Slow Cooker Beef Stew

• non-stick cooking spray
• 1 package of lean beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes (approximately 2 lbs.)
• black ground pepper
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 packages dry onion soup mix
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 5 potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 package baby carrots
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cans cream of celery soup
• 1 cup ketchup

1. Spray the non-stick cooking spray to coat the inside of the slow cooker.
2. In a plastic bag, put the paprika and the onion soup mix. Shake to mix well.
3. Blot the meat pieces dry with a paper towel. Shake pepper over the pieces. Add the meat to the mixture and shake until all pieces are coated.
4. Heat the olive oil in a skillet.
5. Brown the pieces in two batches about 10 minutes. Some people skip this step, but it will enrich the flavor if you do so.
6. Layer the meat in the bottom of the slow cooker.
7. Layer the vegetables on top of the meat.
8. In a separate bowl, stir the celery soup and ketchup until blended. If you have any leftover seasoning from the plastic bag, you may add this also and stir to distribute it.
9. Pour over the vegetables in the crockpot.
10. Cover the with lid and cook for eight hours on low.
11. Before serving, stir to distribute the sauce more evenly.
12. Serve and enjoy.

Beef Bourguinon

Beef Bourguinon

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ pound sliced center cut bacon, chopped
• 1 package lean beef stew meat, cubed into 1 inch pieces
• salt
• ground black pepper
• 1 bag of baby carrots, cut in half diagonally
• 2 Vidalia onions, sliced
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (refrigerated in a jar)
• ½ cup Cognac
• 1 750 ml bottle Pinot Noir
• 2 beef bouillon cubes, dissolved in 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 bag frozen whole pearl onions
• 1 package of fresh mushroom caps, washed and sliced
• sliced sourdough bread, sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic powder

1. In skillet, heat the olive oil and brown the chopped bacon, cooking about 10 minutes over medium heat. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
2. Blot the beef cubes to dry with a paper towel. Salt and pepper them.
3. Sear the cubes in two batches about 3 to 5 minutes, making sure that the cubes are browned on all sides. Some people do not sear the cubes, but it really makes a huges difference in how it tastes in the end, so I recommend searing. Remove the cubes and set aside.
4. Toss carrots and sliced onions with 2 teaspoons of salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Put in the fat in the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes on medium, until pieces are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more. Do not add the garlic before that or it will burn and become bitter.
5. Using a butane lighting stick (like you use to light a grill), tilt the pan slightly, pour the cognac in it and immediately set it on fire. Once flaming, you can level the pan and allow the cognac to burn off. This step will enrich the flavor of the vegetables. Stir in the flour.
6. Pour all the vegetables including the pearl onions, meats, the bottle of pinot noir, the beef bouillon, two tablespoons of the butter, and tomato paste in a crockpot. Stir and place lid on the crockpot and cook at low 8 hours until vegetables are fork tender.
7. Brown the mushroom slices in two tablespoons of butter in a skillet until lightly brown. Add to the crockpot and cook another hour.
8. Toast the slices of sourdough bread, sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic powder in the oven. Remove when slightly brown.
9. Plate the bread, and spoon the mixture over the bread.
10. Serve and enjoy.  

Apple Spice Dessert

This dessert is so easy and delicious!

• 2 cans apple pie filling
• 1 boxed spice cake mix
• 2 sticks butter

1. Spray the bottom of a large slow cooker with non-stick spray. 
2. Spread 2 cans of apple pie filling across the bottom. 
3. Sprinkle the dry spice cake mix across the apple pie filling. 
4. Put two sticks of butter on top. Cook in slow cooker on high for 2 ½ hours. It will be a soft dessert, rather than a crisp or cake texture.

Serve and enjoy. 

Sausage, Green Beans, and Potatoes Slow Cooker Dinner

• 1 smoked sausage ring or 2 links of smoked sausage
• 2 15 ounce cans of cut green beans
• 8 potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters or smaller
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon powder or 2 cubes
• 2 cups water
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

1. Cut sausage in quarters long ways. Then cut it crosswise in smaller pieces across.
2. Put in crockpot.
3. Add green beans. Do not drain them.
4. Add potatoes.
5. Add onions.
6. Add bouillon powder.
7. Add water.
8. Add pepper.
9. Cover and cook in slow cooker for 6 hours on high.
10. Serve and enjoy.

Corned Beef and Veggies Dinner

• 1 package corned beef (including seasoning packet)
• water to cover
• 1 onion, cut into quarters
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 6 potatoes, peeled and quartered
• ¾ lb. baby carrots
• 1 head cabbage, cored and cut into sixths

Glaze:

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup Gulden's Spicy Mustard

• Loaf of soda bread (optional)

Directions:

1. In a crockpot, place the corned beef, seasoning packet, onion, and bay leaves. Cover with water. Cook on low for 11 hours (For me, that means starting at 5:00 a.m.).
2. Remove meat and cool in refrigerator about an hour to make it easier to slice.
3. Continue to keep the liquid hot in the crockpot.
4. Remove fat blanket, then slice the meat and put it in a baking dish.
5. Mix glaze ingredients and brush over the meat.
6. Bake the meat uncovered in the oven about 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Keep checking to make sure the glaze doesn't get too brown.
7. Meanwhile, put the hot liquid in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil.
8. Add potatoes and cook for 20 minutes.
9. Add carrots and cook for 5 minutes.
10. Add cabbage wedges, cover and cook additional 20 minutes.
11. Remove the bay leaves. Serve with the meat with the vegetables and purchased soda bread (optional).

Crockpot Turkey Breast

• 4 lb. turkey breast
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Dutch oven filled with cold water for brining
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/4 small container of poultry seasoning
• 1/4  teaspoon of pepper

1. Fill Dutch oven 1/3 of way full of cold water.
2. Add salt and sugar and mix.
3. Remove covering from turkey breast and put in the water mixture.
4. Fill dutch oven with water until it covers the turkey breast.
5. Put in refrigerator for 24 hours.
6. To Prepare for Crockpot:
7. Remove the turkey breast from the refrigerator and Dutch oven.
8. Place the turkey breast in the Crockpot.
9. Rub all over the turkey breast with butter.
10. Mix poultry seasoning and pepper to use as a rub.
11. Apply the rub to the turkey breast.
12. Add 1/4 cup water to the bottom of the Crockpot.
13. Place lid on the Crockpot and cook on low for 10 hours.
14. Remove from pot and let set for 15 minutes before slicing.
15. Use drippings and juices in the Crockpot to make pan gravy if desired.

Coddle

I know that I missed this for St. Patrick’s Day. I know the tradition is usually corned beef and cabbage, but I was hungry for coddle, another dish of Irish origins. If I remember correctly, I was too busy going to the WNIT to make it then, even though it is cooked in a crockpot. I was first introduced to it when my friend David, Cathy’s husband and Lori’s son, was kind enough to make it for our knitting group of friends. David’s Coddle was great, but I tweaked it a little bit to my own family’s likings. This traditional supper of sausages, bacon, and onions and potatoes is at least 2 centuries old and is more a city dish than a rural one. Its urban history surprises me. Coddle was a favorite of Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver’s Travels. It would be great served with soda bread. And thanks, David, for expanding my repertoire. :-)

1 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled

1 13 ounce Eckrich or similar brand beef sausage, sliced and browned

2 onions, cut into ½ pieces and browned in the bacon fat

Remove these three ingredients from the fat and place in a crockpot.

8 potatoes, cut in wedges

½ pound baby carrots

1 Tbsp. minced garlic (I used the kind that you keep in the refrigerator.)

1/3 teaspoon pepper

2 cubes beef bouillon

2 cubes chicken bouillon

2 cups water

¼ cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons, fresh parsley, chopped

Add these remaining ingredients and cook in the crockpot 10 hours on low.

Serve in bowls.