Slow Cooker Pamegranat Beef

What do you say we revive this thing?! :D 

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, sliced
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 pounds beef roast (I used a chuck roast)
4 garlic cloves (whole is fine, or you can chop them)
1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
1 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup golden raisins

DIRECTIONS
Use at least a 6-quart slow cooker. Swirl the olive oil into the bottom of the stoneware. Add the onion. Rub the spices on all sides of meat and add to the stoneware with the garlic, the whole can of tomatoes, pomegranate juice, vinegar, and syrup. Sprinkle the raisins on top.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for about 5. The meat is done when it has reached desired tenderness. Serve with mashed potatoes, and drizzle with the sauce.

This was one of the best things to ever come out of my slow cooker! A must try!

Cranberry Grape Salad

This is my favorite all time holiday salad. Although its not really salad, more like a fancy alternative to a jello side dish/fruit salad/whatever. When I say fancy I mean it tastes fancy, but is super easy to make. Here's how you do it.....

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 cup of sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1 lb of red grapes cut in half

Put the bag o cranberries in the food processor/blender till they are nicely chopped not pureed.

Mix cranberry blend with one cup of sugar. Place mixture in a strainer over a bowl to catch the juice, you will want to let it drain for at least an hour to get most of the liquid out. Slice grapes-I usually do them lengthwise. Whip the cream until its nice and fluffy. Add grapes to cranberry mix and stir, then gently fold in the cream. Now your done!! Hoorah!! p.s sorry I haven't posted in a while...I've been lazy

Sweet Potato Cake with Vanilla Maple Glaze

I've made this for Thanksgiving 2 years in a row and I love it more each time!

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt


1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon maple extract
1 teaspoon butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
2. In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add mashed sweet potatoes and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time. Add flour mixture to potato mixture. Beat on low until combined.
3. Pour batter into 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool cake for 20 minutes in the pan, then invert onto serving plate.
4. To make the glaze, melt the butter and add to rest of ingredients. Mix until creamy. Pour over COOLED cake.

Mushroom Stroganoff

Yet another recipe found on Pinterest. Originally from The Svelte Gourmet.

1 T butter

1 large onion, diced

32 ounces mushrooms of your choice

1/4 C white wine

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. flour

1 C light sour cream

12 oz. whole wheat egg noodles

1/2 tsp. dill weed

Heat salted water and cook noodles until al dente. In the meantime, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Cook onions until slightly soft, then add mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms release some of their water. Add flour, stirring well to combine, then add white wine, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire. Cook on medium until liquid reduces and begins to thicken and mushrooms are tender. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and dill. Add hot, cooked noodles and stir gently so sauce coats noodles.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Gouda Cheese Sauce

I found this recipe on my new favorite website (read: addiction) Pinterest. It combines two of my favorite things: gnocchi and cheese. For those of you that don't know, gnocchi are Italian dumplings usually made from potatoes. It's one of my ultimate comfort foods. Original recipe from The Noshery.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Gouda Cheese Sauce

Gnocchi:

1 lb. sweet potatoes (yams), rinsed, patted dry, pierced all over with fork.

6 oz. fresh ricotta cheese

1 T light brown sugar

1 tsp. + 1 T salt

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour

Sauce:

2 C milk, heated

1/4 onion

3 sage leaves

Salt and white pepper, to taste

3 T unsalted butter

3 T all-purpose flour

1 C Gouda cheese, shredded

Line a large sheet with parchment. Place sweet potatoes on plate; microwave on high until tender, about 5-6 minutes per side. Cut in half and cool. Scrape sweet potato flesh into bowl and mash; transfer 1 1/2 C to large bowl. Add ricotta cheese; blend well. Add Parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and nutmeg; mash to blend. Mix in flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto floured surface; divide into 3 equal pieces. Rolling between palms and floured work surface, form each piece into a 20-inch-long rope (about 1 inch in diameter), sprinkling with flour as needed if sticky. Cut each rope into 20 pieces. Roll each piece over tines of fork to indent. Transfer to baking sheet.

Bring large pot of water to boil; add 1 T salt and return to boil. Working in batches, boil gnocchi until tender, 5-6 minutes. Transfer gnocchi to clean rimmed baking sheet. Cool completely. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

In a small sauce pot combine milk, onion, garlic, and sage. Place over medium heat and heat until tiny bubbles appear around the edges of the pan, about 5 minutes. Do not boil. Remove pan from heat and let stand for about 10 minutes. Remove and discard onion, garlic and sage leaves. Cover to keep warm. In saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, until blended, 1 minute.

Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to low and continue to whisk until sauce is smooth and slightly thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Dip a wooden spoon in the sauce to coat it. Pass your finger through the sauce on the back of the spoon, it should leave a clean track.

Strain the sauce into a clean saucepan. Whisk in 1 C of Gouda cheese. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Baked Zucchini Sticks with Caramelized Onion Dip

GAH! I am so sorry that it has been so long since I've posted any recipes. My life has been so crazy that I haven't had time for blogging! Anyway... I'm going to make up for it by posting a bunch of recipes I've tried out lately. As we all know, late summer/early fall is zucchini season. As soon as I whipped up something with one zucchini, there would be three more in my garden. Here is one recipe that became a hit at my house. You can find the original recipe from King Arthur Flour here. Just a side note, I make the dip while the zucchini drains in the sink.

Baked Zucchini Sticks with Caramelized Onion Dip

Yield: about 3 dozen sticks

Dip:

1 T butter

1 medium sweet onion, about 1/2 pound, peeled and sliced

2 T cider vinegar

2 T honey

1 T prepared mustard

1 C mayonnaise

Salt and pepper to taste

Zucchini Sticks

3 medium zucchini, unpeeled, cut into 3" long sticks

1 T salt

1 C panko bread crumbs

1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese

1 T Italian seasoning

Olive oil spray

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. To make dip: Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat, and add sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, then caramelize. This should take between 10 to 15 minutes. The lower the heat, the longer it takes, but the less likely you are to burn the onions.

2. Once onions are a medium brown, remove from the heat and add vinegar.

3. Place onions and vinegar into a small food processor. Add honey and mustard, and process and blend until smooth.

4. Add mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

5. To make zucchini sticks: Place zucchini sticks in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with the tablespoon salt. Let the zucchini drain for 1 hour or longer; rinse and pat dry.

6. Combine panko, Parmesan and Italian seasoning; set aside.

7. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and spray parchment with olive oil.

8. Dredge sticks a few at a time in the egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Place sticks on baking sheet.

9. Bake sticks for 12 minutes, turn over, and bake for another 8 minutes until golden-brown and crisp.

10. Serve immediately with sweet onion dip.

Easy Cheesy Lasagna

This is the lasagna my mom always makes. Try as I might, I have never found a tastier recipe (especially for how simple it is) It's great for kids because it doesn't use ricotta cheese and if your kids are picky (like I was/am) you can make it without chunks of tomatoes or onions depending on the sauce you like. This isn't your usual blog-worthy recipe. It's really easy and simple...basically combining store bought items and baking...but you Facebook fans asked for it so here it is!

Ingredients:
About 12 lasagna noodles (UNCOOKED: one of the major selling points of this recipe)
Meat sauce: either homemade, if you have it, or get 2 jars of store-bought and mix it with 1 lb. of cooked meat.
1 big tub of cottage cheese (I use 2% low fat, don't got fat free...no bueno)
2-3 cups shredded mozarella cheese
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top...or throughout if you're me.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In a 9x13 casserole dish put a thin layer of meat sauce, then 4 or so uncooked noodles, just however many fit, then more meat sauce, cottage cheese, a healthy sprinkling of mozarella, and repeat until the dish is full (mine fits about 3 layers). Sprinkle the parmesan on top of the mozarella on the last layer, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour, taking the tin foil off for the last 15 minutes. Remove when bubbling and let sit for 10 minutes to solidify a bit, unless you like lasagna soup. Done!