Weekend Slow Cooker Irish Stew

I would say this particular recipe would be most suitable for the weekend because it requires a little bit more work than just tossing it in the slow cooker. I came up with this after looking at a number of different recipes, and I think it turned out pretty good. The Guinness and Jameson give it a very rich flavor, and the combination of spice and flavor create an aromatic experience that fills the whole house. If you make this with lamb, be sure to call your butcher ahead of time, as it is not something that our local butcher carries on a regular basis. We ended up purchasing a 5.5 pounder and froze half of it. I really liked working with lamb for the first time, the color and texture were amazing and the flavor was out of this world. One of the things I debated was slow cooking this all day with quick cooking tapioca to create more of a gravy or adding in a roux at the end; I opted for the roux, and thought that the thickness of the "gravy" was a little thin, but I kind of liked it that way. My cousin Amanda made some "champ" and Irish soda bread...the stew was great served over the champ. Hopefully she'll post links to those two recipes on here!

Don't forget to use those slow cooker bags! It seriously saves time in clean up! As ususal when I make up recipes I just dump stuff in, I'll give you my best guess for measurements.

Ingredients:

• 1.5-2 pounds bonlessl lamb- trimmed of fat and cut into bite sized pieces
• olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups carrot chopped
• 3 ribs celery - with celery leaves if possible!
• 2 med. yellow onions quartered
• 6 cloves garlic -minced
• 1.5 pounds new potatoes quartered
• 1 shot Jameson whiskey
• 1 bottle Guinness
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon (+) thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour

Directions:

• Liberally salt and pepper the lamb and sprinkle with thyme
• In a large heavy skillet heat olive oil and brown the lamb on all sides
• place all vegetables, bay leaves, and garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker, lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper and thyme
• When lamb is finished browning, remove from skillet and add to slow cooker. Drain fat from skillet and return to heat.
• Add Jameson to the skillet and use it to lift any lamb bits off the bottom of the pan, add Guinness, beef broth, Worcestershire, tomato paste, sugar, tomato paste, thyme, and salt/pepper to taste - bring to a boil
• Pour the beer, whiskey and broth mixture over the lamb and vegetables in the slow cooker and stir to combine
• Slow cook on low for 8-9 hours (or longer)
• About 30 minutes before serving, begin making the roux
• melt about 2 tablespoons butter in a small skillet and add 2 tablespoons flour - stir with wooden spoon until medium brown in color
• Stir the roux into the slow cooker and allow to cook for at least 10 more minutes
• Serve in bowls or over mashed potatoes (or Amanda's champ!)

Slow Cooked Pork and Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Apricot Glaze

Hooray for slow cooker Monday! We used a slow cooker liner for the first time today, and I cannot believe we haven't used them before! They're made by Reynolds and it took 10 minutes and 4 gallons of water off of our clean up time.

The combination of spices - featuring anise - a spice that tastes like black licorice, and the sweetness of the apricot nectar make the meal refreshing and sweet. I bet it would be great paired with a sauvignon blanc.

I also think the whole meal needs an additional vegetable, but I'm sort of stumped when it comes to deciding what to add. Pineapple and cottage cheese might be good or perhaps some broccoli and carrots with tarragon and salt and pepper (steamed in those new Zip Lock Zip n' Steam microwave steamer bags of course).

Ingredients

• 2-3 pound boneless pork roast - trimmed of fat
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon tarragon
• 1 teaspoon anise - crushed with mortar and pestle or a spoon
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup apricot nectar (located in the health/organic food section with the juice)
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup additional apricot nectar

Directions:

• In a small bowl mix together salt, tarragon, anise, pepper and garlic - rub the spice mixture liberally into the pork roast
• Layer sweet potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker first and place the roast on top
• pour can of chicken broth and 1/2 cup apricot nectar on top of roast
• cook on low for 7 hours
• Prior to serving, remove the roast from the slow cooker and allow it to rest while you finish the meal
• Using a slotted spoon remove the sweet potatoes from the slow cooker, transfer to a bowl and mash using spoon or potato masher
• Transfer two cups of the juice from the slow cooker into a medium sized sauce pan and add 1/4 cup of apricot nectar and the cornstarch whisk together until the mixture becomes thick and bubbly
• Serve the pork on top of the mashed sweet potatoes and spoon the glaze over both

Suggestions for left overs:

"Pull" the pork and reheat later with bbq sauce for a quick sandwich - the mashed sweet potatoes would be a nice side.

Taco Soup for my first blog!

Taco Soup
1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 15 oz. can corn
1 16 oz. can kidney beans, drained
1 15 oz. can chili beans
2-14 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 4 oz. can green chilis
2 cups chicken broth (reduced fat/fat free)

-Brown meat with the onion (I added a little olive oil to the skillet first and got the onion a little soft before adding the meat)
-Transfer meat/onion to crock pot, add the rest of the ingredients and stir! Voila!
-Cook on low @ 8-10 hours
-If you'd rather make it in a pot on the stove, I'd bring everyhing to a boil for about 10-15 minutes, then turn down the heat and let it simmer for 3-4 hours

Slow Cooked Pork and Potato Stew

I love coking home and smelling dinner when I walk through the door! We're making more slow cooker recipes right now b/c it's just easier - especially on the late nights at the gym. I make everything the night before and store it in fridge to save morning time. This recipe took a little extra time when I prepped it out the evening before, but it's worth it. It also made quite a bit, so we ended up using "food saving" and freezing about half; I'll thaw it out next week and re-heat! It was pretty good the way it was, but I was expecting a little more of a kick - next time I'm going to try a few different things - my suggestions are at the bottom.

Ingredients:

• apprx. 2 pounds pork tenderloin
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound new potatoes, quartered
• 3 stalks celery sliced - including the leaves
• 1 1/2 cup of chopped carrots
• 1 yellow onion - chopped
• 2 green peppers - cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1 carton of chicken broth
• 1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes undrained
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• kosher salt to taste
• Brown rice or noodles for serving

Directions

• In skillet heat the olive oil. Trim the pork tenderloin of any fat and cut it into 1 inch (bite sized) pieces, and brown pieces in the skillet. Drain off fat.
• In bowl of crock pot combine all of the ingredients (except rice/noodles) and stir well.
• Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.
• Serve over brown rice or noodles

Suggestions for next time:

This had a really nice cinnamon flavor, but since I was expecting more of a "kick" in flavor, I think I might add cayenne pepper next time. I would also suggest adding a bay leaf (or two) while cooking, and maybe right before serving add some frozen peas, turn the slowcooker up to high to heat through and then serve. This could definitely be turned into soup if you add more broth and cut back on the pork.

In fact, I have a container in the fridge to eat for lunch this week and I might add a can of chicken broth to it with some wheat pasta or orzo, and a sprinkle of nutmeg for a pork and noodle soup. I'll keep you posted!

Not a Crock Crock-pot Lentil Chili!

Jason and I had this on Monday night - talk about a surprise! It's a vegetarian dish, but it tastes like meaty chili - go figure!

Ingredients

• 1 medium-size onion diced
• 1 red bell pepper seeded and diced
• 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped - watch out for those seeds!
• 2-3 ribs celery
• 1-2 cups carrots chopped (just depends on how much you like carrots!)
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 1/2 (1 small bag) dried brown lentils rinsed and picked over
• 2 cartons chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt to taste

Directions

• Combine all ingredient - except olive oil and salt - in a slow cooker
• Cover and cook on LOW 7-8 hours
• Before serving add olive oil and salt to taste

Serving and Leftover Recommendations

• This stuff tastes great served over brown rice
• You also might want to try serving it up with sour cream, chopped green onion and fresh tomatoes
• Next time I think we're going to add chick peas
• We're planning on using the leftovers tomorrow night in some vegetarian quesadillas or burritos with some cheese, black beans and maybe chopped broccoli