Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken

 

Ingredients:

2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Salt and pepper

1/2 - 3/4 cup of honey

1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp. sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp fresh ground ginger

Cornstarch

Sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. Place the chicken thighs in the crockpot insert and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot.
3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours.
4. When done, remove chicken from crockpot and cut into chunks. Prior to putting the chicken back in the stockpot, combine some cornstarch in water and whisk it into the crockpot to thicken up the sauce a bit. Throw the chicken back in and stir around to recoat the chicken in the sauce.
5. Serve hot over a bed of white rice (optional) and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

I bought the jumbo pack of bonesless skinless chicken thighs at Sam's Club.  I used one and a half rows of them in this recipe.  The leftover chicken will be delicious in the chinese coleslaw bags of salad that we buy at Sam's everytime we go.    Perfect for lunch.
(the bags of coleslaw mix are so good, highly recommend - they come with the slaw, sliced almonds, wontons and dressing).  

Chicken Fricassee

Quick Chicken Fricassee

From America's Test Kitchen episode: Simply Chicken.

Serves 4 to 6

Two tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley leaves may be substituted for the tarragon in this recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thighs, or a combination
•   Table salt and ground black pepper
• 1tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1tablespoon olive oil
• 1pound cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed, caps wiped clean and cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
• 1/4cup dry white wine
• 1tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1 1/2cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3cup sour cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
• 2teaspoons minced fresh tarragon (see note)

Instructions

• 1. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Heat butter and oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, place chicken in skillet and cook until browned, about 4 minutes. Flip chicken and continue to cook until browned on second side, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to large plate.
• 2. Add mushrooms, onion, and wine to now-empty skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add flour and garlic; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add broth and bring mixture to boil, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add chicken and any accumulated juices to skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in breasts and 175 degrees when inserted in thighs, 5 to 10 minutes.
• 3. Transfer chicken to clean platter and tent loosely with foil. Whisk sour cream and egg yolk together in medium bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly stir ½ cup sauce into sour cream mixture. Stirring constantly, slowly pour sour cream mixture into simmering sauce. Stir in nutmeg, lemon juice, and tarragon; return to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Janice Prugh's Chocolate Waffles (New Year's Day)

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups buttermilk (or 2 cups 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar)
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
A pinch of cream of tartar (omit if you don't have it)

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and sugar into a bowl and make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, mix buttermilk, egg yolks and vanilla, then pour into the dry ingredients and combine.
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually fold the beaten whites into the batter, 1/3 at a time.

Prepare waffles following directions for your waffle iron. For our waffle iron, be careful not to overfill the iron.  Also, let them cook a little longer than when the green light goes on to prevent sticking.  These are very light.

If you like, serve with vanilla ice cream on top.

I heard this on NPR and it sounded good.  We used to have "little smokies" on NYD, but the kids don't usually eat them, so we're trying this and bacon instead.  Could work out to be a "wonderful" tradition. 

Tzaziki Sauce

peel and slice cucumber (remove seeds).  Salt and sweat it before placing in blender. 

Place a whole cucumber in blender. Drain juice.

Add sour cream (not sure how much, assume smallest container).

Add garlic powder to taste.

Add lemon juice to taste.

Add reserved cucumber juice for desired consistency.

also tried this with greek yogurt (plain)  

Stacy and Mark went to Tarpon Springs, FL for our 12th anniversary.  Mark questioned the owner of the Plaka restaurant for this recipe, so they probably deserve the credit.

Chili- St. Paul Style

A good basic chili with which the Jansens grew up. 

---Meat---
1 lb. ground beef
2 onions, chopped
salt, pepper
---Beans---
1 can chili beans
2 can kidney beans
1 large can tomatoes (whole) - I used fire roasted and it was good.
---Spices---
1 T sugar
2 t chili powder
2 T chipotle powder
1/4 t ground oregano
1 t cumin
1 t basil
---Bonus Item---
1 T dried epazote (herb that reduces flatulence) - available at Penzey's


Brown meat and put in crock pot.  Add all the other items.  Low for all day.  Note that a double recipe does not fit in a large crock pot.  Also, I added the chipotle powder (and changed to fire roasted tomatoes) from my Mom's original recipe.  I have had good luck with Penzey's Chili 3000, 6000 and 9000 instead of all of the spices, but the spices are the original version per Mom.

Deedee's Dumplings

Basic Recipe (Serves 12).  Made four batches for 12 people w no leftover

DUMPLINGS
1 - 1/2 C Flour
1 egg
1-1/2 T Butter (Use butter instead of shortening)
1/3 C Liquid (usually chicken bouillon or broth)

Mix this in the food processor.   Roll it out and slice then into 1/2" x 3" strips.  Best to roll out the dumplings and use a lot of flour so they do not stick.  Let them sit for awhile.

MEAT
Use about equivalent of 1/2 chicken per recipe.  If a pre-roasted chicken is used, take the meat off and shred it.  Thighs, etc. have better flavor.

BROTH
Chicken bones put in a pan with onions, carrots, celery, put in oven to roast until it's brown.  Add some water.   Don't skimp on broth.

Deedee likes the vegetable broth.  They do two cartons of vegetable, one of beef, then chicken broth. Throw dumplings in broth for 15 minutes max.  Drop in one by one and stir.
Then throw in the shredded chicken at end and heat it up

If Quinn is present, add one batch.

HISTORY
Recipe came from Grandma J. She always made dumplings with flour, milk, baking soda.  Deedee cold never get hers to turn out, so Deedee played around with recipes and arrived at this final version.  

Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 2/3 cups butterscotch chips
 

Heat oven to 375°F

1. In a large bowl beat the butter or margarine, granulated sugar and brown sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.
2. In a medium-size bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir until blended. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.