Meat Archives - Page 7 of 10

Mediterranean turkey and zucchini burgers recipe

I’m a happy mama since I picked up Mr. Picky from sleepaway camp on Saturday. 13 days is just too long for me to be apart from that guy. I have been enjoying all the stories, hanging on every word as if he traveled around the world. Bless his heart, Mr. Picky “snuck” some food from camp to bring to my husband and me. Thankfully, it was from breakfast the morning he left and not from last week. From his backpack he pulled out a paper cup with a few pieces of melon for me and a cup with mini cinnamon buns mixed with tater tots for my husband. What does that tell you?

While Mr. Picky can’t stop talking about his counselors, his bunk mates and all the competitions in which he participated, I had to find out about the food. What was your favorite dinner? Did you eat any vegetables? What did you drink? Blah, blah, blah. I’m so predictable, but I have no self control. I have to give the camp props that soda is not served. I don’t know if I could handle that.

So what I have gathered is that Mr. Picky didn’t eat any protein at breakfast ever since, go figure, the camp doesn’t serve Organic Pastures Raw Organic Milk, and Mr. Picky still doesn’t eat eggs or cheese. And it also sounds like the only vegetable he ate was cucumber. So we have some catching up to do! One thing that my son loves is any type of burger, even veggie burgers. I made these turkey burgers the week before he left and he loved them so they’re going on the dinner menu again this week. It’s another winner recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s “Jerusalem” cookbook.

If you’re bored with plain burgers, these are so different and delicious. And a great way to make a (small) dent in your zucchini crop. They are moist, herby and they’ve got a great kick to them. If spicy isn’t your thing, you may want to cut back to a pinch of cayenne. Although if you make the sumac sauce, which is delicious, it really cuts the heat from the burgers. But I’m not really doing dairy these days and Mr. Picky didn’t want any sauce, so I only made half the recipe for the sauce and I thought it was the perfect amount. I also didn’t use traditional buns when I made these. Bread will just detract from the tastiness of these burgers! Instead we ate them on lettuce leaves with some chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, right up my alley. Of course if you want a more traditional burger, you can probably get 6 “standard” size patties and pile them onto buns with all your favorite fixings. Delish!

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Mediterranean turkey and zucchini burgers recipe

Pamela, adapted from "Jerusalem" by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tammy

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Servings -6 (Makes about 18 1½ ounce burgers or 12 2½ ounce burgers)

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey I like dark meat
1 large zucchini coarsely grated (scant 2 cups)
3 scallions white and green parts, thinly sliced
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons chopped mint
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic grated or minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper perfect for us, but the original recipe called for ½ teaspoon; you can use even less if you don’t want them spicy
unrefined olive oil coconut oil or ghee for searing
<br>
For the Sour Cream & Sumac Sauce:
Scant 1/3 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
Scant ¼ cup sour cream or use all Greek yogurt
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
½ Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ small clove garlic grated or minced
2 ¼ teaspoons unrefined cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons sumac
¼ teaspoon sea salt
a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Make the sour cream and sumac sauce by placing all the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well and set aside or chill until needed.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the patties except the olive oil. Mix gently with your hands and then shape into about 18 burgers, each weighing about 1 ½ ounces or 12 burgers, each weighing about 2 ½ ounces.
Pour enough oil into a large frying pan to form a layer about 1/16 inch thick on the pan bottom. Heat over medium heat until hot, then sear the patties in batches on both sides. Cook each batch for about 5-7 minutes on each side, adding oil as needed, until golden brown and cooked through.
Serve warm or at room temperature, with the sauce spooned over or on the side.

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Baked Parmesan Chicken Caprese Recipe

I hope you all had a lovely Fourth of July and that you had a day off of work at the very least. If there’s one thing I think many of us need more of it’s a little rest and relaxation. We had a nice mellow day with friends and no work all day at all. Nice. In fact, I even watched a little tv while I was putzing around the house before going out. Computer time has wiped out my tv time in the last few years, so watching tv is a real treat for me. Although it’s funny that when I have time off from work (i.e. cooking), I choose to watch the Food Network or the Cooking Channel. I have my favorites to be sure, but some of the really popular shows I just don’t get.

Can anyone explain the appeal of “Chopped?” I’ll tell you one thing — it’s not “reality” tv. What’s reality about being given a bunch of ingredients not normally found in a regular person’s pantry and being forced to have to make something tasty out of it given the resources of an unbelievably stocked pantry? I have learned so much from watching Ina and Giada and Tyler, but there isn’t much I get out of seeing what three chefs can do with graham crackers and squid in 30 minutes. Does that show talent? What do you think?

Let me tell you what I think takes some skill — making dinner for my family on a typically insane weeknight. You think the judges on Chopped are tough. Ha! They eat everything, even cheese, unlike Mr. Picky. Try making dinner for Daughters #1 and 2 and Mr. Picky under a time constraint. During the girls’ finals week earlier last month, I had a day that did not go as planned and I found myself in a dinner prep predicament. We always eat dinner together every night around 6:30/6:45 and I thought this was one of those nights, but no. Daughter #1 had a study group at 6:30 and Daughter #2 switched her music lesson without telling me and she would be coming home at 6:15. I found all of this out at 4:30 and I had soccer carpool to do. Oh sure, easy, right?

Do the contestants on Chopped have two teenage girls yelling at each other about the last ugly photo one posted of the other on Instagram? They do not. And Mr. Picky is not bouncing a basketball in the kitchen while the chefs are trying to figure out what to make for dinner very quickly with the contents of a very basic pantry. Bounce, bounce, bouncety-bounce! Ok, think. Do some prep now, then you have 15 minutes when you get back from soccer drop-off before driving to music. “But the picture you posted of me was much worse than the one I posted of you!” Bounce, bounce, bouncety-bounce! I have chicken, tomatoes, white rice is fast, thank goodness I washed lettuce yesterday. “Mommmmmmm, did you see what she’s getting away with? So many people liked that picture already!” “Really? They liked it? That’s good, right?” “OMG, Mom! No they didn’t like it! Make her delete it!” Bounce, bounce, bouncety-bounce! I can bread the chicken now and bake later. “I am NOT letting her drive me to school anymore.” Whoa there, missy. Now you’ve got my attention. “Delete it this minute!” Bounce, bounce, bouncety-bounce! “STOP PLAYING BALL IN THE HO– USE, MR. PICKY!!!!” Can you imagine doing this sober? Why don’t I drink? I need to rethink that.

I know this isn’t just my house, or maybe it is and I am deluding myself. But I think a lot of home cooks have skills that you just can’t learn in culinary school or by watching some pros on tv. I managed to pull something together that night that we ate at exactly 6:15 and we all liked it! I would have likely gotten “chopped” on tv for something so unoriginal, but this is the kind of food we like to eat and it’s reasonably healthful. One of the reasons this worked for me that night is because I was able to bake the chicken instead of sautéing/frying it. I didn’t know if it would work, but I learned the technique of getting crispy breading by greasing up the chicken with some fat before dredging it from an old Gourmet magazine recipe. That way, I didn’t have to babysit it on the stovetop, plus baking is more healthful than frying and MUCH less messy! This would also be a great method to use when cooking for a crowd.

Speaking of cooking for a crowd, for the next episode of “Chopped,” I’d like to see a challenge where the chefs have to prepare a dinner party for 12 guests in Los Angeles. “Oh, sorry, no gluten for me.” “If you don’t mind, I don’t eat dairy. Or meat. Or eggs.” “I’m easy. I eat everything except nuts. I am deathly allergic to all tree nuts. Deathly!” Now that’s something I would watch!

Baked Parmesan Chicken Caprese

Pamela

5 from 2 votes

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Servings -5

Ingredients

2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
1 ball fresh mozzarella cubed (about 4 ounces), optional
2 -3 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil plus more for coating chicken and pan
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 large leaves of fresh basil chopped
¾ teaspoon sea salt divided
2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup grated Pecorino-romano or Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon paprika
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush a baking sheet generously with olive oil. You can line your baking sheet with parchment paper if you want and then brush the parchment with oil.
In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, mozzarella, 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, basil and ¼ teaspoon salt. Set aside.
In a shallow dish (such as a pie plate), combine the bread crumbs, cheese, and paprika. In another shallow dish, pour a few tablespoons of olive oil.
Slice the chicken crosswise in half so that you have two thin cutlets. Check out this post for a visual on what I'm referring to. You can remove the tenders if you wish and coat those separately. Sprinkle one side of the chicken pieces with ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. This is the total amount of salt and pepper for all the chicken.
Dip the seasoned chicken first into the olive oil and turn to coat. Then dip chicken into the breadcrumb mixture and press to coat both sides completely.
Place the breaded chicken pieces on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Turn chicken with a spatula, not tongs which might break the breading, and bake another 3-5 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.
Remove garlic cloves from tomato mixture and discard. Spoon tomato mixture on top of chicken.

Notes

This serves our family perfectly with no leftovers, but we're not big meat-eaters. If one chicken cutlet is not enough per person, then increase the chicken and breading ingredients.

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basil chicken garlic mozzarella olive oil parmesan tomatoes

Slow Cooker Pulled Barbecued Chicken

You’ve heard of Meatless Mondays and Taco Tuesdays, but in this house we’ve had “Slow Cooker Thursdays” for the last two months. It doesn’t have the same ring as the other two, but it has made my life way easier. Mr. Picky had baseball games every Thursday (and Sunday) since March and they were conveniently scheduled at dinnertime. Scrunchy face. Picture hubby and me sitting at a little league game until 7:00 or 7:30 (gotta love extra innings!) while my daughters were texting me from home “We r starving! When r u coming home? Can we eat without u?” Then of course I actually had to assemble dinner in record time once I finally returned home. That happened once, until I figured out that Thursdays would have to be “Slow Cooker Night” unless I wanted to let the girls eat acai bowls for dinner (because that’s about all they would take the time to make even when “starving”) or allow Mr. Picky to eat hot dogs or microwaved canned chili on top of Fritos from the snack stand at the field. Um, no.

I work really hard to make sure we eat together every night. It’s actually more important to me than what we eat. I’ve always said that breakfast might be the most important meal of the day from a nutritional perspective, but dinner is the most important from an emotional perspective. However, getting the five of us at the table at a reasonable time for dinner can be a challenge, especially during Little League season. And no matter how hard I tried to get Mr. Picky to find baseball boring, he just wouldn’t see it my way. So if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em and that’s where I found myself every single blessed Thursday night. Deciding to make something in the slow cooker on Thursdays was my ticket to freedom so I wasn’t stressed out every time a player was walked or someone got a hit, both of which keep the game going on and on and on.

When I first started using this slow cooker in December, so many people asked me for good slow cooker recipes. I was honestly surprised since one quick search on Foodily turned up thousands. But as I’ve experimented, I have realized what everyone else already knows — that not every slow cooker recipe is a good one, and certainly not a healthful one. Never said I was a quick learner!

I recently invested in the book, “Slow Cooker Revolution” by America’s Test Kitchen and it looks promising. I tried their recipe for barbecued chicken and we all loved it! I have been experimenting with making my own barbecue sauce and I’m super close to posting it, but not quite. I did use one of my homemade BBQ sauce experiments and the chicken turned out super tender and flavorful. We had it the first night on cracked wheat buns with homemade cole slaw — super delicious. And the next day I put it into quesadillas for the girls’ lunch. They asked for it again the day after that, but sadly it was all gone.

I thought to share this recipe with you this week for a possible Father’s Day menu item or for a July 4th party. It’s also a good time to remind you why grilled animal protein isn’t that good for you. Check out an earlier post on that here. Slow cooking with low heat cuts way down on carcinogens from forming. It’s a win-win! Even though Little League is over, my slow cooker is staying and so is this chicken!

Slow Cooker Pulled Barbecued Chicken

Pamela, adapted from "Slow Cooker Revolution"

5 from 2 votes

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Servings

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat (or use all thighs)
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon ground chipotle powder or cayenne
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups barbecue sauce

Instructions

Place chicken pieces in the slow cooker.
Mix together chili powder, paprika, chipotle powder, salt and pepper and rub all over chicken.
Pour ½ cup barbecue sauce over chicken and toss to coat. Cover and cook until chicken is tender 4-6 hours on LOW. (5 hours worked great for me.) The slow cooker can also go to the WARM setting if you are not ready to eat the chicken after cooking 4-6 hours.
Transfer chicken to a large bowl and allow to cool slightly. With two forks, shred meat into bite size pieces, but not too fine.
Pour the liquid that remains in the slow cooker into a fat separator (or leave the liquid in the slow cooker and try to skim the fat off the top with a large spoon.)
Heat the remaining 1 cup of barbecue sauce in a small saucepan until hot. Toss shredded chicken with hot barbecue sauce and 1 cup of braising liquid. You’ll have extra liquid if you need it. Serve warm either by itself or on toasted whole grain buns or in a quesadilla.

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barbecue sauce chicken chili powder ground chipotle paprika

Chicken adobo recipe

Well, dear people, all good things come to an end and our trip to England came and went too quickly. We had such a good time and just as importantly, we traveled there and back in one piece. But there was way too much to see and I am already thinking about when we can go back. Even the food was better than expected! I didn’t say it was the most nutritious fare, but we had very delicious meals. I used to get stressed out about eating on vacation since it isn’t always easy to find kale salads and date-sweetened muffins when you’re away. I have since let that thinking go since I realize that that kind of negative thinking can’t be doing anything good for my body. However, this trip I think I may have “enjoyed” the local cuisine a little too much. It’s one thing to eat a scone and it’s another to eat three. At one time. With clotted cream.

Alas, I eagerly pulled out my juicer as soon as I returned home and got back to a simpler way of eating. It’s a weird feeling for me to not cook at all for 8 days, so I was perfectly happy to get back in the kitchen and make all my familiar staples, quinoa and millet, almond milk, and lots of fresh veggies. For our first dinner home I made chicken adobo, one of the easiest things I can make that everyone likes. It is a traditional Filipino dish where chicken or pork are braised in vinegar and soy sauce with garlic. It’s a little sour, a little salty and a touch of sweet. And the soy really tenderizes the chicken so that it’s super soft. I usually shred it for the kids and serve it over rice with a green vegetable on the side. Simple dimple!

This dish is really only made with thighs and/or drumsticks and there’s a reason for that. Breast meat gets too dried out when simmered. I tried this with breast meat and it just wasn’t as good as the dark meat. What I will say is that because the sauce is dark, no one will know that the thighs are thighs and not white meat. I have made a few variations of chicken adobo and I’m giving you the easiest here with boneless, skinless chicken pieces. If you use pieces with the skin, you’ll end up having to brown the chicken to start in order to render some of the fat from the skin and to make it look more attractive (rubbery chicken skin gives me the creeps.) My family doesn’t eat the skin anyway so it was an easy decision for me to leave it out. This isn’t the most beautiful chicken dish you’ll ever eat, but I make no apologies because it’s very tasty and beyond easy! Also, it’s way more healthful to cook animal protein in a liquid or by steaming. A few carcinogens are created anytime animal protein comes into contact with high heat, like a pan or a grill. Total bummer, but that’s the facts.

I think you could also make a chicken adobo rice “bowl” with a big scoop of rice, shredded chicken and some steamed or roasted vegetables with a few spoonfuls of sauce on top. Believe me, no matter how you make it, this is a no-brainer for a busy weeknight especially if you’ve been on vacation from the kitchen for a bit!

Chicken Adobo

Pamela

5 from 1 vote

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Servings

Ingredients

¼ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
¼ cup naturally brewed soy sauce or shoyu or GF tamari I like Ohsawa
4 whole garlic cloves crushed
4 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns
2 pounds skinless chicken thighs and/or drumsticks bone-in or boneless* (I used 8 boneless thighs)
1/3 cup water

Instructions

Mix vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns in a container just small large enough to hold the chicken, such as a glass mixing bowl or a small Pyrex. Cover and marinate 1 hour to overnight. Longer is better.
Transfer chicken and marinade to a medium or large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and add water. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook covered for 30 minutes.
Uncover, raise the heat and gently boil an additional 10 minutes to reduce sauce. Serve hot over steamed rice.

Notes

*Breasts don’t work well here. Skin-on chicken is fine, but the skin doesn’t look attractive unless you broil or brown it after.

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bay leaves chicken garlic shoyu vinegar

Slow cooker whole chicken and stock recipe

Daughter #2 asked me the other day if I was “ever going to put that thing away?” She was referring to my slow cooker, of course. Not that Daughter #2 is complaining since she’s the first one to the dinner table every night and has always been the easiest one to cook for. But she had a point. That slow cooker has has become part of the family!

But I wasn’t about to shelve my new baby so soon. Just when I thought cooking a whole chicken couldn’t get any easier, I decided to put my Easy No-Fail Roast Chicken method to the test in…the slow cooker. Believe me, I don’t normally mess with the easiest, most popular dinners in my repertoire. But roasting a whole chicken is something that needs to be started well before I get home some days and I need a back-up. That and I was on a roll and feeling lucky, so I figured this was going to work like everything else I’ve been trying. I decided to prep the chicken in basically the same way I do an oven-roasted chicken — rubbed on the inside and out with some kosher salt early on, stuffed with a bit of fresh thyme and some crushed garlic and cooked on a bed of onions. I usually add cut lemons to the cavity, but I was nervous that cooking the lemons for a long time would result in a bitter taste, so I left those out. The only other change I made was to rub the outside of the chicken with a little olive oil mixed with paprika so that the skin would get a little color and not be pale and unattractive.

The conclusion is that I think I should call this recipe “Easier than Easy No-Fail Roast Chicken and Still So Darn Good.” The chicken was predictably fall-off-the-bones. In fact, I had a hard time getting the chicken out of the slow cooker in one piece! My kids love super soft meat and my husband likes chicken that is beyond well done. I’ve made chicken once or twice a week for the last 17 1/2 years and he has asked me every single time if the chicken is cooked through. No comment on whether or not that is annoying since my husband occasionally reads my blog AND Valentine’s Day is coming up. Get my drift? My point is that this chicken satisfies everyone, including me since it takes all of 5 minutes to prep and you can do it 8 hours before you want to eat dinner. “Is this cooked through?” “Darling, it’s been cooking for 8 hours.”

So you all know I am completely obsessed with making homemade chicken stock. I swear, if teaching cooking classes and blogging doesn’t work out, I will go into the homemade stock-making business. The world must know the goodness of homemade stock somehow! So before I served this chicken to the family, I removed and reserved all the bones. I put the bones back in there with a chicken back I had in the freezer plus some stock veggies (onions, carrots, celery) and water and I made chicken stock overnight. It was delicious. And because there was no skin and foam and such, it turned out to be such a clear stock with minimal fat. It’s crazy not to try this! (Sorry I don’t have photos. It was too dark in my kitchen and the images didn’t turn out well.)

Cooking a whole chicken in a slow cooker opens up so many possibilities for what you can do with the meat. You don’t have to cut the chicken into traditional breast, thigh, drumstick pieces. You can use the meat just as you would rotisserie chicken meat and heaven knows there have been more articles on what to do with rotisserie chicken meat than how to get your baby to sleep through the night. Just to remind — chicken soup, enchiladas, tacos, pot pie, sandwiches, salads and so on. For those of you who do not have a slow cooker and feel excluded, please revisit the Easy No Fail Roast Chicken Recipe. I still love you and I will put away the slow cooker and come back to you. Eventually. Wink, wink.

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken and Stock

Pamela

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Servings

Ingredients

1 whole roasting chicken about 4-5 pounds (save the neck for stock)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4-5 cloves garlic crushed
½ bunch fresh thyme or a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil
1-2 teaspoons paprika
1 brown onion peeled and sliced into thick slices
For the stock:
Some additional bony chicken pieces if you have them such as backs, necks, wings and/or feet, up to 2 pounds
2 brown onions cut into large pieces
3 carrots cut into large chunks
3 celery stalks cut into large chunks
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
water amount depends on size of your slow cooker

Instructions

When you get home from the market, unwrap the chicken and remove any giblets from the cavity. Save the neck for stock.
Take a heaping tablespoon of kosher salt and rub it around the inside of the cavity. Any remaining salt on your hands can be rubbed on the outside of the chicken. Rewrap the chicken and refrigerate until ready to cook. This can be done up to two days in advance.
The day you are making the chicken, remove it from the wrapping and sprinkle a few pinches of black pepper, as well as the garlic and thyme in the cavity of the chicken.
Truss the chicken by tying the legs together. Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil and paprika.
Place the onion slices on the bottom of the slow cooker insert and place the chicken on top of the onions. You do not need any liquid, I promise. Cover and cook on LOW for 7- 8 hours or HIGH 4-5 hours.
Serve with the cooked onions and pan juices, if desired.

Notes

Leave whatever you didn’t use in the slow cooker (juices and onions).
Remove all the bones from the entire chicken and place in the slow cooker with any additional chicken parts you have, including the neck from the chicken you just cooked. Add vegetables, vinegar, and enough water to come up to about an inch from the top.
Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or overnight. My slow cooker automatically goes to WARM mode after 8 hours.
Strain and use immediately if you don’t see too much fat at the top or cool slightly and refrigerate. When cold, skim and discard any fat from the top. Stock can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

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chicken garlic kosher salt olive oil onions paprika

Slow cooker chicken tacos recipe

You have all waited patiently while my life changed with the arrival of my new slow cooker. Apparently, I am very late to this party. I had no idea there was this whole huge world of slow cooker devotees. There are even websites devoted to only slow cooker recipes. I could wallow in self pity right now, knowing that all these years I could have been starting my dinner first thing in the morning and then return at 6:00 pm to a fully cooked meal. I could think about all the fall apart tender meats I missed out on or the flavorful soups and stews that could have been. But who can be down when you’re in love? Not me, friends. Because I am in LOVE with my new slow cooker.

I use the words “slow cooker” instead of Crock Pot because Crock Pot is a brand which I don’t have. But for all intents and purposes, they are used in the same way. If you don’t have a slow cooker, I am not trying to sell you one here and I will provide directions in this recipe for how to make these tacos without one. But seriously people, this machine rocks. I don’t know what took me so long to get one. I think part of my resistance was that I don’t have any room in my kitchen to store it. I still don’t, but I did give away a box of Disney DVD’s in the garage to make space for it. (Shhhhhh!) I also never had a job where I left early in the morning and didn’t return until 6:00 pm to a house of hungry human beings. Until now.

The irony is that I bought my sister a slow cooker a few years ago when she had her second baby because she does have a job like that. She has been raving about it ever since! A few months ago, I gave my other sister the same slow cooker when she moved into a new house and I think she just started playing around with it. But I’ve used mine a few times a week since mid-December and I’m hooked.

Listen, no one needs a slow cooker, but here is why I love mine:

–if you spend a little time before you leave for the day, your slow cooker will make dinner and keep it warm for you until dinnertime;

–slow cookers cook at low heat for longer time. Lower heat prevents nutrient loss. Also, cooking above 350 degrees (which a slow cooker does NOT) can create AGE’s (advanced glycation end products) which are very inflammatory to the body and considered carcinogenic (ugh.) Yup, you heard that right. Preparing food in a slow cooker is better for your health!

–slow cooking can be very beneficial to tougher, leaner cuts of meat by breaking down the muscle and creating a very soft, tender meat;

–you can leave it unattended for up to 12 hours without overcooking your food or worrying about burning your kitchen down.

Again, I am new to slow cookers, and although I have learned a lot just by trail and error, I am no expert. But so far, I’ve noticed that I prefer the recipes that ask you to brown meat or saute vegetables before adding them to the slow cooker. You get much better flavor that way. Yes, I realize you’re getting another pan dirty, but it’s worth it and you’re getting it over with in advance. Also, I’ve made many non-slow cooker recipes in the slow cooker and just reduced the liquid a bit since there’s almost no evaporation happening and a lot of condensation.

The recipe I’m posting today is a super easy one which I made on Sunday. This is truly a measure, dump and press start recipe. I used two different kind of chicken parts to see how they would both turn out and I’ll tell you the truth — although my family much prefers white meat, no one could tell what was what. Both the thigh and breast meat were super fork-tender. I personally think thighs have more flavor, but that’s just me. Everyone L-O-V-E-D these! I set up a taco bar with lots of toppings so they could just help themselves so I could sit on the couch with a cozy blanket and the new issue of Bon Appetit while watching the football game. Bliss. Slow cooker + Me = Together Forever!

Any slow cooker love stories out there? I want to know it all — how and when you met, how you keep the passion alive, recipes for success, etc!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

Pamela, adapted from Martha Stewart Living

5 from 1 vote

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Servings

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs (I used 2 breasts and 3 thighs.)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground chipotle powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
black pepper to taste
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
½ cup prepared tomato salsa I used pico de gallo. + more for serving
suggested accompaniments: corn tortillas guacamole, salsa, shredded lettuce, cilantro-lime slaw

Instructions

Place the chicken in slow cooker and sprinkle with chili powder, cumin, chipotle powder, salt and pepper. Add garlic and salsa and rub around to combine. Cover; cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
Either shred the chicken with 2 forks right in the slow cooker or transfer to a plate to shred. Moisten chicken with cooking juices and serve with desired tortillas/taco shells and toppings. You could even serve the chicken over rice with salsa and diced avocados.

Notes

Leftovers are great in a quesadilla!

Oven method: preheat oven to 350 degrees. In step 1, place all ingredients (except accompaniments) in a 5-quart Dutch oven or ovenproof pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add 2 cups water or chicken stock. Cover and bake until chicken is fork-tender, about 2 hours. Proceed with step 2.

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chicken chili powder chipotle powder cumin garlic salsa

Deer Valley-Style Turkey and Black Bean Chili Recipe

Are we having fun yet?! Good, good. I have been running around the house yesterday and today like a busy bee, very excited that the big day is almost here. I’m taking a quick breather from the Thanksgiving marathon just to touch base and check-in with you all. Hope everything is going according to plan and that you’re enjoying the process. What I am not doing today, however, is sharing a Thanksgiving recipe on the day before Thanksgiving because I know you are all planners and that ship has sailed!

Instead, I thought I would give all you super organized and efficient people a great way to use up any leftover turkey you might have on Friday. I always make turkey stock and a simple turkey vegetable soup the day after. I have also given in to chicken pot pie or shepherd’s pie with turkey. But I also think it’s nice to make something on Friday that tastes NOTHING like the dinner you just spent a month thinking about! It’s actually one of my strategies for getting everyone excited to eat leftovers even the day after Thanksgiving.

This recipe is inspired by the fabulous chili at the Deer Valley ski resort in Utah. I first skied Deer Valley in 1994 when my husband and I were engaged. He and his family have been going to the resort since it first opened over 30 years ago. It is a really special place and we are fortunate to be able to go there a couple times each year with the kids. Although I enjoy skiing and Deer Valley is absolutely stunning, I’m not super gung-ho about getting out there early and making the most of my day on the slopes. I’m really in it for the food. My favorite part about skiing is building up a good appetite and rewarding myself with a nice hearty lunch. I actually start thinking about this turkey chili when I sit down on the chair lift for the first run of the day!

Turkey chili is one of the few items that the resort serves every single day. I happen to notice the the lunchrooms also serve a roast turkey plate every single day. Hmmm, could it be the kitchen needed to find a way to use up yesterday’s roast turkey? Hmmm…. Anyway, we all love this chili because it’s lighter than a beef chili and a totally different take on the typical red, tomato-based ones that are so common. This one is lighter and tastes fresher, perhaps because of all the delicious vegetables. Regardless, all the signature shops on the mountain and many of the local grocery stores sell the special seasoning packet and the dried black beans in addition to the recipe so you can make it at home. For $7 or $8 plus the cost of the turkey, vegetables and stock, you can make this pot of deliciousness at home. Hmmm….$8 for 1/2 pound of dried beans and a few dried spices. It wasn’t long before I decided I need to figure out what the heck was in that seasoning packet!

I can’t say this turkey chili is exactly like Deer Valley’s, but it’s close enough and I’m not sure my kids have noticed. For sure I use half the amount of butter than the recipe calls for and I omitted the leeks, which I think don’t make or break this chili. I also don’t use canned creamed corn, because ugh — canned and creamed and sugar don’t go with corn — so instead I just make a little corn puree. The only ingredient you may not have lying around is masa, which is ground dried corn that’s been treated with lime. It’s what corn tortillas and tamales are made from. I have to say, it does thicken up the chili and give it a fabulous Southwestern corn flavor. It’s also not an expensive ingredient, so I say definitely go for it.

Alrighty, dear readers, that’s all the time I have today. I am elbow-deep in sweet potatoes and butternut squash and my kids are starting to bicker about who gets to pick the music we listen to while we work. Ahhh, sounds like Thanksgiving! Hoping you all have a lovely holiday. xoxo

Deer Valley-Style Turkey and Black Bean Chili

Pamela

5 from 3 votes

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Servings

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter you can use oil, but it won’t be as good -- vegans can use organic Earth Balance
2 pounds boneless skinless turkey breast, cut into 1-inch cubes or cooked turkey, cubed -- vegetarians and vegans can add 5 cups of additional vegetables and beans
1 red onion chopped
1 cup chopped celery about 3 stalks
1 sweet red bell pepper chopped
1 jalapeno seeded (or leave seeds for extra heat) and finely diced (optional)
2 cloves garlic finely diced
¼ cup masa harina more if you like a thick chili
2 ½ Tablespoons ground cumin
2 Tablespoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne cut back if you don't like spicy
2 Tablespoons maple sugar or natural cane sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt double if you’re using unsalted stock
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 ½ cups of chicken or turkey stock divided* -- vegans can use vegetable stock
2 ¼ cups frozen sweet corn thawed (about 12 ounces)
5 cups or 3 15-ounce ounce cans cooked black beans drained and rinsed

Instructions

Melt butter in a large pot. If using raw turkey, add half the turkey and sauté until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining turkey. If using cooked turkey, do not saute in butter, but add in step 3.
Add the onion, pepper, celery, jalapeno, and garlic to the pot and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.
Add the masa harina, spices, sugar, salt and pepper to the pot and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Return turkey and any accumulated juices back to the pot.
Add 4 cups stock, 1 cup corn and the beans to the pot. Take the remaining 1 ¼ cup of corn and puree with the remaining ½ cup stock in a food processor (a mini processor works too.) Add the pureed corn to the pot. Mix well and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered for 25 minutes. Serve with desired condiments (sour cream, cheese, minced onion, cilantro) or serve on top of a baked potato.

Notes

*If you only have stock in 32 oz. containers, no need to open a new one just for a 1/2 cup of stock. Puree corn in 1/2 cup water.

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black beans butter celery corn cumin masa onions oregano red pepper turkey

Roasted Whole Bone-In Turkey Breast Recipe

This is it, friends! We’re in the home stretch and I’ve got one last recipe to share before the big day. By now you know I get most excited about the side dishes, but in my classes I spend more time answering questions about turkey. What size should I order? What kind of turkey should I buy? Why does my turkey always turn out dry? How do I know when it’s done? What do you think about deep frying a turkey? (I don’t.) And so on. Even though I’ve been around this block quite a few times, and I’ll admit that I can get a little unnerved when it’s time to make the turkey. With so many factors at play here, e.g. size, temperature of the bird, variance in oven temperatures, and so many methods, e.g. dry brine, wet brine, kosher, breast side down, basting every 20 minutes, etc., it can be a little tricky knowing how to achieve the best result. I think most of my turkeys have turned out great. But I’ve had my mishaps and I have learned there’s always a solution, even when I forgot to close the door to my garage refrigerator and my turkeys were about 80 degrees the next morning. Total rookie move, and that was three years ago. (I didn’t cook them, by the way. I went to Whole Foods at 7:00 am and bought 2 brined turkeys. Problem solved!)

I’ve really only cooked two different versions of turkey, a whole roasted bird and a whole roasted breast. Like I said, I get more excited and have more fun with the side dishes! But traditionally since the turkey is the star of the show, I like to put my best foot forward and prepare a delicious bird. Normally I roast two whole turkeys on Thanksgiving, but a whole roasted breast can come in handy for a smaller crowd or to supplement a whole turkey if most of your guests prefer white meat. I’ve tested many methods for cooking a breast and this is hands-down my favorite. It is also a little different from how I cook a whole turkey. Whereas I prefer dry brining a whole turkey, I’ll go for the wet brine with a turkey breast which is much more easy to maneuver in a ziptop bag full of brining liquid. (Unlike the time in 2001 when my bag o’brine surrounding my 20-pound turkey exploded all over my kitchen floor. Cleaning that mess was definitely NOT on the schedule.) Either way, it is key to get that meat pre-seasoned with salt so it’s tasty and stays moist. It makes a huge difference!

I’ve made a dozen of these whole breasts over the last couple weeks and each one has turned out moist and flavorful. The best part is that with this straightforward method, there’s no constant basting and no worrying about wether or not the thigh meat will cook at the same rate as the breast. Funny, the question I received the most after classes this month was “why do we only make turkey on Thanksgiving?”

Roasted Whole Bone-In Turkey Breast

Pamela

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Servings -12

Ingredients

For the brine: do not brine a kosher turkey
1 1/3 cups Kosher salt such as Diamond Crystal
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons whole peppercorns
1 quart water
4 quarts ice water
1 brining bag or heavy duty gigantic Ziploc bag
For the turkey:
1 , 6-7 pound whole bone-in skin-on turkey breast
2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves chopped
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
6 Tablespoons softened unsalted butter or unrefined cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken or turkey stock or water stock will allow you to make gravy
Gravy
¼ cup white wine
5 Tablespoons all-purpose flour or a gluten-free flour blend, such as King Arthur's Multi-purpose
3- 3 ½ cups chicken or turkey stock preferably homemade
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Make the brine: In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine the salt, brown sugar, peppercorns and 1 quart water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Stir the ice water into the brine and make sure this mixture is cool before proceeding, otherwise add more ice.
Place the brining bag in a large bowl or pot and transfer the turkey to the bag. Pour in the brine into the bag with additional ice, if needed. Seal the bag securely! Refrigerate the turkey for 12 to 18 hours.
About an hour before cooking, remove the turkey from the brine, rinse thoroughly with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine the thyme, black pepper and butter in a small bowl. Loosen the skin from the breast and open it to make a pocket. Spread the butter mixture directly on the meat. Rub a little all over the skin. Place the turkey breast-side down in a v-shaped rack in a roasting pan. Add the stock. Roast the turkey for 30 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Turn turkey breast-side up (I wear rubber gloves to flip) and tent with foil. Continue to roast until an instant read thermometer registers 160-165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the breast, about an additional 1 ½ to 2 hours, depending on the size of the turkey. The temperature of the meat is more important than how long the turkey is in the oven!
Remove from oven and keep covered with foil and allow to rest at room temperature at least 30 minutes. Carve and serve with pan juices or prepare gravy. Don't forget to save the carcass for making stock!
To make gravy: remove the turkey from the roasting pan, pour the pan drippings into a fat separator.
Pour the wine and the pan juices (that have been separated from the fat) back into the roasting pan, and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge any brown bits. Strain into a bowl and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the reserved fat until it is bubbly. If you don't get 3-4 Tablespoons of fat from the drippings, add some olive oil. Add the flour and whisk rapidly to cook the flour.
Strain the mixture from the roasting pan into the saucepan and 2 cups of stock. Cook, while rapidly stirring, until smooth and thickened, 1-2 minutes. Add the remaining stock as needed to achieve desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Notes

Check out my video on how to make gravy and carve the breast at the bottom of this post!

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