Recipe Review from 12/9/13

It's been a cooold week!  As I type this, the high is -7* (-21*C) with a windchill of some kind.  At least the sun is shining and the coming week is supposed to be in the 20's (-6*C).  Heat wave!

And as we were mooching around the house this weekend, this little fellow came to visit the feeder.

Slow Cooked Chicken and Sweet Potatoes  (Eat at Home Blog)    gluten free
My friend Tess found this recipe and raved about it.  Now it's my turn to rave about it to the greater world in general.  This was an OMG! dish in it's simplicity and taste.  Don't be turned off by the 1/4 cup brown sugar, it combines with all the great potato and chicken juices and makes the dish just lightly and delightfully  sweet.  I kept going back to the crockpot to scoop out some more juice.   The chicken turned out fork tender - I did keep a closer eye on the cooking time as I think it would be easy to overcook this.

I thought this dish would be perfect for company - go out in the afternoon, come back, wah-la! dinner is served.  Could easily be doubled.  This made enough for two of us for dinner and leftovers for one (my package of chicken breast only had three pieces and was 1 1/2 lbs). 

• 2 lbs. boneless chicken breast
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks
• 5 Tbs. butter, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Put the chicken and sweet potatoes in the crockpot. (author notes - added the chicken still frozen.  My notes - I used fresh chicken)
2. Stir the brown sugar into the melted butter. Add salt and pepper.
3. Pour over chicken and sweet potatoes.
4. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 5-6 hours.  (My notes: I cooked on high for 3 hours.  Perfect, absolutely perfect.)

Slow Cooked Sausage and Lentil Stew   (A Year of Slow Cooking Blog)  gluten free
Another very easy, flavorful dish for a very cold weekend.  I assembled this mid-afternoon on Sunday and it was ready to go by dinner time.  Just a couple tweeks to the recipe to accommodate my tastes - I used chicken broth instead of beef broth, and "organic" polish sausage instead of chicken/turkey sausage.  15-20 minutes is about perfect to wilt the spinach.  This made enough for three dinners for two of us, with cornbread.  This would be great for lunches. 

1 cup lentils 

2 cups beef broth (I used chicken broth)

1 (12-ounce) package smoked chicken or turkey sausage, sliced.  (I used polish sausage)

1 cup chopped carrots

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

9 ounces (or so) fresh spinach; to add at the very end

Use a 6-quart slow cooker (My 4-quart worked fine). Rinse your lentils under cold water, and place them into an empty slow cooker. Add beef broth, and sliced sausage. Add the entire can of tomatoes and a cup of chopped carrots. The broth and the seasoning from the sausage is enough to flavor this dish-- there is no need for additional spices.

Cover and cook on low for 5 hours, then stir in fresh spinach. It'll look like a lot at first, but the spinach will wilt and [the author] promises it will all fit. Cover again and let the spinach soften for about 15 minutes. 

Author recommends serving with cornbread and I concur!  Was the perfect accompaniment.  

Sweet Potato Chicken Curry  (Ckng Lght, Nov 2009)    gluten free
I made this as written except for the cooking time.  It was with a tiny bit of dismay when I realized partway through assembly that this required an hour and a half of simmering.  Umm...no. I don't think so.  My changes are noted below and I brought it down to about 30 minutes.  Long enough for the sweet potato to soften and the flavors to meld. 

This was very good but turned out spicier than expected.  Drop the red pepper if you are not a 'heat' person.  This made enough for four meals, with rice. 

photo from cookinglight.com

• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces 
• 1 1/2 cups vertically sliced onion 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained 
• 2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato
• 3/4 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Combine curry powder, coriander, turmeric, salt, black pepper, red pepper, and bay leaf in a small bowl.
2. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from pan. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to pan; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Increase heat to medium-high; return chicken to pan. Cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in ginger and garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add curry powder mixture; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth and tomatoes [and potato]; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour.   Cook, uncovered, 30 minutes [or until potato is soft]. Add [chickpeas] and peas; cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Discard bay leaf.