Almost no effort: Slow cooker ribs

Yesterday while I was drinking my morning coffee before going to church, I put together a supper of ribs in about 15 minutes. I took a short cut, using bottled barbecue sauce, so this was one of the simplest dishes I've cooked in a long time. Here's the recipe:

Over medium high heat, brown 1 pound of country-style boneless pork ribs in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (brown for about 4 minutes, turn and brown 4 minutes more.) Chop a large sweet onion into about 8 chunks. Place ribs and onion pieces in the slow cooker. Pour one bottle of commercial barbecue sauce over the ribs. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, stirring occasionally to make sure ribs are coated with sauce.

Winter treat: Salmon & grilled potatoes

It's been so frozen cold the past few weeks in Wichita. So when it hit the high 50s yesterday, it felt like summer. After a day spent playing outside with the pup, we grilled salmon, potatoes and veggies for dinner, as if it were August.

I've blogged before about grilling tiny potatoes on skewers. Yesterday I cut red potatoes into medium-size chunks, skewered those and brushed with a generous dose of olive oil. Dave grilled these for about 40 minutes. They were great-- crispy on the outside, cooked to perfection inside. We grilled our salmon fillets in foil, after I rubbed them with excellent seafood rub that was a Christmas present from my sister (dubbed "Rub With Love," it's marketed by Seattle restaurateur Tom Douglas of Dahlia Lounge fame. Molly sent me a whole set, including rubs for steak, pork, chicken and crab cake mix. Very good stuff, available at Tom Douglas' Web site.)

I know I haven't been blogging much lately. My evenings have been too booked to do much cooking. Last weekend, however, I did make chili in the Crockpot with a pound of browned hot sausage, dry red beans that had been soaked overnight, a small can of green chilis, a big sweet onion, 2 cloves garlic and 3 tablespoons chili powder and three 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes. I cooked this on high for about 6 hours, then threw in a cup of frozen corn and heated 'til the corn was cooked. This is the time of year when I love throwing basic soup, stew or chili ingredients into the slow cooker. Makes for several days of nice suppers.

Chicken pot pie: Comfort food for company

Every time I make chicken pot pie, I wonder-- why don't I do this more often? It is so mouth-watering good. We had friends over for dinner last night and this is one of those dishes that keeps warm perfectly in the oven all through appetizers and a salad course. Here's my recipe, adapted from "The Best Recipe" from Cook's Illustrated. The crust turns out perfectly light and flaky. The filling has a subtle sweet flavor of cream sherry and thyme.

Chicken pot pie

Filling:

1-1/2 to 2 pounds chicken breast tenders
1 15-ounce can chicken broth plus water added to make two cups
3 medium carrots, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large sweet onion, diced
3 celery stalks, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup flour
4 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup cream sherry
1 teaspoon dry thyme
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Slice chicken tenders into 1-inch pieces. Put into a large heavy pan with the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. With a slotted spoon, spoon chicken into a large mixing bowl. Pour broth into a measuring cup. In the same heavy pan, heat vegetable oil. Add carrots, onion and celery. Saute for about 6 minutes over medium heat. Put vegetables into bowl with chicken. In the same heavy pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir for 1 minute. Whisk in milk, chicken broth and thyme, bring to simmer and stir until fully thickened, about 1 minute. Add sherry and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir into bowl with chicken and vegetables. Stir in peas. You can cover this and refrigerate overnight if you like until ready to use. Reheat on the stove top before constructing your pie.

Pour filling into a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish. Top with pastry crust. In a small bowl, beat an egg white with 1 tablespoon water and brush over the top of the crust. Make five 1-inch cuts in the crust to vent. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. You can leave this in the oven once you've turned it off so you can enjoy appetizers with your guests before serving dinner.

Savory pastry crust:

1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, chilled
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled
3 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor, mix flour and salt. Cut butter into 10 or so slices, sprinkle into the flour, tossing a little to coat. Pulsate for 1 second, five times. Add shortening. Pulsate again for 1 second, five times. Turn into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle water into dough. With a rubber spatula, mix water into flour mixture with a folding motion. Add a fourth tablespoon ice water if needed. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes or overnight.

On a floured sheet of waxed paper, roll dough into an 11-by-15-inch rectangle. Fold in half gently and then unfold to cover the chicken filling in your casserole dish. Tuck in overhanging dough to make a nice edge. Bake as directed above

Corn chowder is perfect January supper

The other day I ordered corn chowder for lunch, and got to thinking I gotta cook up some of this. So today that's what I did. I didn't crack open a cookbook; I just kind of threw this together. It's yummy. It'll make a perfect wintertime supper with the fresh wheat rolls I made this morning and a green salad.

Corn chowder

1 pound bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound frozen corn
2 15-ounce cans creamed corn
5 unpeeled white or red potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers
2 15-ounce cans chicken broth
2 cups half-and-half
6 jalapeno slices (from a jar)

In a heavy soup pot, cook bacon until cooked but not crisp. Spoon off excess fat from the pot. Add onion pieces. Cook over medium heat until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add chicken broth and potatoes. Bring to boil and cook for 15 minutes. Add creamed corn, red pepper, green chiles, jalapeno slices and frozen corn. Cook 20-25 minutes. Stir in half-and-half, simmer on low until ready to serve.

Greet the New Year with Hoppin' John

For the last several years, I've adopted the tradition of making a big pot of Hoppin' John on New Year's Day. This is something I learned from friends in Philadelphia who'd spent time in the South. We love this dish, which is supposed to bring good luck in the new year. Today I used the slow cooker-- in years past I've cooked this in a big soup pot on the stovetop, which too often results in a burnt layer at the bottom of the pan. No such misfortune with my Crockpot. Here's my recipe:

Hoppin' John

1 pound dry black-eyed peas
4 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes
7 mild Italian sausages, cut into 1-inch slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 15-ounce cans chicken broth
2 cups uncooked white rice
1/3 cup chopped jalapeno peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices ham, cut into chunks

Soak black-eyed peas overnight according to package directions. In the morning, drain and put peas into the slow cooker. Add ham, tomates, broth, onions, jalapenos, garlic. In a large skillet, brown sausage in olive oil. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to slow cooker. Stir things up well. Cook on high for 3 hours. Then add rice. Continuing cooking until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed, about 3 more hours.

You can use all ham or pre-cooked kielbasa instead of Italian sausage. This makes a lot of Hoppin' John; I suggest freezing a batch to enjoy later in the winter.