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