Recipe Review from 3/31/14

Two back to back snowstorms - one with two days of 40mph winds and an inch of snow; one with 6" of the heavy wet stuff that gave me my worst commute of the year, and then promptly melted later in the afternoon.  Gotta love spring. 

We ended the week with temps hitting 50*!  Was nice enough that I pulled my porch chair and table out and sat outside while the pups ran around.  Rest of the week is supposed to be in the 40's, which would be very welcome indeed! 


The Meal Plan for the previous week:
Sun - Pulled Pork Sandwiches with pickles and baked fries
Mon (yoga)  leftovers
Tues (yoga) leftovers
Wed (yoga am/Bullseye league) Minestrone Soup  Out for Pizza
Thurs (yoga) leftovers
Fri - leftovers
Sat - out with Parents

Lunches - Corn and Potato Soup, Fritos, fruit, luna bars, yogurt, nut cups.



Sweet BBQ Sauce  (A Sweet Pea Chef Blog)
I'm not a fan of pre-prepared BBQ sauces as more often than not, they are full of High Fructose Corn Syrup and other preservatives.  Bleh.  BBQ sauce is also remarkably easy to make and delightfully variable - maybe a traditional sauce, or a mustard sauce, how about a white BBQ sauce?  This one below is a sweet-hot barbeque sauce that I found via Pintrest.

I doubled the recipe for my 4lb pork shoulder roast. It was definitely tangy-zingy-sweet and doubled, was the perfect amount for the quantity of meat I had.  What I wasn't counting on was eating pulled pork for four meals!  Maybe a 3lb roast was too much for the two of us. 

1/2 cup ketchup
1 tbsp. honey
1/2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. molasses
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/8 tsp. ground mustard
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
kosher salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste

Combine the above ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine well. Refrigerate at least 15-20 minutes prior to using, if possible.

**My notes - I did heat the sauce for about 15 minutes to get the honey and molasses to combine and some of the spices to release their flavor.  Then I popped it into the fridge until I was ready to use it.  


Creamy Corn and Chicken Soup (Great American Slow Cooker Cookbook)  gluten free
 A riff on corn and potato soup that ups the protein with the addition of some chicken.  A chop, plop, puree dish that was most satisfactory.  For my bacon lovers out there, some crumbled bacon on top would have really rounded out the flavors nicely. 

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 qt chicken broth
4 cups corn (fresh or frozen)
1 cup thinly sliced leeks (rinsed and drained)
1 cup baking potato, diced  (I used baby reds)
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 half and half 

1) Put chicken breasts on the bottom of the slow cooker.
2) Add everything except half and half.
3) Cover and cook 2 1/2 hours (low) 5 hours (hight)
4) Remove chicken breasts and set aside. Puree remaining ingredients until smooth or desired consistency.
5) Cube chicken breasts and return to pot.  Add cream.  Cover and cook an additional 15-30 minutes.