I have always wanted to make chicken cordon bleu myself and finally did it, this time in the slow cooker! It is definitely not healthy for you, but I figured I’d make it about 1-2x a year and if I made it, I will have known the exact ingredients in it (no preservatives and fake chemicals) versus buying it frozen or in most restaurants. This came out of my Crock Pot Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes Book (c) 2010. It is really tasty. It IS on the heavy side so just eat less of it! Makes 4 servings. ENJOY!
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 boneless chicken breasts, lightly pounded
4 slices ham (We used deli ham)
4 slices Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons cornstarch
DIRECTIONS:
Combine flour and salt in a resealable plastic bag and shake well, set aside.
Place flattened chicken on cutting board, skin side down. Please 1 slice ham and 1 slice cheese on each piece. Fold chicken up to enclose filling and secure with toothpick. Place in bag with seasoned flour and shake gently to coat.
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken, skin side down. Brown on all sides. Transfer to slow cooker.
Remove skillet from heat and add chicken stock. Cook and stir to loosen browned bits (A.K.A. Deglazing). Pour into slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 2 hours.
Remove chicken with slotted spoon. Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Mix together half-and-half and cornstarch. Add to cooking liquid.
Cover, cook on LOW for 15 minutes longer or until sauce has thickened.
To serve, remove toothpicks, place chicken on plates and spoon sauce around chicken, with extra sauce if desired.
This was a recipe from an All Recipes magazine that I don’t subscribe to, but got free in the mail. I didn’t have, and couldn’t find, snow peas, so I used broccoli. The sauce is the biggest winner in this recipe. Most commenters double the sauce and so did I. The following recipe has doubled sauce ingredients. It would have been great on a bed of rice, but it was a LONG day. It calls for fresh ginger root but I hate wasting the remainder whenever I buy it, so I just used a few dashes of powdered ginger. I hate the way round steak usually turns out so I used a higher quality cut of beef. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS:
6 tablespoons soy sauce (I only use low sodium)**
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar**
2 tablespoons brown sugar (I used 1 T.; it was fine).
1 tsp. cornstarch
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil, as desired.
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root (I used a few dashes of powdered ginger)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I used a few dashes of powdered)
1 pound beef round steak, cut into thin strips
8 ounces snow peas (or broccoli)
**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!
DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar, and cornstarch; set aside.
Heat oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat.
Stirfry ginger and garlic for 30 seconds.
Add the steak and stirfry for 2 minutes or until evenly browned.
Add the snowpeas and stirfry for an additional 3 minutes.
Add the soy sauce mixture; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Lower heat and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.
I found this recipe in some magazine, possibly Rachael Ray. I don’t know. It’s very simple and produced a unique flavor of pork chop that wasn’t so bland. I found that after the initial searing, it helped to cover the chops with a lid to keep them from drying out; it worked very well. It was the first time I bought and used rice vinegar. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
6 tbsp. soy sauce
3 tbsp. brown sugar (I reduced it to 1 tbsp no problem)
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
4 boneless pork chops
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup sesame seeds
Directions:
In a resealable bag, mix soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar.
Add pork, marinate 20 minutes.
In skillet, heat 1 tbsp. oil over medium high heat.
This was our first try at dumplings! We were lucky and they were not that difficult! I really loved how all the flavors mixed and the green onion and sesame oil are wonderful additions. I had to halve the recipe and I’m glad I did because otherwise I would have been making dumplings until my arms fell off. I used powdered ginger instead of ginger root and I reduced the garlic from 4 cloves to just 1. I did buy the proper Chinese cabbage. I ended up adding some carrot for color and flavor, which I think helped. A very good recipe that is a keeper. If you don’t have a bamboo steamer like me, I used my steel steamer insert for my pan. BIG WARNING: PAM your steel steamer otherwise every dumpling will stick and it’ll be a huge mess! After we PAM’ed the next load of dumplings, they came out flawlessly!
INGREDIENTS:
Original recipe makes 100 dumplings – I halved this recipe.
100 (3.5 inch square) wonton wrappers
1 3/4 pounds ground pork
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 egg, beaten
5 cups finely shredded Chinese cabbage
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine the pork, ginger, garlic, green onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, egg and cabbage. Stir until well mixed.
Place 1 heaping teaspoon of pork filling onto each wonton skin. Moisten edges with water and fold edges over to form a triangle shape. Roll edges slightly to seal in filling. Set dumplings aside on a lightly floured surface until ready to cook.
To Cook: Steam dumplings in a covered bamboo or metal steamer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.
This recipe is from “Cook This, Not That” Cookbook (2010), which I got from the library. This salad is A+! Instead of T.G.I. Friday’s Sante Fe Chopped salad, which has 1,800 calories!!, they came up with this similar recipe that saves 1,460 calories! I loved this salad so much I need to make it soon! Even though I omitted the onion, jalapeno, and the chipotle pepper, I found it so tasty!
INGREDIENTS:
3 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
4 small Roma tomatoes, chopped**
1 red onion, diced**
1 jalapeno pepper, minced**
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro**
Juice of 1 lime**
8 oz. flank steak
salt and black pepper**
1/2 Tablespoon red wine vinegar**
1 tsp. canned chipotle pepper (I didn’t find this necessary)**
1/2 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 can (14-16 oz) black beans, drained**
1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400° F. Place the tortilla strips on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 mins, until lightly brown and crispy. Set aside.
In mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, and half the lime juice. Set the salsa aside.
Preheat a grill or grill pan. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Once the grill or grill pan is heated, toss on the steak. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until firm but yielding. Let the steak rest for 5 mins before slicing it thinly against the grain of meat.
Combine the remaining lime juice with the vinegar, chipotle, and honey. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking to combine. Toss the lettuce with enough vinaigrette to lightly coat, then divide among 4 plates.
Top each serving with slices of steak, black beans, avocado, salsa, and a few tortilla strips.
I’m not a huge fan of pork, so when I find a pork recipe I love, I really keep it! This is a recipe I love and I think you will too! It is so moist and flavorful, especially because of the quantity of oil used, but you can reduce it somewhat. I could not find white wine Worcestershire sauce, so I used white wine. I replaced the garlic cloves for 1/2 tsp. garlic powder. It smelled exactly like a restaurant!
Ingredients:
4-6 pork loin rib chops (about 3/4 inch thick)For the Marinade:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white wine Worcestershire sauce**
Juice of two large lemons**
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper**
DIRECTIONS:
Whisk marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Place the chops in a shallow pan or other non-reactive container. Pour the marinade over the chops, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
Grill on medium-high heat until desired doneness is reached. On our grill, it usually takes about 6-7 minutes per side. Cooking times will vary. Allow the chops to rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting in to them.
Give the chops a sprinkle of coarse salt and a squeeze or two of lemon juice prior to serving.
To say I love this recipe is an understatement. Sometimes slow cooker recipes look great on paper and the execution is lacking. This one really is awesome! I used fresh broccoli and I reluctantly used the oyster sauce. I thought it would ruin the recipe and smell fishy, but it was a great enhancement (and did not smell fishy!). I used beef stock from bouillon. The sauce that is created is SOOO good and the rice soaks it up. I recommend LOW HEAT as my cooker cooks fast for a “slow” cooker. It’s from my new cookbook “Crock Pot: Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes (c) 2010”. Before I drool, I’ll tell you the recipe:
Makes 4-6 servings. Takes approximately 3 1/4 hours on high. (It took me probably that same time on low).
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 pounds boneless chuck steak, about 1 1/2 inches thick, sliced into thin strips.
1 can (10.5 ounces) condensed beef consomme, undiluted.
1/2 cup oyster sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 bag (16 oz) fresh broccoli florets
Hot cooked rice
Sesame seeds (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Place beef in slow cooker and pour consomme and oyster sauce over beef. Cover and cook on high 3 hours. (I did low heat and it turned out fine).
Combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cooking liquid in small bowl. Stir well to combine. Stir into slow cooker.
Cover, cook on high 15 minutes longer or until thickened (I still did low heat).
Prepare broccoli as directed on bag, or steam your fresh broccoli. Put broccoli in slow cooker and gently toss beef and broccoli together.
Serve over rice, garnish with sesame seeds if desired.
I love America’s Test Kitchen and I love dependable cookbooks. Their “The Best Simple Recipes” book is one of my favorites, this recipe comes from it. We used this recipe for 6 burgers as we don’t like extremely large burgers. It is just a glorious taste and it has B.A.C.O.N built in! 🙂
INGREDIENTS:
8 slices bacon, chopped fine
1 1/2 pounds 90% lean ground beef
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 teaspoons yellow mustard**
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce**
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper**
**Known IC irritants, tread carefully! Omit these three irritants and you’ll still have a great burger! 🙂
DIRECTIONS:
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until brown and crisp, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate.
Break beef into small pieces in bowl, then add bacon, cheese, mustard, Worcestershire, salt and pepper.
Lightly knead mixture by hand until combined. Divide into 4 equal portions, then form each into loose ball and gently flatten into 1-inch-thick patty.
Cover and refrigerate until grill is ready.
Grill burgers over hot fire, without pressing on them, until well seared on both sides and cooked through, 4-6 minutes per side.
Transfer burgers to platter. Cover with foil and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
This recipe is a keeper! I used Sweet Baby Ray’s bbq sauce, but next time I will try inexpensive Aldi BBQ sauce because you are going through an entire bottle. You put your chicken breast halves in there frozen; can we say this is easy?! It turned out just wonderful. The remaining sauce, which should get to a proper temperature, is a tasty sauce for just about anything. Try it, please!
Ingredients:
6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12) oz. bottle BBQ sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
Place chicken in slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the BBQ sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.
After many pizza tries, we found this recipe and love it! It’s for a thin Margherita pizza. We’ve tried it grilled and in the oven (on a pizza stone), but we prefer it in the oven! It even tasted great on a metal baking sheet. We invested in a pizza stone (Inexpensive at T.J.Maxx $15.00?) and a 14″ stainless steel pizza peel.
I use a thermometer to get my water to around 110°, otherwise it won’t activate the yeast. I buy my yeast in a little tub at Target. I’m sure there’s places that sell larger amounts but I want to make sure mine is fresh. I mix the yeast mixture in my Kitchenaid mixer. Then once the yeast proofs (gets foamy and proves it’s working), I put the dough hook on so I avoid all the labor-intensive work. You always want to make sure the yeast proofs because otherwise, imagine your dissapointment when you add all your flour in and it ends up going in the garbage! Last important note: if after proofing, the dough is too sticky you can always add more flour. If it’s too dense, I add a tiny bit of warm water. This will depend upon the humidity in the air, if you have the air conditioning on, etc.
Only fresh mozzarella and fresh basil are recommend for optimal flavor. You will be glad you sought them out because the flavor is worth it! The olive oil is a must! Once you bite into it, you will be amazed at all the flavors.
Make sure to preheat the oven WITH the pizza stone in it; you want the pizza to hit that hot stone and start cooking instantly. I cover my pizza peel in cornmeal so the pizza slides right off of it onto your stone, hopefully quickly. It can take some practice to get this right. Sometimes the pizza will flip onto itself; remember you’re learning!
—-This recipe makes 4 medium sized pizzas. I used one fresh mozzarella ball for all 4 pizzas. Estimate how much mozzarella and basil you want for each — you don’t have to put exactly 4 basil leaves on each pizza, of course!
I suggest doing this recipe on the weekend, especially the first time you make it. It will make a lot of dirty dishes, etc, especially when you’ve never made it before. I reserve it for the weekend, even though I know how to make a minimal mess now.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 pinch white sugar
1/4 cup flour for dusting
2 cups pizza sauce (a known IC irritant)
20 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
20 leaves fresh basil
olive oil
sea salt to taste
Directions
Stir flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Set aside.
Mix water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl. Let stand until yeast begins to form a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
Stir half the flour mixture into yeast mixture until no dry spots remain. Stir in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. When dough pulls together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl, then place dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Punch dough down, divide into 4 equal pieces, and form each into a ball.
Preheat oven with a pizza stone to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
Stretch out and pat 1 dough ball to form a circle 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Place dough on a lightly floured pizza peel. Top with 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and spread to cover within an inch of the edge of the dough. Arrange 5 slices of mozzarella cheese on top of the tomato sauce, then place 5 basil leaves on top. Drizzle pizza with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt to taste. Repeat for 3 remaining dough balls.
Slide each pizza onto the pizza stone in the preheated oven. Bake until cheese is bubbly and the underside of the crust is golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.
