Brine for poultry

1.5 Gallons (6 Qts, 24 cups) H20
1.5 cups Coarse Kosher salt (no iodine) less if finer
1 cup brown sugar
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 onion
1 tbs pepper corns
1 bay leaf
6 cloves garlic

chop vegetables, 1/8 onion
combine all ingredients in stock pot
bring to boil
cool to refrigerator temp

Brine poultry 1 hr per pound - in refrigerated space

Crockpot Roast Beef Deluxe

3-4 lb roast
3 med Potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
1 sm - med Rutabaga cut into 1 inch cubes
4 Med Carrots halved then cut into 1 inch pieces
1 Med onion 12th'd
2 Ribs celery cut up 1/2 inch pieces
Olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry sherry
salt pepper to taste
dash of wocesteshire

Place vegetables in bottom of pot
coat roast in oil, rub with salt and pepper (or rub)
Brown on all sides in skillet, place in crock pot
dash of wosterschire
pour in water, then sherry over the roast

High 4 - 5 hours.

Crock Pot Roast Minimalist

3-4 lb Roast
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup BBQ Sauce
1 TBS Garlic
1 TBS spicy brown mustard
2 TBS Wocstershire Sause

Brown Roast, place in pot, cover with tomatoes
Mix remaining ingredients, spoon over roast
Low for 8 - 10
high for 4-5

Baked Risotto

Sam the cooking guy nailed this! I use less liquid than he does - link below. My original recipe sucked great globs of starch!

1 cup risotto
1 can chicken broth (14.5 oz)
1/2 cup dry (white) vermouth or dry sherry
1 cup half and half
2 tbs butter
1/4 med onion diced fine
2 cloves garlic chopped
ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup finely grated Locatelli cheese

preheat oven to 350 - it may help to preheat 2 qt casserole
sautee the onion and garlic in oil until onions are translucent
stir in rice until butter absorbed
stir in vermouth - cook on high until most of vermouth is absorbed
pour in broth and half and half, bring to boil
pour into (preheated?) oven safe casserole
cover, cook 18 minutes

stir in pepper and cheese, additional ingredients (mushrooms, asparagus tips, red pepper, peas, lobster, crab, chopped prosciutto) add milk as needed to thin

garnish with drizzle of olive oil, (paprika, parsley, basil)

Sam the cooking guy: http://www.thecookingguy.com/cookbook/recipe.php?id=188


DO NOT FOLLOW THE RECIPE BELOW - cooked too long & too much liquid. A precursor to Savory Rice pudding...

There are several different opinions as to liquid v. rice ratio and Temp and Time

1.5 cups Risotto (arborio)
2 cans broth (14.5 oz x 2 = 29 oz)
3 TBS oil (2 butter + 1 olio)
1/2 cup vermouth
1/2 cup milk
total = 37 oz liquid : 1.5 cups 20 oz dry rice

1/2 med onion chopped fine
2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup finely grated Locatelli cheese

sauteed vegetables Mushrooms, spinach, red bell peppers salt & pepper to taste

preheat oven to 350
sautee the onion and garlic in oil until onions are translucent
stir in rice coat rice with oil
stir in vermouth - 2 minutes until vermouth is absorbed too
pour in broth and milk, bring to boil
pour into oven safe casserole
cover 40 minutes

stir in sauteed vegetables and cheese

Split Chicken Breasts

4-6 Breasts

Paprika Rub:
1.5 TBS Paprika
0.5 TSP seasoned salt
1.5 TSB Lemon Juice
1 TSB white Vermouth
1 TSB Olve Oil

combine rub ingredients, rub chicken

400 for 52 min

Food Safety Links

Mixed comments on blogs regarding using a frozen roast into a crock-pot. It didn't defrost all of the way in the fridge overnight so I microwaved it on defrost for 10 minutes, browned it and then threw it into the crock-pot.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Focus_On_Slow_Cooker_Safety/index.asp

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Big_Thaw/index.asp

Chicken & potatoes

350 1 hr 45min - 2hr

Blend Pepper, Salt, Paprika in dish
Quarter Potatoes to cover bottom Pyrex Dish

coat potatoes w/ olive oil and McCormick Szechuan blend

Rub inside of chicken w/ blend
stuff w/ 1 apple 4 cloves garlic
coat chix w/ vermouth
Rub chix w Szego Chix rub

Random Thoughts

Food is Love.

You can sautee Onions without Garlic and Garlic without Onions. But why?

Pork Roast 1

2-4 lb Pork Roast
1 Tsp ea. Garlic Powder, Paprika, thyme
2 Tbs Dried Onion
1/2 tsp ea. salt, pepper
mix spices
1/2 - 1 cup white wine
Place pork in baking pan, pour wine over pork, rub with spices

roast @ 350 until 161 apparently about 1 3/4 - 2 hr

I'm trying to roast with potatoes and carrots - raise to 395 for last 1/2 hour.

Pull roast, let sit for 10 minutes before carving,
pull carrots but continue roasting potatoes for 10-15 min.

Experiments in Crockpot Pulled Pork

1 2-4 lb Pork Loin
1 Med Onion Sliced thick
1 tsp McCormick Szechuan Pepper Blend
3/4 Tsp brown Sugar
dash of black pepper
3 tsp cider vinegar

1-2 cups H2O 1/2 pork

onions on the bottom of crockpot
place roast on onions
coat roast in spices
fill crockpot with water 1/2 with vinegar

Low 10 hours

The Lionshold House Special

1 Pkg 12oz Dried or refrigerated cheese Tortellini
1 12 oz pkg peas
1-2 cloves garlic crushed
1 Lb Ham steak
1 jar Classico Alfredo Sauce (pref w/ sundried tomatoes)
1/2 Onion
paprika to taste
Parmesian Cheese to taste

Boil pasta per instructions
drain, add peas and cover
Saute Onions and Ham in a frying pan
Add sauce to Pasta pot
Stir in Fried ham and onions and spices to pasta pot

Serve

Roasted Potatoes

Clean Peel and cube potatoes
coat in olive oil,
paprika, parsley salt and pepper to taste
Roast at 400 45 min.

need to try with
dijon mustard
or
fresh basil

Chicken Breasts and Rice Casserole

1.5 - 2 lb Chicken Breasts
1 Can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Dry White Wine or Sherry
3/4 cup uncooked Basmati rice

Stroganoff - Easy

abt 1 lb Leftover meat or Meatballs or Swedish Meatballs or
brown 1 lb ground beef or stew meat
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can beef broth
1 jar of mushrooms (try fresh - sautee with with onions and garlic)
1/2 cup dry red wine (Substitute 3 oz dry sherry & 1 oz. Shiraz)
1 lb uncooked egg noodles
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 - 1 onion (try with pearl onions)
2 garlic cloves sliced
2 TBS butter or Olive oil
2 TBS paprika (to taste)
1 Tsp Nutmeg
Ground Pepper to taste
Pinch - 1 Tsp Corn Starch to thicken
optional - 10 oz bag frozen peas

In a 2 Qt pot saute onions and garlic
cook noodles per instrux.
when tender add soup, wine, spices
Bring to boil, then simmer and add meat
Heat over medium 10-15 minutes, add cornstarch to thicken
optional Stir in peas
Stir in Sour cream
heat through


I found this through Wikipedia:

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmeats.html#beefstroganoff