Crockpot black-eyed pea soup for New Year's Day

For the past three New Year's Eves, I've had a pot of black-eyed peas soaking overnight.  Sometime on New Year's Day, between watching the Mummers Parade and football, I'll start making this soup. (It's a crockpot recipe - of course - so it's not like I'm slaving away in the kitchen.)

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is supposed to usher in good luck for the year ahead.  That's almost a bonus when it comes to this soup, which is one of my favorites.  It's filling and has a nice earthy taste.  I can't wait to make it this year.

Crockpot Black-Eyed Pea Soup
from Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, by Stephanie O'Dea (one of my can't-possibly-imagine-how-I-lived-without-it cookbooks)

Ingredients:
1 pound dried black eyed peas

1 pound spicy sausage (Stephanie used Aidells chicken habanero and green chile; I use Morningstar's vegetarian sausage)

6 cups chicken broth

1 yellow onion, diced

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced celery (I leave this out because I don't like celery)

4 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Tabasco sauce (to add at the end to taste)  (I skip this step)

Soak your beans overnight. Drain and pick out the undesirables (broken, discolored beans) in the morning.

Use a 5 to 6 quart crockpot. This will serve about 8 people. Dice the veggies, and dump them into your crockpot with the pre-soaked beans. Add sliced sausage. Pour in broth, and stir in Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for about 6. Before serving, use a stick blender to smash up about 1 cup of beans. If you don't have a stick blender, scoop out 1 cup of beans, blend them in a traditional blender, and add back to the soup. Don't blend too much---just enough to get the broth thicker and creamy-looking.

Ladle into bowls, and add Tabasco sauce to taste.

Wish everyone at the table a Happy New Year before taking the first bite.  (OK, that's not in the recipe ... but it's what we always do.) 

Creamed spinach in the crockpot

Truth be told, I'm usually more fond of the Thanksgiving side dishes than the actual bird itself.  I am all about the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the vegetables. 

Yesterday, my mom made an incredible creamed spinach dish that I just had to share, especially since I've been woefully delinquent on posting any recipes here.   (I don't have a photo of it, unfortunately.  It disappeared too fast, and my family doesn't understand the rationale or importance of photographing one's food.)

Even better, this creamed spinach is a side dish that can be made in the crockpot, making it an easy addition to your holiday table.  And even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, there's still post-Thanksgiving meals and Christmas for those who celebrate such, and New Years festivities.  This side dish would be a great addition to any of these holidays or your regular everyday meals.

Mom says she got it from one of her friends in the active-adult community in which she lives, so I apologize for not being able to give any more attribution than that.

2 packages of 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
2 cups of cream style cottage cheese (Mom used small curd)
1/2 cup of butter, cut up
1 1/2 cup of American cheese, cubed (Mom used only approximately a cup)
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour (Mom used slightly less)
1 tsp. salt

Grease crock pot and combine all ingredients.  Cook on low 4-5 hrs. Stir occasionally, put in attractive bowl and serve warn.

Mom says she added a little whole milk and a little piece (about a quarter) of onion, and removed the onion before serving.

There were 6 adults and 3 children at our table and this was enough for all.

Ratatouille (in the crockpot)

I had a bit of an eggplant dilemma over the weekend.  You see, I have a bit of a habit of buying unknown-to-me-produce at the farmer's market.  The cuter the name and the cuter the item, the chances are great that it is coming home with me, even if I have no idea what I am going to make with it. 

That was the situation last weekend, when I purchased these at the farm:

The purple and white globe is apparently a Graffiti Eggplant, the long and narrow ones are Green Goddesses, and the short round ones are the adorably named Kermits. 

(C'mon, would you have been able to leave a Kermit at the farm?  Especially with the meat case just a few dangerous feet away?)

So they came home with me and there they sat, awaiting some decision from me as to what I would make. 

Over the weekend, I had ratatouille on my mind so I turned to Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook  by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. Sure enough, on pages 133-134, there's a slow cooker recipe for ratatouille, described as a regional vegetable stew from Provence.

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, 1.5 lbs., peeled and cut into 1" cubes (I used the graffiti eggplant, one Kermit, and one Green Goddess because the graffiti wasn't what I would have considered large)

salt
1 medium sized yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2 medium-size or large bell peppers (green, red, orange, or yellow), seeded and cut into big squares
10 plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or one 14.5 oz. can diced plum tomatoes, drained
2-3 cloves garlic, to your taste, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
5 zucchini or summer squash , ends trimmed and cut into thick rounds
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, to your taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Put the cubed eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with salt.  Let stand 1 hour to drain.  Press out the excess moisture with the back of a spatula and pat dry with paper towels.

2. Combine the eggplant, onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, and garlic in the slow cooker. Pour over the olive oil and toss to coat.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 1-1.5 hours or on LOW for 2-3 hours.

3. Stir in the zucchini.  Cover and continue to cook for HIGH for another 1.5 hrs. or on LOW for 2-2.5 hours. The last hour, add the basil and season with salt and black pepper.  The vegetables will be cooked but will still hold their shape.

Some serving ideas mentioned in the book include serving hot with crumbled goat cheese sprinkled on top (this is what I did, especially since I can't resist any opportunity for goat cheese), at room temperature with lemon wedges and freshly grated parmesan cheese, or cold drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Serves 4-6.

"Fried" chicken (in the crockpot)

Summer isn't usually synonymous with crockpot cooking, but there's no reason for your slow cooker to collect dust when the temperature soars past the edges of the thermometer.  (Here on the hot and humid East Coast, there have been some days when it's even too hot to consider firing up the grill.) 

That's when the crockpot can be pressed into service, even for traditional summertime food like fried chicken.

In her cookbook Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, Stephanie O'Dea has a great recipe for "fried chicken" (her quotes) made in the crockpot.  It's a great recipe for these summer months for when you don't want to turn on the oven and don't want to step outside. 

Ingredients
cooking spray
1 tbsp. seasoned salt
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsps. onion powder
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. flour (Stephanie used a gluten-free baking mix)
18 thawed drumsticks (or however many will fit into your slow cooker) *
4 tbsps. (1/2 stick) butter, melted

* When I made this, I was able to fit approximately 10-12 drumsticks in my crockpot. 

Use a 6-quart slow cooker.  Spray the stoneware with cooking spray.  Combine all the seasonings and flour in a ziplock freezer bag.

Add the chicken and tightly seal the bag.  Shake until the chicken is nicely coated.  Dump chicken into the stoneware. Add the melted butter.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for about 6 hours.

In her notes, Stephanie mentions that she likes to munch on these cold.  So do I.  That's an extra added bonus of making extra - one less summertime meal to cook on a hot day!

Spicy Garbanzos

You guys! I made this recipe twice in the last two weeks. But did I manage to take even one picture of it? Noooooooo. Of course not. Even though I knew I was going to want to write about it here. Even though I knew I was going to want to write about it here this week.

Sigh. Yes, that's what it's been like around here lately.

And so, for my penance, I'm going to give you more bang for your blogging buck and provide you with not one but two sorta-different versions of this recipe. The first is from the Weight Watchers Fast & Fabulous Cookbook; I used to make all it the time back some years ago when I was doing Weight Watchers online and found this book down in my mother's basement. I continued to make it long after I'd stopped doing Weight Watchers online (or anywhere else), because I loved it so much.

And then there's the second version, the one I "created" just last week when I realized I needed a quick, easy, slow-cooker-based vegetarian potluck recipe using the ingredients I had around the house. It was--if I do say so mayself--even better than the original. Or, at least, definitely just as good. But I warn you: It may be the world's least precise recipe ever.

So let's start with the one that uses measurements and such. You know, the one written by real recipe writers, and not harried mothers.

Weight Watchers' Spicy Garbanzos

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup chopped green bell peper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup water
Dash of hot sauce
12 ounces drained canned garbanzo beans
1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1. Heat oil in saucepan; add onion and garlic, and saute until onion is softened.

2. Add green pepper; saute for five minutes longer.

3. Stir in chili powder and cumin.

4. Add tomatoes, water, and hot sauce; cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Stir in garbanzo beans, salt, and pepper, and let simmer, uncovered, until beans are heated through and sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes longer.

Couldn't be easier, right? Wrong! This is easier.

TC's Slow-Cooked, Perfect-for-a-Potluck Spicy Garbanzos

3 cans of garbanzo beans (or more...or fewer...depends on how many people you want to feed)
1 big can of diced or whole tomatoes (whatever you have in your pantry)
Frozen corn
About a teaspoon or so of minced or chopped garlic (I use the premade stuff in a jar that I keep in the fridge for when I don't have time to chop and/or mince)
Chili powder
Ground cumin
Ground coriander (because I have a baggie full of coriander I ground myself from cilantro that went to seed in my garden; it's been in my freezer for I-don't-want-to-say-how-long, and I use it in whatever recipe could possibly support it; this one supports it nicely)
Hot sauce (my husband's all about the sriracha these days, so that's what I have on hand)
Salt (I use kosher in pretty much all my cooking)
Freshly ground pepper

1. Drain the garbanzo beans; throw them into the slow cooker.

2. Open the tomatoes; throw them into the slow cooker.

3. Dump a bunch of frozen corn into the slow cooker. I have literally no idea how much; I do it by eye, stirring the stuff around until it looks right.

4. Add the garlic, chili, cumin, coriander, hot sauce, salt and papper. Again, I do this entirely by eye--or maybe I should say by feel. I know I like a lot of cumin and coriander, for instance, and enough pepper so that you can taste it. I know that you need more kosher salt than you'd think, but that too much is not good. I know that my husband will add more hot sauce, so I don't have to overdo. That sort of thing.

5. If the whole mixture looks dry, add a little bit of water; you don't need much water when you're cooking in a slow cooker, though.

6. Cook on high for no more than three hours, if that long.

7. When I go to a potluck, I just take it in the crockery part of the slow cooker with me, and I'm done with it. When I serve it to myself at home, I like to put it over brown rice or sticky sushi rice...or, really, whatever leftover rice I have around so I don't have to go to the trouble of firing up the rice cooker. I'm all about the lazy.

I made these substitutions, by the way, so that I don't have to do any real prep work--no dicing or slicing needed. In fact, one of the potlucks I brought this to was at my workplace; I threw all the ingredients into the slow cooker in the morning in under five minutes, put the whole thing in my car, and plugged it in in my friend's office--where it cooked all morning long and was absolutely perfect when lunchtime rolled around.

So now I feel comfortable saying that it could not be easier. Also? It could not be more delicious.

Meatless (TVP) mexican

I have had a bag of TVP (textured vegetable protein) in my pantry for probably a year now. I don't even remember why I bought it. I think I was going to try a meatless meatloaf recipe, and then the thing was so convoluted that I abandoned the idea. So, now... what to do with my bag of TVP?

The good thing about TVP is that it just doesn't go bad. It's like rice. You could take it out of a time capsule and eat the stuff. The bad thing about TVP is that it has absolutely no flavor, and you better be making something with some "oomph" to it, if you're using it.

Hmm. Oomph. To me, a food that always has a flavorful kick is anything mexican. So, I plugged some search words into Google and found this recipe. Of course, as usual, I modified it.

Ingredients:

1 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)

1 can of diced tomatoes with chiles

1 can of black beans

1 can of vegetarian refried beans

1 cup water plus 1 TBSP Better Than Bouillon No Beef Base (or 1 cup beef broth if you eat meat)

1/2 packet of taco seasoning

Directions:

Take your stick blender and blend up those tomatoes and chiles. Then, throw everything into your crockpot together and stir it until the TVP is wet and distributed throughout the mixture.

Let it cook for 3-4 hours. If you have a crockpot like mine (metal), you can speed up the cooking time and the TVP cooks just fine.

The best part of this recipe is its versatility. I decided that I wanted to eat it on a salad. My husband, a meat-loving carnivore, put his into a tortilla and made a burrito. After he inhaled it, he said that he couldn't even tell that there wasn't a meat in it.

Make it a taco filling. Use it in a burrito. Throw it with some rice. Or, make a mexican salad and crunch some tortilla chips on it for good measure.

Ole´!

POM Wonderful recipes

The good folks over at POM Wonderful contacted me via my blog and asked if I would be interested in sampling a free case of their 100% authentic pomegranate juice. Well, who is going to turn down a free case of pomegranate juice?

Once it arrived, I was so excited to have 8 little 8-oz bottles of my very own! Now, the question was... what do I do with it? Oh sure, everyone has had pomegranate martinis. But, I knew that this potent juice had more punch to it than a measly martini. We have all heard about the wonderful cardiovascular and antioxidant benefits to pomegranate juice, so I wanted to give this juice some substance. So, off to work I went in the kitchen and, lucky you, you get four recipes for the price of one post!

My first choice was not very inventive, but I wanted to actually drink the juice. I added some chocolate protein powder and ice in a blender with one 8-oz bottle of POM Wonderful and was happily surprised to find that I had created a valentine day heart chocolate-tasting shake in a glass! Something about this reminded me of the creme-filled "pink" chocolates.

My next recipe was a bit more inventive. I searched online for some ideas and came up with this one. I modified it, as I always do to recipes. Instead of fire-roasted tomatoes, I used regular diced tomatoes and some Liquid Smoke. I used sugar free maple syrup instead of the real thing, omitted the marjoram (because I was out!) and I also replaced the beef with a veggie version, since I don't eat meat. (side note: Gardein Beefless Tips were perfect for this recipe!) So, my recipe went like this:

CROCK

POT POMEGRANATE BEEF

(this recipe has a lot of ingredients, but it is worth it!)

2 packages of Gardein Beefless tips (original recipe calls for 2 lbs of stew beef)

1 8-oz bottle of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice

1 large onion, chopped

a bunch of minced garlic (I'm telling you, I don't follow recipes)

2 tbsp sugar free maple syrup

1 can diced tomatoes

a few shakes of Liquid Smoke

1 tsp cinnamon, ground

1/4 c raisins (note: If you have them, I would use golden raisins for presentation purposes)

2 tsp rosemary, dried

1 tbsp basil, dried

2 bay leaves

2 tsp thyme, ground

2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat crock pot, add olive oil. Saute onions and garlic. Add meat (or substitute). Saute for a few minutes (or brown, if using beef). In a medium bowl, combine all other ingredients. Pour into crockpot and simmer for 6-8 hours. (since I wasn't cooking meat, I simmered for 3.)

I will tell you that I thickened this up slightly at the end with some cornstarch dissolved in water.

If you're trying to eliminate meat from some of your meals, you won't miss it in this dish. My meat-loving husband said, "I could sell this." I served it over brown rice, but it would have been just as amazing over egg noodles. It reminded me of a cross between a sauerbraten and a hearty pot roast. I have been craving this since I made it.

The next recipe that I tried was loosely based on this, but I made it much more basic and a lot more healthy.

MOROCCAN SHRIMP WITH POMEGRANATE SAUCE

In a saucepan, heat:

Two 8-oz bottles of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice

1/4 c of lemon juice

6-8 packages of stevia

Thickening it with cornstarch, I heated it up and created a sauce.

Then, toss 1 lb of shrimp with:

3/4 tsp ground cuim

3/4 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 and 1/2 tbsp olive oil

and then stick them on skewers on the grill. Served over brown rice (and I sauteed some spinach with garlic for the side), it was easy and delicious.

My last recipe was really winging it off of this idea. Here's what I did:

PUMPKIN POMEGRANATE SOUP

Chop 1 onion and saute. Add one peeled and chopped apple and saute together until soft. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and approximately 1/4 tsp of ginger and simmer for 20 minutes. Add one can of canned pumpkin, 1 8-oz bottle of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and 1 tsp of coriander and simmer for five minutes. Pull off heat, use a stick blender (told you that I love my stick blender!) to blend until smooth. Add one can of lite coconut milk. Stir until heated through. This was just amazing and filled me up, too. I might need to add this to all holiday menus.

I have three bottles left. I have a feeling that some of these recipes will be making a repeat performance! Hope that you enjoy them as much as I did.

Maple sage pork roast

It's no mystery that I love my slow cooker...a lot.  The way things have been going around my house lately —what with snowmageddon before Christmas, all of us being in varying stages of some respiratory illness or another, and the challenges of keeping up with my child who doesn't stop until he passes out in bed at night—you better believe my slow cooker is my new BFF.  Sorry, Red, I still love you but you don't give me the warm fuzzies the way my slow cooker can.

What? Oh, am I freaking you all out a bit with my appliance love? Sorry.

Since I was all set to do my pulled pork recipe last week but didn't, I needed a plan to use my yummy pork shoulder roast.  As the temperatures dropped over the last few days, I found something too irresistible to pass up.  How could you not love something which includes a succulent roast, winter squash and maple syrup?

The original recipe comes from one of those publications one nearly always sees in line at the grocery store.  This one's a Betty Crocker mini-magazine of slow cooker meals dating all the way back to 2006.  Yes, I saved the magazine all these years because I'm apparently too stupid to realize that Al Gore gave me this nifty tool called the internet.  You, my friends, can find the original recipe here.

With all the aforementioned hindrances to leisurely and organized cooking in my household of late, I didn't have all the ingredients on hand.  I knew I couldn't use corn starch because of a food sensitivity and I don't use bouillon granules or cubes (I can't handle the msg and nitrates that are usually in those things so I avoid 'em like the plague).  So I did what any self-respecting cook would do— I made it up as I went along.

I have to say, it turned out really delicious.  Even my finicky eater who's just learning to chew meat has been enjoying the leftovers!  Now that I think of it, that's not a rousing endorsement as he'll eat pretty much everything. Hmmm...

My husband enjoyed this so much he's asked me to make it again with a slight change which I'll share at the end of this post.

Here's the recipe as I made it:

2- to 3-lb boneless pork shoulder roast

4 tablespoons real maple syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground sage (I didn't have leaves on hand)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups baby-cut carrots
2 small onions, cut into wedges
3 tablespoons xanthan gum
1/2 cup water

If the pork roast comes in netting or string, remove that and put the roast in the bottom of the cooker.
In a small bowl, mix the syrup, beef broth, garlic and sage.  Pour the mixture over the pork.
Arrange the carrots, onions, and squash around the pork roast. 

 
Do not put the vegetables on top of the roast or they won't cook thoroughly. (This is a great tip if you are making, say, beef stew and don't want your vegetables to be mushy.)
 
Cover; cook on HIGH heat  setting for 4 hours. (NB: original recipe says 8-9 hours on LOW)
 
Remove the pork and vegetables from the cooker and cover them to keep them warm.  Now would be a great time to slice the roast and put it on a platter or in a casserole with the vegetables arranged oh-so-artfully around it like I did.  (Wow, I typed that with a straight face; lightning is about to strike me.) 
 

Pour the juices from the cooker into either a sauce pan or a large microwavable measuring cup.
 
Mix the xanthan gum and water until smooth. Add it to the juices in the cup or pan, Heat and stir until it thickens into a nice glaze.  Spoon the maple glaze over the pork and veggies.
 
If you plan your menu ahead of time, you definitely should consider adding these yummy side dishes to the meal.  Homemade biscuits (they're easy, I swear!), superb applesauce and maybe even some roasted brussels sprouts.  And, voila, dinner is served!
 
 

**********

While I think this dish is absolutely yummy, both my husband and I tend to like a bit more depth and complexity; we like to play "What's in this?" sometimes. (Yeah, we're a little quirky that way; what can I say?)  We discussed several recipe modifications but the one which intrigues us the most —which I will make tomorrow— is to substitute garam masala for the sage for a flavorful Indian-style dish. I may add some chopped dates and serve it with naan bread. 
 
What are some of the ways you get adventurous when you cook?

Crock-Pot Applesauce

I like my food like I like my men: Simple.

(Sorry, Baroy. I just couldn't resist.)

But, seriously, I like simple food. Good food, real food, cooked with a minimum of fuss. You'll probably notice that as I contribute here over the upcoming weeks and months. Most of my favorite family recipes are on the sparse side, spice-and-ingredient-wise.

Which isn't to say that I don't like me some seriously exotic curries and layered casseroles. But often? It's a couple of ingredients, and a pinch of salt or sugar.

This is that sort of recipe. Simple, easy. And yet, every time I take the time to make it, I get the sorts of kudos you'd think would be reserved for a souffle. Applesauce is one of those things that most of us assume is just as good out of a jar, not worth the time, not worth the effort. Until we get the real thing.

Just ask Em, who initially ignored the bowls of homemade applesauce I put on the table the other night, until both Baroy and I began spooning seconds onto our plates of leftover chicken and rice. She gave it a quick taste, and looked at me, startled.

"I thought I hated applesauce," she said. "But I guess I like real applesauce. It tastes like the inside of an apple pie!"

"That's because it is the inside of an apple pie," I replied.

Anyway, if you try this recipe and it doesn't do it for you, feel free to re-embrace the store-bought, and I won't say a word, I promise. But give it a go, just once. I'm fairly certain you'll never go back.

Crock-Pot Applesauce

About three pounds of apples (I like to mix it up as much as possible; the ones you see at left are Granny Smiths and Pink Ladies, from my local farmer's market, but any variety of sweet and tart will do.)

juice from one lemon

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Core, peel, and chop up the apples, adding them to your slow cooker as you go. (I "messily" peel my apples; I like the color a little bit of peel adds to the sauce, and it pretty much disintegrates as the apples cook, anyway. But if you're going to want super-smooth sauce, you may want to be more fussy about it than I am.)

After every couple of apples, I drizzle in some of the lemon juice and stir, to try to prevent the apples from browning while I prepare the rest. If you don't care about that, just add the lemon juice after you've finished with the apples.

2. Add brown sugar; stir in with apples and lemon juice.

3. Cover slow cooker with lid; cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.

4. Add cinnamon, but only if you like cinnamon, obviously. No harm, no foul if you leave it out. As for me, I usually start with about half a teaspoon, do the next step, taste, then add the rest if I feel it needs it.

5. Take a potato masher, and mash up the apples. If they aren't super-soft and mashable, re-cover and give them another hour or so in the slow cooker.

6. If you like your applesauce very smooth, you could always puree it with a blender or hand-blender, or put it through a food processor. Me, I like it with a little texture, so I've never done so.

And that's it, my friends.

Well, that's it except for the most important of questions: Served hot, or cold? In my mind, almost all foods are better when hot. Even in the summer, my stomach tends to crave warmth. Baroy, on the other hand, likes it cold. (I was going to revisit that whole "like he likes his women" concept here, but, um...no.) So I actually split this batch into two, put both in the fridge (since we didn't eat it the night I made it), then microwaved my portion for dinner the next night and left his cold. I thought that was big of me. Don't you?

So...What about you guys? Warm applesauce, or cold? Just don't say no applesauce at all. Because that will make me cry.