Thai Chicken from the Slow Cooking Cookbook

8 chicken thighs (about 2 lbs. skinned)

3/4 C. hot salsa

1/4 C. peanut butter

2 T. lime juice

1 T. soy sauce

1 t. grated fresh gingerroot

1/4 C. chopped peanuts

2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

Place chicken in slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients except peanuts and cilantro; pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 8-9 hours or until juice of chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from  cooker, using slotted spoon; place pieces on serving platter.

Remove fat from sauce. Pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro.

(I used 1/2 C. chili sauce, some onions, green peppers and 1 T. Asian chili sauce for the salsa. Also, I used chicken breasts which got pretty dry.)

I married Will, knowing full well that he had one major flaw (okay, maybe more, but I won’t throw him under the bus too much…slow Wilbur). His flaw: adamant claims, “squash is the most inedible vegetable known to man.”  So I made this recipe, which is now one of our favorites (take note of the first two ingredients):

Garden Full of Goodness Lasagna

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, www.foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

• 2 cups thinly sliced zucchini
• 2 cups thinly sliced yellow squash
• 1 cup thinly sliced carrot
• 1 cup thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 1/4 cup sliced fresh basil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cups small cottage cheese
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 8 oven-ready, “no cook,” lasagna noodles
• 12 slices provolone cheese, thinly sliced
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Combine zucchini, squash, carrot, mushrooms, onion and peppers with water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Drain well, and reserve.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, garlic, salt, and pepper in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, cottage cheese, and eggs. Stir together.

Spread 1/3 of the sauce evenly over bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Place 4 uncooked lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Do not overlap noodles. Spread 1/2 of cream cheese mixture over noodles. Cover cheese mixture with 1/2 the vegetable mixture, more sauce, and top evenly with 6 slices provolone cheese and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers with 4 noodles, rest of the cream cheese mixture, vegetables, sauce, and remaining cheeses. Place in oven for 35 minutes or until lasagna is hot and bubbling

Let lasagna stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Now we eat squash often prepared just about any way you can think…except Zucchini Nachos…yuck!!! So last week I had a craving for Spaghetti Squash (strange, I know). I convined Will I thought I could make it really yummy…guess what? He liked it! He even ate seconds! When you doctor it up with a lot of goodness, it can taste really good:

Spaghetti Squash Goodness

Modified from a recipe at allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions:

1. To microwave squash, cut in half and seed. Place 1/4-inch water in a microwave safe dish. Place squash in dish, cut sides down — sides will overlap. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high power 13 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook only until tomatoes are warm.
3. Use a large spoon to scoop the stringy pulp from the squash, and place in a medium bowl. Toss with the sauteed vegetables, feta cheese, olives, and basil. Serve warm.

My next quest, butternut squash…

I finally cooked! And I used the simplest recipe I could find. And I didn’t change a thing, except I have a small oven so I have a small baking dish so I had to use less ingredients. I still used 3 apples with my 5 slices of bread and it was nice and appley. I wouldn’t recommend cutting down on the apples. I also didn’t measure the sugar, so I bet I bet I used a bit less than 1 cup. So actually, I did change it, a little. Mine came out nice and mushy and sugar-y, but you gotta really bake it if you want those crusty corners to fight over with your guests. That’s what I intend to do next time.

Here’s the recipe courtesy of Pioneer Woman:

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 8

Ingredients
3 whole Apples, Preferably Granny Smith
7 slices Wheat Bread
¾ cups Regular Salted Butter
1-½ cup Packed Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons (to 4 Tablespoons) Water
Preparation Instructions
Peel and thinly slice 3 apples. Slice bread into a small dice, or tear into very small pieces.
Coat a small baking dish or pie plate with butter. Then add 1/3 of the brown sugar, 1/3 of the apple slices, and 1/3 of the breadcrumbs. Repeat these layers twice more, ending with breadcrumbs.
Slice butter and lay slices all over the top of the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle dish with water and a little more brown sugar, and bake in a 375-degree oven, covered in foil, until done – about 45 minutes. Remove foil in last few minutes of baking to brown the top.

Betsy and I enjoyed some queso this afternoon and she encouraged me to post it on here. I give credit to my mom for this simple recipe.

What you need:

1 can Rotel

1/2 block Velveeta

1 can evaporated milk (this keeps the queso nice and creamy)

1 tbsp butter

1 clove of garlic

Dice up the 1/2 block of Velveeta into about 1 cm squares. Mince the garlic and saute it with the butter in a saucepan for a few minutes. Open up the can of Rotel and drain out the liquid. Now put the diced Velveeta, can of drained rotel, and the whole can of the evaporated milk into the saucepan and set the heat to medium. Constantly stir the mixture until all of the Velveeta squares are melted. Enjoy!

This queso is extremely addictive so be sure to only pour as much as you really intend on eating into a bowl and eat it from there. If you put too big of a bowl in front of you, you WILL end up eating it all 🙂

Make Your Man Happy, Meal 3

I’ve made three meals that have gone into the Matthew Parker “Chicken Parmesan Hall of Fame.” Chicken Parmesan is the first, obviously. Tortellini Soup was the second, and last night’s was the third.

Matt had suggested teriyaki chicken, so I got to work. I found this recipe from my ex-boyfriend Tyler Florence. (We had a long relationship in the early days of Food Network, but we had to part ways when he started shilling for Applebee’s.) Anyway, this teriyaki sauce served as a great marinade, and I saved half, added a little more orange juice, and cooked it down to more of a glaze. My only change might be to use less soy sauce because it was bit salty for the Wilhelm palate. I think the chicken was in a 375 oven for about 45 minutes, covered for half the time, with the marinade in the dish to keep in moist.

Fried rice was the side dish, modified from the blog Steamy Kitchen. I didn’t use the crab or the sausage, and just started by cooking the eggs, then adding ginger, oil, frying the onions, then rice, then veggies. It has fish sauce in it, but don’t tell Matt! Using day-old rice was the key here! It was great, and super easy.

Here are the recipes! Enjoy!

Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
* 2 oranges, juiced
* 2 tablespoons honey
* 2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and minced
* 1/2 cup scallion, chopped
* 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate for 1 hour. May also be used as a great marinade for chicken, shrimp or beef.

Fried Rice
1 can crab (6-8oz)
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (grate on rasp grater)
1 teaspoon cooking wine
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
Salt & Pepper
2 Eggs, beaten
3 cups cooked rice, break up the chunks
2 stalks green onions minced
1/2 cup frozen vegetable mixture (peas/corn/carrot) – defrosted for 15 min
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 cup diced Chinese sausage
1 teasp cooking wine

1. Marinate the Crab: Drain all the water from the can of crab meat. Marinate the grated fresh ginger, cooking wine, sesame oil.

2. Fry Sausage, Crab & Eggs: Heat up your wok to medium-high. Add the Chinese sausage to the wok, turn the heat down to med-low. Cook until the sausage releases its fat – about 5 minutes. Remove sausage, leaving as much oil in wok as possible. Turn heat to med-high. Add eggs to wok. Add crab to wok. Fry the mixture gently until eggs cooked through but still very soft. Remove, leaving as much oil in wok as possible.

3. Fry Rice: You should have about 1T of oil in the wok. If not, add cooking oil to the wok. Turn heat to high. Once the wok is very, very hot, add green onions, stir fry for 15 seconds. Add the rice – breaking up as many chunks at possible. Let the rice heat up in the wok. Add vegetables. Stir-fry until all is hot. Add fish sauce, soy, salt & pepper Add the Chinese sausage, egg/crab mixture. Stir fry until all ingredients are combined and steaming hot.

Here at MS Funds, we’ve found a new Jersey City restaurant to add to our rotation of 3 places we order from every night. Here it is: http://www.musclemakergrill.com/menu_general.php
Anywhere that calls their appetizers “Warm-ups”, boasts a sandwich called the Rocky Balboa, and offers turkey meatballs as a side dish is feeling the testosterone a little too much for my very feminine appetite. All I can say is, it’s the JC, where the hair is big, the muscles are bigger, and the restaurants are ghetto. Mama, that ghitt-toh to you.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beer-Braised-Beef-and-Onions-35144

Minestrone

1 C. chopped onions                                1/4 C. chopped celery

3 sliced bacon, chopped                        1 clove garlic, minced

3 C. water                                                      1 14 oz can stewed tomatoes, chopped

1/2 C. chick-peas (garbanzos) or small white beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 C. finely shredded cabbage           1/2 C. coarsely chopped carrots

2 T. minced fresh parsley                       1/2 t. dried basil

1/2 t. dried oregano                                  1/4 C. broken spagettini

Lightly spray an unheated medium saucepan with no-stick spray. Add the onions, celery, bacon and garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat until the onions and celery are tender. Add the water, tomatoes (with juices), chick-peas, cabbage, carrots , parsley, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the cabbage and carrots are tender. Add the spaghettini. Return to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the spaghettini is tender but firm. 6 servings.

Beer-Glazed Foccacia

Dough:

2/3 C. water                                          1/2 T. kosher salt

3 1/2 to 4 C. flour                              1/4 C. grated Romano or Parmesan

1 pkg. yeast                                           2. T. olive oil

1 T. sugar                                               1/2 t. ground black pepper

2/3 C. hefeweizen (room temp)    1/2 C. cornmeal

1/2 t. dried basil

Glaze:

1 1/2 T. olive oil                                        1/2 T. each dried basil and marjoram

2 large yellow onions, sliced thin

1/4 t. each salt and pepper                   1/3 C. Scottish ale 

Suggested toppings: strips of roasted red peppers, minced Canadian bacon, crumbled feta cheese, and strips of smoked provolone

1. Heat the water to 110 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1/2 c. flour with yeast and sugar. Pour in water and whisk thoroughly. Let set for at least 15 minutes.

2. Stir in the hefeweizen, basil, salt, cheese, oil, black pepper, and cornmeal; beat thoroughly. Stir in more flour 1 c. at a time until the dough is too stiff to stir. Turn dough onto counter and knead, adding just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to the counter and your hands.

3. After 8 to 10 minutes of kneading, the dough will be smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled – approximately 1 hour.

4. While dough is rising, heat 1 1/2 T. olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently until translucent. Add salt, black pepper, basil, and marjoram and cook until mixture is golden. Add Scottish ale and raise the heat. Continue to stir and cook until liquid is evaporated.

5. Punch dough down and let rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Using fingertips and a lightly oiled surface, stretch and pat dough into a 1/2 inch thick circle. Place on a pizza stone or baking sheet.

6. Rub dough with olive oil and spread with glazed onions. Top with peppers, bacon, feta, and provolone. Bake at 450 degrees on lower shelf of oven until top is bubbly and bottom is golden – check after 15 minutes.

Greek Croustade

1 10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach

1/4 C. onion

3 T. butter or margarine

3 T. flour

1/4 t. dried tarragon, crushed

1 C. milk

2 beaten eggs

1 C. cream-style cottage cheese

1/2 C. crumbled feta cheese

10 sheets frozen phyllo dough (17X12-inch rectangles), thawed

1/2 C. butter or margarine, melted

Cook spinach according to package directions; drain well, pressing out excess liquid. In saucepan cook onion in the 3 T. butter till tender. Stir in flour, tarragon, and 1/8 t. pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir till mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir a bit of the hot mixture into the eggs and keep adding until all mixed. Stir in cheeses and set aside.

Unroll the phyllo dough; cover with dampened towel (or work quickly!). Remove 1 sheet of dough; brush lightly with some of the 1/2 c. butter. Fold in thirds lengthwise; brush the top with butter. Place one end of the folded sheet in center of a 12 or 14-inch pizza pan extending it over side of pan. Repeat buttering and folding with the remaining phyllo dough and butter; arrange strips spoke-fashion evenly around pan. (The ends of each sheet will overlap in center and be about 3 inches apart at outer ends.) Spread spinach mixture in an 8-inch circle in center of pastry. Starting with the last phyllo leaf placed in the pan, lift end of leaf up and bring toward center of filling. Holding end with both hands, twist end several times; coil and tuck end under to form a rosette. Lay rosette over filling, leaving a 3-inch circle in center (filling should be visible). Repeat with remaining strips in the reverse order they were placed. Drizzle any remaining butter over all. Bake in 375 degree oven 35-40 minutes or until golden. Serve warm or cool. Cut into wedges to serve. Makes 8 side-dish servings.