Swiss Chicken Casserole

It is finally, finally, finally getting cooler here in the Lowcountry, and I am happy to report that I have broken out the crock pot for the first time in forever.  I've been dying to use it for a couple of weeks now.  Recently, I downloaded an app on to my iPhone that has just crock pot recipes, and I've been browsing it for something new to make.  Rick and I have been feeling a little burned out on the food we've been eating lately, and this recipe was totally different than our regular fare.  We served it with our favorite green beans on the side. 

I took the original recipe and made some changes (of course!).  It smells like Thanksgiving as it cooks.  My biggest complaints about it is how much sodium it has.  That's the problem with using canned soup, and I think that the next time that I make it I may go with using the lower sodium version of the soup.

Here's what I did


Swiss Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
6 slices of Swiss cheese
1 can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic Condensed Soup
1 box of Stove Top Savory Herb Stuffing
1/4 cup low fat milk
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Cooking spray


Directions
Spray crock pot with cooking spray.  Place chicken breasts on the bottom of the crock pot.  Top chicken with cheese slices.  Mix milk and soup in a bowl together, and then spoon over cheese.  Next, add the stuffing on top of the soup mixture and drizzle melted butter over it.  Cook on low for 8 hours.


Enjoy!

Brunswick Stew

This weekend, I finally tried out the somewhat new Woody's BBQ place in Park West.  They had Brunswick Stew on their menu, and our server was nice enough to bring our table a little sampling of it.  It was pretty good even though the meat in it wasn't shredded...which is what I prefer.

I had never had Brunswick stew until I was in college at UNC.  Liz and I took an anthropology class on Southern Culture, and for one of our last assignments, we did a group presentation.  I was assigned to do a group presentation on Brunswick stew.  I'd never heard of it, but several of my group members talked about how awesome it was.  As part of our presentation, we actually cooked some (heated it up in the St. A's kitchen) and gave it to our class.  That one group project launched my love for this culinary creation.  I've had it at many different restaurants, and I think that the best Brunswick stew that I've had was in a small BBQ joint called Clem's Place in the very small town of Norlina, NC.  Clem's Place also has some of the best barbecue that I've ever had.  It's a little hole in the wall that's right next door to a car wash on US Highway 1.  It's been years since I've been there, but I will never forget it!

Where Brunswick stew originates is quite controversial with people from Georgia and Virginia arguing that they are the ones who created it.  Whoever it was, I thank them! 

As is often the case when I have something out, I decided to try to make Brunswick stew myself this weekend.  A friend from a messageboard had posted a recipe a few months ago, and it looked perfect to me....not too complicated and made in the crock pot!  It was definitely a hit here! 

Here's the version that I made.

Brunswick Stew

Ingredients

1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes

1 can tomato paste, (6 oz.)

4 pound boston butt

1 1/2 cups frozen sliced okra, thawed

1 cup corn kernels, frozen thawed or fresh

1 can lima beans

1 chopped onion

1 large baking potato, chopped into 1 inch chunks

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

Directions

Cook pork in crockpot with chicken broth for 2 hours on high. Combine tomatoes and tomato paste; stir to blend. Add sliced okra, corn, onion, lima beans, potato, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and oregano. Cover; cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. Remove pork from the crock pot, shred, and return to the stew. Before serving, remove bay leaf and stir well.  Serve with hot sauce.

POM Wonderful Slow Cooker Beef!

Technically, we made it on Saturday, but how could I resist when it's so cold outside!!!  Rick and I were looking for something to do that was, as he put it "a day long process." Publix has their chuck roast on sale this week so I hit the internet in search of something different to make.

Around the holidays, the people at POM Wonderful were awesome enough to send me a case of their yummy pomegranate juice, and while I have been using it to cocktails, I've been wondering what it would be like to cook with it! Is it bad that I feel a little guilty for using it for drinks?  The juice is really good for you as it is loaded with antioxidants which we all need during this time of the year when a yucky cold is lurking around the corner.  I personally am a fan of POM juice + vodka + a little bit of Sprite Zero, but hey, that's me.  Anyway, in order to do something a wee bit more productive with the juice (though I do like it with just the Sprite Zero, too), I went searching and came across the blog, A Year of Slow Cooking.  The original recipe had raisins in it, but I'm not a huge raisin fan so I left them out.  The end result was awesome!  Rick called it a "gem." 


For a side, I decided to use some of the leftover fontina cheese for a polenta that's a combo of several recipes.  Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped so I've opted not to post what I did.  We baked it, but it never got the consistency that I was hoping for.  If I do it again, I'd follow one of the recipes direction of refrigerating it before baking.

Beef in Pomegranate Sauce

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, sliced
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 pounds beef roast 

5 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
1 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions

Coat the bottom of the crockpot with olive oil.  Add onion and stir to coat them with the olive oil.  

Mix the spices together in a small bowl, and then rub the meat on all side with it. Add garlic, tomatoes, pomegranate juice, vinegar, and syrup.  Stir to mix together.  

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4-5. 

Crock Pot Wednesdays: Slow Cooker Italian Beef

With the cold weather and an invitation from Debbie at Dining with Debbie to participate in Crock Pot Wednesdays, I decided on Friday to break out my crock pot and make something to share.  I haven't used in my crock pot in forever, and with the cold weather and extra time on my hands now that I've graduated, it was the perfect opportunity to try out a new recipe.  I decided to search petitchef.com for something new to create.  I came across this recipe that is an adaptation from a recipe on allrecipes.com for Slow Cooker Italian Beef.  It sounded good, and I had most of the ingredients here at home (minus the chuck roast of course).  I made a couple of changes to it, and I was really pleased with the final result!  Rick called it "awesome!"  I hope that you enjoy it, too!

Slow Cooker Italian Beef
Ingredients
1 can low sodium beef broth
1 1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning (I used McCormick's Italian Grinder)
1 bay leaf
1 package of Good Seasoning Italian Salad Dressing mix
1 3 lb chuck roast
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped sweet onion



Directions
Combine all ingredients except for the green pepper and onion in the crock pot and cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 4-5 hours.  When there is one hour left, add the green pepper and onion to the crock pot.

To make sandwiches:
Additional Ingredients

Hoagie Rolls

Provolone Cheese slices

Dijon Mustard

Directions
Preheat broiler.  Cut hoagie rolls in half and place Dijon mustard and cheese on one side of the roll and the meat on the other.  Place in the broiler until cheese is bubbling (around 4 minutes).