on pinterest.com and was not disappointed. http://mykitchenapron.blogspot.com/2011/07/crock-pot-buffalo-chicken.html I decided to make this at the last minute on a Saturday, so I bought chicken breasts that were not frozen and cooked them on high for about 2-3 hours in the buffalo sauce and ranch mix.

Once they were cooked through, I shredded the chicken and added it back to the crock pot to soak up the juice with a little butter.

We enjoyed it on toasted hoagie rolls with pepper jack cheese and blue cheese dressing.  Tots and celery were a must!  It was VERY messy, but super tasty.

The next night, I made a quesadilla with the chicken and I suspect it would be super yummy on chips as a dip or even on a salad.  It's definitely an easy gameday meal or a quick supper solution if you love buffalo anything like me!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

In case you're thinking of baking for the holidays, it doesn't get much better than Tyler Florence's "My Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies." My brother is a cookie monster and would eat a dozen of these daily if his girlfriend and I would keep them stocked.  I follow the recipe for the most part. Definitely do not skip on the sifting.  That's what gives them their perfect texture. The only thing I do differently is that I do not chop up 8oz. of chocolate.  I find that is not nearly enough!  I typically use 1/2 bag of Ghiradelli Cacao chocolate chips and 1/2 bag of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chips.  If you're making them for kiddos, I suggest using a full bag of milk chocolate chips.  The more chocolate the better, I say.  (I use about 12oz total. Sometimes more if I have it!) I like for my dough to look something like this:

I'm also a big fan of having the proper tools, which makes baking them so much easier!  I love love love my Silpat and fancy cookie sheet, which were gifts from my brother (think he was giving me a hint?  MORE COOKIES)!

Tyler calls for you to make them big.  I like using an ice-cream scoop to make smaller cookies so they last longer.  Yum yum yum!  Merry Christmas!