0048. Crockpot Beef Stew with Olives, Garlic, Capers, and Tomatoes

I recently started a mammography class that only meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evening. PK isn't a huge fan of cooking (especially since he doesn't get home until late most of the time) so I've started using my crockpot a lot more. I found this recipe on FoodOnTheTable.com and have fallen completely in love.

PK was in a car accident on Monday (he's okay) but he took my car to work yesterday and I had to take care of getting a rental car lined up. Well, I ran out of time to do the prep. I didn't brown the meat before I tossed it in the crockpot, nor did I allow the beef stock to reduce. I also eyeballed most of the ingredients. I know I put way more than 2 tsp of capers, more than a cup of Kalamata olives, less than a cup of garlic (that was more like 1.5 tbsp). I didn't have Greek oregano so I used regular. Pretty sure I put an entire can of tomato paste in.  But it was delicious. PK had 2 bowls. Monkey wasn't a huge fan because of the olives, but we gave her some leftover spaghetti and she was a happy camper.

I didn't have time to make rice (which seems like it'd be the best bet to cover with this concoction), so I heated up some leftover mashed potatoes and it worked out brilliantly. Next time I'll try the rice, but there will definitely be a next time on this one. DELISH!!

Crockpot Beef Stew with Olives, Garlic, Capers, and Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 2 2-3 lb. beef chuck roast, cut into pieces about 1 inch (I used 2 1/2 cups beef cubes)
• 1 1-2 tbsp olive oil (for browning beef)
• 1 can reduced-sodium beef broth (or use 1 1/2 cups homemade beef stock)
• 1 cup garlic cloves, peeled and cut into lengthwise slivers
• 1 cup Kalamata olives, cut in half lengthwise
• 2 tsp capers, rinsed
• 3 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. dried Greek oregano
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 small can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 3 tsp red wine vinegar
• fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. (I used a small 2 1/2 Quart Crockpot for this recipe. You could also cook it on top of the stove in a heavy dutch oven type pan over very low heat.)
2. In heavy frying pan, heat 1 T oil over medium-high heat and brown half of beef cubes, turning several times so it's well browned on all sides. Put beef in crockpot and brown the rest of beef, adding more oil if needed. Put second batch of browned beef cubes in crockpot. Add beef broth to frying pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and simmer until beef broth is reduced to 3/4 cup. Add reduced broth to crockpot.
3. While beef is browning, sliver garlic and cut olives. Add garlic and olives to crockpot along with rinsed capers, bay leaves, oregano, canned tomatoes and juice, tomato sauce, red wine vinegar, and pepper.
4. Cook on high for 2 hours, then taste for seasoning and add tomato paste if desired. Cook another 1-2 hours, until meat is tender and flavors are well blended. (This could also be cooked on low for 6-8 hours.) Serve hot.

0047. Crock pot peach glazed pork chops

I'm not a huge fan of pork. Never have been and probably never will be. I like to say that it's a texture thing, cause pork will always feel like pork in my mouth. And yes, I think that pork pretty much always tastes the same. But really, it all boils down to the fact that I had 2 potbellied pigs growing up -Wilbur and Allison- and they were the first pets I really loved. Quiet. I grew up in the country. But PK loves pork chops and I try to make them once or twice a month. Usually I grab a sandwich or just eat veggies when we have chops, but the smell of the peach glaze was so delicious that I had no choice but to try some. And it was delicious. Even PK, who's one of the most difficult people to please in the kitchen, went back for THIRDS. (I only had one plate, but it was kind of a big plate... for me). This is definitely one I'll be keeping in my recipe box to make again.

I made double the recipe since I had so many pork chops to cook. Hint: when you buy a family sized pack of pork chops, it's a good idea to break them up into smaller batches unless your family is big enough to warrant 9 chops per meal. 

Cook Time:

5 minutes

Prep Time:

5 minutes

Servings:

4

Wait Time:

8 hours

Ready Time:

8h 10m

Rating:

• 1 (29.0 ounce can) peach halves
• 4 (5-6 ounce) bone-in pork loin chops, 1 inch thick
• 1 (tablespoon) vegetable oil
• Pinch salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 (cup) brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 (teaspoon) ground cinnamon
• 1/4 (teaspoon) ground cloves
• 1 (8.0 ounce can) tomato sauce
• 1/4 (cup) cider vinegar

1. Drain peaches, reserving 1/4 cup juice (discard remaining juice or save for another use); set fruit and juice aside. In a large skillet, brown pork chops on both sides in oil; transfer to a slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves; mix well. Add the tomato sauce, vinegar and reserved peach juice. Pour over the chops. Arrange peach halves on top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the meat is tender.

0032. Garlic Pork Chops with Mushrooms

Garlic Pork Chops with Chanterelle Mushrooms

Cook Time:

40 minutes

Prep Time:

10 minutes

Servings:

4

Wait Time:

0 minutes

Ready Time:

50m

Rating:

• 1 (cup) chicken broth
• 1/4 (cup) dried black chanterelle mushrooms (I used baby portabella)
• 1/4 (cup) rice wine vinegar
• 2 (tablespoon) soy sauce
• 2 (tablespoon) honey
• 1/4 (teaspoon) red pepper flakes
• 2 (teaspoon) sesame oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (tablespoon) minced fresh ginger (I used ground ginger)
• 4 (1/2 inch thick) boneless pork chops

1. Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the dried mushrooms, and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
2. Heat the sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the pork chops, and brown for about 2 minutes on each side. Add the garlic and ginger; cook and stir until fragrant. Stir in the soy sauce mixture, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered.
3. Remove the mushrooms from the pan using a slotted spoon, and slice into thin strips. Stir the mushrooms and chicken broth into the pan with the pork chops, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce has reduced by about 1/3, and the pork chops are cooked through.
4. To serve, place pork chops onto serving plates, and spoon equal amounts of the mushroom sauce over them.

0009. Lemon Garlic Orange Roughy

PK loves orange roughy, but I've never made it before. So I jumped on SparkPeople.com to find a recipe that looked good. You wouldn't believe how many recipes there are for orange roughy! I made PK sit down with me to look through them all, and we finally decided on this one. He was a little hesitant about it because he's tired of lemon juice with fish (it's my go-to when I'm cooking fish and I tend to go a little overboard, since I hate the taste of fishy-tasting fish, lol), but the rest of the ingredients looked yummy, so we decided to give it a go. It was a resounding success. He went back for seconds and asked for thirds, but by then Monkey and I had already finished off ours. Too bad, I was really hoping for leftovers for lunch tomorrow. We paired it with rice pilaf and fresh snow peas. Nomnomnom.

Lemon Garlic Orange Roughy

Ingredients

1 lemon
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
12 oz orange roughy
1/5 tsp each paprika and cumin
1 tsp pepper
salt to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

squeeze lemon juice into a zip top bag large enough for fish. add garlic and red pepper flakes, shake bag and marinate in fridge for 30 min. in a small bowl mix paprika and cumin, s & p; rub spice into both sides of fish. heat the oil in a large nonstick skilletover med heat. add the fish flesh side down and cook for 6 minutes. flip and cook another 6 minutes.

3 oz a serving.

Number of Servings: 3

0007. Nancy's pizza lasagna

2 bags of Spiral Pasta
2 lbs beef (hamburger meat)
2 Cans Tomato Sauce
1 can Tomato paste
one jar of Pizza Sauce
6 - 8 cups of Mozzarella Cheese
1-2 bags of pepperoni (depends on how much ya want)

Large Casserole Dish

Set oven to 400F
Cook Pasta
Brown meat

Mix all sauces & Paste

Add beef (strained) and noodles
Then add the sauce combo

Spread about 1/2 of the pasta/beef/sauce combo into the bottom of the casserole dish.
Spread 1/2 of your cheese reserve on top
Then place your pepperonis

Pour on top of that the rest of your pasta/beef/sauce combo and the rest of your cheese.
Then add more pepperonis on top.

Put it in your oven until cheese is nicely melted. Top might start to turn a golden color.

0006. Mexican casserole

Ingredients

• Salsa:
• 8 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 seeded jalapeño pepper, quartered
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• Casserole:
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup diced zucchini
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 (10-ounce) can green chile enchilada sauce
• 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
• 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Preparation

• 1. Preheat broiler.
• 2. To prepare salsa, combine first 4 ingredients on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 20 minutes or until charred, stirring once. Remove from oven; cool slightly. Place tomato mixture in a food processor; add cilantro, lime juice, and pepper. Process until smooth. Set aside.
• 3. Preheat oven to 350°.
• 4. To prepare casserole, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly coat pan with cooking spray. Add 1 cup onion, corn, zucchini, and bell pepper; sauté 6 minutes or until tender. Add chicken and next 5 ingredients (through green chiles); sauté 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat.
• 5. Spread 1/2 cup salsa over the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange half of tortillas over salsa. Spoon 2 cups chicken mixture evenly over tortillas. Top with 3/4 cup salsa. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of each cheese. Repeat layers, starting with remaining tortillas and ending with remaining cheeses. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes until bubbly.

Sidney Fry, MS, RD, Cooking Light
JANUARY 2011