Coq Au Vin

SUNDAY, AUGUST 22ND, 2010

5 stars (out of 5 - delicious and pretty stress-free!)

I wanted to try out the new slow-cooker cookbook that I just received from MM, and this recipe stood out. I decided to make it Sunday morning, as it needed to cook for 7-8 hours. I think I might have attempted a recipe similar to this before (the smell reminded me of something)... so hopefully it turns out! I am also really into trying to find a great slow-cooker recipe that I could serve to guests with confidence. This recipe was from the Company's Coming Most Loved Slow Cooker Creations book; I really like their recipes, as they are usually pretty simple and almost always turn out well (unlike some other companies, I think Company's Coming actually tests their recipes out! Imagine that).

Ingredients:

6 slices of bacon, diced
1/4 cup (60 mL) flour
1/4 tsp. (1 mL) paprika
6 chicken thighs (bonelss, skinless)*
1 pack (up to 4 cups) white mushrooms, halved
1 cup (250 mL) chopped onion
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup (125 mL) dry red wine
1/2 cup (125 mL) prepared chicken broth
1/2 tsp (2 mL) dry thyme

{*Note. The original recipe calls for 12 chicken thighs. I did two, but I think I would comfortably do up to six. Any more than that, I am not sure how I would fit them into the slow-cooker!}.

My new cookbook stand:

1. First I cooked the bacon on medium heat, until it was crisp. I then removed the bacon and diced it up.

2. While it was cooking, I added the flour and the paprika to a Ziploc bag, and added the chicken to coat it.

3. After the bacon was removed from the pan, I added the chicken, using the bacon drippings as oil. I cooked it for about 8 minutes, just so that it was brown on all sides.

4. As the chicken cooked, I prepared the other ingredients, by chopping up the onion, and slicing the mushrooms in half.

5. When the chicken was ready, I removed it from the pan and placed it in the slow-cooker.

6. I then added the mushrooms, onion, and garlic to the same frying pan, and sautéed for about 2 minutes.

7. Once the onions had softened, I added the mushroom soup, chicken broth, wine, and thyme to the pan, and brought it to a boil.

8. Once it was boiling, I poured it over the chicken, covered the slow-cooker, and placed it on "Low" for 7-8 hours (or on "High" for 3.5-4 hours).

Final Product:

Overall, this was a delicious meal, and SB loved it. It took a bit of time to prepare before throwing into the slow-cooker, but was well worth it. I look forward to serving it to guests - I especially love doing slow-cooker meals when having people over because it means I don't have to cook and visit at the same time (I am so bad at doing this!) and the house smells so great. One note: I would combine the cream of mushroom soup and the wine/broth together prior to adding it to the pan. It took a while to get the lumps out, and my frying pan isn't so deep, so I spilled a lot in the process. Other from that, this recipe is pretty straight forward, and easy to do.

Tomato Chicken Casserole

TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010

4 stars (out of 5 - simple, stress-free, and pretty darn good!)

I hadn't cooked a new meal in a while (and had been, quite frankly, a bit lazy), and SB asked me what was going on.... I didn't know! I guess I have been a bit busy and stressed, but I decided to make sure that I made time to cook some new meals, as I know how much satisfaction I get out of it. This was my first attempt in a while, but an easy one. It's one of those "canned soup" recipes... but I refuse to feel bad about them - they always turn out well. This was no exception - the meat was moist and well-cooked, and (most importantly) it was stress-free.

Ingredients:

Meat:

Bone-in chicken (skinned)*
Garlic powder
Salt Pepper

Mix:

1 can (284mL) tomato soup
1 can (284mL) cream of mushroom soup
1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped
1 bunch green onion (or chives), chopped finely
1 v. small onion, chopped finely

{*Note. I used about 1 lb. or less of chicken... basically, do whatever you want up to 3 lbs (original recipe) because I had a lot of extra sauce. I think my basic guideline would be to have as much chicken as I could line my casserole dish with.}

1. {Preheat oven to 350F}. First, I placed the chicken in a 3qt (3L) casserole dish.

2. Next, I sprinkled with salt, pepper, and a good coating of garlic powder.

3. I then mixed the tomato soup and mushroom soup in a medium bowl...

4. ... and added the tomato and 2 types of onions...

5. ... and stirred well.

6. I poured the mixture over the chicken, and placed it in the oven, covered, at 350F for about 2 hours (flexible - no stress!).

New oven!

Look at how my casserole dish now fits in!

7. I served it with rice, but mashed potatoes also worked well. After the photo, I added a side of green beans (and a salad in a separate plate).

Overall, this was a super good, super easy recipe, and I was glad I tried it (despite my reservations about using the soup mixtures). SB really liked it, and the meat was super tender. I guess it can't really be considered anything close to a gourmet dish, but I would serve it to some of my good friends I was trying to make a good meal for (and at the same time being able to socialize!) ;)

Mushroom-Thyme Appy

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH, 2010

3 stars (out of 5 - pretty tasty, but not absolutely amazing)

I decided to make another vegetarian slow-cooker recipe, and thought that this appetizer looked good (also, I'm trying to acquire a taste for mushrooms). It was quite good and pretty tasty - I particularly liked the tangy-ness that the wine added; however, it wasn't absolutely amazing. I think I would like to try this again with another herb... perhaps rosemary?

Ingredients*:

3 green onions, chopped
2 packages of mushrooms (2x 227g), roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil (a little bit less)
1 tsp dry thyme
1/4 tsp salt
Pepper, to taste
1/3 cup plain cream cheese
1/4 cup dry white wine
Baguette

{*Note. This is enough for quite a few people (see pics below), so if you are making it just for two people I would make only half of this.}

1. First, I chopped the green onions and added them to the slow cooker along with the olive oil, turning the slow cooker on "High".

2. While the green onions were being cooked, I chopped up the mushrooms. I used a food processor, so they were chopped up very finely; however, with the length of time that they cook in the slow cooker, you could probably chop them up fairly coarsely.

3. I then added the mushrooms, thyme, and salt to the slow cooker, and stirred the mixture well. I switched the slow cooker onto "Low" and let the mixture cook for 6 hours.

4. After the mushrooms were very soft, I again stirred the mixture thoroughly. If there is any excess liquid, it should be drained.

5. ... and added the mushroom mixture, cream cheese, pepper, and white wine to my food processor, and mixed until smooth.

6. I placed it in a bowl, and served with baguette (you can toast these if you choose).

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good appy. It was easy enough to make, although I wasn't really sure why the slow-cooker was necessary. I felt that you could cook the mushrooms on the stove just as easily, and they would be ready in 10 minutes. I actually quite liked the flavour, even though it has a very strong mushroom taste. I just think that there might be a better herb to add to make it better. I would definitely recommend it, though!

Chicken Scallopine

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH, 2009

4 stars (out of 5 - even though I had some problems: see modifications to make this even better)

I ran across another delicious looking recipe on the PW's website for chicken scallopine. It looked simple enough, so I tried it out for the first time when PTL came over for dinner. The original recipe can be found here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/chicken-scallopine/. In the end, this recipe was very good and SB even rated it highly. However, I must say to proceed with caution, as I had quite a bit of difficulty with it (curdled a bit, runny), with the sauce ultimately being saved by PTL.

Ingredients:

1 package linguine
4 whole Boneless, Skinless, Trimmed Chicken Breasts
Salt and pepper
Flour (approx. 3 tbsp)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1-2 packages of white mushrooms, thinly sliced*
1 cup dry white wine
1 lemon
½ cups half & half* (see note)
1 tsp (heaping) capers
Fresh parley, chopped
Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

{*Note. I used 4 chicken cutlets, plus one Chick'n breast, and it was enough sauce. The original recipe calls for heavy cream; I tried to be a bit more healthy and use Half & Half, and it was not worth it (see below). I strongly recommend using the heavy cream instead, otherwise the sauce was runny and I needed to add some butter to thicken it. Finally, I used only 1 package of white mushrooms, but the sauce could have ultimately used more. I would add an additional 1/2 package if I was making this again}.

1. Before I started anything, I first cut up the white mushrooms into thin slices.

2. I then prepared the parsley, so that I could just throw it in when everything was ready.

3. I then prepared the chicken: First, I put a generous portion of salt and pepper on each side...

4. ... and dredged each side in flour. This way, I felt that everything was in place for me to start cooking.

5. I then started the water for the pasta, and cooked according to the package. While this was cooking, I prepared the rest of the meal:

6. First, I heated the butter and oil in a frying pan. When it was hot, I added the chicken. You want a nice golden brown colour on the outside. When done, I set these aside.

7. Added the mushrooms to the pan...

8. ... and then immediately added the wine and the lemon juice from 1/2-1 lemon. I cooked this vigorously until it reduced. Apparently in 1 minute, but mine took much longer.

9. At this point, I ran into a bit of trouble. Here, you are to reduce the heat and add the cream. I don't know if it was the half and half I used or what, but mine curdled a bit. In the end, it was fine, but about here I started to panic and not feel so happy. At this point, you also want to make sure it is salty enough, and add some more pepper.

10. Eventually, PTL and myself fixed this by adding more butter to thicken (healthy!) and letting it reduce on it's own. We then added it to the pasta and stirred in the parsley.

11. Finally, the chicken was placed on the plate, and the pasta + sauce heaped over top, and sprinkled with lots of Parmesan cheese.

My Chick'n Version:

In the end, it was actually pretty delicious which makes me want to make a second attempt in the future. SB particularly liked the chicken and the way it was cooked. I probably wouldn't try this out when company is coming over... at least not until I figure out what went wrong. Next time, I will use heavy cream and see if it's better. I will post any updates on here. I would say that overall I wouldn't afraid to try this recipe with the heavy cream, even if I did have some difficulty: despite the problems I encountered, it ended up being a pretty delicious meal!

Caramelized Mushroom & Onion Mashed Potatoes with Green Bean Side

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15TH, 2009

5 stars (out of 5 - excellent twist on mashed potatoes!)

My sister visited last September and she honoured us with this recipe for mashed potatoes. I was a little hesitant at first, given my dislike of mushrooms, but we ended up asking her to make this for us at least 2 times during the week!! Sooo good!

Ingredients for Potatoes:

1.5-2 potatoes per person, peeled and cut
Milk and sour cream* (*as you like)
1 package mushrooms
1 onion
2-3 sprigs of rosemary
3 tbsp brown sugar
Butter and olive oil
Salt and pepper

Ingredients for Green Beans:

1 handful of green beans per person
Butter
Salt and pepper

1. First, we prepared the potatoes and added them to boiling water with a few sprigs of rosemary to taste.

2. As the potatoes were cooking, we prepared the mushrooms by washing and slicing them...

3. ... and dicing up the onion into large chunks.

4. We then cut up the rosemary (tip: kitchen scissors work well for this task!).

5. When the potatoes were almost ready, we melted some butter in a pan with olive oil (to prevent splashing and burning of the butter)...

6. ...and added the mushrooms...

7. ...followed by the rosemary...

8. ...and onions (the mushrooms were cooked for about 3-4 minutes longer than the onions).

9. Once the mushrooms and onions were soft, we added the brown sugar and stirred everything together.

10. We let this cook for a while, and at the end drained any excess liquid. This is what it should look like:

11. At this point, we had mashed the potatoes with the milk and/or sour cream and plenty of butter, salt and pepper. You can then either serve the mushroom mixture on top of the potatoes...

12. ... or stirred in. On top looks better, but stirred in tastes better!!

13. We served these with green beans, trimmed and boiled for 4 minutes with butter added.

14. Salt and pepper them and you have a super-easy but refreshing side dish!

The crew eating! Note that we served the mashed potatoes with the eggplant appy's (pictured at the centre of the table: http://etryingtocook.blogspot.com/2009/11/eggplant-feta-appy.html), which we used as a meat replacement for vegetarians. How versatile!

Overall, this was such a treat! A very very delicious meal that my sister showed me and that everyone loved. I love love love mashed potatoes, and this was such a great way to mix it up a bit. They were definitely the best mashed potatoes that I have ever had (and I don't even like mushrooms!). Thank you to MK and SB for helping out with this dish (and to Ash for showing it to us!). I have made these several times since her visit, and they have always turned out. I am thinking that the mushroom/onion sauce can be used to top other things, such as meat. Perhaps, I will try that in the future....