TOMATO BEEF BARLEY SOUP IN THE SLOW COOKER

      I love soup and sandwiches. On a busy day, they are a quick and easy way to get a great meal, WITHOUT GOING OUT TO EAT....

     Today's inspiration comes from my favorite Slow Cooker Cook Book. The Slow Cooker Revolution from America's Test Kitchen.

    We have been watching them on PBS for many years, and Penny has most of their cook books.

     I find that a lot of their recipes are geared for the more intense cook. They get a bit complicated, but this book works for me.

    If you are going to cook on a regular basis, this is one book you should have on your shelf. It is a great resource for us beginners.

      Our soup is a variation of theirs. They used a Blade Steak and cooked it whole then shredded it before serving. I went the other direction, using CHUCK and cutting it up first. 

     I also adjusted some of the ingredient amounts to suit our tastes, and what we had on hand.

     That's what I love about soups. You don't have to follow a recipe. Once you get the basics, you can add what ever the hell you want.

     If you get the book, give their version a try as well.

     Let's get started

     First things first.

     Here is what you need

2 TBL Vegetable Oil

1 Large White Onion Chopped Fine

 (I hate it when a recipe calls for one onion chopped. How BIG is the Onion? Is it a White, Yellow, or Purple Onion??? They called for 3 Onions. Need more info folks..... I used ONE LARGE Onion. That worked fine for us)

¼ Cup Tomato Paste

¾ tsp Dried Thyme

½ Cup Red Wine

1 (28 once can) Crushed Tomatoes

 

I did not have "Crushed" Tomatoes. so I ran these through the blender. (2 - 14 ounce cans)

4 Cups of Chicken or Turkey Broth

( or 2 cups of the above and 2 Cups Beef Broth)

2 Carrots, peeled and chopped medium

1/3 Cup SOY Sauce

1/3 Cup Barley

2 Pounds Chuck Roast (Cut into bite size pieces)

Meat Tenderizer

Salt & Pepper to taste

¼ Cup minced fresh Parsley

Cut up the beef and place into a bowl. Sprinkle with tenderizer. (mix well with your hands or a spoon) Set aside for about 30 minutes

Heat oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium high heat until it shimmers. Add the onions, tomato paste, and Thyme. Cook until onions are softened and slightly browned. (8 to 10 minutes) Stir in the wine, scraping up any browned bits and put it all in the slow cooker.

Stir tomatoes, broth, carrots, soy sauce, and barley into the slow cooker. Season the beef with a little Salt and Pepper. Place into slow cooker.

    Cover and cook until beef is tender and carrots are cooked well. (9-11 hours on Low or 5-7 hours on high) Stir occasionally.

     I did 2 hours on medium, 5 hours on low, then 3 hours on medium

 Now you have time for another beer.

And the dog is waiting for 'playtime'

Give it a try after a few hours and Salt & Pepper to taste

When done, serve with a nice sandwich.

 Nice Roast Beef Sandwich made on the Panini Press 

 I feel like Guy Fieri

 And a Grilled Cheese

LEFTOVERS ? YOU CAN FREEZE THIS !!!

Empty slow cooker into large container. Place a frozen water bottle and cool the mixture to 75-80 degrees. Place in refrigerator to finish cooling. Transfer into freezer containers.

 Almost cool enough for the cold box

Cooking HINT 478

When chopping the Onions and Carrots, put the "cut offs" in an empty juice or paper milk carton. Do the same when you cut off the Celery ends when you make your salad. Place it in the freezer and use them the next time you make broth. You are making broth, right??

Live Long and Prosper

FIXING STORE BOUGHT PIZZA

Those of you that know me, know several things:

1 - I hate going out to eat.
2 - I love a cold beer.
3 - I hate prepared and frozen foods from the grocery store.
4 - I love PIZZA  (and a cold Beer)

With that being said, today we are going to FIX a store bought pizza.

When I was growing up in Indiana, we always went to PIZZA KING, a popular Indiana chain of Pizzerias.

Since moving from Indiana in 1989, I have tried many different kinds of pizza. Our favorite was a local spot in Sarasota Florida, called Honey Crust. It was fantastic. (although they sold out a few years ago).

We currently have 3 pizza spots with in two blocks of our home in Ocala. We've talked about Roma's on these pages. They have good food. I prefer the Meatball Sub and their Burgers.

We also have a MARCOS  PIZZA

  and a Pizza Hut.

One of our favorite local spots is the BLUE HIGHWAY Pizzeria.

We have ordered from all of them and Blue Highway was by far the best.

The only problem is the price. The last time we ordered from Pizza Hut, the bill was close to 25.00 dollars. Add in a five dollar tip for the delivery person and you are close to thirty bucks for a pizza. 

Convenient ? Yes. Worth the money ?  HELL NO.

Not acceptable.  

 
That's why we usually make our own pizza here at home.

But every once in a blue moon, when in a pinch, it's nice to just throw something in the oven. Then you sit on the porch (with a cold beer) while it cooks.

Last week, Penny and I were spending our morning at Sam's Club,

 

and I spied a pre made, take it home and cook it PIZZA.

I mentioned to the boss that maybe, just maybe we could fix it. So we decided to give it a shot.

Here is what we took home.

Now, let's gather a few things to jazz it up.

Onions
Green Peppers
Mushrooms (for me)

Extra Pepperoni (for her)
Red Pepper Flakes (also for her)

Oregano


MORE Mozzarella Cheese (for me)

and some Garlic Salt
 
Now let's fix it up.

 I started by moving all the Pepperoni to one side (for her) I can take or leave Pepperoni. (I would rather leave it)

Add fixings to your liking. I like onions, green peppers, lots of mushrooms, and a boatload of of cheese.

Penny likes 4 tons of Pepperoni.

She stuck in some Parmesan Cheese on her half 

The directions said to bake it right on the oven rack.  I imagine that is to keep the bottom crisp.

We cooked it according to the directions on the box. The only thing we did different was to use the "convection" setting

When I removed it from the oven, I removed the rack along with the pizza and just set the whole thing on top of the stove. We cut the pizza with a large pair of cooking scissors, thus keeping the bottom up in the air (on the rack)

Here are the results:

I was shocked. It was damn good. More crispy than carry out pizza in the box.

The best thing of all:  IT COST 10 BUCKS.    Not $30.00  Add another dollar each for the extra ingredients and we each got  Pizza for 6 Dollars

Yes, our home made is better, but is more labor intensive.

I can eat this pizza every once in a while.

Give it a try, you'll thank me later.

Live Long and Prosper, Keep Cooking !!!!

TWICE BAKED TATERS

Well, it's HOT in Florida.

How hot is it?

It’s so hot, my thermometer goes up to “I’m not kidding.” 

But it could be worse.

 

So, let's go into the kitchen and do some fun stuff.

To day we are going to make a batch of Twice Baked Potatoes. Yeah, I know this is about as easy as it gets. BUT, they are nice to have in the freezer for those nights (every night) when you don't want to go out to eat.

There is no real recipe for these but I would like to give you a few tips.

NOTE: These pictures were taken during two cooking sessions, so some of the dishes will look different, and the old counter tops were still in place.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Get some really BIG taters. I like the RUSSETS for baked taters. We got this batch from SAMS, just get a bunch of BIG ONES.

The first time I made these, I opted for my regular baked potato recipe. I punched a bunch of holes in each one with a fork, then rubbed them with oil. 

I discovered that it made the skin too moist and they tended to come apart when I scrapped out the tater part.

I just love the word 'tater'.

 See what happened?

So this time I simply poked the holes, and put them on a covered baking sheet.

Stick them dudes in the oven and cook until the internal temperature shows 190 or so. Time will depend on the size, mine cooked for 2 hours. You DO have a 'Themo Pin?”

Have a beer. 

 

And play with the president.

 "Gee Dad, what toy should we play with"

When the taters are cooked, cut them in half and let them cool for about ten minutes. Don't wait too long or they wont mash correctly.

Using a tablespoon (and a pot holder) CAREFULLY scrape out the tater part, leaving the skin in tact. Don't worry about getting it all, you want the skin to still be firm.

Now you can start mashing. We heat up some heavy cream. We start with a potato masher and mash.

ADD some butter and part of the cream and mash a bit more. You can also add a bit of sour cream if you like.

I don't

Now you can move on to the mixer. Add some salt & pepper and mix.

ADD more cream and butter until you get the consistency the way you want it.

Add Salt & Pepper to taste.

And you thought twice baked taters were fancy and hard to do.... DUH

Now that the taters are mashed up, you can use a spatula or a wide butter knife to spread the mashed up taters back into the skins.

Add two nice pats of butter, and you are DONE.

Put them in the freezer uncovered until they start to freeze. Then you can wrap them in foil without smashing them.

When needed, pull them puppies out of the freezer and throw them in a 350 degree oven until they are good and hot.

Enjoy.

Live long and prosper

CHICKEN POT PIE IN THE SLO COOKER

     Today, we are going to whip up a quick and easy Chicken Pot Pie in the Slo cooker.

     I am always looking for quick and easy recipes. I found this on the delish.com site and made a few modifications to make it a little more my style.

    This is another recipe you can make while in the middle of a kitchen re-model. All you need is an oven and a slo -cooker.

 (no sink, no problem)

     Here are the ingredients
     

1 CUP OF DICED CARROTS

1 CUP DICED ONION

1 CUP FROZEN PEAS

1 CUP FROZEN CORN

2 LBS BONELESS CHICKEN THIGHS

(CUT IN BITE SIZE PIECES)

2 CANS OF CREAM OF CHICKEN CONDENSED SOUP

1 CAN OF CREAM OF MUSHROOM CONDENSED SOUP

1 8 OZ CAN OF MUSHROOMS

2 CUPS WATER

SALT & PEPPER

1 TSP GARLIC POWDER

1 TSP CELERY SALT

1 Tube of Pop N Fresh Biscuits (Your choice) I used GRANDS

 Got it all together ??? Good let's start.

First things first.

    

Pour carrots, onion, mushrooms, and corn into the slo cooker.

Add the soup 

Add chopped up chicken, season with salt and pepper.

Cover with lid and cook for 6-8 hours on low (or 4-5 on high)

Have another beer, and play with the dog. 

After 4 hours, check to see if it is too watery. If so don't despair, Just make a slurry.

2 TBL AP Flour. And 2/3 cup of water. Add to a jar with a lid and shake shake shake to combine. Pour in the crock pot. The flour mixture will help thicken the mixture.

When time almost up, pre heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the biscuits on a cookie sheet (according to the directions) until nice and brown.

Ladle the pot pie mixture into a bowl. Top with a couple of biscuits and enjoy'. 

At first I was disappointed. It was not near thick enough. It tasted fine, but I did not care for the watery texture. The original recipe called for you to put the uncooked biscuits on top of the mixture,  then put the slo cooker insert in the oven. I put the mixture in a casserole dish and added the biscuits.

This made the biscuits too "soggy" and they did not cook all the way through. So I advise to make them on s sheet THEN add them just before serving.

Well, as I said I was not pleased with the results BUT I discovered they were better as a left over.

Two days later, I threw them in the micro wave and found the pie had gotten thicker. And for some reason tasted better the second time around. 

Final thought. It was fine for a quick and easy. If I had to do it all over again, I would make the Chicken A La King recipe I made a couple of years ago. A lot more involved but well worth the effort.

http://killitcutitupandcookit.blogspot.com/2017/09/chicken-al-la-king.html

See you next time

Live long and prosper