Drop Dead Cute

Can it

I cannot tell you how much I love this book. I mulled over numerous canning books this last spring and this one gave me the inspiration I was hunting for. I love love love that the recipes aren't for enormous batches of this that or the other. These are things you can start and finish in two hours. Obviously some things take a little longer than others but if you go to the farmers market and come across say, garlic scapes, and you want to try pickling them without buying 20 lbs of them, here's your book. And who would've ever thought to pickle garlic scapes in the first place? Oh, this book.

The lay out is by season and recipes so easy to follow. I love that there's a section at the end on how to have your own canning party and different themes. Fun! Ok well, fun for me and other geeky gals that like to do this kind of thing.

Here are my pickled garlic scapes and dilly beans. BTW the dilly beans have been a huge hit. I basically haven't bought pickles since I made these since we use them everywhere we would use pickles. When using fresh dill I highly recommend using the flowering heads because they provide a more pronounced dill flavor.

On another day I pulled these baby beets and baby rainbow carrots from my garden and turned them into...

Pickled curry baby carrots and pickled beets with allspice and juniper berries. So good!

I've always used the water bath method for all my canning but have started taking more advantage of just refrigerator canning things. Thomas Keller even has a section on this in his Ad Hoc book which has made me think of canning as more of an every/anyday kind of thing when you have leftover produce instead of just once or twice a year. Which to me is very practical but my poor husband thinks my obsession with all things in jars (which has managed to take over the entire top shelf of our fridge mind you) is well, a little obsessive.

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Oh heavenly yummyness! My sweet hubby got up this morning and tended to the boys so I could get a few extra precious moments of sleep. As I was snuggled there in my bed I was thinking to myself it would be nice to make little something extra for breakfast this morning. So I grabbed my phone a scrolled through my Pinterest food board and found this. Perfect! I made my way downstairs and proceeded to whip it up. I however did not have fresh blueberries but frozen nor did I have buttermilk on hand.

Making buttermilk is easy, just mix 1/2 cup of milk and about 1/2 TBS of lemon juice. I let it sit while I was getting out my ingredients and preparing the cake.

I thawed my blueberries gently in the microwave, drained them, laid them on paper towels, dusted with flour. Instead of mixing them in the batter, I spread about 1/3 of the batter in the pan, sprinkled half the blueberries over then gently spread most of the rest of the batter, sprinkled the remaining blueberries and dotted the top with the last of the batter. Sprinked with a bit of sugar and place in the oven. I baked mine in a 9 inch pan for 35 minutes and it turned out perfectly. Big hit with the boys. I love blueberries and lemon together. So summery.

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken

Here is our winner!! 
So you all know I made our favorites at least
twice before picking the winner. 
Just to be sure you know. 
This came from another friend of mine who also 
has four kids. She didn't give it a name so I 
dubbed it Balsamic Chicken.
Sorry for the lame photo - all I had at the
moment was my iphone.

 
 
Balsamic Chicken

1. Rinse 5lb chicken
 
2. Mix
 
2 Tbls dried rosemary
 
2 tsp sea salt/kosher salt
 
3 garlic cloves, crushed
 
1 Tbls ground pepper
 
3.  Rub on and under skin
 
4. Chop 1 red onion or sweet onion. Put in 
cavity and scatter around chicken
 
5. Mix 
 
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
 
1/4 cup red wine
 
Pour over top of chicken and inside
 
 
Marinate a few hours and cook for 1 hour at 
350
 
Or don't marinate and put in crockpot, 
5-6 hours on high or all day on low 
 
When finished or the next day, if feeling 
ambitious, put all leftovers in stock pot 
with onion, carrots, celery, bay leaf, 
pepper, salt, and simmer until chicken 
about to fall apart.  Let cool.  You are 
left with an amazing stock and probably 
enough chicken to pick off the bone for 
a great chicken soup.


After making this several times and 
learning a few tricks to using a slow cooker,
our favorite way of making this is using 
4 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs 
rubbed with
2 tsp powered rosemary
3 tsp kosher salt
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 TBS ground pepper
Place in slow cooker with 
1 sliced red or sweet onion
Sprinkle 3 TBS minute tapioca over 
chicken and onions.
Pour 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar and 
1/3 cup red wine vinegar over chicken & onions.
Cook 8 hours on low. 
Chicken should fall apart nicely and 
tapioca turns liquid into a nice glazey sauce.
Serve over rustic mashed potatoes. Yum!!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

I missed a day. Yes I know. Hubby was working on the computer, installing updates, doing a virus scan, etc. and when I tried getting on the internet yesterday morning it didn't work :-(  I know how to cook, sew, garden and a few various other things but when it comes to computers...it's not my thing. But he got it working now and I'm back with a slow cooker pot roast recipe.

This is one I discovered over the last few months in my hunt for slow cooker recipes and I think I've made it three times...that's how much we like it. However, I will warn you, it's not one of those throw it together in 10 minutes kind of recipe. It requires browning the roast for one which I don't know about you but my whole kitchen, including myself, ends up smelling all smokey by the time I'm done browning anything. But it is well worth it. We all love this meal and I cook just as it says - exactly.

It comes from Cooks Country (the sister show/magazine to Cooks Illustrated). I have an online memberships to both and highly trust their recipes and equipment reviews.

Slow-Cooker Pork Pot Roast

Serves 8

If you cannot find 2 1/2- to 3-pound pork shoulder roasts, you can substitute one 6-pound pork shoulder roast but cooking two smaller ones is better. They cook quicker offering better texture and flavor.

2	(2 1/2- to 3-pound) boneless pork shoulder roasts , netting removed and tied with cooking twine
	Salt and pepper
2	tablespoons  vegetable oil
2	onions , chopped
6	garlic cloves , minced
1	tablespoon  tomato paste
1/2	cup  white wine
3	tablespoons  Minute Tapioca
1	28-ounce can diced tomatoes , drained
2	teaspoons  minced fresh thyme leaves
1	pound  carrots , peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 2-inch pieces
1	pound  parsnips , peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 2-inch pieces
2	teaspoons  white wine vinegar

1. Pat roasts dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown roasts all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.

2. Add onions and additional 2 teaspoons oil to empty skillet and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in wine and simmer, scraping up any browned bits with wooden spoon, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in tapioca, tomatoes, and thyme; transfer to slow cooker.

3. Toss carrots, parsnips, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and remaining oil in bowl until vegetables are well coated. Scatter vegetable mixture over pork. Cover and cook on low until meat is tender, 9 to 10 hours (or cook on high 4 to 5 hours).

4. Transfer roasts to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest 10 minutes. Remove twine from roasts and cut meat into 1/2-inch-thick slices; transfer to serving platter. Using slotted spoon, transfer carrots and parsnips to platter with pork. Stir vinegar into sauce and season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing sauce at table.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Here's another that my guys loved and rightly so, it comes from a friend of mine that has three boys and a hubby to feed. A few things I did a little differently; I don't rinse my green chilis, I saute my onions (if you cook this on high for a few hours vs all day), I use a garlic press, topped the soup with tortilla chips (instead of tortillas), fresh cilantro, avocado, shredded Mexican cheese and a dollop of sour cream. You can also throw in a handful of frozen corn and/or black beans. Boneless skinless chicken thighs would also work well in this.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

• 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 32oz box chicken stock
• 2-14oz cans diced tomatoes
• 4oz can mild chopped green chilis, rinsed and well drained
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• freshly ground pepper to liking
• 10 small corn tortillas cut into strips
• dried cilantro to liking
• juice of half a lime
• optional, sliced avocado and mixed Mexican cheese for topping

 

1. Put onions and garlic in bottom of crock pot.
2. Add Chicken with cumin and pepper.
3. Pour in tomatoes with their liquid and green chilis.
4. Cover and cook on low 6 hours or until internal temp of chicken reaches 160 degrees.
5. Take chicken breasts out of soup and shred using two forks. Return meat to soup.
6. Cook 30 more minutes.
7. Stir in tortillas, cilantro, and lime juice.
8. Top individual bowls with cheese and avocado if desired.
9. Serve with cheese quesadillas.
10. Enjoy!

 

Slow Cooker Ginger Chicken Noodle Soup

I have taken forever in getting these posted. I can blame it on the holidays, the 6 week stretch of no sleep, the near impossibility of getting uninterrupted time or all three. For some reason, in my foggy head this post was daunting because I was stuck on thinking I had to post all the recipes at once in one post complete with awesome photos. Then it just now occurred to me after a friend emailed me asking where the recipes were, why don't I just post one every day for a week and if I don't have a photo it's not the end of the world. I told you my head has been a bit foggy and I tend to have unrealistic expectations of myself - working on that one. So here is the first one and I'll post one everyday this week with the winning one on Friday.

We all really enjoyed this soup. This came from a sweet friend that has four adorable little ones so she knows all about maximizing her time and getting something tasty and healthy on the table quickly. I am posting it exactly how she sent it to me with all her notes.

Slow Cooker Ginger Chicken Noodle Soup

1 pound chicken, thighs skinless, boneless, cut into 1-inch pieces (I have used chicken breasts when I don't have thighs or shredded meat off a whole roasted chicken)

1 tablespoon oil (i use coconut oil)
2 medium carrot(s), cut into thin bite-size sticks

1 leek chopped (optional)
1 box or 3 cans broth (last time I used a little more - depending on how thick you want the soup or how many veggies & noodles you add)
1 cup water
4 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce (I use braggs aminos)
2 1/2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

rice noodles, dried

pea pods, frozen (I used fresh), thawed and halved diagonally - 

bean sprouts (optional)

In a large skillet, cook chicken, half at a time, until browned. Remove with slotted spoon to a 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker (skip this step if you are adding already grilled or roasted chicken) Add carrots, broth, water, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, and pepper. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 to 3 hours. 

If using low-heat setting, turn cooker to high-heat setting. Stir in noodles & pea pods (& other veggies like bean sprouts)

Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes more or until noodles are tender. 

I like to pour it in a bowl and serve with additional soy sauce/liquid aminos if desired.  I like to eat it with fresh sourdough bread & butter.  YUM! :)

Curry Coconut Butternut Squash Soup

I made this a few months ago but thought it was still worthy to share. I don't know about you but we still have snow on the ground so a pot of soup to warm the belly is heartily enjoyed. I gathered 4 butternut squashes from my garden last fall (I know, not a massive harvest but last year was the test year), anyway, I was trying to think of what to make with my precious bunch and was inspired by something I was reading. It mentioned the aroma of curry and coconut and that's all it took...I couldn't wait to get in the kitchen and see what I could come up with.

I started off peeling all the butternut squash and scooping out the seeds - I think I ended up with about 3lbs of squash. Cut them into 2" pieces and scatter them on a baking sheet. Slice up 4 or so good size shallots and scatter over squash. Drizzle melted coconut oil over squash and shallots and toss to coat. Make sure everything is in a single layer and place in a 425 degree oven for 40 minutes or so, tossing after 20 minutes. Roast until the pieces are cooked through and browning around edges. Roasting brings out a wonderful depth of flavor and natural sweetness so don't skip this step!

Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes. Use tongs to place squash and shallots in a blender. Pour in a can of coconut milk, cover and blend till smooth. If it's too thick to blend properly, add a little chicken broth till it can blended completely.

In a saucepan over medium high heat add a teaspoon of sweet curry powder and 1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger and cook for 30 seconds to release the aroma. Pour in the pureed squash and stir to combine. Add chicken broth till you get the consistency you want. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to your taste.

I kept this fairly simple so I could eat it while on our detox diet. But feel free to roast an apple along with the squash or add some heavy cream or a splash of apple cider vinegar or a spoonful of creme fraiche and a sprinkle of toasted coconut. This is a really forgiving soup that will let you play around with some wonderful earthy warm flavors so have fun with it.

Just a few notes: I always use kosher salt in my recipes. Also, whenever anything calls for chicken broth my go to brand is Pacific Natural Foods organic free range chicken broth (I get it at Costco b/c I go through so much and they have the best price). I just don't have time to deal with making broth from scratch anymore (I do have an awesome method for getting really flavorful homemade broth though). Likewise with canned diced tomatoes, I always use Muir Glen. Because broth and tomatoes are the base to so many dishes I don't mess around with other brands. These two are the best I've found flavor wise and offer consistent results with everything I cook.

Banana Crunch Muffins

We've had a mad amount of ripe bananas around here lately so I've been trying new recipes and I'm in love...with banana crunch muffins. Thank you Ina. Thank you so very very much. These are seriously yummy in my book.

I do have to confess I'm partial to just about anything with coconut in it. Been that way since I was a kid. I don't care if it's curry, cookies, ice cream, butternut squash soup, or muffins...if there's coconut in it, I'm a fan.

Anyway, back to the muffins...Obviously the recipe is below but if you so desire, you can find the recipe here on FoodNetwork. It gets 5 stars and 281 ratings. You think maybe they're good?

The only things I did differently were I omitted the nuts, mashed all three of the bananas, and sprinkled the top with cinnamon sugar (I intended to add a little cinnamon in the batter and forgot). My "granola" was actually more of cereal rather than a true granola but it worked. It's a new cereal that I ended up not being that crazy about but I love it in the muffins. Oh, and I used a regular muffin tin and the recipe made 24 muffins. Enjoy!

Banana Crunch Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
• 1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
• 1 cup small-diced walnuts
• 1 cup granola
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

My little guy woke up from his nap prematurely (hence the bed head) and was a little cranky. Yummy muffin to the rescue!

DDCute's Slow Cooker Recipe Challenge

The other day I discovered that now with a newborn and a toddler, my energy is nonexistent by the time 4pm rolls around which is bad news for those wanting dinner around here. I was thinking since I do seem to have a burst of energy in the morning it would be fabulous if I could get dinner going then. (Light bulb goes on!) I need a slow cooker!! I promptly checked the reviews on CooksIllustrated.com and ordered one on Amazon.

It literally just arrived on my doorstep and as I was opening the box I realized I don't have any tried and true recipes for this new dinner lifesaver. Wheels turning...how about a recipe contest!! Oh that sounds like fun. So here I am enlisting all you peeps out there to submit your favorite slow cooker recipe(s) (no more than 2 per person please), I'll cook them up, we'll try them out as a family and vote for our favorite. The winner wins...something. (I'm coming up with this as I'm writing if you couldn't tell). I'll sew up something fabulous and most likely kitchen related and ship it to you. I'll post the recipes to our top three favorite dishes for all to enjoy. Hmm...Submit entries by midnight Sunday, October 24th. Oh yes, email me your recipes to [email protected]. I'm not exactly sure how long it'll take me to post the winner because it totally depends on how many entries I recieve and how long it'll take for me to make all the dishes. I can't imagine it would take more than a couple weeks. I suppose we'll find out how many of you out there use the ever famous crock pot.

So get out your recipes and hit me with your best!

Weekend Pancakes

Happy Friday everyone!!! This is my tried and true pancake recipe. I have dinked around with it for years and will probably continue to because, well, that's just what I do. I love to experiement in the kitchen. My son askes for "cakes" at least once a week and sometimes everyday, thanks to Curious George and this book. So this gives me lots of opportunities for dinking. Since they are a frequent breakfast item I try to make them full of good things.

I was never much a pancake person. I found them to be boring and full of empty calories and more like a dessert than anything after you're finished pouring syrup over them. These are different. I like to eat these about as much as my son does. They do not need syrup. I don't think I've ever served them to my son with syrup. We will often eat them with apple butter though. My all time favorite is Dutch Country Kettles Homemade Apple Butter (no granulated sugar & no corn syrup!!). I can only find this at Whole Foods and buy several jars at a time.

I make these on the smaller size so they're easier for little hands and for grownups to grab and go if you want. I can't tell you how many times my brother grabs a handful and takes off out the door. It's easy to store letovers in a zip lock bag and pop some in the toaster oven the next morning. Almost as good as fresh off the griddle.

Rebecca's Homemade Pancakes

Start off with two bowls; one for dry ingredients (the bigger of the two bowls), the other for wet.

In the "dry bowl" combine:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup unbleached flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon (Penzy's Vietnamese Extra Fancy)

1/2 cup unsalted pecan pieces (optional)

In the "wet bowl" combine:

2 eggs

1 cup greek yogurt (cottage cheese works well too)

1 scant cup milk

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 TBS oil

2 TBS apple butter or apple sauce

2 small/medium bananas, diced small

1/3 apple, peeled, cored, and diced small

(The diced bananas and apples come to just over a cup)

Heat up your griddle - I set my heat to just below medium. Pour wet ingredients into dry and fold to combine. Do not overmix. Batter will be thick (I like thick fluffy pancakes). Pour spoonfuls onto hot buttered griddle and cook a few minutes till edges start to cook and a few bubbles rise to surface. Because the batter is thick I generally cook these at a lower temp and a little longer than regular pancakes. Flip and cook for a couple more minutes till nice and golden. Transfer to plate. I generally don't butter the griddle again (just once in the beginning).

A few notes:

I always use greek yogurt because I like the thicker consistency and it has more protein than regular yogurt. It's completely up to you if you want to use plain or flavored.

On sweetness: The bananas and apples bring a good amount of sweetness. If you use flavored greek yogurt you might want to decrease the sugar a bit. If you plan on using syrup definately decrease sugar by about half.

You can also use honey in place of sugar - I have and do on occasion. I just decrease the wet ingedients a bit. Maybe 3/4 cup of yogurt instead of a full cup or a little less milk.

I also add things like 1/4 cup of chia seeds or 1/4 wheat germ. Chia seeds have bunches of omega-3s and fiber. The chia seeds do gel up and make your batter even thicker so you have to work a little faster.

My hubby prefers blueberries to the bananas and apples. Feel free to add different fruit. I'd probably stick to just over a cups worth.

If you plan on using fruit that's been in the freezer, like let's say frozen blueberries, please know that it will decrease the temperature of your batter. Cook pancakes at even lower temp and longer so they thoroughly cook all the way to those frozen berries and don't burn the outside of your cakes.

You can play with this recipe and make it your own. That's the beauty of it. I hope you enjoy them as much as my boy does!