Mushroom Stew - without the mushrooms

My wife bought me a cookbook for my slow cooker.  This cookbook came with lots of pictures which I find to be a tremendous help.  I can't look at a bunch of raw ingredients and tell what I'm going to end up with.  But a picture...that's another story.

I found myself drawn to a picture of a delicious looking stew.  I'd already decided to make it before I noticed it was called Mushroom Stew.

I am not a mushroom guy.  I can eat food that has "mushroom essence" but no actual mushrooms.  I consider direct contact with an actual mushroom to be little more than a prelude to a stomach pump.

So, I came up with a stew that looks just like the picture in the cookbook, without actually following the cookbook's recipe.  And...there are definitely no mushrooms involved.

Here is what you need:

9 cups of chicken broth
1 pound bag of barley
1-2 pounds of chicken
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
1 can of peas
1 can of corn
1 onion
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
8 ounces of tomato paste
2 table spoons of Thyme (don't ask me what that is)
Salt and Pepper

1 large crockpot or slow cooker.  If you only have a small one, try using the below recipe but smaller portions of everything.

Peel the onion and chop it into small pieces.

Peel the carrots and chop them into little pieces.

Chop the celery into little pieces.

Chop the chicken into little pieces.

Throw everything on the above list into your slow cooker.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Set it on high and wait for 6-8 hours.

Eat and enjoy.

This makes what looks to be about 50 pounds of stew.  This is because the barley swells up after a few hours.

When you eat it, I suggest adding a little sour cream.

Eat and enjoy.

Please stop by my regular blog at http://jamesdillingham.com

jim

Vegetable Catch-Up

Kids don't like vegetables because they don't taste good.  By that I mean, they don't come with frosting on top.

Men don't like vegetables for three reasons:

1. The don't keep well and we often don't discover this until they have begun to ferment. 
2. We don't know how to cook them.
3. They don't come with frosting on top.

Here is a way to periodically catch up on all of the vegetables you've been missing.  It tastes great, uses vegetables from a can and costs almost nothing.

What you need:

A large bowl
A can of corn
A can of peas
A can of diced tomatoes
A can of olives
1/2 cup of PACE Picante sauce or the equivalent

After draining the excess fluid from each of the cans, mix this all together in the giant bowl.

Heat on "high" in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

Eat and enjoy.

Jim



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Orgasmic Fruit Salad

Okay, this may not be completely "orgasmic" but I know which words catch a guy's attention.

This is an easy and healthy breakfast - if you have the ingredients on hand.

That is a big IF since fruit salad depends on your having fresh fruit in the house.

Here is what you need to make a single serving:

1/2 cup of strawberries
1/2 cup of chopped pineapple
1 sliced up banana
1 single serving of blueberry yogurt

Take all of these ingredients and mix them together in a bowl.  I suppose you could blend them together but why bother.

Eat and enjoy.

Jim

Chicken Breast Dress Up

I am not a fan of white meat.

When it comes to chicken, I'll take a leg, wing or thigh anytime over the breast.

So this brings up the question: What should I do when I thaw out what I thought was a chicken thigh(s) only to find out it was a breast?

Here is what I did and it actually turned out pretty good.

What you need:

A chicken breast, skinned with no bone
A frying pan
Some cooking oil
A hand full of flour (at most)
Salt and Pepper
Mustard
A hand full of shredded swiss cheese
A hammer

Clean off your hammer and then use it to smash your chicken breast flat.  This should take at least a minute.  The flatter the better.

Poor some cooking oil (2-5 tablespoons) into the frying pan and set it on high.

While the oil is heating up, smear mustard on both sides of the breast.

Add some salt and pepper.

Spread the flour on a cutting board or something similar and then plop the chicken on top of it.  Turn the chicken over a couple of times to ensure the flour covers everything.

Toss the chicken into the frying pan.  Now, "toss" does not mean to try and throw it in from the far side of the kitchen.  "Toss" is more of a masculine way of saying, "Put the chicken into the oil, being careful not to splash the oil over the side of the pan where it will catch fire and turn this whole thing into a bar-b-que event."

Cook on each side for about 5 minutes.  The thicker the chicken is, the longer you must cook it on each side.

Lift the chicken up and drop the swiss cheese into the pan.  Try to make a "swiss cheese pattern" that is similar in size and shape to your chicken breast.

Set the chicken back down onto the cheese.

This is going to look really messy at first.  Don't worry, the cheese will harden after a few minutes. (I'm sure there is a technical term for this but I don't have any idea what that could be).

Use a spatula to test the cheese every now and then.  When it looks like it has hardened under the chicken, take the whole thing out.

What you will end up with is a mustard sort of flavored, breaded chicken breast with hardened swiss cheese stuck to one side.

Eat and enjoy.

Jim

The Slow Cooker Solution

I was walking through the meat isle at the store yesterday.  I'm just sort of browsing; like a person at a bookstore.  I don't know what I want but if I see it, I'm ready to make my move.

I came across a 5 pound package of meat that was going for the low, low price of $.99 per pound.  I didn't know what it was but it ended up in my shopping cart just the same.

As I was putting the groceries away, I noticed the meat.  "Pork Shoulder" is what the label said.  I could tell by the bone and chunks of fat that this was going to be a challenge to make edible.

Then I remembered by old standby.  The Slow Cooker.

Here is what I did.

I put the meat into the slow cooker and then added a package of "pot roast" seasoning.  I know this is pork and not beef, but it was all I had in the cupboard.  I also added a cup of water.  I set it on high and went about my day for 4 hours or so.

I then chopped up three potatoes, three carrots, two onion, one stalk of celery, one red bell pepper (all of this chopped up) and 1 heaping tablespoon of my secret ingredient - Costo Monterey Steak Seasoning.

I let this go for another 4 hours or so.

I had to pick out two large bones and a few lumps of fat. (My dog starts his diet tomorrow.)

I just finished my second bowl of this stuff.

This was really, really good.

Try it, Eat and Enjoy...

jim

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Pickled Eggs

Have you ever had that feeling that you needed to eat something but not sure why?  You are full but for some reason, you keep walking to the kitchen hoping for inspiration.

Here is what is going on:  Your body wants a pickled egg.

These things are tasty, filling, easy to make and best of all...if you forget you have them for several months, you can still eat them and they are even better!

Here is what you need:

A pot to boil eggs in.

A different pot to boil the vinegar and spices in.

A large glass or plastic container that has a top that can be sealed tight.  Vinegar is involved and if the top is loose, your whole place is going to smell like the night before Easter (when all the eggs are being dyed).

A large bottle of vinegar.  I'm guessing a gallon is too much and a pint is not enough.

1or 2 dozen eggs.  Take a look at your jar and imagine how many eggs you can fit into it.  That's how many eggs you need.   Or, take a look at how many eggs you have and imagine them in a jar.  That's how big a jar you will need.

1 container of Pickling Spices.  Some stores have this some of the time.  I can never find it even though I know it is going to be in the spice area of the store.  Having this pre-made makes everything easier.  However, you can make your own.

I went through my collection of spices and took out a teaspoon from everything that seemed like it would be good as a pickled egg.  This was a huge mistake.  Buy some pre-made or find a pickle spice recipe online somewhere (other than here.)

Bring your vinegar to boil with the spices added.  After it boils, reduce the heat to minimum for 10 minutes.  After that, you are ready to add it to the eggs.  So lets do the eggs.

Boil your eggs in accordance with my post on boiling eggs.  Put the peeled boiled eggs into the plastic container.

Add the vinegar/spice mixture to the container.  You may not use all of the vinegar but make sure all of the spices floating around go in with the eggs. If you don't have enough to cover all of the eggs, boil some more vinegar.

Safety tip:  Don't pour boiling vinegar into a plastic container.  Turns out that some plastics melt at a temperature lower than vinegar boils at.  I know from experience that this makes a huge mess.  So, let the vinegar cool for a bit.

Finally, put the lid on the container and wait for at least 2 weeks (although a month is better).  You don't need to put this in the refrigerator.  Just stick it in a a cupboard somewhere.  I think putting it out in the hot sun might be a bad idea but that is just speculation on my part.

Forget about the pickled eggs.

Now, when you are hungry and don't know what you are looking for, the pickled eggs will begin to sing their siren song.

Eat and enjoy.

jim

Creamy Scrambled Eggs

The best thing about eggs are that you can keep them for a long time in your refrigerator without them going bad.  That, plus they are used in just about everything you can make in a kitchen.

Scrambled eggs, by themselves are good.  But dress them up properly and they become great.

What you will need:

a pan and a wooden spoon

4-6 eggs, depending on how hungry you are

1 teaspoon of cream cheese per egg.

Beat eggs with a fork while the pan is heating up.  If you don't have a non-stick pan, you may want to add some butter or oil so the eggs don't stick

Add the eggs and then add the cream cheese.  The cream cheese should be in small chunks, about the size of a penny.

Stir until the eggs are cooked.

Eat and enjoy.

Now:  There are several extras that can be added.  Chopped ham is a good additive.  Surprisingly, parsley makes it better as well.  I'm more than a little surprised to find that I know this.

As for a topping, ketchup makes everything better.