Japanese Beef Stew

A friend of ours "made up" a Japanese beef stew one year and I haven't been able to find a recipe that captured his flavorful broth.

UNTIL NOW.

I prepped everything the night before and put it all together early the next morning.  I would have added more water to make more broth and made sure the beef was submerged (I had put the potatoes and carrots on the bottom).  I also added shiitake mushrooms and a couple pieces of ginger to add to the flavor.  Our guests enjoyed it over rice.

Thanks, Miss Diggy!

Niku Jaga Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef stew meat
1 cup water
1/2 cup Japanese sake (dry white wine)  (I used Mirin instead)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt (I omitted this based on reader reviews)
1/2 lb baby carrots (I cut and peeled my own carrots cuz I was being paranoid about baby carrots)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 white onion, diced

Directions:
1. Put all into crock pot and cook on low 10-12 hours or on high 4-6 hours.
2. Stir before serving.

Korean Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

Super long title for a ridiculously easy recipe!  I made these for W one night and he insisted that I make it for a fundraiser dinner we were having to introduce our friends to a fundraiser that we support (Our Piece of the Pie, in case you're curious.)  That sentence seemed unnecessarily long.

Anyway, everyone loved the short ribs and one friend even requested the leftovers (which I considered as a huge compliment since he's such a good cook himself!)

Thanks to Stephanie O'Dea, author of one my new favorite blogs: A Year of Slow Cooking.

Crockpot Korean Short Ribs

--package of beef short ribs

--1 cup soy sauce 

--1 cup brown sugar

--5 whole jalapeno peppers 

--1/2 cup water

The Directions.

Place solid beef ribs into the crockpot.

Add the soy sauce, water, and brown sugar.  

Add the whole jalapenos on top (Do not cut them!)

Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Half way you might want to rotate the short ribs so any exposed meat gets saturated in juice.

We ate it with white rice and sauteed spinach the first time, white rice and baby bok choy the second time.

Buttermilk Cornbread

We needed a side dish for chili and ribs.  I decided on cornbread. I had buttermilk.  Allrecipes.com had this recipe.  Thanks Bethany!  Your grandma makes delicious cornbread.

Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

During my pregnancy the weird thing I'd crave was mustard.  I added it to all of my sandwiches, and had I known about this recipe I probably would have made it multiple times.  Maple + mustard + chicken thighs = winner!  

Thanks to Ellie Krieger for trying to keep it healthy!  I left the chicken skins on because I was pressed for time but I didn't get any complaints.  No fancy French mustard, either, so I just went with a double-dose of dijon.  I was surprised that I got to use my marjoram!

Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

• 4 large bone-in chicken thighs, skins removed (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons grainy French mustard
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Combine mustard, garlic, marjoram and maple syrup in a small bowl. Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons mustard mixture evenly on top of each chicken thigh, being careful to cover as much of the surface as possible to form a "crust." Arrange chicken in a glass baking dish. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until mustard mixture has formed a crust and is slightly hardened, and juices run clear when the chicken is pierced.

Slow-cooker Mushroom Risotto

Now that I have a baby I've had to be more realistic when planning to cook for large groups of people.  This includes figuring out stove space, oven space, and making sure the meal is balanced (I'm a fan of making people eat vegetables.  If it makes people feel better I'm also a fan of making people eat dessert.)  I've yet to figure out the counter-space conundrum, but hopefully that will change when we move.

This risotto served as a perfect side dish for chicken and squash.  I think one friend ate more risotto than anything else!  I didn't have any wine on me but I think water and chicken broth worked just fine.  I also omitted the cheese at the end because I totally forgot.  I don't think anyone missed it though.

Thank you, Naptime Chef!

Slow-cooker mushroom risotto

1 ½	cups uncooked Arborio rice  (I used medium-grain rice)
¼	cup olive oil
¼	cup white wine
4	cups low-sodium chicken broth
1	small yellow onion, finely chopped OR 2 teaspoons onion flakes
2	cloves garlic, finely chopped
1	cup cremini mushrooms, finely sliced
2	teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
1	teaspoon kosher salt
¼	teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2/3	cups finely grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a small bowl mix together the rice, olive oil, garlic, onion, sage and mushrooms. Then pour it all into the slow-cooker. Pour in the broth and white wine and cook it on high for 2 and ½ hours.

*Tracie's note: I sauteed the onions in olive oil first so they would be softer.  Afterwards I threw the rice in and toasted it, too.  Then I threw everything in the slow cooker.

2. Once the risotto is finished cooking stir in the Parmesan cheese and leave uncovered.

*Tracie's note: After 2 1/2 hours it was probably done but I wasn't ready to serve it yet, so I just stirred it and kept it on low.  There was still plenty of liquid left to keep it moist, but make sure there's enough in yours.  If you want your risotto to have a "bite" then I would turn off the slow cooker and serve at this point.  The risotto I had at the end was sorta mushy, but luckily everyone still liked it.

Brownies

Around the holidays Nestle came out with a chocolate chip mixture of chocolate chips and mint chips.  I bought it because I love chocolate-mint-everything and then proceeded to forget about it.  I was organizing my pantry and found them, and the stars must have aligned cuz I also came upon this recipe from a friend's blog.  It's from Allrecipes.com, but I'll give you the link to her site.  She's very creative!  AND she has great taste in brownies.  I ended up using the bag of chocolate chips/mint chips as part of the recipe and thus made mint brownies.  My sister and I have probably eaten a quarter of the pan already cuz they're refreshingly delicious.

Thanks, Ilene!  

Brownies (recipe at the end of the post)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used my mint/chocolate mixture plus regular semi-sweet chocolate chips)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8×8 inch square pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and water. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the chocolate mixture. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies set up. Do not overbake! Cool in pan and cut into squares.

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini is definitely one of my favorite veggies.  I love it fried and now I love it shredded and baked into zucchini bread.  

This recipe had a nice crunchy crust and yielded two loaves- perfect for giving as a gift.  My friends tried to decline the second loaf to take home but they didn't really protest after I wrapped it up for them. 

I made the recipe as written, except I didn't flour the pans cuz I forgot!  No harm done.  I also left out the walnuts because I didn't have any.  I added mini chocolate chips because I love chocolate chips, too.

Thanks again, allrecipes and thanks V Monte, whoever you are!  Your mom is awesome.

Zucchini bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.