Crock Pot Asian Chicken & Vegetables

I am really excited about this posting. This recipe was amazing and I had to share!! The original recipe called for using a crock pot, but I only have a BIG crock pot - my 4qt. got lost in the move. So, I used my 6qt. cast iron dutch oven. In hindsight, after I got all the ingredients in, I would have had plenty to fill my big one!! Read the recipe to the end to be sure you get your times right.


Crock Pot Asian Chicken & Vegetables
Total time - about 5:15
Serves - 6-8 or more

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs chicken - I skinned and boned 9 thighs. You can use bone-in or breasts as well. Do take the skin off.

Sauce:

• 2/3C soy sauce
• 6T (3/8C - just guess) oil - any kind
• 6T (3/8C) brown sugar
• 3/4C water
• 1T or more minced garlic
• 1T ground ginger
• 2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and quartered

Veggies:

• 5 C of your favorite vegetables for asian. I used: 1.5C baby carrots - quartered lengthwise, 1.5C snap peas - snapped and strung, 2C broccoli - cut into flowerettes. Red bell pepper strips would be awesome here too.

• 1/4C soy sauce
• 2T corn starch
• Hot rice for all
• optional garnishes - sliver almonds, peanuts, sliced green onions
  

Directions:

1. Place chicken in the bottom of your crock pot or dutch oven. I put mine in frozen solid. (I opened the lid after an hour and pressed the chicken down into the sauce). Mix together sauce ingredients and pour over. You can use only 1 type of ginger, but using both kinds will give you a much richer flavor. If you only use 1 kind, increase the amount. Set your crock pot to high for 1 hour, then turn to low for 4 hours. Bake your dutch oven at 300 for 1 hour, then reduce to 250 for 4 hours.
2. When there are 1.5 hours remaining, open the lid. Remove the chicken to a cutting board and lightly shred with 2 forks. It will be absolutely falling apart. I could have removed the bones with a spoon! Next time I'll save myself the trouble of de-boning first! Add the chicken back to the sauce and stir in the veggies. There won't be enough liquid to cover it all - that's fine, the veggies will add their own liquid as they cook down. Just press them down as much as you can, cover, and finish cooking for 1.5 hours - no peeking!
   
3. When it's almost time to eat, test a crunchy veggie to make sure it's done. To thicken the sauce, take 1/4C cold soy sauce and stir in 2T corn starch, until smooth. Add it to the pot, stirring well, and give it 15 minutes longer to cook, or until thickened.
   
4. Serve over hot cooked rice, topped with garnishes and watch out for those chunks of ginger!!

My Notes:

• At the end, the veggies aren't so vibrant, but it's because they're stained with the soy - the snap peas and carrots still had some crunch. If you're worried about them getting too soft, add the carrots at T-1:15, and the rest at T-1 hour (the carrots take the longest to cook).
• There also seems to be a lack of veggies - there's just so much meat! I think you could either increase the sauce, and use 2C more veggies, or just decrease the chicken, and increase the veggies.
• Further note - on my second attempt, I only used 5 thighs, and added a whole bunch of kale (chopped) and 2 bell peppers, sliced. The kale soaks up the flavor of the sauce, and you literally can't taste it, and it loses most of its fibery-ness - it adds nice vitamin punch with no taste!! I was going to add bean sprouts too, but they went bad before I got to them :-( It was a much better meat/veggie ratio.
  
• I also tried it in only 3 hours. 350 the whole time, shredded chicken & added carrots at 1.5 hrs, then added all other veggies with only 1 hr. remaining. Worked great!
  

Chunky Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie is right up there with Chicken & Dumplings and Macaroni & Cheese as one of my all time favorite comfort foods. This recipe is pretty much straight from my Betty Crocker Cookbook, and it's great. I've included my favorite recipe for a crust as well, although a store bought double-crust will certainly make it go faster.

As with most of my recipes, this one lends itself well to make-ahead. You can freeze it (thaw before cooking) or just refrigerate. I can make the whole thing, including a hand made crust, and get the kitchen clean in an hour and a half - perfect for Abby's nap. Then all that remains is to make some rice and steam a veggie! The main meal is done, and the kitchen clean!


Chunky Chicken Pot Pie
makes 1 - 9" deep dish pie - serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Crust:
3C flour (white, WW or combination)
2T sugar
1 3/4 t. salt
1C (2 sticks) cold butter
1 1/2t apple cider vinegar (white will do in a pinch)
8T ice water (more or less)

Pot Pie:
2 crusts (homemade or store bought)
1C frozen peas
1C frozen crinkle cut carrots
1/3C butter
1/3C white flour
1 onion, chopped
1/2t salt
1/4t pepper
1 3/4C chicken broth (or water + bullion)
2/3C milk
2 1/2 - 3 C cooked chicken, in med/large cubes (2 large or 3 small breasts is pretty close)
hot cooked rice for all

Crust Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender, 2 knifes or your fingers, grind the cold butter into the flour mixture until it is pea sized.
2. Using a fork to stir, add vinegar. Add ice water 1T at a time, mixing well after each addition until crust begins to hold together. If you use WW flour (and depending on humidity!), you'll need more water - just keep adding by the tablespoon. You may need to pour your bowl out onto the counter to get all the flour from the bottom. Knead once or twice - just enough to ensure that it will hold together well.
3. Divide in half, roll 1 piece out to slightly larger than your pie plate. Place the crust in your plate. Do not stretch the crust to go into the corners - it will spring back when bakes. Ease it gently in. Roll it bigger if you need to. (this applies to store bought crust as well!)
   
4. Roll the other crust out to fit the top. Set aside crusts - if it will be longer than about 20 minutes, cover with plastic wrap (if you make the filling now, they'll be fine).
   

Pot Pie Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425.
   
2. Pour peas and carrots into a medium bowl, and rinse with warm water to separate and thaw. Drain well.
3. Melt butter in a large sauce pan and sautee onions for about 5 minutes until they soften and begin to brown. Add flour and whisk until the mixture begins to brown.
4. Add broth and milk, 1C at a time, whisking well after each addition to prevent lumps. Add seasonings.
5. Stir in chicken, peas and carrots.
6. Pour mixture into bottom crust, then top with the second crust. Seal edges well, slit the top, decorate with pastry cut-outs if desired.
7. Refrigerate or cook right away. Bake for about 35 minutes or until well browned and sauce is bubbling up through the slits.
8. Let pie stand 10-15 minutes before cutting. Serve over hot rice!
   

Helpful Notes:

• You will probably have too much filling. I usually pour it into a small casserole (or cereal bowl, if its oven safe) re-roll my leftover crust to make a top crust only, and have myself a hot fresh mini-pie for lunch!
• If your pie is very full, place a cookie sheet or piece of aluminum foil on the rack below your pie to catch drips.
• If you refrigerated your pie, let it stand at room temp an hour before cooking, or plan to give it 15 extra minutes in the oven to get hot all the way through.
• If you don't want it so chunky, just use a 10oz bag of mixed peas/carrots (the carrots will be much smaller), and chop the chicken finely.
  

Rice Coocker Pilaf

Here's a quick way to make no-fuss rice pilaf! Use brown or white rice, do all the cooking right in the rice cooker, then you don't have to watch a pan of rice on the stove!

Serves 6

Ingredients:
1T EVOO
1 onion, chopped
2C rice (white or brown)
1/2C slivered almonds
1T italian seasoning
4t chicken bullion (or equivalent to make 4C broth)
4C cold water (or replace bullion and water with chicken broth)

Directions:

1. This recipe was made using a simple rice cooker - just one button with 'cook' and 'warm' settings.
2. Plug in the cooker, switch to 'cook' and add oil and onions - leave lid up. Cooker will slowly heat and in around 5 minutes start to sautee. Be sure to use a wooden or plastic spoon to protect your non-stick finish! Sautee onions for just a couple of minutes, until they just begin to soften. Add rice and mix well.
3. Continue to sautee until cooker switches itself to 'warm'. Add bullion, italian seasoning and almonds. Stir well, and cook for 1-2 minutes more (cooker will still be hot). NOTE - if you have bullion cubes (not granules) and need to dissolve them in hot water, use 1/2 C boiling water for the bullion and leave the rest cold.
   
4. Add cold water and stir. The water will cool the cooker enough that you can close the lid, switch to cook, and leave the pilaf until it's done!
5. Allow appx. 20-30 minutes cooking time for white rice, and 40-50 min for brown. You can make this rice slightly ahead of time, because the cooker will keep it nice and hot while you finish preparing dinner - enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

This week's recipe is really yummy. I couldn't be bothered to get out my cookbook when I wanted to make Beef Stroganoff this week, and it turned out so well that I decided to write it down for next time! I usually use ground beef - simply because it's cheaper, and I always have it in the freezer. But stroganoff is ten times better if you have a nice cut of beef, cut into bite sized pieces, and simmered for an hour so it's falling apart!! Oh, yum. This recipe will work with both. Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff - serves 4ish

1 lb. beef (ground beef or beef tips, trimmed)
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced (or a 15 oz can, drained)
1 onion, diced
1-2t pressed/crushed garlic (depending on your tastes)
1.5 C water
3 bullion cubes (enough to make 3C beef broth - however your bullion specifies)
1/2 C dry red wine (merlot is very nice)
1T Worcestershire
1/4C cold water
3T cornstarch
1/2 - 1C plain yogurt or sour cream (sour cream works best - yogurt tends to separate. Use more or less to taste)
cooked egg noodles, penne or rotini for all

1. Begin to brown the beef. For ground beef, when it is 1/2 done add the onions and mushrooms. For beef cubes (you'll need to use a bit of oil), add them when the beef is brown on all sides. Continue to cook until the onions and mushrooms are soft - about 5-8 min. Add garlic and sautee 1 min.
   
2. Dissolve the bullion in the water. I find that hot water makes it easier. There is 2x the bullion as compared to water to give the stroganoff better flavor. Add the beef broth, wine and Worcestershire to the skillet, reduce to medium/low and simmer ground beef about 10 minutes, beef cubes (covered) 45min - or until very tender.
3. Mix the cornstarch with the cold water until the lumps are gone, then slowly add to skillet, stirring constantly until thickened - about 1 min. (taste the sauce before hand - if it tastes weak, you can use wine instead of water) The sauce should be fairly thick. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking, then stir in sour cream or yogurt - which will thin it a bit.
   
4. Serve over fresh hot egg noodles, penne or rotini!
   

West Coast Salmon & Shrimp

Here is another fish recipe for you! I'm supposed to eat more Salmon for the Omega-3s, according to my midwife. Here is a wonderful recipe to help me do that - although you can sub any fish you happen to like. It's also not as high in fat as many cream sauce recipes, because it's thickened with cornstarch instead of a roux. I try to make it once every week or 2!


West Coast Salmon & Shrimp

Serves 4, or 2 with great leftovers

Ingredients:
2 T butter or olive oil
1 onion, halved and sliced thinly (into 1/2 rings)
1C sliced mushrooms (or 1 can, drained)
1T minced garlic (about 3-4 cloves pressed - I use the stuff in a jar)

1.5 C milk
1 T fresh dill (1/2T dried)
1/2t salt
1/2 t fresh cracked pepper
1/4C milk
2T cornstarch (if you use arrowroot powder, the quantity will be different - hopefully you know how much!)

1 lb. salmon, cubed (or other fish - I've tried cod and it was good)
1 C shrimp (fresh or cooked)

Fresh parm
Hot, cooked rice - white or brown

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375F. Heat the butter in a large skillet and begin to sautee the onions. After 5 min, add the mushrooms and sautee until everything is tender and browning. Add the garlic for the last minute, to keep it from burning. It seems like a lot of garlic, but it mellows in the oven.
2. Pour in the 1.5C of milk, and add all the seasonings, and bring to a simmer. It looks like a lot of dill, but it also mellows with baking. Taste and adjust the salt & pepper if needed. It may taste a bit bland now - it will take a lot of flavor from the fish as it bakes. Just make sure it's salted enough, as you'll be serving it over unsalted rice.
3. Mix together the 1/4 C milk and 2T cornstarch until it is very smooth, then add to the skillet, stirring constantly. Simmer 1 min. or until thickened.
4. Stir in cubed fish and shrimp - if your shrimp was frozen, thaw it in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes then drain before adding.
5. Spray a 2 qt. casserole dish with oil and pour in your sauce. Cover and bake for 30 min. or until fish (and shrimp) are done. If you like, sprinkle with fresh parm and broil until brown. Or just serve each plate topped with some.
   
6. Serve over white or brown rice with a steamed green veggie!

My extra notes:

• This dish favors lots of changes. Last time I added a can of crab (undrained for more flavor). You can also sub whatever fish your meat dept. happens to have on sale. It works equally well with strong fish (like salmon) and white fish (cod, haddock, etc) although salmon is my favorite.
• Increase or decrease the fish ingredients - use all fish, or all shrimp, or one of those 'fish pie' mixes with several types of fish, squid, shrimp, clams, etc. Use around 2-3 C of meat total.
• Make it a complete meal by adding 1-2C frozen broccoli flowers(thawed), or peas. If you use fresh broccoli, steam it for 2-3 min. before adding, to be sure it cooks all the way through. I would make a bit more sauce (and of course use a bigger casserole) to make sure that there's plenty of sauce for the rice. If you need to thicken it more, you want to aim for a medium/thick consistency. It will thin slightly in the oven, and you want it to soak into your rice, not run all over your plate.
• If someone is not a mushroom lover, but is willing to pick them out, the person who will eat the mushrooms will thank you for leaving them in. They're super yummy.
• I usually make this up at lunchtime (while Abby is napping) and hold it in the fridge until dinner. If your casserole is cold, you'll want to give it 45 minutes to bake. Removing it from the fridge 30 min or so before baking will help, too.
  
• Wonderful with garlic bread!