EASY RECIPES AND STUFF

Three Easy Slow Cooker Recipes

Posted on March 27, 2013 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPE

When I need a great meal that requires little hands on attention I turn to my Ninja cooker. This week I am putting together three super easy yet wonderful slow cooker recipes.

EASY CHICKEN STEW

Recipe serves 6

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs- but into 1 inch pieces.

10 red fingerling potatoes.

2 C low fat/sodium chicken broth.

1 and 2/3 C baby carrots – rinsed.

2 springs fresh thyme

1 onion skinned and chopped

1C frozen peas

14 oz can cream of mushroom soup, semi-condensed

1/4 C flour with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp Montreal Steak seasoning mixed in.

Preparation:

Pour the chicken broth into the Ninja (or slow cooker), add the onion, carrots, and thyme.

Rinse red fingerlings, dry and add to Ninja.

Dash of salt and pepper.

Mix ingredients.

Mix the flower and salt and Montreal Steak seasonings in a large plastic bag, and the chicken thighs and shake to coat.

Place coated chicken in Ninja, and gently mix.

Turn Ninja on slow cook, cover and think of something to do for the next 6 or 7 hours.

About 30 minutes before you serve the stew add the can of creamed mushroom soup (probably does not need any water or milk) stir and add the peas which you have rinsed to clean and thaw.

Cover and prepare table for a great dinner.

EASY BEEF STEW NINJA STYLE

Ingredients:

2 lbs stew meat

One and 1/2 C beef broth

1 C red wine.

1 medium onion – chopped

1 C celery – (about two ribs) – sliced

4 red potatoes peeled and cut in half or more depending on size

1 C baby -cut carrots

18 small mushrooms

1/2 C frozen peas

1/2 C pearl onons

4 garlic cloves – crushed and diced

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

1/4 tsp Thyme (dry)

1 Bay Leaf

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Olive oil

Preparation:

Turn Ninja on to stove top high and add olive oil

Add the stew meat and cook for 10 minutes or until browned

Add wine and let simmer for a minute or two.

Add beef broth

Add soy sauce

Add onion, celery, carrots, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic, bay leaf and stir.

Add potatoes and stir.

Change Ninja cooking mode to slow cook and if on low it will take 7 hours and if on high 4 hours.

Thaw the peas and pearl onions and add in the last 10 minutes of cook time.

So, now you have four to seven hours to kill. You can probably get in 2 football games while you wait.

EASY SANTE FE CHICKEN SOUP Ninja Style

Recipe Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast

15 oz can chicken broth

15 oz can diced tomatoes

15 oz can white beans (drain packing fluid and rinse beans with water)

1/2 jalapeno -seeded and minced.

1 C frozen roasted corn (rinse in water to thaw then drain water)

1 large onion – diced

2 Tbsp fresh Italian Parsley – chopped ( and more for garnish)

1 Tbsp Olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp Scotty B’s Chipotle Fever Sauce (or similar)

salt & pepper to taste.

Grate some cheddar cheese garnish.

Preparation:

Dice onion, seed and mince jalapeno, mince garlic, chop the Italian parsley – set aside.

Slice chicken into bite size pieces.

If you have a NINJA cooking system or other such appliance turn it on to stove top setting -high (if not use a fry pan),

Heat olive oil and add the chicken salt and pepper to taste.

After browning the chicken for five minutes add the onions to sweat for a minutes.

Add the chicken broth, diced tomatoes, jalapeno, Italian parsley, garlic, Chipotle sauce. and stir.

Add the beans and stir.

Cover and change Ninja operating selection to slow cooker. If set to high cook for 4 hours and if low cook for 7 hours.

When timer goes off plate the dish and add a little cheese and parsley as garnish.

You just freed up a ton of time and made an awesome home cooked dinner for 4!

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

Cold Rotini Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Artichoke Hearts

Posted on March 21, 2013 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPE

This week’s easy recipe is a vegetarian dish that can be the main course for a meatless Monday or a wonderful side dish with a main course. My Cold Rotini Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Artichoke Hearts is as super easy to make as it is great. All you have to know how to do is boil water and open cans and you are good to go! But don’t tell your guests how easy it was to make because they will think you knocked yourself out making the awesome dish.

Ingredients:

2 C Tri-Color Rotini pasta

1 can 6.5 oz marinated artichoke hearts

1 can 10 oz artichoke hearts quartered

25 pitted kalamata olives – sliced in half

20 sweet grape tomatoes – sliced in half

1/2 C feta cheese with Mediterranean herbs

1/2 red onion thinly sliced

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp white wine

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp dry Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

4 fresh basil leaves – chopped

Preparation:

Prepare Rotini pasta per package instructions, and then drain water and rinse pasta with cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

Drain the liquid form the artichoke cans.

Slice any artichoke heart pieces that are too big.

Slice 25 kalamata olives in half lengthwise.

slice 20 sweet grape tomatoes in half.

Thinly slice red onion and then slice in half.

In small bowl mix olive oil, wine, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper.

To large bowl add pasta, artichokes, kalamata olives, basil and onions. And gently stir.

Add dressing and crumbled feta and gently stir .

Add the grape tomatoes and stir and plate.

Serve with french bread.

AND STUFF

I made my reservations for the International Food Blogger Conference to be held in Seattle, WA September 20-22, 2013. Foodista and Zephyr Adventures put on a tremendous event every year. My first experience was in Santa Monica. I normally am a little reserved but, the people, food, and speakers made for a truly enjoyable conference.

Last fall we were off to beautiful Portland for the conference.

The conference started with a Book Fair. Last year I enjoyed the books and speaking with the authors at the fair. And this year I plan to unveil my first book at the fair! What a difference a year makes.

After the afternoon sessions it was time for a taste of Portland. At this event local growers and restaurateurs present samples of the fine food and beverage.

Craft beer always a good start.

It was like speed networking. Each merchant had a few minutes a the table to present their fine product and then they would move on and a new vendor would come to the table.

How about black berries?

And how about a final event featuring world famous food photographer Andrew Scrivani and Chef John Mitzewich!!

If you cook, blog, or just like to eat and talk about great food check out IFBC 2013 for registration material for the Seattle Conference.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

Posted in Easy Recipes and Stuff | Tagged easy recipe, easy vegetarian meal, vegetarian pasta tomatoes and artichoke salad | Comments Off

How To Butterfly Cut Boneless Chicken Breast

Posted on March 14, 2013 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPE

This week rather than an easy recipe, I thought I would do an easy cooking technique. Here’ a pretty easy technique for doing a butterfly cut.

I got a couple wonderful air dried boneless skinless chicken breasts the other day. Only problem was the breasts were pretty thick on one side. And, only problem with that is cooking with a BBQ could result in the thinner portions getting dried out while at the same time the thicker portion could still be bloody. What’s a good solution? The butterfly cut is just the thing to solve this uneven cooking time issue.

Here are the simple steps:

1. Make certain your knife is sharp. For real sharp.

2. Place the boneless skinless chicken breast half on the butcher paper it came in.

3. Place the palm of your non-dominate hand on top of the breast to keep it steady.

4. With the thick part of the breast toward the knife, find the middle and carefully slice the breast down the middle until just short of the far side.

5. Open the breast like a book to form one large similarly sized piece. To get it flat you may want to delicately slice the seam in the middle a little closer to the edge.

6. Fold some of the butcher paper over the butterfly cut breast and with a meat hammer lightly hammer it to uniformly thin the meat.

Repeat above steps with remaining half breasts, if any.

Cooking Butterfly Cut Boneless Chicken

1. Preheat BBQ.

2. Rub a little olive oil on all sides of the breasts.

3. Have small bowls of your choice of BBA sauce or marinades and a brush.

4. With only the olive oil on the breasts, BBQ it on each side for 5 minutes on medium high heat (as BBQ heat differs with each unit times and temperature can vary).

5. Next brush sauce onto one side of breast and turn it to the fire for 2 minutes.

6. Brush the side facing up and then turn it toward the flame for 2 minutes.

7. Check to make sure the breasts are cooked through (small slice to make sure center is not red or bloody).

AND STUFF

I was reading an outdoors type magazine while on the elliptical at the gym this morning. Everything was fun and light until I came to an article about grizzly bear attacks in Yellowstone. I read about a couple who were simply hiking on a marked trail when they stumbled upon a mother grizzly and her cubs. The story sadly ended very badly.

In my earlier years I lived in Bozeman, MT. It is a lovely college town quite near Yellowstone and the ski resort Big Sky. I’ve probably been to Yellowstone a dozen times.

On the northern end of Montana is Glacier National Park. I have been to Glacier at least as many times as Yellowstone.

While I am by no stretch of the imagination an outdoors-man, I do love the out doors. My idea of camping is the kind of local little motel you find in such areas. I do not hike into the interior of the park and sleep in a sleeping bag under the stars. Nothing that extreme, ever.

So, until this morning, I had thought I was pretty safe taking day hikes on marked trails. I guess my thought process was pretty naive. Fact is, when you enter say Yellowstone, and pass through the cool wood fence and gate, basically you’re entering the animals world. Or from broader perspective a million acre cage full of wonderful wild animals.

I walk around, and they walk around, in their beautiful habitat. For me a lark in the park, for the animal just another day of survival. Very bad when the two paradigms meet.

Many years ago my friend Bob and I were taking a short hike along a gorgeous rapid in Glacier Park. It had rained earlier. The air was so fresh and the ground still a little slippery and wet on the path. We came to a more muddy spot and froze. In the mud were gigantic paw prints. Not being as dumb as I look I suggested it might be time to walk back up stream to the car. We did and I’m here to recall the story.

What does all this mean? At the end of the day there is always risk. You can minimize risk by staying alert and remembering that bears in the wild are significantly different than those jesters on the big screen cartoon . But, odds are the drive to the park is more dangerous. So follow the Ranger’s safe hiking recommendations and enjoy the splendor.

Still though, kinda wish I hadn’t read that story.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

Posted in Easy Recipes and Stuff | Comments Off

EASY TACO MEATBALLS RICE AND FRIJOLE BEANS DINNER

Posted on March 6, 2013 by easyrecipesandstuffc

I was reading the Mexican Weeknight Easy magazine and loved their recipes. But seemed to me there was a need for one more, my Easy Taco Meatballs Rice and Frijole Bean dinner. This dish is super easy and got a thumbs up from She Who Must Be Obeyed and my youngest son. This recipe is fairly mild, but you can always add more spice or salsa to get it to your required level of heat.

EASY RECIPE

Recipe serves 4

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1 and 1/4 lbs. ground beef

3 Tbsp. finely minced onion

3 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. dried cumin

Sauce:

1 – 15 oz can crushed tomatoes

8 oz can tomato sauce

1/4 onion – diced

2 oz canned diced green chilies

1 Tbsp fresh minced cilantro

1 garlic clove crushed

Sides:

1 can Frijole beans with 1 oz of canned diced green chili added.

Rice for four cooked per instruction.

1 avocado – peeled and sliced into thin wedges.

Preparation:

In a large mixing bowl combine the meatball ingredients with your hands, and then make 12 meatballs.

Drizzle 1/4 tsp of olive oil onto a large fry pan, turn heat to medium high.

When hot add meatballs – turn every few minutes to brown on all sides.

To sauce pan add the sauce ingredients and heat to slight boil and then reduce to simmer.

Make rice per instructions on box.

Near the end of cook time for the above place the beans and green chilies in a pot and heat on low.

Peel and slice avocado as a side.

Plating:

Make a little rice bed, add three meatballs, to the side on the plate add beans and avocado. Spoon a good serving of sauce over the meatballs and rice.

And there you have it, a great home cooked meal that was a snap to make.

AND STUFF

When I was younger and playing in a band that toured the plain states and southern Manitoba, in the summer whenever we could we would head up to a lake that spanned a small chunk of land between North Dakota and Canada. One of our friend’s parents had the only cabin on one island. And when the parents weren’t using the cabin the kids did. And when the kids had it, and me and my band and another band we hung with weren’t off playing somewhere, it all added up to a serious party!

What could go wrong late teens back in the 70’s, band members and other assorted long hairs, oh and an island. We would wait for pickup at the boat landing. Our friend and his girlfriend would ferry groups over to the island.

Once on the island the party would start and then grow as more arrived by boat. Eventually the group would span out with some would be water skiing and others enjoying the solitude and music. At the end of the day the bonfire would be blazing and everybody gathered.

That was a special time to be alive. Although we weren’t angels by any measure, there was no drama. No fights, no hassles, no problems just a bunch of young adults experiencing life. Of course it wasn’t all perfect, there was that nasty Draft, and as time went by a few friends that never came back.

I kinda think we were freer then. But then again, maybe I’m just recalling things through my rose colored memory lens.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger