Slow Cooker Ratatouille

Ratatouille is the sangria of summertime sauces - it's a great way to use whatever you have kicking about. I've written before about my miracle sangria - I use this recipe whenever I have some fruit that needs to get used up.  This year's gardening has been a little strange - it's been a cool summer, so everything has been thriving well, except my tomatoes, which need warmer nights to ripen.  Plus, I've got some kind of terrible fungus, and an invasion of tomato horn worms, which also like green peppers, evidently.   And who knew that the deer would eat serrano peppers - really?  I thought they'd be too spicy for them, but I was wrong.

This year, I've got a lot of eggplant and basil.  We don't really eat a lot of eggplant around here - of course, eggplant parmesan would go over well, as would anything that is fried.  But I am not sure I want to go through the effort.   I thought about ratatouille, which would be great to freeze for winter time (no safe way to can it because of the squash).  I borrowed a trick from Cook's Country magazine, that suggests roasting the vegetables first to keep it from getting too watery.   Feel free to adjust proportions of whatever you have too much of in your garden - for me, I didn't have any red peppers yet so I skipped it.    Since tomatoes weren't doing so well for me this year, I used my favorite brand of local canned tomato products - Red Gold.   they sent me a case of tomato products earlier this summer, and it came in handy for this recipe.  Also, they are having a contest this summer for a Big Green Egg Smoker on their Facebook page....meander over there and "like" them to get a chance to win.


Slow Cooker Ratatouille

2 pounds eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3 zucchini (about 8 oz each), quartered lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 onions, roughly chopped

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Mix all ingredients together, and spread out on 1 or 2 baking sheets.  Heat the broiler, and broil each pan 10-15 minutes until slightly browned.    Mix the vegetables with:

1 (28 ounce) can Red Gold diced tomatoes, drained

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

and put in a slow cooker.  Cook on low at least 4 hours - I have let it cook for 8 hours and it is still great.  

Before serving, add:

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Add salt and pepper to taste.   Serve with crusty Italian bread. or on pasta or chicken.  Makes about 8 cups.

So,  what are you making from your garden's bounty?  Leave a comment in the comment section, along with your email address (either in the comment or send it to me via email at momskitchen at comast dot net), and I will include you in a drawing for a tasty Red Gold product pack.   I will pick a winner on Labor Day, Sept. 2.  You must include your email address to win!

Stuffed Cabbage

I'm on a Polish food cooking kick these days...earlier this week, I tried my hand at kotlet grzyby (mushroom cutlet) and of course I have eaten plenty of kapusta this holiday.  Today's creation is golabki, commonly called stuffed cabbage or cabbage rolls.  When we were kids, we always called them cabbage "trolls" or "pigs in a blanket" and my mom made hers Campbell's tomato soup and her "secret ingredient" she used in almost all of her cooking....Lipton's French onion soup mix.  She would make them in the pressure cooker, but it's not really required.  They will cook up well in the oven or in a slow cooker.   Here's how I make them...make sure to season with enough salt and lots of fresh ground pepper.    When I was a kid, I would eat mine "naked" - I'd peel off the cooked cabbage, but I love cooked cabbage now.   I'd recommend doing that still for kids or adults that don't share the cooked cabbage love.  

Golabki
Makes enough for at 4-6 people

1 medium head cabbage
2 onions, chopped fine
2 T butter
2 lb ground beef or 1 1/2  lb ground beef plus 1/2 lb ground pork or veal
1 cup rice
2 eggs
2 large cans tomato sauce - preferably no salt added
salt and pepper

Remove core from cabbage and scald the cabbage in boiling water to soften the leaves.  Remove cabbage a few leaves at a time, cutting away any tough stems.   Put cabbage back in the water to scald if the inner leaves are still hard.   Let cool.

Meanwhile, saute onion in butter until soft.  Do not brown.   Parboil rice in 2 quarts of rapidly boiling hot water for 10 minutes, drain.    Mix onion, rice, ground meat, eggs and half a can of tomato sauce for the filling.  Add at least 2 teaspoons coarse salt salt and plenty of pepper.    Fill leaves with meat and rice filling, rolling leaves around meat to make a small package.  Place seam side down in a large crock pot.   Pour remaining tomato sauce on top of stuffed cabbage leaves, add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on high for about 4 hours (or low for 8 hours).   Adjust seasonings.  Serve stuffed cabbage with tomato sauce spooned on top.

Chicken and Dumplings

A favorite recipe of my daughter, this chicken and dumplings recipe is perfect for the crockpot . Make sure to use a stewing chicken - if you can't find one at your grocery store, use a couple cans of chicken broth instead of water. Frying chicken just doesn't make a flavorful chicken stock. It's hard to find stewing chickens these days. Locally, Sparrow Meat Market in Kerrytown has them, as well as Hillier's Market. This year, I have ordered some stewing chickens from Back Forty Acres when I visited the Chelsea Farmers Market a few weeks ago. I asked the gal behind the table if her stewing chicken had a lot of flavor, and she said "absolutely the best" so I signed up for 5. I took her at her word because she was wearing a sash that read Homemaker of the Year and a rhinestone tiara. (it was the day of the Chelsea Fair Parade - I am sure this isn't her usual farmer's market getup). It's going to be a great fall!

Chicken and Dumplings

3 lb. stewing chicken, cut up

2 medium onions, peeled and cut in half

3 stalks celery

3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks

3 parsnips, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks

1 t poultry seasoning

1 t kosher salt

1/2 t fresh ground pepper

2 bay leaves

3 1/2 c water, divided

1/4 c flour

For the dumplings

3/4 c flour

1 tsp. baking powder

pinch salt

1 T. snipped parsley

1/2 t dried thyme or dill

1/4 c milk

2 tsp vegetable oil

Put vegetables in the bottom of a large crock pot (or dutch oven in you are camping), and place chicken on top of vegetables. Add seasonings and 3 c. water and cover, cook on low for at least 8 hours. Remove chicken from pot and turn crock pot on high. Remove chicken from bones and return to the pot. Mix 1/2 c. water with 1/4 c. flour and stir in broth to thicken and cover.

Make dumplings by mixing dry ingredients and herbs in a small bowl. Mix milk and oil and add to dry ingredients and stir with a fork until combined. Drop by spoonfuls on top of chicken stew - make about 4-6 dumplings, and cover and cook for 15 minutes in crock pot on high. Do not remove lid to check for doneness until 15 minutes have elapsed. Check with a toothpick and see if the dumplings are done after 15 minutes; if not, cook 5 minutes longer with the lid on.

Swiss Steak - local style

Locavorious, which is an Ann Arbor based company that has partnered with several small farms in the communities around Ann Arbor, offers frozen produce subscriptions, similar to shares offered by community supported agriculture (CSA) farms. During the peak harvest, they prepare and package local produce at its peak freshness, and preserve it in a community freezer. I got a pound of their frozen tomatoes from my fellow Michigan Lady Food Blogger Rena and promised to create a recipe with them. So yesterday, I made Swiss steak. Swiss steak isn't a native dish from Switzerland, rather, it refers to the way you can tenderize a tough cut of meat by sprinkling it with flour and pounding it with a meat mallet. I didn't physically "swiss" this steak because I had some top sirloin steak from TMZ Farms in my chest freezer and thought it would be tender enough without the added step.

This recipe would be wonderful in a crock pot - cook it on low for 8 hours. It also would be a terrific camping recipe in a cast iron dutch oven. To make it while camping, cut the beef into 2' chunks first and cook with 8 coals on the bottom, 14 on top for about 40 minutes, rotating the lid and pot every 15 minutes or so. Locavorious' tomatoes were from Tantre Farm. The other ingredients could have been locally grown carrots and parsnips which I could have kept in my suburban root cellar. This year, I checked out a great book about root cellaring from the library and was motivated to give it a try. I "put some food by' - a half peck of apples and pears that I bought from a roadside stand in Romeo last fall by putting them on a shelf on an interior wall of my attached garage. It worked beautifully! They stayed fresh and crisp and didn't freeze. Next year, I will preserve root vegetables, probably in a box of sand in my garage, too. My potatoes were from DuRussel potato farm and can be purchased at groceries throughout Michigan.

Swiss Steak

1 lb. frozen whole tomatoes
3 peeled carrots, cut in 2 inch chunks
3 peeled parsnips, cut into 2 inch chunks
3 medium sized potatoes, cut in quarters longitudinally
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 lbs top sirloin seak
1 bottle of your favorite local beer (I used homebrew)
1 1/2 c. vegetable juice (make your own or use V8)
1 t. dried rosemary
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

Hot cooked noodles

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Put vegetables in the bottom of a 6 qt. dutch oven, and place meat on top. Pour beer and vegetable juice on top, sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper to your personal taste - I recommend a tablespoon of kosher salt and a teaspoon of pepper. Cover and cook in oven for 2.5 hours. Serve beef over hot cooked noodles with vegetables on the side and sauce ladled over the top.

Winter fun

Yesterday, we had a snowstorm, and my snow shoveling husband, who I can count on for a snow depth assessment, has determined we had a foot of snow fall. My old man and I met while going to college in the U.P. (pronounced "You-Pee", a.k.a the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, for my non Michigander readers) and he is not prone to weather exaggeration. We don't often see snowfall like this in Ann Arbor, but it was a weekly event in the Keweenaw Peninsula where we went to school. (average snowfall, Houghton, MI in the 300 inch range, Ann Arbor, 50 inch range), so when my man says it was a foot, it was a foot.


My son invited his class to go sledding at our neighborhood sledding hill, which has been dubbed "Cardiac Hill" by generations of neighborhood kids. Most of his class made it, and it was a wonderful time with the snow falling heavily throughout the day. I pronounced to the other moms that were hanging with me that I planned on going cross country skiing on Sunday. The last time I went cross country skiing, 25 years ago, was on a date that didn't go so well. Nordic skiing in the U.P. can be quite a challenge - I had envisioned a romantic time, complete with a bouda bag full of wine and a fabulous winter picnic. Instead, it involved me falling down so many times my date had to push my rear end up several times with his shoulder to make me mobile again. I also managed to fall into a creek and got totally soaked. We went back to my place and I made tacos from an Old El Paso taco kit. Evidently my date didn't find it very romantic either, because while I can't remember his name, I do remember that a) he didn't kiss me good night or b) he never asked me out again and the ratio of men to women was 7:1 when I went to Michigan Tech. I have never XC skied again, and I sold my skis at a neighborhood garage sale.

Since I told the other middle school moms I was going to XC, I figured I needed to make good on my commitment. After all, I have had some substantial ankle surgery since I was 20, so maybe it would work out better. I took my son with me - he's got my bad ankles, too, but he and I are the more athletic members of the family - dad and daughter to sleep in. We went to Hudson Mills Metropark and rented ski, boots and poles for $10 each and had a terrific time! The weather was beautiful - I crammed myself into my downhill ski pants (good thing I am back on Weight Watchers) and wore a turtle neck, wool sweater, fleece jacket and windbreaker and found myself taking some layers off midway. We brought some hot cocoa in a thermos. It was really beautiful with the snow on the trees and the sun out. I can't wait to do it again.

What a great workout! Start by having a good breakfast. Yesterday, I tried another steamed bread in my crockpot, based on a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks of late "Not Your Mothers Slow Cooker Cookbook". I love cooking in a crock pot because it saves the energy of heating up the whole oven. (note that stoves and ovens don't use too much energy anyway, but every little bit helps!) To make this recipe, you need a fairly large crockpot (round or oval) and something to cook it in. A heat proof bowl will work, but I have been using a proper British pudding mold. It's metal and has a lid that clamps on, and it looks like the picture I've included above. Here's my interpretation of Bran Muffin Bread....

Michigan Bran Muffin Bread
5 T. buttermilk powder
1 1/4 c. water
1 egg
1/2 c. dark molasses
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 c. All Bran cereal
1 c. whole wheat flout
1 c. all purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. chopped dried apricots
3/4 c. dried cherries

Grease and flour 2 qt. pudding mold, or a heat proof bowl that fits in your crock pot with at least an inch or so clearance all around. In a large bowl, stir together buttermilk, water, egg, molasses and oil. Add cereal and let stand for 15 minutes to soften. Add the remaining ingredients, and pour into mold or bowl. Cover mold - if you are using a bowl, cover tightly with 2 layers of aluminium foil and tie a string around it to hold the foil in place.

Put the mold or bowl in the slow cooker and add enough hot water to insure the vessel is 2 inches deep. Cover and cook on high for 3 - 3 1/2 hours. I shut off the cooker after 3 hours and went sledding at this point, and took it out later, but you could open the vessel on the inside and see if it is done by pushing your finger in it and look for it to spring back. If it doesn't, cover and cook it in additional 30 minute increments until it is finished.

When the bread is done, transfer the mold or bowl to a rack and let it cool for 10 minutes. Invert it on a rack to remove the mold, and then turn it right side up to cool. Cut into wedges and serve with applesauce you canned last fall.

Kapusta

Kapusta and kielbasa in the crockpot is great for a crowd.

Here's how I make it:
1 big onion, diced
1/2 lb bacon, cut up in small pieces and fried crisp, reserve the grease
1 lb. of the best kielbasa you can find, smoked or fresh, cut up in 2 inch chunks *
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large can of Silver Floss sauerkraut drained, reserve juice (this is the best brand of sauerkraut I know of)

Put the potatoes in the bottom of the crock pot, and top with bacon. Add onion to the bacon grease and saute until tender, and pour the onion and bacon fat on top the potatoes. Add the sausage chunks, and then top with kraut. Cook on LOW for 8 hours. If it gets dry while cooking, taste it...if it is not sour enough for your taste, add kraut juice, if it tastes right, add water.

* In Ann Arbor, try Copernicus deli. A very garlicky sausage tastes best in this recipe. The Kowalski special holiday kielbasa you can sometimes get at the grocery store near Christmas or Easter is good, too. Kopytco's in Hamtramck is the very best.

Crockpot Collards

I based this off of a recipe I saw in Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here for the Food". I was a little nervous, based on what I have read about them, that they would stink up the house, but they didn't at all. The "potlikker" was awesome!

Crockpot Collards
2 lbs. washed collard greens, stems removed, and cut in 2 inch pieces
1/2 c. cider vinegar
3 c. water
2 smoked ham hocks

Put greens in crock pot, add water and vinegar, and put hocks on top. Cook for 10 hours on low. Remove hocks and cut up meat and sprinkle on top, if the idea of eating ham hocks doesn't turn you off. Serve with Franks Hot Sauce and a side of cornbread.

Hot and Sour Soup

Hot and Sour Soup (like Kosmos in Ann Arbor)

Kosmos in Kerrytown (Ann Arbor) makes the best hot and sour soup I have ever tasted. This is my best shot at making it myself.

1 lb. pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut in 1/2 in dice
4 14 or 15 oz cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup grated carrots
2 small onions, sliced thin
3/4 c. white vinegar
10 small Thai chili peppers, diced
1 t. fresh ground black pepper

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced (I forgot these)
1/2 brick extra firm tofu
1.4 c. reduced sodium soy sauce

Here's how I cooked it - I put the pork and the chicken broth in a crock pot and cooked it for about 4 hours on low. I skimmed off lots of the floaties - Kosmos has floaties in it, too, so I didn't worry too much about getting them all out. I added the carrots, onions, peppers and pepper and let it cook for another 4 hours on low. I then added the tofu and soy sauce, and would probably add the mushrooms and let it cook until the tofu was heated through. It's pretty darn close to what they serve at Kosmo's!

Hoppin' John

Before I forget, I must write down this year's version of Hoppin' John that I made on New Year's Day. It was the best I have ever made. Eating Hoppin' John on NY day is supposed to bring you good luck. Here it is:

Hoppin' John (click title for printer friendly version)

1 lb. bag black eyed peas
1/2 lb. bacon, diced
2 large onions, diced
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. cayenne pepper
1 smoked ham hock
1 t. kosher salt, or more to taste.

Soak beans overnight in enough water to cover then by a couple inches. Drain and put in a crock pot. Brown bacon and drain off fat. Add bacon to pot, drain off grease, leaving a tablespoon in the pan. Add onions and saute until soft. Add garlic and saute further until fragrant. Don't burn it. Add to pot. Add ham hock. Add enough water to cover. Cook in crockpot on low for 10 hours, or on high for 6, skimming occasionally. Add salt at end of cooking time. Remove hock and dice up meat and add before serving, if desired. Serve over hot white rice with plenty of Frank's Hot sauce.

Posole

My friend Phil talked me into trying posole. A New Mexican native who's half Polish and half Mexican, he is a coworker that I can count on to accompany me on many an obscure shopping trip on our lunch hour. A couple weeks ago, we went to John H King Used Books in Detroit and the Mexicantown area of Detroit to go grocery shopping. We went to Honey Bee Market to get our giant white corn. This is where I got my nifty "Our Lady of Guadelupe" calendar! Phil says that posole is a traditional Christmas dish his grandma makes. I followed a recipe suggested at http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2005/12/more-than-sum-of-its-parts.html. Here's how I made it:

Posole
1 lb. pkg giant white corn, soaked over night
8 c. water
2 lb pork tenderloin cut into 1 inch chunks
2 t dried oregano
2 chipotle in adobe sauce, cut into pieces
2 T ground cumin
2 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 T minced garlic
juice of 2 limes
1 T salt
ground pepper to taste
4 T chopped cilantro
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained

Toppings (any or all of the following): more chopped cilantro, avocado chunks, grated sharp cheddar cheese
1. Drain corn and put in a crock pot. Add 8 c. water, plus pork, oregano, chipotle, cumin, onion, garlic, lime, salt and pepper. Turn heat low. Cook 8-10 hrs. covered until pork is falling apart
2. About 15 minutes before serving, add tomatoes and heat through
3. Stir in chopped cilantro just before serving. Ladle into bowls and let diners customize their bowl with the assorted toppings

Bob Talbert's White Chicken Chili

This family friendly recipe comes from a beloved Detroit icon named Bob Talbert - he wrote a folksy, witty and touching feature column for the Detroit Free Press for a long time. I always read "The Way We Live Section" in the Freep first - I would read "Dear Abby" and then go right to Bob Talbert. He wrote about almost everything Detroit....on Mondays, he wrote a list of gripes called "Outta my mind on a Monday Moanin'" which I really enjoyed most. Anyway, this was a recipe he featured once in his column. I think he got it from some bar up north. I am including it as he wrote it, but afterward, I'll tell you about how I actually make it.

Bob Talbert's White Chili

1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, washed and patted dry
2 cans (14 oz. ea.) chicken broth
1 jar (48 oz.) great northern beans with liquid
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 can (3 oz.) chopped green chilies, with liquid
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground oregano

Garnish with green chopped onion tops, shredded cheese or tortillachips (optional)Bake chicken breasts at 350 for 30 minutes. Cut in pieces.In a large pot, pour small amount of broth. Add onion and garlic andsimmer until onion is wilted and hot. Add the chilies, stir, then addbroth and beans with liquid. Mix in the cumin and oregano. Bring to aboil and add chicken pieces. Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes.(Serves 6)

My version:
I put that chicken and broth in the crock pot, I usually drain the beans, too. I'd add all the ingredients. I let it cook on low for 8 hours or so. I make it more spicy by adding some cayenne pepper. I usually make at least double this size of recipe with it in the crock pot. I'd serve it with white toppings - monterey jack, sour cream, and sprinkled with those green onions.