Beef Stroganoff

I think I may have found the Holy Grail of Beef Stroganoff. Ok, maybe that’s a little over the top but I did find an AMAZING recipe. So amazing that husband took one bite and looked at me with love in his eyes that he reserves for date nights, amazing Christmas gifts, Finlandia vodka and planning a trip to Europe.

Martha Stewart has omitted any perceived past bad attitudes or alleged insider trading with just this recipe. Yes my friends, this recipe is that good. First off, it’s so easy. I have never made a Martha Stewart recipe that was so simple (simple syrup doesn’t count right now). The meat was tender. The veggies were cooked just enough. The sauce came together in a snap and was just the right amount of creamy.

There are a few things to be aware of though. The cornstarch mixture thickens really fast. Keep an eye on it and don’t turn your back. I was stunned at how fast it thickened up. Also, you are going to question whether or not to put Dijon mustard in this. It’s strange, I know, but do it. Two tablespoons is not too much, it’s divine!

I had a bag of spatzel in the pantry and decided to use that instead egg noodles. I will never use egg noodles with Beef Stroganoff again! The spazel was amazing! It cooked up just like any other pasta but it had a certain bulk to it that egg noodles will never have. I bought my spatzel at World Market. Trust me, try it.

Enjoy!

2 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of fat and cut into thin slices (½ in. thick and 3 in. long)

1 onion, chopped
1 pound white mushrooms, quartered
1 ½ tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 T. cornstarch
2 T. water
½ c. sour cream
2 T. Dijon mustard
 
In a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker, toss beef, onion, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the meat is tender, about eight hours on low or six hours on high.

In a small saucepan, whisk the cornstarch with the water. Ladle one cup of cooking liquid from the slow cooker into the sauce pan whisking to combine. Over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil and cook until thickened, about one minute. Stir cornstarch mixture into the beef mixture, and then stir in sour cream and mustard. Serve beef over noodles and sprinkle with fresh dill if desired.

Note from Martha - If you decide to use an oven instead of the slow cooker, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Follow step 1, using a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid instead of the slow cooker. Add 2 cups water, and cover. Transfer to oven; cook until beef is tender, about 2 hours. Proceed to step 2.

Adapted from: http://www.marthastewart.com/336714/beef-stroganoff

Black Bean Soup

In my quest to be a fancy cook I forgot about some of the easy and tasty recipes I have on hand. I’ve started going to Zumba on Tuesday nights with one of my friends and this has prompted me to make Tuesday meals very very simple. Soup and sandwiches just seems like the right fit. I always have frozen left over soup in the freezer and husband and I started making sure we have sandwich supplies on hand at all times.

Some of my soup recipes take lots of time to make and the results are totally worth it. But this recipe is very quick and I usually have all the ingredients on hand so it could easily be a pantry meal if we ever got stuck in the house because of a snowstorm. Most black bean soups require you to simmer for hours but since this one uses salsa most of the flavors have already mingles together.

Even though there are only three ingredients you can easily customize this soup for your tastes. If you don’t like a lot of heat go with a mild salsa. If you like super spicy soup make sure your salsa is hot. I typically use my dad’s salsa and honestly I’m not always sure what the heat index will be until I take my first taste. Husband and I cool things down a little bit by adding some sour cream if it’ too spicy. This soup is also very good served with a side of cheese quesadilla, kind of a twist on the tomato soup with grilled cheese combination.

Enjoy!

I halved the recipe and used dad's Zesty salsa!

1 c. salsa

30oz. black beans
2 c. chicken stock

Heat salsa in a pot over medium high heat until it begins to simmer. Drain and rinse the black beans. Add the beans and chicken stock to the pot. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and using an immersion blender process the soup until smooth.

Ladle into bowls and serve.

Slow Cooker Savory Pot Roast

Low and slow, low and slow. Let that me the mantra for pot roast makers everywhere. 

The cooler temps are making me crave heavier, more comforting foods. Sunday morning I was headed to the grocery store with husband and little one. While we were driving down our street we noticed my dad’s car headed our way. He was on his way home from church (I was naughty and skipped church this week) and he was just stopping by to say hello. We played the small town game of blocking off most of the street while talking to each other with our windows rolled down.

Since we were headed to the store I asked dad if we could pick up anything for dinner. He said he didn’t have a clue what was on the menu for the day so I offered to make dinner. I love Sunday dinner with my parents. Ninety nine times out of a hundred mom’s dinners are out of this world (I still tease her about some rice with orange juice thing she made when I was seven). Little one has a great time riding his car that is kept over there. Husband and I enjoy just relaxing and take in my parent’s company.

Originally I was thinking of making Beef Stroganoff for Sunday dinner. By the time we got home from running errands it was much too late to start that. So instead I checked the recipe for Pot Roast and crossing my fingers put everything in the slow cooker. Instead of the eight to nine hours on high, I went for the four to five hours on low. Definitely not the best move. In my defense, the recipe does say you can cook the roast on high for a shorter period of time. But I will never, ever do that again.

The roast was good. The gravy that is made by the soup, soup mix and natural drippings is deep and flavorful. The roast was done and the edges were turning into that wonderful tender meat that pot roast is known for. The veggies were still hard. Urgh. Mom microwaved the veggies to soften them up but I knew that I should have cooked this much much longer.

This recipe is without a doubt a keeper. It’s quick and easy to put together. It has the charm of the dump and cook reputation slow cooker recipes are known for. It’s comfort food down to the last forkful. Just please promise me that if you ever make this recipe you will give it the full six to eight hours it deserves.

Enjoy!

10 ¾ oz. Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 envelope Onion Soup Mix
6 potatoes, cut in half
6 medium carrots, cut into 2 in pieces
3 lb. pot roast

Stir the mushroom soup, soup mix, potatoes and carrots in a slow cooker. Add the beef. Cover and cook on low for eight to nine hours or until the beef is fork tender.

Adapted from http://www.campbellskitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?recipeId=27270&ref=%2fSearchRecipesResult.aspx%3fq%3dslow%2bcooker%2bsavory%2bpot%2broast%26filter%3d

Slow Cooker Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

This week my book club met at Buffalo Wild Wings. Yup, I belong to a pretty awesome book club. Wings, drinks and two trashy books (we’ve read a wide variety of books this year) mixed in with gossip and lots of laughs. I love my book club girls and I look forward to meeting up with them once a month.

Going to BW3 (that’s what we called it in college) reminded me that it had been a while since I had anything doused in buffalo sauce. The down side of wings and buffalo chicken sandwiches is that they can be loaded with so much fat and sodium that I feel plain icky hours after eating them. I find buffalo sauce too tasty to give up so I needed to find a little bit healthier alternative, and if I could make this alternative at home all the better.

Enter my domestic role model, Martha Stewart. I am not afraid to admit that I think this woman is awesome. I love reading through her recipes and seeing which of her ideas would work for our family. I came across a webpage devoted to Martha’s slow cooker recipes and guess what I found! Buffalo chicken in a slow cooker! This was totally meant to be!

I made a few adjustment s to Martha’s recipe, but very few. I used only chicken breasts since I can find them for a great deal at the store. The tomatoes were home grown and home crushed. I had some hot dog buns in the freezer so we’re being adventurous with our bread choice. This recipe could very easily be doubled to feed a crowd or frozen for a quick meal on a busy night. Add more hot sauce if you want more of a kick!

Enjoy!

1 T. olive oil

2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 ½ in. pieces

1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
¼ c. water
14.5 oz. crushed tomatoes, drained
½ c. hot pepper sauce
3 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. yellow mustard
1 T. unsulfured molasses
8 hamburger buns

Heat oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook, until meat is golden brown, about five minutes. Divide into two batches depending on the size of your skillet. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a slow cooker, leaving as much oil behind as possible.

Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper to the skillet. Cook over medium, until onion is translucent, about six minutes. Add water and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from skillet, five minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to slow cooker.

Add tomatoes, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire, mustard, and molasses to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on high until chicken is very tender, about four hours. Shred chicken and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on buns.

Adapted from http://www.marthastewart.com/335069/slow-cooker-spicy-buffalo-chicken-sandwi?czone=food/comfort-foods-center/comfort-foods-dishes

Curried Chicken with Ginger and Yogurt

Husband spent the first part of this week on a business trip so I was looking for something easy for me to make for dinner. Little one woke me up bright and early yesterday (then again if the sun isn’t up yet it’s not bright) so I needed to find something to do with my morning before we headed out the door. I pulled up my recipes and saw how quick this would be to put together. I lugged out my slow cooker and got to work. Little one toddled around the kitchen babbling as he went. In total, I spent maybe ten minutes of prep time on this.

I didn’t read the reviews for this recipe until after I had it for dinner and I’m very happy I waited. The reviews were far from great. But I don’t think the reviewers took this recipe for what is actually is. The name is Curried Chicken, not Chicken Curry. If you are in the mood for chicken curry this is not for you at all. If you are looking for a chicken dish with a little curry flavor this will work out great.

You can change the flavor of this recipe by adjusting the amount and type of curry powder you use. My curry powder is Archer Farms (Target brand) and it’s mild to medium. I stayed with the two tablespoons the recipe suggested since it was my first time making this recipe. Make adjustments depending on the heat of your curry powder. To spice things up I would possibly add a little crushed red pepper next time.

I suggested that the chicken should be cut into bite sized pieces. This isn’t necessary. I used whole chicken breasts (the recipe called for chicken thighs) and after cooking for eight hours they were very tender and easy to shred. But I think I would have enjoyed small chunks of chicken more.  You could really use any cut of chicken you like, as long as it’s boneless.

Use white rice or brown rice, either would work fine. I’m a fan of Fage yogurt. I have found that it has a great thick consistency and the leftover two ounces from a small container a great treat for little one. The original recipe called for scallions but I like the idea of cilantro better. Cilantro has such a nice clean taste that pairs very nicely with the ginger.

Enjoy!

1/3 c. tomato paste

4 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. curry powder
1 T. ginger, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
¾ c. water
1  onion, chopped
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken 
1 ½ c. rice
½ c. cup plain Greek yogurt
½ c. cilantro, finely chopped
 
Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.

In a slow cooker, whisk together the tomato paste, garlic, curry powder, ginger, cumin, water and onion. Place the chicken on top. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender; low for seven to eight hours or high for three to four hours.

Before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.

While rice is cooking add the yogurt to the chicken and stir to combine. Serve over the rice and sprinkle with cilantro.

Adapted from http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/slow-cooker-curried-chicken-with-ginger-and-yogurt-00000000052369/#

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Our office at work gets a little chilly – all the time! We moved offices this summer from a tiny little dark area above the arts center to a big light filled corner of the building. I plopped myself in the corner of the room (corner of the corner) with my back to large beautiful windows, views of churches and our downtown skyline. The sunshine factor of our location is amazing. I felt my mood and outlook on work change dramatically once I could see the sky from my desk again.

On my right

However, I live in the Midwest and it gets darn cold here. Already I’m chilly throughout the day. I keep a blanket tucked in a desk drawer and I wear lots of layers to work. I’m thinking of investing in wrist warmers this winter. My travel mug keeps my morning tea nice and hot so that helps warm things up.

On my left

Since it’s not just me that gets cold, my coworker, Ms. K, and I dreamed up “Warm Up Wednesdays.” If I do say so myself, this is a genius idea. Each Wednesday someone from the office brings in a slow cooker meal to share. Everyone in the office signs up for a different week. You bring lunch once and receive six others in return! It really does give you something to look forward to each week – free lunch!

I tried a new recipe for Warm Up Wednesday. One of my coworkers is not a fan of beans so that eliminated most of my favorite slow cooker recipes. Also, I didn’t want to bring in anything too adventurous since I had six other people to consider with my meal choice. So I went with one that was comfort food for almost everyone I know. Lasagna! Kraft had a recipe for slow cooker lasagna that would be cooked in four hours. Four hours is the perfect amount of time to bring something to work and have it cooked by lunch. The lasagna was quick to put together (I did it the night before), not too expensive and turned out wonderfully.

Enjoy!

1 lb. ground beef

24 oz. mariana sauce (or 24oz Salsa All'Amatriciana)
1 c. water
15 oz. ricotta (or 24 oz. 4% cottage cheese)
7 oz. mozzarella, shredded and divided
¼ c. parmesan, shredded and, divided
1 egg
2 T.  parsley, chopped
6 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Brown meat in large skillet. Drain and rinse.  Return to skillet and add mariana and water.

In a bowl mix together ricotta, 1 ½ cups mozzarella, two tablespoons parmesan, egg and parsley.

Spoon one cup of the meat sauce into the slow cooker. Top with three noodles, broken to fit, and half of the cheese mixture. Cover with two cups of meat sauce. Top with remaining noodles, broken to fit, and remaining cheese mixture and meat sauce. Cover with lid.

Cook on low for four to six hours or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses and let stand, covered, for ten minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Make Ahead: If your slow cooker has a removable liner, layer ingredients in liner as directed. Refrigerate overnight. Place liner in slow cooker the next day and cook as directed.

 Adapted from http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/slow-cooker-lasagna-114123.aspx?cm_mmc=eml-_-rbe-_-20110929-_-1034&cm_lm=4D7D535C64198320269D1D91F8C91141

Chicken Biryani

I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before, but I find quite a few recipes on kraftfoods.com. I find their recipes to be tasty, easy and affordable. The website is easy to navigate and even has a pretty cool recipe box feature. They will help you plan meals for a week or more and even create a shopping list for you. While I don’t use all the features the website has to offer, I have several friends who swear by them.

I do have some criteria that I use for finding recipes on the website. If Velveeta is mentioned, if the recipe has less than four stars or if it just looks down right unhealthy I don’t use the recipe. But in all honesty a large number of my favorite recipes I found on this website. The website suggests using specific brands (Kraft brands) in the recipes but I don’t always follow their advice. I frequently buy store brand ingredients and they have all worked just fine. I do however advocate using the salad dressing that is recommended. It really really does make a difference. A large number of their recipes do call for salad dressing, just go for the low fat or fat free version and you should be good to go.

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween I wanted to make something new. Indian food sounded fun and I had this recipe waiting to be made. There are loads of spices in here which makes me happy. I really like to know I get my money’s worth out of my spice cabinet. I did cut back the amount of cayenne. I made last night’s dinner with the original ¼ teaspoon of cayenne but even I found that a little hot. I don’t like the heat to overpower the flavor and that just about happened. The turmeric gave the meal a lovely yellow color without having to break into my sacred saffron stash, though saffron would add a little more depth of flavor. I must ponder this!

Enjoy!

1 c. basmati rice, uncooked

1 T. olive oil

½ tsp. cumin seed
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. gingerroot, minced
½ lb. chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 ¾ c. chicken broth
¼ c. Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing
1 tsp. garam masala
½ tsp. ground turmeric
1/8 tsp. cayenne
½ c. Greek yogurt
¼ c. cilantro, minced

Place rice in medium bowl. Add enough cold water to cover rice. Let stand 10 min.

Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add cumin seed and  cook, stirring constantly for  30 seconds. Stir in onions, garlic and ginger. Cook for five minutes, until vegetables are soft and fragrant. Stir in chicken and ground cumin, cook for two minutes.

Drain rice. Add to chicken mixture with all remaining ingredients except yogurt and cilantro. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 22 to 24 minutes. The rice should be tender and the liquid absorbed.

In a small bowl, mix yogurt and cilantro together. Serve biryani topped with cilantro yogurt.

Adapted from http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/chicken-biryani-121836.aspx?cm_mmc=eml-_-rbe-_-20111011-_-1047&cm_lm=4D7D535C64198320269D1D91F8C91141