This week for dinner- Crock Pot Jambalaya

My husband has been out of work for almost a year now.  We were hoping to go back to school and my husband getting his PHD, but that isn't working out well either.  We haven't gotten accepted anywhere yet.  Either way though it's pretty tight around here, and isn't getting any better anytime soon.  So it looks like I might either go back to school myself or get a "real" job in the evenings.  I'm searching for good Crock Pot meals I can make before taking off in the evenings.  So here is my first try.  We love spicy food, and I've liked Jambalaya.  But this wasn't perfect.  I have some ideas for the next time.  Fresh herbs, instead of dried, and I'm thinking about trying it in the rice cooker, since the main problem was the overdone rice on the bottom and underdone rice on the top.

Crockpot Jambalaya
1 pound chicken breast sautéed and cut into pieces
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
28 oz can stewed tomatoes with juice
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 C uncooked rice
3 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
In a slow cooker, mix the sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, green bell pepper, rice and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme.
Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High. Stir in the chicken during the last 30 minutes of cook time.

This week for dinner- Spinach salad

Technically this isn't a dinner, but it's a family favorite at our house and we eat it so much I figured it deserves it's own post.  PLUS it's a great way to use up your leftover hard boiled easter eggs!  It's actually one of the only salad's I'll eat!  My husband (the veggie eater in this relationship) loves it, of course.  But the surprise is my oldest!  She LOVES it.  In fact we've been known to BRIBE her with it.  "If you eat your ...(insert something not nearly as good for her here)...  you can have more salad".  True!  But we're trying to teach the kids to try a bit of everything so they won't totally insult someone if we go over for dinner.  So I use what they like to east, like this salad!  The salad itself is easy, the home made dressing really makes it!

Spinach Salad
9-10 oz baby spinach
6 hard boiled eggs sliced
Jar bacon bits
½ bag slivered almonds
Grated mozzarella cheese
Layer eggs, bacon bits, almonds and cheese between spinach

Dressing
1 Tbsp red onion (about a ¼ of an onion)
¾ C white vinegar (I've also used rice vinegar and it works well)
1 C olive oil (you can use vegetable oil if you'd rather)
¾ C sugar
1 ½ tsp Salt
¾ tsp Dried mustard
1 ½ tsp poppy seeds
puree all ingredients, except the poppy seeds, in blender until it's well blended and you don't see any flecks of red onion.  Then just before serving add the poppy seeds, give it a short mix and serve!

This week for dinner- Pork Tenderloin

I learned this one from my Aunt Karen a few years ago when we were visiting her house in Dallas.  I was nursing a new baby at the time (only a few weeks old) and I ate a ton, and later that same night ate all the leftovers as well!  The pork tenderloin is great, but what REALLY makes it is the Roasted Raspberry Chipotle sauce!  Go out and buy some now!  The recipe for the tenderloin is sometimes right on the tag for the sauce!  My two youngest (AKA the meat lovers, they take after me!) LOVE this dinner.  My older two used to love it, but they're going through a weird food thing right now.  I like to serve it with baked potatoes or a risotto of some kind.  My new favorite toy in the kitchen is my mother in law's electric meat thermometer.  I think it's the secret behind the best turkey EVER this year, and has made my tenderloins PERFECT!  When we move out my husband is going to HAVE to buy me one!

Pork tenderloin
2 (1 lbs) pork tenderloins
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
Raspberry chipotle sauce
Wash pork in cool water and pat dry. Cut off excess fat and silverback. Combine rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Rub over pork and let stand 10 mins. Heat oil in ovenproof skillet. Sear both sides of each tenderloin, place in oven (preheated to 350) and cook 35 mins (until thermometer reads 160). Serve with Raspberry Chipotle sauce.

This week for dinner- Gunpowder chicken!

I got this recipe a few years ago from my Aunt Andrea at one of our Houghtaling World Summit's (our family reunion).  I think it comes from her side of the family.  I changed it a bit, made it larger and serve the rice on the side because we eat a lot more apparently!  Anyway, it's one of my kids favorites and I hope you all enjoy it too!

Gun Powder Chicken
2-3 C cut-up sauteed chicken (optional- I like to cook some chopped onion and crushed garlic with my chicken and throw it in too)
1 can Cream of Chicken soup (Lrg)
2 C + Plain Yogurt
1 sleeve of Ritz or similar cracker-crushed
1/2 C of melted butter
Poppy seeds
Cooked Rice
Pre-heat oven to 350. Mix soup, yogurt and chicken. Mix butter and crackers crumble on top of soup mixture. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Heat covered with foil for 30 minutes. Serve over rice. (can be doubled)

This week for dinner- St. Patrick's day Pizza's

We made Green Shamrock shaped chicken alfredo pizza's!  We actually made three, but only 2 fit at the table at a time.  The right is the kids pizza, with chicken, green onions, garlic, mozzarella and parmesan.  On the left is a more grown up version adding mushrooms and spinach to the mix.

I have to say I love my bread machine.  I don't use it as often and I should or even want too!  I forget about bread until it's too late WAY too often.  Which is sad because I love bread!  Anyway, I have a great machine with a dough setting.  We're actually big enough now that I really need a larger machine, but we're making due without leftovers these days.  I actually do 1 1/2 of this recipe and with the 6 cups of bread flour that's pushing it!  Last time my sweet hubby started the dough for me while I was out doing errands and didn't know where I kept the bread flour.  It was WAY less dough that way, and just not nearly as wonderful, so stick with the bread flour.  To get the color I dyed the water before I put all the dry ingredients in.

Bread machine pizza dough
1 ¼ C water
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 C bread flour
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp bread machine yeast
Place in bread machine in order of manufacturer’s directions- liquid first or dry first. Start dough setting. Knock back dough, roll out two 12 inch rounds.

So with the 1 1/2 recipe I get 3 pizza's out of this dough.  So knock down the dough and separate it into three balls.  To create the shamrock shape this is what I tried.  I thought they worked out really well!  I rolled it out a bit to create a circle.

I cut two short notches to create a stem and two longer notches to create the third leaf.

I tried to squish the corners back into the dough a bit so it wouldn't just turn into a circle with notches...

and rolled it out.  This dough is amazing, especially if you like your pizza dough thick.  It's wonderful.  But it doesn't create the best thin crust in my opinion, a bit tough for that.  Maybe if I cooked it longer...

Anyway, cook the pizza dough at 425 for 5-6 mins (and on a pizza stone, try it, there is no turning back it's terrific!), they won't be all the way done, but that's how we want it, since we'll be cooking it with the toppings more latter.  While that's cooking make the alfredo!  You can use store bought if you'd rather, but I have a great homemade recipe that's easy, foolproof and tastes great!  I added the dye to the milk and cream before I started cooking them.  In this picture the colors off.  I need better lighting for the kitchen pictures.

When the pizza crust came out half done I added the alfredo right too it.  When I first started making this pizza I added WAYYY to much sauce.  I know what your thinking, how can there be such a  thing as too much alfredo???  But it just doesn't work on a pizza.  It's surprising how little sauce you really need actually.  Luckily I learned from a pro (thanks Robert) who used to make pizza for a paycheck.

And finally add your toppings.  I like to sauté my chicken and at the end add the garlic and onions to cook just a bit.  I spread that mixture around and top with mozzarella and parmesan.  Really you can add anything, my hubby likes the mushrooms and spinach and I bet some of you out there have great suggestions too!  Through it back in the oven at 425 for another 5 mins to let the cheese melt and the crust finish and your ready to go!

We at ours with a green table cloth, with spinach salad, green cups and of course green milk!  I hope you all had great St. Patrick's day and even better meals!

Daring Cooks Challenge- Satays

This is my first month working with the Daring cooks, I'm also planning on doing the Daring Bakers challenge too.  Of course I had in my mind the 15th, so I'm off by a day.  Next time I'll get it right.  I've been following their monthly postings for years now, but hadn't joined since I had my own cooking/baking days with friends.  But now that I've been here in UT I haven't meet anyone as interested as I am in food and cooking/baking.  So I figured why not?  It gives a clear goal and a clear deadline and I get to try new things.  Right up my alley.

This month was hosted by Cuppy and the challenge was to do a Thai Satay, it mostly involves marinading whatever meat you choose.  I went with Pork and enjoyed it.  Next time I might try chicken, salmon or shrimp.  They all look and sound great (based on the other Daring cook's pictures)

Thai Satay Marinade 
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Thai dragon (bird’s eye) chili pepper (optional)
2 T ginger root, chopped (4 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 T fish sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)
Directions:
1. If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the pork and blend until smooth. Lacking a food processor, I prefer to chop my onions, garlic, ginger and peppers really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.
2. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.
3. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.
4. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak your skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers.
5. Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.*
6. Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.
* If you’re grilling or broiling, you could definitely brush once with extra marinade when you flip the skewers.


Peanut Sauce
3/4 cup coconut milk
4 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.

Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often. The peanut sauce literally takes 2 minutes to stir together on low heat (all you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, really), so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat later.

THIS was fabulous.  We all loved it.  It was easy to make and had a great flavor.   As for the Satay's, I actually doubled my batch, since we have so many people living here that I cook for, and we served it over rice with the Peanut sauce.  Overall we enjoyed it.  We prefer Indian food to Thai so we wished it was a bit spicyer, but the flavors were a great balance and I would totally make it again, maybe with a few tweeks.  But it has promise.  And I'm excited to get on with my Daring Bakers Challenge now!