Kiy's Recipe Box

October 16, 2011


Back to menu planning? Who knows, but going to give it a try!

Fall is officially here in South Carolina. Finally. I've had my crock-pot and soup on my mind for weeks, waiting for the perfect weather. I have selected four family favorites that I can either toss together quickly or crock-pot. It's going to be a GREAT week!

Utility Belt Penne
Tomato and White Bean Soup
Jules' Homemade Tomato Soup
Cinnamon-Beef Noodles

Chex Mix (Crock Pot)
Kiy Note: Gina emailed me this morning asking if this was on my recipe box yet. Nope, I kept forgetting to put it up. Thanks for the reminder Gina! Oh, and we love this but I have to add extra Worcestershire sauce, at least double. Jeff and Emi like their Chex Mix extra spicy.


The Ingredients:

1. 5 Cups General Mills Rice Chex Cereal
2. 1-2 cups of dry roasted peanuts (salted or not, your choice)
3. 2 cups pretzel sticks (I used Glutino)
4. 1/2 t onion powder
5. 1/2 t seasoned salt
6. 3 T butter
7. 1 1/2 T Worcestershire Sauce (Lea and Perrins is GF)

The Directions:

1. Put the butter into the bottom of your crockpot.
2. Turn it on low
3. Add the onion powder and seasoned salt
4. Add the Worcestershire sauce
5. Add dry ingredients
6. Stir. If the butter is still clumpy, it's okay
7. Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours, stirring every 45 min or so

Dump out onto a cookie sheet to cool. (Kiy Note: Jeff is usually standing there, picking out yummies to eat at this point, even though it's too hot to handle.)

Serve and enjoy.

The Verdict: We ate every last ounce of this in one day. It is seriously addicting. The kids liked it immensely, and have requested me to make it again today. But with less peanuts.

The recipe that I have written here has less butter than the original Chex Party Mix recipe, and I was pleased that it was still enough to coat the cereal, peanuts, and pretzels nicely without a layer of grease left on my hands. Or the kids hands. Because then the couch stays clean.

Chicken Chili (crock pot)

4 chicken breasts
2 cups water
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1 tablespoon olive oil**
1 teaspoon minced garlic (jar)
2 large onions, chopped
¼ cup lime juice
4-ounce can diced green chilies
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1-tablespoon chili powder
2 cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
1 cup shredded jack cheese

1. Cook chicken in broth and drain reserving liquid.*
2. Shred the chicken and set aside.*
3. In the olive oil, sauté the garlic and onion until caramelized.*

4. Place chicken, garlic and onions in the bottom of the slow cooker.
5. In the reserved broth stir in the lime juice, seasonings and chilies.
6. Pour over the chicken mixture.
7. Cook on low for 2-4 hours.
8. Ladle into bowls and garnish with cheese.
9. Enjoy!

*If you're in a hurry you can skip these steps, cut the chicken into small chunks and increase cooking time to 6-8 hours. We prefer the caramelized flavor of the garlic and onions and shredded chicken versus chunks.

**Omit if not sautéing.

CrockPot Peking Duck Recipe

From Kiy: About two weeks ago I had a brainstorm (scary, yes). I decided I wanted to surprise Jeff with a duck for Christmas dinner. He loves it and I've only made it once in our 15 years of marriage. You see, it completely trashes the inside of the oven. Grease and yuck *everywhere*. So, while he says it was tasty I never again attempted to make duck as the cleanup was so over-the-top. Seriously.

At first, I was thinking make it in one of those baking bags. But then, got to thinking of Steph over at A Year of Crockpotting. I searched and searched her blog but could not find anything about duck. So a quick email later, I had my duck recipe. Not only that, but she make duck TWICE! I am telling you, this gal rocks! She made two, both of which look amazing. I chose the one I am posting but linked to both as they both do look good (if I were to actually eat duck, which I don't). Thanks Steph, you made it possible for me to give my sweet hubby the Christmas dinner I wanted for him!

CrockPot Peking Duck Recipe

(This was her first post on crockpot duck.)

Day 351.

I have cracked the duck-in-the-crockpot code. You need to use a rack. Too much liquid forms in the pot, and the meat needs to be up above it. I used a little round rack that came with my rice cooker, but you could use anything---an inverted ramekin to lift the bird up out of the collected juice, a collapsible steamer basket, foil balls, etc.

This duck tastes great, is seasoned nicely, and held up in the crockpot. Here's how to make traditional Peking Duck, and here's how I made it crockpot-friendly:

The Ingredients:

4 to 5 pound duck
5 whole green onions
4 star anise
1 inch ginger, peeled
2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice (or you can make your own)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 T honey
2 T soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat-free are GF)

The Directions:

Use a 6 quart crockpot, and insert a cooking rack of some sort in the bottom of your pot. Wash the green onions and lay on top of the rack.

Skin the duck the best you can. Peel ginger and stuff inside cavity, with the star anise. In a small bowl, combine dry spices. Rub all over the bird, inside and out. Place the duck inside your crockpot, breast up. (I did breast down yesterday, and that was a mistake. It got too soggy.) Drizzle on soy sauce and honey.

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Serve with plum sauce.

I made a down-and-dirty plum sauce:

1/3 cup plum jam
1 T soy sauce (La Choy is GF)
1 T sugar
1 tsp garlic powder

The Verdict:

I was much happier at how this duck held up in the crockpot, and how most of the grease dripped away. The meat was nicely seasoned, and tasted great. We really liked the plum sauce. The kids ended up eating little smokies in bbq sauce because it was the Girl Scouts Holiday Party and that was our offering (done in a crockpot, of course).

~~~

Question was asked in her comments: Does the duck need to be skinned.?

Steph’s reply: It needs to be skinned *for me*---I have weird skin issues.

I think the skin on top will brown, but the skin on the sides and bottom will be pretty soggy. If you're up for it, you can remove the bird and broil it for a bit to brown and crispify the skin.

~~~

CrockPot Brown Sugar Chicken Recipe

From the CrockPot Lady) Steph @ A Year of Crockpotting

Day 231.

It should be noted that this chicken has been named "Candy Chicken" in our house. I don't think my kids have ever eaten so much chicken in their lives. If you are bored with dried out, boring chicken, you must try this.

You simply must.

Go.

Now.

Go to the store and buy the ingredients.

Go.

The Ingredients:
12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or 6 boneless, skinless breast halves
1 cup brown sugar (it's okay. you can brush your teeth after.)
¼ cup lemon-lime soda (stay with me...)
2/3 cup vinegar (I used white wine, but think regular white would be fine)
3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic
2 T soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat free are GF)
1 tsp ground black pepper

The Directions:

Use a 5-6 quart crockpot for this recipe.

Plop the chicken into your crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.

The Verdict: Seriously. Go to the store. This is what's for dinner.

CrockPot Corn Bread Stuffing Recipe

From The Crock Pot Lady:

Day 318.

Dude. I so love my crockpot. It has gotten me to think out of the box, and I now have a refrigerator full of 2! TWO! kinds of perfect crockpot stuffing.

I think I need to bronze the crockpot after this year.

I've never had cornbread stuffing before, so I turned to the master: Paula Deen.

The Ingredients:

8 x 8 pan of baked cornbread (I used the Whole Foods 365 brand of GF cornbread mix)
4 slices of toasted bread (I used the GF Food food For Life brand in the pink bag)
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 beaten eggs
1 T poultry seasoning
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable!) --and another 1/4 cup if desired, later

The Directions:

I changed Paula's recipe quite a bit, but tried to keep the basics exactly the same.

I used a 6-quart crockpot. If you only have a 4-quart, toss the stuffing together in a huge mixing bowl, and then transfer to your 4-quart.

Bake the cornbread according to package directions (or by all means, make it by scratch!)

If you have a few days to let it go stale, do that. Other wise, cut into slices and bake at 300 degrees until toasty (along with your bread slices). It took about 30 minutes in my oven.

While the cornbread is toasting, chop up the onion and celery. Put the pieces into your crockpot. Add the seasoning.

Melt butter in the microwave, and mix together with 3 beaten eggs. Stir well into the veggies and seasonings in the crockpot.

Cut the cornbread and toasted bread into cubes, about 1/2 inch square.

Toss the cubes of bread and cornbread well with the ingredients in the crockpot.

Pour in 2 cups of broth. Stir gingerly to combine. The cornbread will break up more than the bread did in the other stuffing, but try to keep a few pieces whole for texture.

Cook on high for 2 hours. This can be on warm successfully for up to 2 hours.

If you'd like a more moist dressing, add another 1/4 cup of broth before serving.

The Verdict.
Tasty. Delicious.
I think we have a new member at our dinner table this Thanksgiving!

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki Recipe

Special thanks to Karen over at Mommy I'm Home for suggesting this!

The Ingredients:

• Chicken pieces - I used frozen wings and drumettes, but you can use whatever body parts you have on hand.
• If you have bottled teriyaki sauce, you are done. Just make it the lazy way--and use about ¾ of a cup.

I wasn't lucky enough to be lazy, because we were out of bottled teriyaki, and I wasn't about to put off cooking "the best food ever."

I used this:

• ½ cup soy sauce (La Choy is gluten free, and so is Tamari Wheat Free)
• 3 T brown sugar
• 1 T sherry (I think tequila would work, too)
• 3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic

The Directions:

• plop your chicken in the crockpot
• cover it up with the sauce

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. If you are using frozen pieces, it will take longer than if you are using thawed or fresh chicken. Different pieces of chicken also have different density, and that will also effect cooking time. If you are going to be out of the house, cook on low. You can always switch it to high later.

Notes from Kiy: I used 4 skinless, boneless (frozen) chicken breasts (about 2.5 pounds - they were monster breasts!) still in the frozen condition. I tossed them in the bottom of the crock pot and dumped about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of ready-made teriyaki sauce over them. Setting on low for about 4.5-5 hours. Then I took them out, covered them with foil to keep them warm. Using cornstarch and a bit of water, made a paste and added it to the sauce in the crock pot (turn it up to high or put in on your stove if you are able). Boil it for a few moments and then let it sit a few moments, nice think almost-but-not-quite gravy consistency to ladle over the chicken. YUM! The only thing I will do differently is to not use the bottled sauce, way too salty for our taste.

Maple-Flavored Barbecue Chicken

Ingredients:
1 c. ketchup
½ c. maple flavored syrup
2 tbsp. prepared mustard
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
4 boneless, skinned chicken breasts

Instructions:
Place all ingredients in slow cooker/Crock Pot and cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours or until chicken is done. Remove meat, shred and return to sauce. Place on buns for sandwiches or serve over hot rice. Serves 4 to 6.

Chicken Merlot with Mushrooms

Gina gave me this recipe, said we'd love it. She's right! YUM!

RECIPE:
5¼ cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
¾ cup chicken broth
¼ cup Merlot wine or additional chicken broth
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 teaspoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons dried basil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Hot cooked pasta, optional

Place the mushrooms, onion and garlic in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Top with chicken. In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste, broth, wine or additional broth, tapioca, sugar, basil, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve with pasta if desired.

Yield: 5 servings.

Polynesian Roast Beef

1 boneless beef top round roast (3¼ pounds)
2 tablespoons browning sauce, optional
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
1 can (8 oz) unsweetened sliced pineapple
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ tsp ground ginger
½ cup beef broth
¼ cup soy sauce
½ tsp minced garlic
1 medium green pepper, sliced (yuck, I sub with red pepper)

Cut roast in half; brush with browning sauce if desired. Combine the flour, salt and pepper; rub over meat. Place onion in a 3 qt slow cooker; top with roast.

Drain pineapple, reserving juice; refrigerate the pineapple. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch and ginger; whisk in the broth, soy sauce, garlic and reserved pineapple juice until smooth. Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Add pineapple and green pepper. Cook 1 hour longer or until meat and green pepper are tender. Yield: 10-11 servings.

Source: Simple & Delicious Nov/Dec 2007

Slow-Cooker Orange-BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Kraft Foods, Winter 2008

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 8 hr 10 min
Makes:12 servings, one sandwich each

1 boneless pork shoulder (3 lb.)
1 bottle (18 oz.) KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce
Juice from 1 medium orange

PLACE meat in slow cooker; top with barbecue sauce and orange juice. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW for 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours). Remove meat from slow cooker; cut into small pieces or shred with fork. Return meat to slow cooker; stir until meat is evenly coated with the barbecue sauce mixture.

Kiy note: Watch the time *carefully*! Personally, I think they cook theirs FAR too long. Last time I made this, I had a pork shoulder that was a bit over 2 lbs. Cooked it one low for 6 hours and it was overcooked. I have an instant read thermometer, I will start checking after about 3.5 hours.