Slow cooking rules

Elle, who is a peach, gave me the fab cookbook, Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes. Because I'm impatient, I had to break it in almost as soon as possible. So, this past weekend, Randy and I supped on slowcooked BBQ beef brisket and twice baked potatoes.

For the beef, you take a 2-3 lb slab of brisket (or English roast,* because that's what ol' Kroger had on hand) and season it with about 1 tsp of chili powder, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of black pepper, and 2 tsp of garlic powder. Place it in the bottom of your slow cooker. In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 c. ketchup, 1/2 c. chili sauce, 2 tbsp Worchestshire sauce, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/2 bottle of beer, 1/4 c brown sugar, and I added some chili flakes, onion powder, and bbq sauce (a splash). Pour the liquid mixture over the beef in the slow cooker - cook on low for 8-10 hours, on High for 5 hours. At which time, you take the meat out and place it on a cutting surface, and take a few cups of the remaining liquid (fat skimmed off to the best of your ability) and place it in a skillet, add a splash of water and a few tbsp of flour, turn the heat to med high, and whisk, allowing the mixture to thicken. Slice the meat thinly and serve with the thickened sauce.

For the potatoes, I take one large baking potato and lighten lube it up with some olive oil and kosher salt. Place uncovered on the rack of a 400 deg. oven for about 35-45 minutes until tender. Meanwhile, mix a splash of cream or milk, a splash of chicken broth (optional), 1 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp sour cream, any any or all of the following to taste: salt/pepper, scallions or sauteed onions, bacon, shredded cheddar/jack or grated parmesan cheese. When the potato is done, slice in half lengthwise and remove the flesh of the potato into the bowl with the cream/cheese/etc. mixture. Mix well. Spoon the potato mixture back into the potato skins. Top with a handful of grated cheese and return to the oven for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.


*From Hormel.com: "Cross-rib Roast - A cross-rib roast contains the meaty portions on the top of ribs 3 through 5. The best results occur when it is pot-roasted. The cross-rib roast is also known by the following names:
Boston Cut
English Cut
Bread and Butter Cut
Shoulder Clod."

Grocery Store Wars

Responding the salvo fired by Elle, Giant Eagle is NOT superior to Kroger. At least not in my neck of the woods. I'll give you that our local Giant Eagles are a bit nicer looking, a bit softer around the edges. But with rare exception, Kroger kicks the ass of GE's prices on almost all products. It has reached the point where GE practically GIVES away "fuelperks"* for shopping there as opposed to shopping at Kroger, Meijer, the dreaded Wal-Mart, or any other grocery store. You'll spend no more than $1.50 on an 8 oz. brick of cheese at Kroger. You'll likely spend no less than $2 on the same brick of store-brand cheese at GE. The same discrepancy with other dairy - sour cream, $1.25 vs. $2.50; milk, $1/half gallon vs. $2. Perhaps it is because GE makes it so much easier to rip them off through the self check-out lines. GE's shrink makes for higher prices.

This is not to say that I love everything about Kroger. 1) They're carts aren't the right size. They have small and large, neither of which suits me. 2) Their produce is not as nice as GE's produce. Or Whole Foods or Fresh Market for sure. 3) The deli folk are mean sometimes. HOWEVER, Kroger has Starbucks, Donato's Pizza, Boston Market, and other external food products available. Making a Donato's classic trio in your own home is something of a dream to me (460 degrees exactly for 17 minutes).

Really, to find the store I love best, one has to travel South...to the glorious land of Harris Teeter. I heart the ol' HT. It has a good layout, good products, and best of all, GREAT giveaways. Shop 10 of the 12 weeks before Thanksgiving and spend $40/week, you get a small turkey, stuffing, 5 lb of potatoes, gravy, a vegetable, and a pie. For free. I can spend $40 twice a week at the store practically. Not turkey season, you say? Shop around Memorial Day and get a minigrill, fabulous grill tools, and an apron. Along with hot dogs, buns, and chips. FREE. Harris Teeter rules. Raise the roof to HT.

But I can't regularly shop at the HT. Which saddens me. Please, HT execs, expand to Ohio. We're a market ripe for the taking. Give us your giveaways. If you build it, we will shop.


*You earn fuelperks at GE for each $ you spend - you get $.10 off a gallon of gas for every 50 fuelperks.

I TOTALLY RULE!

So, I made a kickass dinner last night. Well, mostly kickass. After being greeted at the door with glittery daisies (v. cute), I set about preparing breaded pork cutlets and my new especial fettucine alfredo.

The pork is easy (and would have been tres parfait had I pan fried it better). You just pound out a few boneless pork chops, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, then egg, then in pulverized Ritz cracker crumbs. Pan fry in a bit of olive oil and butter. Drain on paper towels.

The fettucine was what absolutely kicked ass about last night's dinner. In a large skillet, slowly fry 2-3 strips of bacon, rendering as much fat as possible. When the bacon is crisp, remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Prepare 1 lb fettucine (or other long wide pasta) according to the package directions, and reserve 1/4 to 1/2 c. pasta water. Meanwhile, add 2-3 tbsp butter to the bacon fat and allow to melt over med-low heat. Finely chop 1 shallot and add to butter/fat. Cook until translucent. Add 1 1/4 c heavy cream and allow to boil with the butter/shallot mixture for about 4-5 minutes until reasonably thick. Add a pinch of nutmeg* and some black pepper. Add 3/4 c frozen peas and stir. Chop bacon and add to sauce. Add 1 c grated parmesan cheese.** When pasta is done, drain thoroughly. Add a splash of pasta water to slightly thin the sauce. Toss pasta in sauce, and serve, topped with a bit more cheese.

Then you totally slam. This stuff was amazing.


* I must note that when using nutmeg in cream sauces, Rachael Ray would feel compelled to note that this would make guests go "hmmm." Apart from pointing that out, I will refrain from such comments.
** I used a Kraft mix of asiago, parm, and romano.

Crockpot Dreams

So, I love my red Crockpot. It rules. But I rarely use it, because I'm unsure of myself when it comes to crocking. However, Southern Living (subscription usually required) recently ran a series of "Slow Cooker" recipes, including desserts, soup, and the dish I prepared yesterday, Beef with Red Wine Sauce. The house smelled DELICIOUS when I got home. I had to tweak the recipe (of course), but I think it tasted pretty good. As I said to Jules, the poor man's boeuf bourguignon.

To prepare said one-crock wonder, take a 2-3 lb slab of chuck and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place in crock. Roughly chop 1 onion, place in crock. Add 1 8 oz. package of sliced mushrooms, or the equivalent. Place in crock. In a separate bowl, mix 1 package of brown gravy mix, 2-3 tbsp tomato paste, 1 can beef broth, and 1 to 1 1/2 c dry red wine (I got some $5.99/bottle Zin). Pour over meat in crock. I gave it a stir too. I also would suggest adding about a half tsp of beef bouillon, a tbsp of Worcestershire sauce, and a healthy dose of salt and pepper. You can set the Crock on High for 6 hours, or as I did, on Low for about 10-11 hours. Serve over rice or noodles.

I have a fabulous, quasi-romantic meal planned for tonight...but it shall be revealed tomorrow morning....peace out.

Weekend Report

Hola. I speak Spanish because Friday's dinner was TACOS! YEEAH! WOOHOO! Not very exciting culinarily, but they were quite tasty. We roll soft-shell style in the L.C.

Saturday we had our romantic (gag) Valentine's dinner....delicious filet from the Fresh Market accompanied by the wild mushroom risotto with peas mentioned previously. MMM! We actually used some exotic mushrooms - the bulk of the 'shrooms were crimini, but we also used dried porcini, shittake, woodear, chanterelle, and something else...some of the reconstituted mushrooms looked like ears, so I got wigged out, but the rest were quite tasty. Am having leftovers for lunch today as a matter of fact. We also enjoyed the B.C.'s Outrageous Brownies and a delightful zin by Bogle. I love me some Zin.

Yesterday, neither of us felt like making breakfast or lunch so we SLAMMED some $1 menu items from McDonald's. V. heart healthy. For dinner, we made some delish spaghetti and meatballs. Mmm. I HEART the Spicy Tomato & Pesto sauce from Classico. I mixed that with some Sweet Basil Marinara for a delightful sauce.

For the meatballs, I mixed 1 egg, 1/4 c. milk, and about 3/4 c. seasoned bread crumbs in a bowl. I then added 1 lb. of ground chuck with 2 links of hot Italian sausage wrenched from its casing. I finely chopped half an onion and 2 cloves of garlic and added that to the mix. Then some salt, pepper, and a healthy handful of Parmesan cheese was tossed in. The ingredients were mooshed together, rolled into walnut-sized balls (she said balls!) then quickly seared in a bit of olive oil over medium heat, then popped in a 375 deg. oven for about 20 minutes. Then I add in the sauce to incorporate all the lovely fatty meat juices and cook that for a bit before serving over pasta.

A list of delicious things

As a companion to my earlier post on nasty food, here is a list of delicious foods. I've narrowed it to the top 5 delicious snack foods.

1) Cheddar cheese pretzel Combos. For those who live in a cave, they are a tube of pretzel filled with a fake cheesy center. They say the cheese is real, but they lie. Nonetheless, they are v. lovely. And can be purchased in a semi-large bag at the CVS down the block from my work.

2) Cheesy poofs. Particularly the white cheddar kind, for a gourmet treat.

3) Hot bacon dip with bread on which to spread it. See recipe below. Thanks to Mo for introducing me to this (as usual, it has been modified from its original form)

4) Totino's Pizza Rolls. Tiny pockets of nasty meat and sauce. And cheese blobs. Delightful. Who knew they were owned by the Doughboy?

5) Tostito's tortilla chips. Really, the perfect chip. I heart them with bean dips, cheese (or QUESO) dips, and salsa. When I'm not eating them plain, I often use a small bowl of shredded cheese and stack bits of cheese on a chip. People find this odd. People can suck it.

Hot Bacon Dip - really, this dip cannot be praised enough. Start by layering 1 pound of bacon on cooling racks, then place the cooling racks on baking sheets. Bake the bacon in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until crisp. In the meantime, chop half of a medium onion and mince one large clove of garlic and place in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of mayonaise, 1/2 cup of sour cream, and 1/2 to 2/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese. Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of grated cheese (cheddar, cheddar jack, whatever). Mix well. When the bacon is crisp, allow to cool and drain on paper towels, then chop or crumble into the mayo mixture. Carve a bread bowl out of a large round loaf of french, italian, or sourdough bread and pile the dip into said bowl.* Put the bowl's "top" back on. Wrap entire creation in foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes.** Take the foil off and remove the top, and allow to bake until very hot and bubbly. Serve with crackers, bread, anything that will soak up the bacony goodness. Don't toss the bread bowl and top - those are the best parts.
* If you don't want to mess with the bread bowl, place in a medium casserole and reduce the baking time to approximately 30 minutes total.
** If you want to make this ahead, after wrapping the bowl in foil, place in the refrigerator. Add about 10-20 minutes to the initial baking time.

Accusation of Acute Slackery

I've been accused of slacking, so today's food o' choice - mushrooms.

I like mushrooms. I don't have a deep LOOOVE of mushrooms, but they are wonderful flavor accents for many dishes. I've tried many a mushroom, and my favorites are the crimini (see photo left), portabella (in small doses), and porcini (right). The porcini especially go a lot further when mixed with regular old button mushrooms, which absorb a lot of the stronger mushroom's flavor.

You can also get into your more "exotic" mushrooms - that don't even look like mushrooms - morel (brown on the left), oyster (white and funky on the right), or chanterelle (weirdo looking peachy one on the left)

What do I do with mushrooms? A lot. They add a bit of earthiness to your ho-hum chicken noodle soup. They absorb all the lovely juices of a good stir fry (mix garlic, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, olive oil, and some hoisin sauce for a good stir fry sauce). My favorite place to somewhat showcase the mushroom's loveliness is in a mushroom risotto. For a starter recipe, I recommend Giada De Laurentiis (who else?) Mushroom Risotto with Peas. I, however, often use crimini (they are easier to find sometimes), and add in a hefty splash of half'n'half or cream at the end to make it just that much richer and creamier. Risotto is not tricky, you just have to devote the time to stirring and taking things slowly. But it is fabulous. I may have to make some soon. Try red wine as well.

A haiku for the mushroom:

You are so earthy

Fungus of the dirty land

Can you get me high?

Update

Not a whole lot to report here...this has been a dull food week...pork stir fry...burgers with Kraft mac 'n' cheese...of course, the stellar CCC from earlier in the week grows boring after 3 lunches in a row...Am hoping to breathe some new life into the dining experience this weekend. Perhaps a fancy Valentine's dinner? Who knows.

Any romantic suggestions for the last Valentine's Day as a single??

My Ode to Chowdah (of the Cheddar/Corn variety)

For those who were at my shower, or just generally appreciate the goodness of Ina Garten, you will know the delight that is Cheddar Corn Chowder. Here is a modification of said recipe (modified only in proportions, as I do not actually have a pot big enough for her entire recipe):

Swirl some olive oil in the bottom of a large stockpot and heat to medium. Add approx. 8 oz of chopped bacon (more or less depending on taste and fatty cravings). Cook the bacon until crisp, remove from pot and drain on paper towels. Add about 4 cups of chopped onions (2-3 medium onions) and cook until soft and translucent. Add 1/2 tsp tumeric and salt and pepper (I tend to use a lot of pepper to season it up) to taste. Add about 1/4 to 1/3 flour and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in about 9 c chicken stock and allow stock to warm. Add 2 pounds of chopped red skin, yukon, or white boiling potatoes. Allow chowdah to simmer for 20 minutes or so. Add 2 pounds frozen corn kernels (or fresh, if you blanch it first). Allow kernels to warm. Add 1 and 1/2 c half and half and 1/2 to 3/4 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese. Cook until cheese melts and serve with crusty bread in a big ol' bowl. De-freakin'-licious.

Breakfast Biscuit Report

OMG, those thangs were delicious. I cannot wait to taste them tomorrow with the smoked gouda and gruyere cheese (we just used regular ol' cheddar). They were the effing whip. As annoying as I often find Mr. Emeril, that "Essence" spice blend of his (salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder) did something freakin' magical to the eggs. Oh, and I added a dollop of sour cream to the egg base to make them a bit fluffier. I highly recommend.

Breakfast for Dinner Experiment

So, at R's workplace, the staff rotates who brings breakfast for the group each Friday. We have another Friday coming up and R has been researching breakfast options. We've decided to go with homemade cinnamon rolls, a fab standard, and try a variation of Emeril's Scrambled Egg and Ham Breakfast Sandwiches. We're probably subbing bacon for ham and I'm not making the biscuits b/c I'm not waking up at 5 am on Friday to do that, but we're previewing them tonight, so I'll let ya know how it goes.

Pork = Delicious

I love pork. I love that pork is one of the cheaper meats at the store. It IS the other white meat. I love that I can use my panko bread crumbs on pork and make it fabulous. Flatten some boneless pork chops. Dredge lightly in flour. Then in egg. Then in a breading of half panko, half parmesan cheese, with some salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders, and maybe a sprinkling of cayenne. Pan fry in a little oil/butter and you're doing some fancy cooking.

I have a bone to pick with ready-to-cook vegetables. You know, the kind that come already picked/chopped/cleaned/whatever in a little plastic baggie from the produce aisle. More a bone to pick with Kroger, I guess. I bought some on Sunday and they went bad by Monday, which was unfortunately because I was trying to cook the green beans yesterday, and I went to blanch them, and they turned a sickening yellow color. So Randy got treated to corn, me to broccoli. So yet again, I waste $2.99 on prepared vegetables.

Oh, and by the way, a Sam's Club size bag of mini candy bars (wedding-related item) is a bad thing to have in a house of candy lovers. I think R ate 20 of them last night before I could even blink.

Ok, should probably get to committee on time.