tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9389273923916021072024-03-05T08:06:44.586-08:00Slow CooksPoor Students on Crock (Pots)Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-20622602020787884512009-04-08T19:24:00.001-07:002009-04-08T20:23:18.713-07:00Not Your Mother's: Peach CrumbleReally wish I could have gotten some pictures up for this recipe, because as my <a href="http://peoplemedia.blogspot.com/">Citizen Journalism class</a> knows, IT IS DELICIOUS. So delicious in fact, that it was devoured before I could think to take any pictures. Ass kissing? OBVIOUSLY! Teachers are like armies, they march on their stomachs...or something.<br /><br /><br />Another plug for Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Your-Mothers-Slow-Cooker-Cookbook/dp/1558322450">Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook</a>, but this time for <a href="http://books.google.ca/books?id=cDNRHs_f5P8C&pg=PA463&lpg=PA463&dq=not+your+mother%27s+slow+cooker+peach&source=bl&ots=cLx1ckgCUh&sig=MnHg1zdxOVkz9RpPamSM1RGbPFA&hl=en&ei=KVzdSfvNHZeUMYOO6OMN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5">peach crumble</a>! I really don't understand why their book is available on Google books. If the link doesn't work, try creating a Google account and it might. I paid $22 Canadian for this thing because I wanted to have a hard copy of tried and tested recipes, but lo and behold, it's available online! (At the time of writing I am able to freely scroll through hundreds of recipes.) In case it isn't at the time of reading, here is the recipe!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br /><ul><li>2 pounds/ 1 kg firm-ripe peeled and thickly sliced peaches (Peruvian peaches were in season when I made this. Cheap cheap special price for you!)</li><li>3/4 cups of quick-cooking rolled oats</li><li>3/4 cups of all purpose flour</li><li>3/4 cups of firmly packed brown sugar</li><li>1 tsp baking powder</li><li>1/2 tsp ground cinnamon</li><li>1 pinch of ground nutmeg</li><li>1/4 tsp salt</li><li>1/2 cup of cold unsalted butter or <a href="http://slowcooks.blogspot.com/2009/04/homemade-butter-not-in-slow-cooker.html">homemade butter</a> or as much <a href="http://slowcooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-appropriate-that-i-should-have.html">cannabutter</a> as you want</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">VARIATIONS</span><br /><br />Yo crumble is a classic! Try all the fruits of the cornucopia! Also, works as a dessert and breakfast.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS<br /><br /></span><span>Once again proving how easy a slow cooker really is. I had to wake up earlier than normal for my 9:30 class (boy college sure is tough...) and prepared this delicious dessert in time to use as a special little breakfast snack for my classmates.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><ul><li>Coat your slow cooker container with butter or margarine or pam. Seriously. This is important in avoiding frustrating messes.</li><li>For the topping: mix the <span style="font-weight: bold;">oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg </span>and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> salt</span></li><li>Cube the <span style="font-weight: bold;">butter</span> and work it into the powder mix with your finger to create a crumbley topping.</li><li>Layer your peach slices on the bottom of the slow cooker. Soften them up by putting them in the crock pot on <span style="font-weight: bold;">low</span> for <span style="font-weight: bold;">30 minutes.</span></li><li><span>Spread the <span style="font-weight: bold;">crumble topping</span> evenly over the soft, juicy <span style="font-weight: bold;">peaches</span>. Cook on low for 2.5-3 hours or until you stick a knife through the topping and it comes out clean.</span></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE TASTIES</span><br /><br />A great success. I wasn't sure how the topping would come out, if it would be as baked as oven variation crumbles, but it definitely was. Crispy and delicious, 5 stars all across the board and I am sure my peers would agree. Hopefully it will also boost my mark to keep my precious GPA up.Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-88009556736068994642009-04-08T19:14:00.001-07:002009-04-08T19:20:57.786-07:00Homemade Butter, Not in a Slow Cooker!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKF4FdtGLTgGYLuEARZMtaCdjl71MgLhhahhD0e73jg5ggudI6soz802RkOam5aNy0KVrEws0ibCpOkvP0UeDn5q3IUUmFVRTReurEWynhRULeuhHlDaLS7HBeQAMy-OEyITD5UOC2N0f0/s400/CIMG4857-2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKF4FdtGLTgGYLuEARZMtaCdjl71MgLhhahhD0e73jg5ggudI6soz802RkOam5aNy0KVrEws0ibCpOkvP0UeDn5q3IUUmFVRTReurEWynhRULeuhHlDaLS7HBeQAMy-OEyITD5UOC2N0f0/s400/CIMG4857-2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Photo by Geoff and Sarah over at <a href="http://cheesepluseverything.blogspot.com/">CheesePlusEverything</a><br /><br />Just a quick post because I love plugging my only friends who have admitted to having an interest in keeping a blog (not the only friends, but the only ones who have sent me their link!) Check it out, <a href=http://cheesepluseverything.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-cant-believe-its-butter.html>quick and easy homemade butter</a>! The recipe calls for whipping cream, a bit of salt and a food processor (though they used a blender and looks like it turned out well.) Definitely gonna give this a shot, especially for <a href=http://slowcooks.blogspot.com/2009/04/slow-cooker-as-alternative-oven.html>Slow Cooker Bread Part Deux</a>. Or heck, even next time I make some <a href=http://slowcooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-appropriate-that-i-should-have.html>slow cooker cannabutter</a>.Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-87481130893378942802009-04-08T08:01:00.001-07:002009-04-09T19:39:21.506-07:00The Slow Cooker as an Alternative Oven<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sd6xU6nyiRI/AAAAAAAAAJs/4nyTTk_f_oc/s1600-h/bread.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sd6xU6nyiRI/AAAAAAAAAJs/4nyTTk_f_oc/s320/bread.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322886782490151186" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>Our apartment is (barely) heated by gas, but GazMetro is also our source for cooking on the stove top and in the oven. Slow cookers are popular for their electrical efficiency and they are an alternative to ovens which can overheat the house during the summer. Turns out you can use your slow cooker for baking not only delicious crumples and puddings, but breads and pastries as well! I attempted to bake some bread in my slow cooker in early January but it wasn't a great success. It was a whole wheat herb loaf (ya sounds tasty don't it?) but it didn't rise very well and came out pretty dense. Still great with slices of cheese! Get a bread maker you say? Are you kidding? With all <a href=http://slowcooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/college-kitchen-guide.html>the appliances we've already adopted</a> we have no room for one more. Recipe.net compares the two appliances and is convinced that <a href="http://www.recipenet.org/health/articles/crockpot.htm">slow cookers are an alternative to bread machines</a>. I am positive it can be tastefully accomplished, so I've compiled my research to perfect slow cooker breads before I give it another shot.<br /><br /><strong>THE SOURCES</strong><br /><br />I get kind of annoyed when I see the about.com templates because I don't always find their websites dependable and they favour middle aged housewives. Their <a href="http://baking.about.com/od/crockpotbaking/a/howto.htm">slow cooker bread baking tips</a> website though is actually a pretty good start and offers advice that I found on a couple other sites as well. Their <a href="http://baking.about.com/od/crockpotbaking/Crockpot_Baking_for_Desserts_and_Breads.htm#b">recipes</a> though don't offer much in the way of standard breads though and focuses on desserts. I know I know I love desserts too, but fresh bread is also pretty sweet.<br /><br />Recipenet does offer a <a href="http://www.recipenet.org/health/recipes/recipkit/slow_cooker_bread1.htm">slow cooked bread recipe</a> that worked for them, but I'm not entirely sure what wheat germ is or if I want to bring more germs into our apartment! The herb bread recipe I tried was from <a href="http://www.abouthyme.com/recipes/index.shtml">About Thyme</a>, and I am only realizing now that it also calls for wheat germ which I did not include. Perhaps that explains why it didn't rise!<br /><br />Many sites suggest raising the bread off the bottom of the slow cooker on aluminum foil balls to let heat bake the bottom, but not all of them do. Very few mention rising times as well, probably made up by the fact that breads are baked in a slow cooker for 3 hours instead of 1 hour in the oven.<br /><br />I own Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hernsperger and Julie Kauffmann. I would love to see what they have to say but I recently lost my car keys and the book is stuck in my back seat. Thankfully, their book is available on Google books <a href="http://books.google.ca/books?id=cDNRHs_f5P8C&pg=PA449&lpg=PA449&dq=not+your+mother%27s+slow+cooker+brown+bread&source=bl&ots=cLx1ckfz0c&sig=RsKZZs0lEFFkfATV_NGT-XAXlnE&hl=en&ei=YFfdSeyCIIv4MIXijdQN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3">and is worth checking out</a>!<br /><br />Wheat germ free and doesn't call to raise the mold off the bottom. I would say go with this recipe since it comes from a reputable source!<br /></div>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-84680480825792843112009-04-07T13:45:00.000-07:002009-04-07T15:25:25.714-07:00Safely Slow Cooking Frozen Meat<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdvOHhWycvI/AAAAAAAAAJc/u6d9wKfrFBc/s1600-h/frozen+meat.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdvOHhWycvI/AAAAAAAAAJc/u6d9wKfrFBc/s320/frozen+meat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322074013276730098" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When I first got my slow cooker, the little pamphlet that was included with it warned against under cooking meat and the threat of bacteria growth! I have had my slow cooker for over a year now, and I lost that pamphlet a long time ago. So when the question of slow cooking frozen meat came up I checked the web. The internet has done an amazing job of keeping the slow cooker from going extinct. It has reunited hundreds of thousands of slow cooks from around the world to <a href="http://www.slowandsimple.com/">share recipes and advice</a>. Popular demographics in the slow cooking community are military wives, Iowa, religious, and the facebook group SLOW COOKER RECIPES is mostly women from the Maritimes, particularly Newfoundland. There is a lot of <a href="http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cooking/msg0209121413980.html">conflicting advice</a> about whether it is safe to slow cook frozen meat, specifically if the required temperatures are reached to prevent food poisoning. What I read on the official Crock Pot brand web page has settled this debate once and for all, <a href="http://www.crock-pot.ca/hints.aspx">that it is safe to slow cook frozen meat</a>:<br /><br />"<span class="bodytext">You can cook frozen meats in your Crock-Pot</span><span class="superscript">®</span><span class="bodytext"> slow cooker, however it is best to use the following guidelines:</span> <ul><li><span class="bodytext">Add at least 1 cup of warm liquid to the stoneware before placing meat in the stoneware.</span></li><li><span class="bodytext">Do not preheat the slow cooker.</span></li><li><span class="bodytext">Cook recipes containing frozen meats for an additional 4 to 6 hours on Low, or an additional <br /> 2 hours on High."</span></li></ul>Very reassuring coming from an official manufacturer. If you have doubts, read the <a href="http://www.cooksrecipes.com/tips/meat-cooking-temperature-chart.html">required temperatures</a>, and use a meat thermometre to verify that it is hot enough. I need to ask for one for my birthday, but this solves it for me. Great news because when you keep the heat to a minimum in the winter to save on your gas bill, it's tough to defrost your feet in the morning let alone a three pound roast.<br /><br />And it was a real cold winter in our poorly insulated Montreal apartment. If our back stoop wasn't home to the occasional H addict or lusty teenagers we could have seriously expanded our frozen food section.<br /><br />The Crock Pot web page was also useful in pointing out that the term Crock Pot is a trademarked name, like Kleenex. I think slow cooker is what many Canadians call it, and I'm kind of proud we've been referring to the none sponsored name.Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-60176304165953346552009-04-01T16:39:00.000-07:002009-04-01T17:00:43.089-07:00Macaroni and Tomato with Sour Cream CheeseI love cheesy pasta, and I wanted to give crock pot pasta another chance after the success with the <a href="http://slowcooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/ditching-blue-box-homeschooled-mac-and.html">Homeschooled Mac and Cheese.</a> My frustration with pasta recipes I've seen so far is that they all cook the pasta in advance. To me this seems to kind of defeat the purpose of the slow cooker, so I wanted to try more recipes with raw pasta that cooked in a sauce. I used a home made tomato and ground beef sauce that my mom had frozen for me, added some sour cream and some cream cheese, presto! Not quite a casserole, but definitely cooked pasta.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INGREDIENTS<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdP_91-g4II/AAAAAAAAAJU/Z1QPyoJQ1e0/s1600-h/tomato+macaroni.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdP_91-g4II/AAAAAAAAAJU/Z1QPyoJQ1e0/s320/tomato+macaroni.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319877022781071490" border="0" /></a><br /><ul><li>300 grams of <span style="font-weight: bold;">uncooked macaroni</span></li><li>Slightly less than half a stick of <span style="font-weight: bold;">cream cheese</span></li><li>1 cup of <span style="font-weight: bold;">sour cream</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tomato sauce</span> (one tupperware full?)</li><li>Additional vegetables ( I threw in some<span style="font-weight: bold;"> mushrooms, onions </span>and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> green pepper</span>)</li><li>Shredded <span style="font-weight: bold;">cheddar</span> or <span style="font-weight: bold;">Parmesan</span> to serve.</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdP_9ppLn6I/AAAAAAAAAJM/094Wdtv7FjA/s1600-h/macaroni+done.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdP_9ppLn6I/AAAAAAAAAJM/094Wdtv7FjA/s320/macaroni+done.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319877019470372770" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS<br /><br /></span></span></span>Uncooked pasta in the slow cooker is really easy since you're just mixing the sauces and it cooks itself!<br /><br /><ul><li>Place <span style="font-weight: bold;">macaroni</span> in crock pot</li><li>Cover with <span style="font-weight: bold;">tomato sauce</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">sour cream</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">chunks of cream cheese</span> and stir with <span style="font-weight: bold;">extra vegetables</span>.</li><li>Cook on high for 1 1/2 hours on high. Should be well coooked in 2 hours on high.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE TASTIES</span><br /><br />So I think the macaroni thought it was going to be a casserole, but I'm glad it isn't. Still quite lose, but with some stickiness to it. Sour cream is a nice touch, but make sure it's well mixed in. Could have used a bit more tomato sauce, but the pasta is definitely cooked through. I went for the two whole hours without lifting the lid and it was getting crispy along the sides. Tasty and cheese though, and shows that uncooked pasta works in the slow cooker.Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-25934214017830948102009-04-01T15:42:00.000-07:002009-04-01T15:44:20.434-07:00I've got friends in the industryCheck it out, I updated some links the other day but thought I might draw some attention to them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">other patient chefs</span><br /><br /><a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/">A Year of CrockPotting</a> - This women is a hero in the slow cooked community. She created and modified recipes for her gluten free family for a year, and I think she's gotten a book deal out of it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.a-crock-cook.com/crock-pot-recipe-blog.html">A Crock Cook</a> - A pretty simple sight that heralds "real crock pot recipes for real people."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.canadianliving.com/food/menus_and_collections/slow_cooker_recipe_collection.php">Canadian Living</a> - Has released special issues on slow cooking and lots of recipes for the Canadian kitchen.<br /><br /><a href="http://slow-cooker-recipes.blogspot.com/">Slow Cooker Recipes</a> - A no frills approach to slow cooking (and there aren't a lot to start!) but a huge database of recipes.<br /><br /><a href="http://mjpuzzlemom.wordpress.com/">What a Crock</a> - Lots of meal plans in this one, something useful certainly!<br /><br /><a href="http://crockpotbbq.blogspot.com/">Crock Pot Alchemist</a> - Finally another dude interested in slow cooks. Appropriately, he works well with meat.Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-70205883095617139552009-04-01T15:29:00.000-07:002009-04-01T15:44:54.021-07:00We Artists Need to Stick Together<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMRat1gBC9fFEo2PKj23_-S4VMWApuUJ6CHylD5rIEzkdGWrHrJRYfp3KqKLZigzFLKexQrQ6fq3y0z6c8r52HpHAU9SzmwI0My52nHG8_W57yQIv_MgoKQYvU2VW_6kMU1P0cmp_fZDk7/s400/CIMG4794-2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMRat1gBC9fFEo2PKj23_-S4VMWApuUJ6CHylD5rIEzkdGWrHrJRYfp3KqKLZigzFLKexQrQ6fq3y0z6c8r52HpHAU9SzmwI0My52nHG8_W57yQIv_MgoKQYvU2VW_6kMU1P0cmp_fZDk7/s400/CIMG4794-2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Eggs Benedict from Lobster by <a href="http://cheesepluseverything.blogspot.com/">CheesePlusEverything</a><br /><br />To cook this slowly doesn't take skill as much as patience and the knowledge that you'll be hungry in a few hours. My friends Geoff and Sara over at <a href="http://cheesepluseverything.blogspot.com/">CheesePlusEverything</a> are the talented ones. They really do some pretty classy things with cheese for a couple of university students in Ottawa. I want to try their spinach and goat cheese risotto, sounds real good. Worth checking out since you know you love cheese and their photos are really appetizing.Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-1050569677081312552009-04-01T15:10:00.000-07:002009-04-01T15:27:34.758-07:003 B's Stew<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPqSYgg05I/AAAAAAAAAIg/tl7FCEBcDok/s1600-h/DSCN2511.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPqSYgg05I/AAAAAAAAAIg/tl7FCEBcDok/s320/DSCN2511.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319853186392052626" border="0" /></a><br />My girlfriend has been vegetarian for a decade, so I am supposed to learn veggie friendly recipes. No problem, I love legumes, but she is still a better meat free cook than I am. Proof was in this amazing hearty stew she made. Look at all the nice vegetables she included, I am particularly fond of the 3 Bs, Brussels sprouts, beans and barley, hence the title. This recipe was used on a stove top, but I am convinced it would work fine in a slow cooker.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br />(made on the stove)<br /><ul><li>2 tablespoons of melted butter<br /></li><li>1 leek, white part sliced thinly<br /></li><li>1/2 onion chopped</li><li>1 Cup chopped Brussels sprouts</li><li>1.5 L of vegetable broth (or cubes)</li><li>1 peeled and diced turnip</li><li>3 peeled chopped parsnips</li><li>1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed<br /></li><li>1/4 cup of barley</li><li>1 can of diced tomatoes, juice included<br /></li><li>Thyme</li><li>2 Bay leaves</li><li>Coriander</li><li>Salt</li><li>Pepper</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">VARIATIONS<br /><br /></span>Typically I also enjoy stews made with beer and meat.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />DIRECTIONS<br /><br /></span>Simple since most of the work is cutting.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Fry the <span style="font-weight: bold;">leek</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">onions</span> in the butter until wilted.<br />Combine EVERYTHING in the slow cooker, and give it a good stir.<br />Cook until turnips are tender. I will guess 3-4 hours on high, 4-6 hours on low.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE TASTIES<br /><br /></span>This is a really hearty stew and I can't wait to try it on the slow cook. Great vegetarian alternative.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-57278933913708056912009-04-01T15:02:00.000-07:002009-04-01T15:08:01.144-07:00Spices PT. II: Slow Cooker specificsI found these while digging around our cupboards. They are spice kits that with only a few extra ingredients (meat, vegetables), you can get a pretty tasty meal. My mom gave them to me as stocking stuffers and they have turned out really well in the past. Very flavourful. I think they are only available in the United States, comes in all these varieties and more!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPlZlJN3II/AAAAAAAAAIY/AeR48KalVpg/s1600-h/extra+spices.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPlZlJN3II/AAAAAAAAAIY/AeR48KalVpg/s320/extra+spices.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319847812484947074" border="0" /></a>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-4277511663379221182009-04-01T13:19:00.000-07:002009-04-01T15:07:51.631-07:00A College Kitchen Guide: NICE (SPICE!!!) RACK<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPQn-k_LxI/AAAAAAAAAHY/OPGl3aormsQ/s1600-h/NICE+%28SPICE%21%21%21%29+RACK.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPQn-k_LxI/AAAAAAAAAHY/OPGl3aormsQ/s320/NICE+%28SPICE%21%21%21%29+RACK.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319824970086297362" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPQn-k_LxI/AAAAAAAAAHY/OPGl3aormsQ/s1600-h/NICE+%28SPICE%21%21%21%29+RACK.jpg"></a><p><font-size=1>my mom's is bigger<br /></font-size=1></p><p>One of the best Christmas gifts I ever received was a FULLY LOADED spice rack. I moved into my first apartment just before the New Year, our celebrations were very well seasoned! You can see in my photo that we've run low on a few, but trust me there are plenty of spares. It didn't include everything on this list, but it gave us a great start and reminded us to pick up some herb when we went out. Canoe and camping trips really made me realize how important it is to not forget the spices at base. Nor should the wars fought for them be underestimated! Maybe that's why grocery stores package them nicely and charge a nice tax. I hate paying for spices, partially because of their sordid history, so I often find myself pocketing them on the way to the cash! How's that for spicy?!<br /></p><p><strong>Essential Herbs and Spices</strong><strong><br /></strong></p> <ul><li>All spice</li><li>Basil</li><li>Bay leaves</li><li>Black pepper</li><li>Celery salt</li><li>Chili powder</li><li>Garlic powder</li><li>Ginger</li><li>Cumin</li><li>Nutmeg</li><li>Cinnamon</li><li>Cloves</li><li>Curry powder</li><li>Dry mustard</li><li>Onion salt</li><li>Oregano</li><li>Paprika</li><li>Parsley flakes</li><li>Cardamom pods (whole or ground)</li><li>Tarragon<br /></li><li>Thyme</li><li>Turmeric</li><li>Cayenne pepper</li><li>Chives</li><li>Cilantro flakes</li><li>Rosemary</li><li>Dill</li><li>Sage</li><li>Savory</li></ul> <p><br /></p>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-60492507984616861102009-04-01T13:12:00.000-07:002009-04-01T15:46:39.696-07:00A College Kithcen Guide: Cupboard ClassicsThese are a few basics that I keep in our cupboards. Some of them may be unusual, but it is surprising how often some of them show up!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPkM4jMJnI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/ZDLgLWrhFXY/s1600-h/cupboards.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPkM4jMJnI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/ZDLgLWrhFXY/s320/cupboards.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319846494844233330" border="0" /></a><br /><ul><li>Baking powder</li><li>Baking soda</li><li>Bouillon cubes or undiluted stock for chicken, beef and vegetables</li><li>Brown sugar</li><li>Granulated sugar</li><li>Cooking oil (a lot of students just pick up olive oil, but it is important to have an affordable alternative. Olive oil is also important.)</li><li>"Cream of" soups (synonym for SAUCE. Chicken and mushroom especially.)</li><li>Dry soups (onion is really handy)</li><li>Dry yeast? (Look forward to <a href="http://susanalbert.typepad.com/lifescapes/2008/09/crockpot-bread.html">bread baking</a> in your crock pot!<br /></li><li>Honey</li><li>Tuna<br /></li><li>Canned vegetables (we like corn)<br /></li><li>Macaroni or pasta</li><li>Rice</li><li>Kidney beans, dried or canned<br /></li><li>Vanilla extract</li><li>Garlic<br /></li><li>Wheat and white flour</li><li>Vinegar (plain, red wine, apple. Combine for a fresh smelling drain cleaner!)</li><li>Worcestershire Sauce</li><li>Balsamic vinegar</li><li>Soya sauce</li></ul>This list if probably the most incomplete. Everyone uses different things more than others, the trick is in the gathering.Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-75756599192888371592009-03-25T13:00:00.001-07:002009-03-25T13:33:06.312-07:00Four Pounds of Pork by CarlIt was great to see my roommate Carl (the shorter one in the middle of my profile picture) take a shine to our slow cooker because it made me a little less embarrassed. Don't get me wrong it's a great utility, but aren't we supposed to be eating ramen? When I started looking through recipes, pulled pork sandwiches was one that consistently made my mouth water. I really love anything between bread, and most meals can be improved by being put between two slices. I was thrilled when I came home and saw his massive slab of pig on our cutting board and his copy of <a href="http://www.bhgsip-mediakit.com/r5/showkiosk.asp?listing_id=2227028&category_id=42956">Better Homes and Gardens Special Ultimate Slow Cooker</a> opened to the pulled pork MASTER RECIPE! The result was a shelf of tupperware full of delicious meats just waiting to be stuffed into your favourite hoagie. Especially tasty on some <a href="http://www.recipenet.org/health/articles/crockpot.htm">crock pot bread</a>!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScqT4epBC7I/AAAAAAAAAHI/Bz579x17asg/s1600-h/pork+ingredients.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScqT4epBC7I/AAAAAAAAAHI/Bz579x17asg/s320/pork+ingredients.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317224908571347890" border="0" /></a><br /><ul><li>3.5lbs <span style="font-weight: bold;">boneless pork shoulder</span> (bought at a local butcher! Exciting!)</li><li>1 large chopped <span style="font-weight: bold;">onion</span></li><li>6 gloves of minced <span style="font-weight: bold;">garlic</span></li><li>350 ml or 12 oz of <span style="font-weight: bold;">chili sauce</span> (ours was pretty ketchup like)</li><li>2 tblsp <span style="font-weight: bold;">brown sugar</span> packed</li><li>2 tblsp of <span style="font-weight: bold;">cider vinegar</span><br /></li><li>1 tblsp <span style="font-weight: bold;">Worcestershire sauce</span></li><li>1 tblsp <span style="font-weight: bold;">chili powder</span></li><li>Pinches of <span style="font-weight: bold;">salt and pepper</span></li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VARIATIONS</span><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.bhgsip-mediakit.com/r5/showkiosk.asp?listing_id=2227028&category_id=42956">Better Homes and Gardens Special Ultimate Slow Cooker</a> has a few recipes to use this meat for other than straight up submarine sandies. I am reading about an Asian soup that looks tasty as well as an apricot pulled pork sandwich that uses apricot jam and dried apricot. Some hot chilies would be great as well, I imagine pulled pork to be popular with patient cowboys.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScqT38GsrcI/AAAAAAAAAHA/_ttJhpi1s_8/s1600-h/pork+sauce.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScqT38GsrcI/AAAAAAAAAHA/_ttJhpi1s_8/s320/pork+sauce.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317224899300601282" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Simple for so much tasty meat.<br /><br /><ul><li>Trim fat off <span style="font-weight: bold;">pork</span> and fit into slow cooker, halving or quartering if necessary. Add <span style="font-weight: bold;">onions</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">garlic </span>as well.</li><li>Mix <span style="font-weight: bold;">chili sauce</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">brown sugar, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chilli powder, salt and pepper</span> and pour over meat and onions.</li><li>This is a recipe worth the long haul, so go for <span style="font-weight: bold;">low</span> on 10 to 11 hours rather than 5 to 6 on <span style="font-weight: bold;">high.</span></li><li>When cooked through, transfer <span style="font-weight: bold;">pork</span> to a large bowl. It should shred easily with two forks, add some of the cooking liquid to moisten.</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScqT5GMPt3I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/K4m1jQASDGM/s1600-h/pork+done.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScqT5GMPt3I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/K4m1jQASDGM/s320/pork+done.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317224919188092786" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Apparently this pork can be refrigerated for up to 3 days of can be frozen for up to 3 months. Makes a lot, there is a ton of this stuff in our house. Carl made a larger recipe, the one posted makes about 6 cups.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE TASTIES</span><br /><br />Big meaty sandwiches can do no wrong. Slap some cheese on that thing I could eat it as lunch for a month! Bravo to roommates who make great food and share interests. We seriously sit around the place talking about recipes we want to try. Take that parents, we can feed ourselves! I am concerned about the expiration date on ththough, how much longer can we store this stuff for? Best be brown bagging today!Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-82914412048280155002009-03-24T11:15:00.000-07:002009-03-26T13:31:22.038-07:00So Are These Enchiladas?Slow cooker Mexican food is something I hadn't tried yet, and I decided enchiladas would be the maiden dish. I've never had enchiladas having limited myself to fajitas, burritos and quesadillas in the past. I'm not entirely sure if these are what Mexico meant, but I was inspired by a recipe over at <a href="http://wowsroses.blogspot.com/2008/02/crockpot-chicken-enchiladas.html%22">Fud or Something Like It </a>that looked pretty tasty. Shredding chicken and mixing in sour cream and cheese? Sour cream and cheese are the essentials of any wrapped food in my opinion. I figured the recipe was lacking a bit in substance and spice, and I couldn't find <a href="http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/old-el-paso/old-el-paso-products.htm">enchilada sauce</a>, so I ran with this recipe, adding a can of cooked beans and some peppers for filling.<br /><br /><br /><div><strong>INGREDIENTS</strong></div><div></div><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SckmGq98dUI/AAAAAAAAAGo/LL0-vCPmY6Y/s1600-h/enchi_ingredients.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316822731142755650" style="width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SckmGq98dUI/AAAAAAAAAGo/LL0-vCPmY6Y/s320/enchi_ingredients.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><ul><br /><li>2 lbs or 1 kg or boneless skinless <strong>chicken breasts</strong> </li><li>1 package of chicken <strong>fajita seasoning</strong></li><li>1 large <strong>onion</strong> chopped</li><li>1 cup of <strong>sour cream</strong></li><li>Lots of <strong>shredded cheddar</strong></li><li><strong>Ketchup</strong></li><li>1 cup of <strong>green chile salsa</strong></li><li>1 package of <strong>flour tortillas</strong> (I used all 10 in of a small tortilla bag)</li><li>1 can of cooked <strong>red kidney beans</strong> strained and rinsed</li><li>1 <strong>green bell pepper</strong> sliced</li></ul><p><strong>VARIATIONS</strong></p><p>Something more spicey and more genuinely Mexican has been earmarked for the next attempt, but there is no denying how good these are. The sauce itself was a variation, so it shows how much leniency there is. I would add some spice to these for sure. </p><p><strong>DIRECTIONS</strong></p><ul><li>In a sauce pan, mix the <strong>green chile salsa</strong> with the <strong>fajita mix</strong>. I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, but it was very appropriate. I think enchilada sauce is mostly green chile based, so it worked out well. I stirred well, and added some <strong>ketchup</strong> to mild it out a bit.</li><li>Place the <strong>chicken breasts</strong> on the bottom of your crock pot. Pour <strong>salsa fajita sauce</strong> on top. Cover with <strong>sliced onions</strong>.</li></ul><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SckqPa6rMsI/AAAAAAAAAG4/I3Y3m_jeeRs/s1600-h/enchi_onions.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316827279499408066" style="width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SckqPa6rMsI/AAAAAAAAAG4/I3Y3m_jeeRs/s320/enchi_onions.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><ul><li>Cook on low for 6 hours.</li><br /><li>When cooked and well tender, transfer the <strong>chicken breasts</strong> to a large bowl and shred with forks.</li><li>Mix one cup of <strong>sour cream</strong> with the <strong>chicken</strong>. Also add the <strong>chopped onions</strong> from the slow cooker and a couple hand fulls of <strong>shredded cheese</strong>.</li><li>Grease some oven safe dishes and pre-heat oven to 350F.</li><li>Scoop the <strong>chicken mixture</strong> into the <strong>flour tortillas</strong> and wrap with <strong>beans</strong> and <strong>green pepper.</strong></li><li>Place wrapped <strong>tortillas</strong> side by side in oven dish. Cover with the <strong>salsa fajita sauce </strong>from the crock pot and layer with more <strong>shredded cheese.</strong><br /></li><li>Bake in the oven until beans and peppers are warm and cheese has melted. About 20 minutes. Seperate with a knife and you'll need a fork to eat!</li></ul><br /><br /><p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SckmG4yyT8I/AAAAAAAAAGw/RGeyx8DjBIQ/s1600-h/emch_final.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316822734854049730" style="width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SckmG4yyT8I/AAAAAAAAAGw/RGeyx8DjBIQ/s320/emch_final.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SckmG4yyT8I/AAAAAAAAAGw/RGeyx8DjBIQ/s1600-h/emch_final.jpg"></a></p><br /><br /><p><strong>THE TASTIES</strong></p><p>Really great, especially as leftovers. These can feed quite a few people and I would consider bringing it to a pot luck some time since it can be carried around in a dish. As I mentioned before, I will keep an eye out for enchilada sauce for the real deal, or at least try to find a REAL recipe. More chili pepper, since we ran out, or hot sauce. So good, especially the sour cream and cheese chicken. Sloppy messes but worth the struggle and the additional use of an oven!</p>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-92169968866676015712009-03-24T10:46:00.001-07:002009-04-01T15:07:42.304-07:00A College Kitchen Guide: Essential Utensils<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbRM6Z6-I/AAAAAAAAAH4/sm6fl7nMq4Q/s1600-h/POT.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbRM6Z6-I/AAAAAAAAAH4/sm6fl7nMq4Q/s320/POT.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319836673425140706" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Putting together so many meals has really helped developed my kitchen arsenal, but so has being the only child in the city left for my mother, my aunt and grandmother to spoil. Our kitchen might be a bit messy by their standards, but for three male college types we've done pretty well for ourselves. Since not everyone is fortunate enough to have three French Canadian mother's, I went about putting together lists of food and cooking staples that any enthusiastic John/Jane College should have to eat well. I got the inspiration from Kent P. Frandsen's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wheres-Mom-Now-That-Need/dp/0961539003/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1237917100&sr=8-9%E2%80%9D">Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?</a> which I bought upon moving into my first apartment. It cost me $5 at one of those subway book stands. We don't necessarily own everything I post, but I probably used it recently off someone else. Thankfully we have a lot of cupboard space at our place, because as you can see they can get pretty full. Second hand goes great with college kitchens, most of our stuff was donated by our parents and their friends. They've gone miles to feed the hungry.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbQ9wQTKI/AAAAAAAAAHg/6MpqF6epNYU/s1600-h/BOOKS.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbQ9wQTKI/AAAAAAAAAHg/6MpqF6epNYU/s320/BOOKS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319836669356035234" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Kitchen Tools and Containers<br /><br /></strong><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPhxIonoOI/AAAAAAAAAII/8rEFN9qL7fs/s1600-h/UTILITIES.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPhxIonoOI/AAAAAAAAAII/8rEFN9qL7fs/s320/UTILITIES.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319843819102380258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><ul><li>9 by 13 baking pan</li><li>Aluminum foil</li><li>Plastic wrap</li><li>Various sizes of tupperware</li><li>Bread pan (meat loafs AND baking)</li><li>Casserole dish</li><li>Can opener/bottle opener OBVIOUSLY</li><li>Colander/strainer</li><li>Cookie sheet</li><li>Casserole dish with cover<br /></li><li>Frying pan/sauce pan with lid</li><li>Good grater</li><li>Vegetable peeler</li><li>Pots with lid, one big one</li><li>Measuring cups</li><li>Measuring spoons (actually we still don't have these. Promises have been made though)</li><li>Mixing bowls</li><li>Serving and mixing spoons</li><li>Spatulas</li><li>Whisk</li><li>Garlic press (very handy indeed)<br /></li><li>Hand zester</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbQ8Kol9I/AAAAAAAAAHw/IeWDjdzM_Ao/s1600-h/TRAY.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbQ8Kol9I/AAAAAAAAAHw/IeWDjdzM_Ao/s320/TRAY.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319836668929808338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />EXTRAS </span>(if we were all so lucky...)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbzG03JlI/AAAAAAAAAIA/UUdOpzTFlXc/s1600-h/EXTRAS.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbzG03JlI/AAAAAAAAAIA/UUdOpzTFlXc/s320/EXTRAS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319837255906829906" border="0" /></a><br /><br />These were a nice bonus from either as thrifts, gifts or raids. The most obvious being:<br /><ul><li>Slow cooker crock pot! (Obviously, because you certainly don't read for the humour! Ha, ha.)</li><li>Food processor, with different deadly blades</li><li>Waffle iron (a recent addition, very valuable)</li><li>Baking dishes</li><li>Recipe books that are lots of fun to read!</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbQ9gEwyI/AAAAAAAAAHo/RocRxfYWIJA/s1600-h/BOWLS.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbQ9gEwyI/AAAAAAAAAHo/RocRxfYWIJA/s320/BOWLS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319836669288170274" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/SdPbQ9wQTKI/AAAAAAAAAHg/6MpqF6epNYU/s1600-h/BOOKS.jpg"><br /></a><p> </p><p> </p>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-50101484315222207472009-03-23T12:16:00.000-07:002009-03-26T13:35:35.564-07:00No Mo Beans Please<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Scfgq9QcfgI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/PpQ2km4traw/s1600-h/beans+done.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Scfgq9QcfgI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/PpQ2km4traw/s320/beans+done.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316464913736826370" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Baked Beans was high on the list of simple crock pot recipes to try, but I think this went wrong when I tried mixing maple syrup with tomatoes. It was in truth an awkward attempt all together as I hadn't soaked beans in awhile and tried to combine a <a href=http://gonewengland.about.com/cs/recipes/a/aabakedbeans.htm%E2%80%9D>number of recipes</a>. My girlfriend is a veggie head so I omitted the salt pork as good as that sounded. I also had to consider <a href=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3470/3380181652_5b5c707489.jpg?v=0%E2%80%9D>Grandmama Therese</a>'s French Canadian heritage so maple syrup was mandatory. The result was a very sweet, kind of dry, and slightly spicy mess. It was the night before Montreal's famous St. Patrick's Parade so I am guilty of getting a bit carried away with the warm ups. I will post the list of ingredients I wrote up myself to use only as an idea of how to mess up slow cooked beans.<br /><br /><b>INGREDIENTS</b><br /><br /><ul><li>450g or 1/2 lb or 2 1/2f cups of <span style="font-weight: bold;">dried white navy beans</span> (these were not what I expected)<br /></li><li>1 cup of<span style="font-weight: bold;"> tomato juice</span></li><li>1 <span style="font-weight: bold;">large onion</span> chopped</li><li>1/4 cup <span style="font-weight: bold;">ketchup</span></li><li>1/2 cup <span style="font-weight: bold;">molasses</span></li><li>1/2 cup of <span style="font-weight: bold;">maple syrup</span> (where other recipes used 1/4 cup of brown sugar, probably a good idea)</li><li>1/2 tsp <span style="font-weight: bold;">dry mustard</span></li><li>1/2 tsp <span style="font-weight: bold;">ground cloves</span></li><li>1/2 tsp <span style="font-weight: bold;">ginger</span> (I used dry, but I think fresh is the better option!)</li><li>1 tsp <span style="font-weight: bold;">Worcestershire sauce</span><br /></li><li>1 1/2 tsp <span style="font-weight: bold;">salt</span></li><li>A large pinch of <span style="font-weight: bold;">cayenne</span> (wrong?!)<br /></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">VARIATIONS<br /><br /></span>A whole lot, considering these didn't work out. The beans didn't swell as much as I would have liked, but they were still soft. As I mentioned, I probably shouldn't have mixed so many tomato ingredients with maple syrup, and some of those spices look out of place. They may be mentioned in maple baked bean recipes though, and I'm sure I will gives these another try.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Also this is a vegetarian recipe and I would like to try it with meat, especially since my roommate just found a cheap butcher up the street. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS</span></span><br /><br />Remember, this didn't work out well.<br /><br /><ul><li>Follow the directions on the back of your bean bag considering soaking. Most say something like soak beans in 6 cups of water over night<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span></span></span>but I needed to heat the navy beans before they got soft. <span style="font-weight: bold;">So soften up d'em beans!</span> Make sure to strain and rinse before adding to the slow cooker.<br /></li><li>I then heated up the <span style="font-weight: bold;">tomato juice </span>with the <span style="font-weight: bold;">clove</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">mustard</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">ginger</span> and brought it to a boil.</li><li>In a separate bowl I mixed the <span style="font-weight: bold;">maple syrup</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">ketchup, molasses</span>, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Worcestershire sauce.</span></li><li>Finally I combined the <span style="font-weight: bold;">strained beans</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">onions</span> in the crock pot and added the <span style="font-weight: bold;">tomato mix</span> and the<span style="font-weight: bold;"> dark syrupy mix</span>. I also added a pretty liberal pinch of <span style="font-weight: bold;">cayenne </span>and gave it a good stir.</li><li>Cooked on the crock pot for 6 hours. </li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE TASTIES<br /><br /></span>Worth trying again because I know a big bowl of beans can be very tasty. I would probably try without the maple syrup because I would like them better as a dinner. Already mentioned adding salt pork which I think could be really hearty<span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span>My navy beans never really swelled, and I'm not sure if that's because of how they are or who I am. I think I would prefer a thick, meatier bean like the kidney variation. People did eat these though and liked them, but let's keep in mind that they started drinking at 10 am!Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-36229059615949070752009-03-20T07:30:00.000-07:002009-03-20T08:27:43.351-07:00Must be the Curry, Beef CurryA basic curry, beef or otherwise, is good to know off the top of your head. Crock pot curries are really simple but are so tasty and filling on a bowl of steaming rice that I often have to hold myself back from announcing curry and a jug nights. I figured it was time to cover this casual crowd pleasure after Mark over at <a href="http://dabeefbucket.blogspot.com/">DA BEEF BUCKET</a> asked me a very good question, where's da beef? Well Mark, it's in the slow cooker, and trust me it will be pretty tender. I figure this curry recipe could easily work with some chicken, but the I really like the minimalism of this and so prefer to use some cheap chopped stewing beef. I threw this together with the ingredients I had on hand and it came out really well.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScOpb2-SFJI/AAAAAAAAAGA/faKboWNIMBs/s1600-h/beef+curry+ingredients.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScOpb2-SFJI/AAAAAAAAAGA/faKboWNIMBs/s320/beef+curry+ingredients.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315278281305625746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><ul><li>Splash of <span style="font-weight: bold;">oil</span></li><li>1lb or 450g of chunked <span style="font-weight: bold;">stewing beef</span></li><li>2 medium <span style="font-weight: bold;">onions</span></li><li>1 <span style="font-weight: bold;">green bell pepper </span>sliced</li><li>1 <span style="font-weight: bold;">jalapeno pepper </span>chopped fine</li><li>1 tsp <span style="font-weight: bold;">ground ginger</span> (notice the cute label my mom made for my spice kit?)</li><li>2 gloves of minced<span style="font-weight: bold;"> garlic</span></li><li>14 oz can of chopped <span style="font-weight: bold;">stewed tomatoes</span>. That is half the quantity we normally use.</li><li>1 cup of <span style="font-weight: bold;">beef broth</span> (we diluted ours)</li><li>1 tbsp of<span style="font-weight: bold;"> curry powde</span>r (if not a bit more)</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Salt</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">pepper</span></li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VARIATIONS</span><br /><br />Too many possibilities, vegetables to meat to what you serve it on. I kept this one simple, but I do love throwing cauliflower or spinach in curry. Some people also find many curries too tomatoey, and truthfully I do make many curries with a can of stewed tomatoes. My next one I might find a recipe that is just coconut milk or something, like a butter chicken meal. Also, naan bread mmmm.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS</span><br /><br /><ul><li>Heat <span style="font-weight: bold;">oil</span> in a frying pan and <span style="font-weight: bold;">brown beef</span>. (Is browning before slow cooking always neccesary? More reserach needed.) Transfer to slow cooker, leaving fat.</li><li>Fry <span style="font-weight: bold;">jalapeno</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">garlic</span> in beef fat until tender and add <span style="font-weight: bold;">ginger</span>.</li><li>Add <span style="font-weight: bold;">stewed tomatoes</span> and juice and <span style="font-weight: bold;">curry powder</span>. Stir thoroughly and bring to a boil. Add <span style="font-weight: bold;">salt</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">pepper</span> as necessary</li><li>Quarter your <span style="font-weight: bold;">onions</span> and slice your <span style="font-weight: bold;">green pepper</span>. Mix them in with the beef. </li><li>Top veggies and meat with pan sauce and add <span style="font-weight: bold;">beef broth</span>. Stir well.</li><li>Cook on <span style="font-weight: bold;">low</span> for 6-8 hours. We did hours on <span style="font-weight: bold;">high</span> for 4 hours and a few pieces could have gone a bit longer, but some were still very tender.</li></ul><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScOpbkg7_II/AAAAAAAAAF4/eim0U23NUBc/s1600-h/beef+curry+final.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScOpbkg7_II/AAAAAAAAAF4/eim0U23NUBc/s320/beef+curry+final.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315278276350704770" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE TASTIES</span><br /><br />For an improvised curry I was really impressed how well this turned out. It filled our apartment with a rich smell and my roomies were anxious for the spicey! I think we added a bit of extra curry to the mix since it was the last of it. Pretty liquidy but perfect to serve over some rice. I have since read a few recipes that brown the meat in flour and I am going to find out what the PROS of that method are. Probably something about searing...Man I love curries!Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-83408593050076087012009-03-19T22:04:00.000-07:002009-03-19T23:28:25.464-07:00Old Timer's Roasted Potatoes and CabbageSlow cooking doesn't have to take a long time, but detailing a blog can. One woman you really have to admire is Stephanie over at <a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/">A Year of CrockPotting</a> who tried a new crock pot recipe everyday for a year. She even organized a <a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/01/crockpot-diet.html">crock pot diet</a> which seems like too much effort, but a worthy idea. I found her recipe looking for more cheap cabbage recipes after <a href="http://slowcooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/pork-krautten.html">the pork chop sauerkraut</a> went bad. Right on time for St. Patrick's day, <a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/03/roasted-cabbage-and-potatoes-in.html">Slow Roasted Potatoes and Cabbage</a>, an hommage to our famine fleeing heritage! So potatoes, garlic, white cabbage and some oil is all you need and is pretty hearty and tasty. You don't even use water, the roasting is a neat effect!<br /><br /><strong>INGREDIENTS</strong><br /><br /><div><div><div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScMzi7UaPAI/AAAAAAAAAFo/dNOPGQlTuRU/s1600-h/cabbage_potato_ingredients.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315148660359183362" style="width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScMzi7UaPAI/AAAAAAAAAFo/dNOPGQlTuRU/s320/cabbage_potato_ingredients.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><ul><li>A medium head of<strong> white cabbage</strong></li><li>12 smallish or baby <strong>red potatoes</strong></li><li>10 whole peeled cloves of <strong>garlic</strong></li><li>1/2 cup of <strong>olive oil</strong></li><li>2 tblsp of <strong>balsamic vinegar</strong></li><li><strong>Salt</strong> and<strong> pepper</strong></li></ul><p><strong>VARIATIONS</strong></p><div>I wonder if roasted brocolli would work? Maybe that would be delicious. I don't know how meat roasts in a slow cooker, but I'm sure it could be adapted. I would have used a bit more balsamic, or at least stirred the veggies a bit more often.</div><div><br /></div><div><strong>DIRECTIONS</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScMzN9L5CEI/AAAAAAAAAFg/vdh_ZtOiHXI/s1600-h/cabbage_and_potatoe_pre.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315148300083071042" style="width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScMzN9L5CEI/AAAAAAAAAFg/vdh_ZtOiHXI/s320/cabbage_and_potatoe_pre.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><ul><li>Chop <strong>potatoes</strong> into cubes.</li><li>Slice <strong>cabbage</strong> into wedges.</li><li>Mix <strong>cabbage</strong>,<strong> potatoes</strong> and<strong> garlic.</strong></li><li>Combine <strong>balsamic vinegar</strong>, <strong>olive oil, salt,</strong><strong> pepper </strong>and stir well.</li><li>Toss potatoes and cabbage with dressing, making sure everything is coated in balsamic.</li><li>That's it, cook on <strong>high</strong> for 3 or <strong>low</strong> for 4-6.</li></ul><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScMzs4haQuI/AAAAAAAAAFw/o0X6S_xtpeo/s1600-h/cabbage_and_potatoe_final.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315148831407096546" style="width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScMzs4haQuI/AAAAAAAAAFw/o0X6S_xtpeo/s320/cabbage_and_potatoe_final.jpg" border="0" /></a>l<br /></div><div><strong>THE TASTIES</strong></div><div></div><div>I really liked this. There is no denying it's simplicity, affordability, and heartiness. I would maybe use a bit less oil, or more vinegar, or mix it up an hour and a half into the cooking time to spread it out a bit better. Could easily be used as a side to some meat (would pork be most appropriate?) but this is generally a good veggie or even vegan option. Cheers!<br /></div></div></div>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-34917026386114558722009-03-17T14:26:00.000-07:002009-03-17T14:53:50.034-07:00Slow Cooked CannabutterHow appropriate that I should have a particularly green post on St. Patrick's Day. We won't be chopping up vegetables today, that is unless you're trying out <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%E2%80%9Dhttp://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/03/roasted-cabbage-and-potatoes-in.html%E2%80%9D">Stephanie's roasted potatoes and cabbage recipe</a>, we'll be slow cooking noxious dairy! Interested in making it a group activity? Check out this friendly and hassle free <a href="http://www.box.net/shared/f41zv56sqs">recipe-dio</a> that I iMovied all by myself! Movie not as hassle free as I claimed? Not surprising! I've written some annotated directions for the less visually inclined.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br /><ul><li>1 Oz or 28 grams of pure B.C. shakey cheech (if you aren't fortunate enough to have access to B.C. bud other cheeches are fine, but I worked with broken up bud shake, and not stems of leafs.)</li></ul><ul><li>1 lb or 450g-500g of non-salted butter or ghee. I say non-salted because I will be baking and extra salt isn't always called for. I also used ghee because there is no water and so the THC is absorbed/distributed more fully.</li></ul><ul><li>2 cups water</li></ul><ul><li>Cheese cloth</li></ul><ul><li>Coffee grinder or food processor or hand grinder (necessary to rip your weed into flour)</li></ul><ul><li>Plastic tupperware large enough to hold two cups of water and your butter</li></ul><ul><li>Rubber bands</li></ul><ul><li>Plastic gloves</li></ul> <span style="font-weight: bold;">VARIATIONS</span><br /><br />Cannabis is also smoked ritualistically in cigarettes and pipes!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS</span><br /><br />Part I - Dissolving<br /><ul><li>Pour the two cups of water into your slow cooker and turn it on high. The butter will melt in the hot water and prevent any of the butter or THC burning off.</li></ul><ul><li>Using your food processor or coffee grinder chop the weed until it is extra fine and powdery.</li></ul><ul><li>Cut your butter or ghee into cubes, and when the water in your slow cooker is hot (20 minutes?) Melt the butter in the crock pot. Let butter melt completely, stirring to help remove any chunks</li></ul><ul><li>Combine grass flour and butter and stir in well. Make sure to scrape the crystal <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kief%E2%80%9D">kief</a> off the sides of the food processor or grinder.</li></ul><ul><li>Turn slow cooker on high for 1 hour. After one hour, change to low setting and let sit for no more than 24 hours. We left it on over night (a total of 15 hours) and it stank up the house, but is incredibly potent.</li></ul><br />Part II - Buttering<br /><ul><li>You now have a dark mess of dank green fat. You need to filter out the plant material to get the good stuff.</li></ul><ul><li>Fold cheesecloth over itself until it can serve as a filter.</li></ul><ul><li>Place folded cheesecloth over tupperware and affix using elastic bands.</li></ul><ul><li>Pour pot butter through cheesecloth into the tupperware.</li></ul><ul><li>When the butter has stopped dripping through, remove cheesecloth and squeeze out the remaining butter wearing your rubber gloves.</li></ul><ul><li>Reattach cheesecloth and pour remaining liquid and squeeze again. Discard useless dope.</li></ul><ul><li>Spatula and collect all the butter, put a lid on the tupperware and store in the fridge until solid.</li></ul><ul><li>When the butter has risen and solidified on top of the water, use a knife to cut out the mass of green butter. Throw out the nasty swamp butter. You can keep in your fridge or freezer for as long as your original brick of butter to use at well!</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScAY2hhK76I/AAAAAAAAAEA/pYuRlazEazw/s1600-h/cannabutter+done.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScAY2hhK76I/AAAAAAAAAEA/pYuRlazEazw/s320/cannabutter+done.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314274885286686626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">USE</span><br /><br />I would test out your serving suggestion by teaspoon and work your way up from there. You want to cook with about 0.5grams of grass per serving, so this recipe should make almost 60 servings by my calculations (and I assure you they are not extensive). I think it would even be possible to combine infected butter with clean butter for larger recipes or if you want to spread it out. Since the THC is ready to go, you can simply enjoy a slice of green toast and jam!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScAaj7s38eI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/83pfd99ZOk8/s1600-h/cannabutter+waffles.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/ScAaj7s38eI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/83pfd99ZOk8/s320/cannabutter+waffles.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314276764920836578" border="0" /></a>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-88437321233688808392009-03-16T17:51:00.000-07:002009-03-16T18:11:18.042-07:00Ditching the Blue Box: Homeschooled Mac and CheeseFinally a chance to try my all time favourite meal, macaroni and cheese! If I had to live on one meal my entire life, it would be mac and cheese with tuna. Some might cringe at the addition, as I did when I first heard the suggestion, but give it a shot and you'll never be able to go back to plain M+C. For the sake of experiment, we've actually made this batch straight up, and I found the most basic (and apparently surefire) recipe from <a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/06/crockpot-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe.html">A Year of Crockpotting</a> which has proven to be an invaluable source of inspiration. I would suggest some slight alterations, but it is a pretty solid recipe and worth the try for a healthy tose of cheesy comfort goodness.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb74UORQwsI/AAAAAAAAADw/Mulo0RU0sVU/s1600-h/mac+and+cheese.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb74UORQwsI/AAAAAAAAADw/Mulo0RU0sVU/s320/mac+and+cheese.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313957636655334082" border="0" /></a><br /><br />500g uncooked elbow macaroni (uncooked, SWEET!)<br />4 cups of milk (other recipes call for evaporated milk, but I just used 1%)<br />2 eggs<br />4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese<br />1/2 tsp salt<br />1/2 tsp pepper<br />1 tsp dry mustard<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VARIATIONS</span><br /><br />And there are many! Again I strongly encourage the addition of a can or two of tuna (maybe two for this quantity). It would probably be added in just before the noodles are ready to be taken out, as the fish just needs to be heated through. Lots of other possibilities as well. We almost went with sausage, but we had a vegetarian around so opted out. Spicey sausages would be great. Concerning veggies, I think onions or brocolli would go really well. Onions could go in at the start, but brocolli probably later on to avoid getting too soggy. Minced garlic would be super tasty. Some crumbled saltines and a layer of parmesan would add some girth and make this a bit more of a casserole. Our own personal touch was a teaspoon of cayenne better to give it a bit of bite. Seasoning is really important in this recipe, and I would possibly have added more pepper to the mix. Run with it!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS</span><br /><br />Super simple, nice.<br /><br />Grease your slow cooker well. I didn't do this and the mess is minimal, but I can imagine it could get pretty bad.<br />Beat together eggs and milk and mix in spices.<br />Combine pasta and cheese in slow cooker and mix well.<br />Pour liquid mix onto pasta, ours was almost completely covered.<br />Cooking times are a bit unspecific. My source says 2-4 hours on low, or 1-3 hours on high. Apparently it gets al dente after an hour and a half on high. We used the low setting since we were out of the house for a bit, and it was welldone after 3. After another hour on warm it was pretty mushy. This is a recipe worth keeping your eye on, especially if you like it al dente!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb74Us_wyoI/AAAAAAAAAD4/Xkt8Nb-j3U0/s1600-h/mac+and+cheese+final.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb74Us_wyoI/AAAAAAAAAD4/Xkt8Nb-j3U0/s320/mac+and+cheese+final.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313957644903434882" border="0" /></a>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-55842655088612819642009-03-15T18:16:00.000-07:002009-03-15T18:32:35.398-07:00Pork Krautten!For my friends and I, cabbage has been a seriously overlooked budget staple because many of our parents ate way too much of it during their youths to pass it on. We've used red cabbage on a few occasions, going for days living off a huge bowl of a variation of this RED CABBAGE SALAD to which I add carrots, green onions and canned corn. It tastes better and better each day I leave it in the fridge. I discovered the utility of sauerkraut after a 500 dollar trip to Costco in which one of the Most Valuable Purchases was a 4 litre jug of fermented cabbage that my roommate Max insist we buy. It proved to be a great condiment on sandwiches, especially ones made on dry bread that need a bit more moisture. I was interested in ways to use our new jar and found this really easy and basic recipe for pork chops. Unfortunately there were a few mixing errors, too much chicken stock and I don't think I rinsed the sauerkraut off enough so this meal was a bit too salty and vinegary hence earning the name Pork Krautten (get it?!)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rk98Y2vI/AAAAAAAAADI/TYJGP86-smY/s1600-h/pork+chops+ingredients.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rk98Y2vI/AAAAAAAAADI/TYJGP86-smY/s320/pork+chops+ingredients.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313591786958543602" border="0" /></a><br /><ul><li>15ml 1tbsp vegetable oil</li><li>6 thick pork chops</li><li>1tbsp all purpose flour</li><li>1 tsp salt</li><li>1 tsp black pepper</li><li>pinch cayenne pepper</li><li>1 tsp dry mustard </li><li>500ml/2cups sauerkraut</li><li>1 granny smith apple, peeled and shredded</li><li>125ml or 1/2 cup condensed chicken broth (undiluted)</li></ul>Note: Apparently the chicken broth can be replaced with 125ml of apple juice or cider, which I think would help kill the vinegar and certainly includes less salt than the undiluted chicken broth<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS</span><br /><br /><ul><li>Many slow cooker books advice to <span style="font-weight: bold;">brown meat</span> before putting it into a slow cooker, but it is a debate as tough as the old "slow cooking frozen meat vs not frozen." I think it is part safety, part grease remover and part presentation points (meat doesn't always brown well in slow cookers?)</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rleajI4I/AAAAAAAAADQ/ivOljt15Mjw/s1600-h/pork+chops+brown.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rleajI4I/AAAAAAAAADQ/ivOljt15Mjw/s320/pork+chops+brown.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313591795674981250" border="0" /></a><ul><li>Regardless, I browned my <span style="font-weight: bold;">pork chops</span> in the heated <span style="font-weight: bold;">oil</span> before placing them in the slow cooker.</li><li>Sprinkle <span style="font-weight: bold;">spices</span> on top of chops. Notice in my photo that I didn't sprinkle them all over. This was a mistake since some tasted more of mustard than others. I would recommend mixing the spices in a small bowl first.</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rlsTS5fI/AAAAAAAAADY/_zvOZkbyzMA/s1600-h/pork+chops+spiced.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rlsTS5fI/AAAAAAAAADY/_zvOZkbyzMA/s320/pork+chops+spiced.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313591799402653170" border="0" /></a><ul><li>If you're using store bough <span style="font-weight: bold;">kraut</span> as opposed to home made, make sure it rinse it off thoroughly in a colander.</li><li>Mix the <span style="font-weight: bold;">kraut</span> with the <span style="font-weight: bold;">shredded apple</span>, and layer onto chops</li><li>Pour <span style="font-weight: bold;">chicken broth</span> or <span style="font-weight: bold;">apple juice/cider</span> on top of kraut</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rlphkhsI/AAAAAAAAADg/lv5mroawZGs/s1600-h/pork+chops+kraut+and+broth.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rlphkhsI/AAAAAAAAADg/lv5mroawZGs/s320/pork+chops+kraut+and+broth.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313591798657222338" border="0" /></a><ul><li>Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 2.5 until the pork has a touch of pink left.</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rmMtWMBI/AAAAAAAAADo/UtWo8uySAdU/s1600-h/pork+chops+meal.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2rmMtWMBI/AAAAAAAAADo/UtWo8uySAdU/s320/pork+chops+meal.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313591808101855250" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Granted I didn't think the spicing worked out well, but the meat was super tender and I'm sure will work well as leftover sandwich meatsJonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-55087275587484390372009-03-15T18:08:00.000-07:002009-03-26T13:37:37.313-07:00Budget Beans and Tuna with AioliI tried this recipe when I was looking to incorporate more beans into my diet because they’re so cheap and apparently good for your heart. Another red meat free meal, it includes the staples of a frugal kitchen: stewed tomatoes, cans of tuna, beans and cheap white wine. This is another recipe with leeks that are sometimes a bit expensive out of season. Along with the clam juice, it’s often cheaper to try and pick these up at an ethnic grocery. Once I had this loose stew together, I honestly wasn’t enthusiastic about it and was warning my roommates that it might not be great. But scoop in some of the easy aioli and the meal takes a huge swerve. Finish the bottle of wine and you’ll have a proper French feast.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2nh42jlCI/AAAAAAAAADA/LYYsu061AKc/s1600-h/tuna+and+beans.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2nh42jlCI/AAAAAAAAADA/LYYsu061AKc/s320/tuna+and+beans.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313587336005784610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br /><ul><li>15ml or 1 tbsp vegetable oil</li><li>2 leek whites, halved and sliced thinly</li><li>4 stalks celery</li><li>1 hot pepper. Serrano or otherwise</li><li>10 ml or 2 tsp dried thyme</li><li>5ml or 1 tsp pepper</li><li>1/2 tsp or 2 ml salt</li><li>1 can (796 ml/28oz) coarsely chopped stewed tomatoes including juice</li><li>1 can (540ml/91oz) drained and rinsed white kidney beans or 500 ml/2cups cooked and drained beans</li><li>2 cans of tuna in water, drained and chopped</li></ul><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Easy aioli</span><br /><br /><ul><li>3 gloves of minced garlic</li><li>250 ml or 1 cup of mayonnaise</li><li>chives or chopped parsley</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">VARIATIONS</span><br /><br />Use another fish? Maybe not one bought in a tin can. Red kidney beans, more spicey sauce. This meal reminds me of the french bouillabaisse, so maybe something stolen from such a recipe.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS</span><br /><br /><ul><li>Heat oil in a skillet and add the celery and leeks</li><li>When vegetables are soft add the hot pepper, thyme, pepper and salt and stir for 1 minute.</li><li>Add tomatoes, clam juice and white wine and bring to a boil.</li><li>Stir liquid until it is reduced by one-third, about 5 minutes</li><li>Transfer liquid to slow cooker with beans and stir</li><li>Cook until bubbling on low for 8 hours or 4 hours on high</li><li>Add tuna and heat on high for 20 minutes</li><li>For the aioli, combine ingredients well and top on the fish stew</li></ul><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2nh42jlCI/AAAAAAAAADA/LYYsu061AKc/s1600-h/tuna+and+beans.jpg"><br /></a>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-38689664363543366982009-03-15T17:52:00.000-07:002009-03-26T13:34:03.078-07:00Classy Potato, Leek and Mushroom Stew with Blue CheeseThis is another of the 150 Best Slow Cooker recipes, and I made it for the first time trying to impress a vegetarian. I have never been fond of strong cheese but I knew that the melted blue would be super tasty. It’s pretty basic stew, but the porto-b shrooms and blue cheese put an elegant spin on it. Serve with thick bread and a salad and you’ll forget there’s no meat.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2kwvtnaLI/AAAAAAAAAC4/EeKXz0hCuSU/s1600-h/mushroom+leek+cheese+stew.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2kwvtnaLI/AAAAAAAAAC4/EeKXz0hCuSU/s320/mushroom+leek+cheese+stew.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313584292715522226" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br /><ul><li>14g dried porcini mushrooms</li><li>250ml or 1 cup of boiling water</li><li>1 tbsp vegetable oil</li><li>2 large leeks, mostly just whites, cleaned and sliced thinly</li><li>4 stalks celery</li><li>2 cloves of garlic, minced</li><li>1 tsp dried thyme leaves</li><li>1 tsp pepper</li><li>1 tsp sat</li><li>500g – 1 lb Portobello or cremini mushrooms</li><li>1 can (796 ml/28 oz) chopped stewed tomatoes, including juice</li><li>250 ml or 1 cup of undiluted vegetable stock</li><li>2 to 3 potatoes peeled and cut into small cubes</li><li>125ml of whipping cream</li><li>90g or 3 oz of blue cheese, grumbled. The better quality, the less harsh it will taste (apparently)</li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VARIATIONS</span><br /><br />Use less blue cheese since it can get pretty strong, or don't use it at all!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DIRECTIONS</span><br /><br /><ul><li>Soak the <span>dried porcini mushrooms</span> in the <span>boiling water</span> for 30 minutes. Keep the water, but pat mushrooms dry and chop finely.</li></ul><ul><li>Heat <span>oil</span> in a pan, add <span>leeks</span> and <span>celery </span>and stir until softened.</li></ul><ul><li>Add <span>garlic</span>, <span>thyme</span>, <span>pepper</span>, <span>salt</span> and the <span>porcini mushrooms</span> and stir for 1 minute.</li></ul><ul><li>Stir in the <span>portobello</span> or <span>cremini mushrooms. </span>Add the <span>can of tomatoes</span>, <span>vegetable stock</span> and the <span>mushroom water</span> that was set aside and bring to a boil.</li></ul><ul><li>Combine <span>potatoes</span> and the contents of the pan and mix well. </li></ul><ul><li>Cook until potatoes<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>are soft: 8 to 10 hours on low or 4 to 5 hours on high.<br /></li></ul><ul><li>When potatoes are ready add the <span>whipping cream</span> and <span>blue cheese</span>. Cover and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbling.</li></ul>This isn’t the most budget light meal even though it’s vegetarian, but it’s hearty and delicious and impresses the meatless<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2kwvtnaLI/AAAAAAAAAC4/EeKXz0hCuSU/s1600-h/mushroom+leek+cheese+stew.jpg"><br /></a>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-938927392391602107.post-42609038879915769552009-03-15T17:11:00.000-07:002009-03-26T13:32:21.104-07:00Slow Cooked Hangover CureI never figured that the slow cooker could be used for breakfast, but when this breakfast casserole recipe was posted on the facebook group <a href=http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=> SLOW COOKER RECIPES </a> it opened my mind to a whole new world of slower cooking. My roommates and I love big breakfasts, especially on weekends when you have the time to make a big mess of eggs and bacon and hash browns. All the randoms who passed out on your couches/floor/bed if you’re lucky, can get together and talk about the debauchery of the night before. Unfortunately after a night out we’re often lacking the energy or motor skills to feed a whole group of hungover college students. This casserole is the perfect solution because it can feed as many people as you want, it’s ready for you when your cottonmouth and headache force you out from under the covers, and the slow cooker keeps it warm for any tardy wake ups. Best of all, it’s easy enough to make while pre-drinking the night before. I made this casserole for the first time on New Year’s Eve while doing shots of Jameson and it rescued us the next morning. I modified the recipe posted to feed more, as there were easily a dozen people crashing our apartment. Honestly the units are pretty variable and there are many possible variations.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >INGREDIENTS</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2gos0zt9I/AAAAAAAAACg/7ath5-aSTdo/s1600-h/casserole+ingredients.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2gos0zt9I/AAAAAAAAACg/7ath5-aSTdo/s320/casserole+ingredients.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313579756454918098" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><ul><li>500g or 1lb frozen <span style="font-weight: bold;">hash browns</span></li><li>Half a package of <span style="font-weight: bold;">bacon</span>, chopped</li><li>1 <span style="font-weight: bold;">onion</span>, chopped</li><li>1 <span style="font-weight: bold;">green bell pepper</span>, chopped</li><li>1 1/2 cups shredded <span style="font-weight: bold;">cheddar cheese</span></li><li>45g or 1/4 cup grated <span style="font-weight: bold;">parmesan cheese</span></li><li>6 <span style="font-weight: bold;">eggs</span></li><li>120 ml or 1/2 cup<span style="font-weight: bold;"> milk</span></li><li>2 Tbsp. <span style="font-weight: bold;">flour</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">salt</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">pepper</span> to taste</li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >VARIATIONS</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2g9EH_CTI/AAAAAAAAACo/6WFm1Eqo_bs/s1600-h/casserole+pre+cook.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2g9EH_CTI/AAAAAAAAACo/6WFm1Eqo_bs/s320/casserole+pre+cook.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313580106306750770" border="0" /></a><br /><br />For those who like some spice in their eggs and might want to sweat out the toxins, any sort of chili sauce works really well and can be mixed with the eggs or layered if you like it really hot. Jalapenos can be thrown in with the onions and peppers. I would like to try replacing the frozen hash browns with either left over potatoes or raw chunks. As far as seasoning, I’ve only listed salt and pepper but we often throw in some dried chives and cayenne or chili spices. <span><span>For more formal breakfast meetings (like</span></span> <span><a href="http://www.thelinknewspaper.ca/"> The Link's </a><span><span> Board of Directors meeting) consider those who might follow a kosher diet and swap the pork.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >DIRECTIONS</span><br /><br /><ul><li>This recipe is all about layering. Start with a strong <span style="font-weight: bold;">potato base</span>, break up a third of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">hash browns</span> so you don’t need to cut through them when serving.</li></ul><ul><li>Follow with some of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">bacon</span>. I cut the strips in half to simplify serving serving.</li></ul><ul><li>Mix up the <span style="font-weight: bold;">onions</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">green pepper</span>, the third layer. Get some colour in there!</li></ul><ul><li>Top with loads of <span style="font-weight: bold;">cheeses</span>.<br /></li></ul><ul><li>Repeat this series of layers two or three times or until all your ingredients are used up.</li></ul><ul><li>In a mixing bowl, combine the <span style="font-weight: bold;">eggs</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">milk</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">flour</span> and give them a good beating.</li></ul><ul><li>When you’re ready to start, pour the <span style="font-weight: bold;">egg mix</span> into the slow cooker so it seeps into the cracks. It should fill to the top layer.</li></ul><ul><li>Cover and cook on low for 10 hours, perfect amount of time to crash and forget last nights mistakes, that is unless they’re joining you for breakfast!</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2hKhqWMmI/AAAAAAAAACw/xacKfcj6HSo/s1600-h/casserole+done.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2hKhqWMmI/AAAAAAAAACw/xacKfcj6HSo/s320/casserole+done.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313580337573802594" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE TASTIES</span><br /><br /><span><span>A good crock pot breakfast casserole is enough to warrant sleep overs, these things are wicked. In fact, the promise of an amazing hot breakfast the next morning is easy bait to alluring members of the opposite sex. </span></span><span><span><span>If you want a gooier omelet, I would let it go on low for maybe 8 hours? I would be interested to know if softer ones work out, because mine are always WELL BAKED!</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nd6JrhCXXuI/Sb2eu5FCjeI/AAAAAAAAACY/LqJ33crUvwY/s1600-h/casserole+done.jpg"><br /></a></span>Jonathan Metcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829348983425584227noreply@blogger.com0