Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

Fantastic main course.  Smells great and tastes even better than it looks.

Ingredients

3 or 4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
1/3 cup flour
olive oil
1/2 Tbl. salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 Tbl. ketchup
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)
4 Tbl.  brown sugar

Directions

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup.  Pour the flour in a small bowl.  Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess.

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour-covered chicken.
The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked since it's going in the crock pot.

After the chicken is done cooking, pour the pieces into the crock pot. Then cover the chicken with your sauce mixture and give the pot a stir.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3.


Serve over rice and even add veggies if you want a healthier meal.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome

Chicken Stew

Chicken Stew

We're talking about that thick stew that sticks to your ribs type stew

Go to the store and get one of those chickens that were done yesterday.

Very likely 50% off so they can put new chickens out today at full price

Cut up the chicken

You can make your own chicken broth

Or...  you can do like I did, just buy it

Start by melting the butter

Then add the same amount of flour

Only cook on medium heat

Continue to cook till the flour smell is gone

Constantly stir

Do not let it burn

Add the chicken stock, about a 1/2 cup at a time

It will thicken up, but keep stiring

Don't let it burn

Keep adding more and more chicken stock

Keep stiring

Finally, your gravy is ready

I "pumped up" the taste of my stew

I put in an onion and the onion peelings

A couple chopped carrots

A couple chopping up celery pieces

I threw in the chicken bones

I boiled that down

I kept the broth

Oh the yummy broth

I boiled up the potatoes and carrots

Then added the stuff together

Gravy, broth, chicken pieces, boiled potatoes and carrots

Le voila, the chicken stew

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken deboned
1 onion
2 celery stalks
4 potatoes, diced
3 carrots, coined, or diced (Dicing carrots is BORING and labour intensive)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 box of chicken broth

Stuff you will need

Cutting board
Sharp Knife
2 pots
1 dutch oven
Wire whisk

Directions

Take the chicken off the bone.  Put the chicken in the same container it came in.  There is drippings in there you don't want to get rid of.

Put the chicken bones, skin, wing tips, popes nose and other pieces of chicken that your not really going to eat, in a pot.  Add the onion, chopped into 1/4's, carrot chunks and the chopped celery pieces.  Add water to cover and boil that down.  Don't be afraid to add Salt, Pepper and any chicken spices that you may like.  Drain and keep the broth.  

In another pot, put in your diced potatoes and carrot coins.  Add water and boil them up.  

Make your chicken gravy.  See my previous blog on how to make chicken gravy: http://cookwithmitch.blogspot.ca/2016/08/chicken-gravy.html

To the dutch oven, add the drained potatoes and carrots.  Add the boiled down chicken broth.  Add the chicken pieces.  Add the chicken gravy.  Simmer on low heat.  Everything is cooked, so it can be served right away.  Or it can sit on the stove top at low heat while you are running around the yard cleaning up for fall.

Please keep in mind, if you want to add extra stuff to this, you can.  This chicken stew is only a starter recipe.  Make it your own.  Add other veggies to your stew. i.e. before you add stuff to the dutch oven, you could saute up some onions and celery.  Then add the other ingredients when they are done.  Do you like turnips (rutabaga in some parts of the world), well add those.  Or parsnips.  The list goes on.  Use your imagination.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.

Molasses Buns

Molasses Buns

I understand that people from Newfoundland call these "Lassy Buns"

I love the Mortal and Pestle that Tonya got me for Christmas one year.

It is super heavy, but will it ever do a nice job

All the ingredients into the mixer

Tonya INSISTED that I make ginger bread men

You can see that I did make a few traditional cookies here

Then they PUFFED UP!

Ingredients

1 cup molasses

1 cup melted butter

1/2 cup milk

4 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp cloves

2 tsp baking soda

1 egg

pinch of Salt

Stuff you will need

Cookie sheet

Parchment paper

Mixing bowl

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.

Combine melted butter and molasses and stir, then add milk and egg. 

Mix in remaining ingredients, then roll out on a floured surface, to a 1/2 inch thickness.  

Cut into desired shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet.  

Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes.  

Turn out on a wire rack and cool completely.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.

CARAMEL CAKE

CARAMEL CAKE

Pretty simple recipe

Bake a white cake

Poke holes in it

Pour caramel sauce

Top with creme cheese icing

We all knew there was LOTS of sugar in it

Yet you really can't "taste" all the sugar

My brother and his wife are REALLY enjoying the cake

INGREDIENTS

1 white cake mix

2 cups caramel sauce

Cream Cheese Frosting

Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup butter, room temperature

1½ teaspoons vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Prepare and bake the cake as per the direction on the box.

Once the cake is done, remove it from the oven and immediately poke holes into the top of the warm cake, about 1- inch apart. Pour the 1/2 the caramel on top of the cake and allow the cake to sit until it has cooled completely.

Frosting

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until smooth. Turn mixer to low and add in the vanilla and powdered sugar until combined.

Turn mixer back up to medium and mix for 1-2 minutes until smooth and creamy.

When the cake is cooled spread the cream cheese frosting on top. Swirl the remaining caramel on top of the frosting.

Here is the video on how I did the cake.  As you can see, I didn't 100% follow the instructions.  I took liberties with the directions and it still came out GREAT.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome

How to cook a roast at 500 F

How to cook a roast at 500 F

I am not sure that cooking a roast at high temperatures is new or not.  But I know that it's pretty new to me.  Since my brother and his wife are visiting, I thought that I would do up a roast beef and cut it up for sandwich meat.

Good thing that I am able to hold my tongue.  When you watching this video, I am holding the camera in the one hand and trying to lift the roast in the cast iron skillet in the other.  In the end, there really wasn't enough beef drippings to make a gravy with.  Watch the video and see.

Ingredients

1 roast

1/3 cup olive oil (you can use melted butter)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon rosemary

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Stuff you will need

1 mixing bowl

1 large cast iron skillet

Directions

Thaw your roast. 

Preheat the oven to 500 F.

 Put the roast in a cast iron skillet.  Do not put this in a dutch oven, or the heat will not get to the roast and you will not end up with a crust on the roast.

Mix the other ingredients and rub it all over the roast.

Put the roast into the oven.

5 min per pound for medium

6 min per pound for medium well

7 min per pound for well done

Once you have done the math to figure out how long your roast is supposed to be in the oven at 500 F, set the timer and walk away.

Once the time has elapsed, turn the oven off.  Now set the timer for 2 hours.  Don't crack the oven door open.  Don't take a peek to see how it's doing.  It's doing just fine.

At the end of two hours, take the roast out of the oven.  Since it was resting for the last two hours in the oven, you can cut it up right away.

Make you gravy with the roast beef drippings.  Sever it up with your favorite side dish.

The first time I tried this method.  I did it with a rib roast @ 9.99 a pound.  It was a 4 pound roast, so it was in the oven at 500 F for 20 minutes.  That was about the longest 2 1/2 hours of my life.

But the results...  OUTSTANDING!

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.

Deep Fried Butterball Turkey (Indoors)

Deep Fried Butterball Turkey (Indoors)

Thanksgiving is coming.  

You may as well start thinking about it. 

How are you going to cook that turkey this year.

I started with 1 frozen turkey

Thawed for 2 days in a 5 gallon pail of water.

Take it out of the bag

Opening and opening

Cut the wing tips off.  

Save them for the gravy.

Take what ever excess skin off

I used scissors.  Safety first.

Keep the skin for the gravy.

Clean the bird with water

Use paper towel to get as much moisture out of the bird as you can

Keep drying

Pat pat here and pat pat there

Looks like it is all patted dry

Someone is teasing me

She can't wait till the turkey is done

OK, turkey does fit in the deep frying basket

Put together the Indoor Butterball Deep Fryer

Purchases at WalMart for $29.99

I used Peanut Oil

Again, purchased at WalMart for $29.99 for 3 gallons.

There ain't near enough oil just yet

Other saved jug from a previous deep fried turkey

Looks like there is enough oil now

It is hot and ready to deep fry

Go get the turkey

Introduce the bird to the deep fryer

Lower it SLOWLY into the boiling hot oil

If it starts to boil up, take it out

Keep on lowering it

More and more of the turkey going into the boiling oil

OK, immersed in the boiling oil

Setting the timer

OK, 14 pound bird @ 2 minutes per pound is 48 minutes

48 minutes later

Lift it out and let it drain the oil out of the bird

Get a plate or other item to catch the oil dripping as you don't want to make a mess of the kitchen floor.

Move towards the prep area

OK, turkey is resting for a few moments

IT'S STUCK!

I had to remove piece by piece out of the basket

Tester pieces of turkey

Yup, it's cooked all the way through

I keep grabbing pieces of the turkey and cutting it up.

Finally released from the basket

Cutting and de-boning

So this turkey is so moist.  It doesn't taste like oil.  It actually does taste like turkey.  But not dried out like your grandmother used to make.

There is a down side.  No turkey drippings to make gravy.  Ah, but you do have the pieces of turkey that you cut up earlier and you do have the bones.  But that is another post.

You can make stuffing.  I've tried making it from scratch.  Yes it tastes pretty good.  But I keep going back to the stuffing from the box.  It's consistent.  It's always good.

So, sorry for those of you that were expecting a recipe today.  Today was just to show you that you can deep fry a turkey indoors.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.