Slow Cooker Chuckwagon Chili

Who says you should only use your slow cooker in the winter? I use mine year round - it is especially great to use when it's hot outside, that way you don't have to heat up the kitchen. I am STILL using the slow cooker that I got as a wedding present 19 1/2 years ago!! The past Wednesday afternoon, the hubby called and told me that his bike had a flat tire. Since he rode his bike to work, that meant I would need to go pick him up right around the time I usually start our dinner. I decided that I was going to make some "chuckwagon" chili, the "chuck" being a great looking piece of boneless chuckeye steak the hubby had picked up earlier in the week at Meijer. I had a small "window" of time between when I got back from taking Dominic to music therapy and when I needed to pick up the hubby to put it all together.  I am not a "cowgirl," but I certainly feed hungry people daily here at Cathy's Kitchen. Two little bits of chuckwagon "trivia." What do you think it means if a cowboy yelled, "man at the pot!" when they saw you pouring yourself a cup of coffee? It meant the cowboy wanted another cup of coffee. I'm going to try that tomorrow morning when the hubby is getting himself a cup :)  A second little bit of trivia-  the container for putting food scraps after a meal is called a "squirrel pan."  I wonder what my family would do if I said, "go put all your food scraps into the squirrel pan!" I'm guessing they would have NO idea what I was talking about! Around here, whenever I make chili, I also make up some elbow noodles to put underneath. Would you believe I had never done that until the first time I made chili for my hubby and he was asking, "so, where are the elbow noodles?" That was the only way he ever ate chili growing up in Cleveland!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds boneless chuckeye steak,
  cut into bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons white flour
3 tablespoons canola oil
15.5 ounce can red kidney beans,
  undrained
14.5 ounce can chili ready diced tomatoes,
  undrained
15.5 ounce can Great Northern beans, undrained
8 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Using a zippered top gallon size plastic bag, put the flour and the chuckeye steak. Close the top and then shake until all the pieces of meat are covered. In a large frying pan, put the three tablespoons of canola oil. Cook over low to medium heat until the pieces of chuckeye steak are no longer pink in the middle. Drain off any grease and set aside.  In a 2 1/2 quart slow cooker, put the red kidney beans, diced tomatoes, Great Northern beans and the tomato sauce. Add the chili powder and cinnamon. Stir together with a large spoon and then add the meat.  Mix well and then cover and cook for 3 hours on high. Top with shredded cheese if desired. Makes four servings.

White Chocolate Saltine Cracker Toffee

White chocolate chips are one baking item I don't use too often, based on previous not so great experiences. White chocolate can be, well, "temperamental." I have made saltine cracker toffee with semi-sweet chocolate chips and it doesn't last long here. I was curious if I made the toffee with white chocolate if it would be just as popular. Well, guess what? All of my regular "customers" that are "permanent" visitors to Cathy's Kitchen couldn't shovel it down fast enough. When I took a peek into the container just now that's in the fridge to see how many toffee pieces we had left, Dominic came over and asked for a "chewy," which is his nickname for them. If you can believe it, there are only two pieces remaining. Hmm, there are four of us that live here. You know what that means, don't you? Time to make some more!!

Ingredients

37 1/2 saltine crackers
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
11.5-ounce package white chocolate chips
  (I used Kroger's Private Selection brand)
 ** (Nestle and Hershey's both make 12-ounce
        packages of white chocolate chips
       which are fine to use in this recipe)
Sprinkles, if desired

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a jelly roll pan (11 inches x 17 inches) with aluminum foil and lightly spray with non-stick spray. Line up the saltine crackers in rows, so the entire pan is filled. Set aside.  In a medium saucepan, put the two sticks of butter and the brown sugar and slowly bring to a boil. Stir constantly for three minutes. Pour the mixture over the saltine crackers and bake in the oven for five minutes. Remove pan and then immediately distribute all the white chocolate chips on top of the crackers. When the chips begin to melt, spread with a knife, so all the crackers are covered. Put sprinkles on top, if desired. Let cool completely at room temperature for three hours or until the white chocolate has hardened up. If you want it to harden up quicker, put in the fridge (that's what I did). Break off into pieces with your hands.  Store covered in the fridge for up to three days.

Lazy Lady Chocolate Cake

When I first came across this recipe in my mother-in-law's vast "collection," I have to admit I was more than a little intrigued. How could I not be, just based on the name?!?!?!?! It's definitely an "unusual" name for a chocolate cake, isn't it? As I read through this recipe to make sure I had all the ingredients, I was trying to figure out why the word "lazy" would be in the title. Well, for starters, you don't need a bowl to mix all the ingredients, you prepare it all in the pan you will be using to bake it in. Okay, well that's one thing that makes this cake easier, one less dish to wash! I was thinking there had to be something else that made this cake, well, "unique." As I read to the end of the recipe, I discovered the other reason.  After you pull the cake out of the oven, while it is still piping hot, you put three Hershey's Milk Chocolate bars right on top. No need to make frosting!  I had visions of the bars melting so much that it would end up being a big chocolate puddle on top. Well, guess what? That didn't happen! Whew. This cake is totally scrumptious and I didn't feel like a "lazy" lady at all making it :)

Ingredients

3 cups white flour
2 cups white sugar
5 tablespoons baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cold water

Topping

Three 1.55 ounces Hershey's
   Milk Chocolate bars
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an ungreased 9 x 13-inch baking pan, put the flour, sugar, baking cocoa, baking soda and salt. Mix well with a fork. Make three "wells" in the dry mixture - one large, one medium and one small.  In the largest "well," put the canola oil, in the medium "well," put the vinegar and in the smallest "well," put the vanilla extract. Pour cold water over entire mixture and combine well with fork. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and put pan on a wire rack. Immediately place the three milk chocolate bars right on top of the cake. In five minutes or less, the chocolate bars will begin to melt. As they do, spread the chocolate evenly across the cake with a knife. When cool enough to eat and the topping has hardened up just a bit, dig in! Store covered at room temperature. Serves 12-16.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are ALWAYS a big hit in our house.  What do you think could make sugar cookies even better? How about chocolate?!?! Who doesn't love chocolate, right? I found a recipe for "old-fashioned" sugar cookies in a 1959 edition of, The Fannie Merritt Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook."  Under the "sugar cooky variations," section, yes, cookie was spelled cooky, there was a chocolate sugar cookie variation. These cookies were so popular in Cathy's Kitchen, that we just have one left from the two dozen I made less than a week ago! I wonder which one of the four of us here will be quick enough to get the last one? I'm taking a wild guess that it will be between Lauren and Dominic!

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar,
  plus 1 tablespoon reserved
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 1/4 cup white flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set aside. In a large bowl, put the ingredients in the order above. With a large spoon, combine by hand until the batter begins to form and all the ingredients are well incorporated. In small bowl, put the one tablespoon of reserved white sugar. Set aside. Roll the cookie dough into 24 equal-sized balls and then with the bottom of a drinking glass, first press into the reserved white sugar and then press down onto the cookie. Add sprinkles if desired, like I did! FYI - these cookies don't spread very much at all while baking. When I pulled the first batch of cookies out of the oven, they were slightly bigger than a quarter. I pressed down slightly harder for the second dozen.  Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies start to get firm on the top. Remove from oven and let them sit about 3 minutes on the cookie sheet. Gently remove from cookie sheet and let them continue to cool on a wire rack.  Store in a covered container at room temperature for up to one week (if they last that long in your house)!

Rhubarb Crisp

The local farmer's market is open and the hubby likes to go and get his favorite "bakery" like buchta and nut roll. This past Saturday afternoon, he handed me five stalks of rhubarb and said, "here, I got these for you!" They were as tall as a small toddler and I knew since I had already made rhubarb bread and rhubarb buckle, I wanted to make rhubarb crisp. At first, I wondered if the rhubarb was under ripe because all the stalks were green.  A quick look at http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/ assured me that it was fine. Whew. Since my recipe needed four cups of rhubarb, I figured I would have too much. Well, after I got the outside tough part off and then trimmed the ends of each stalk, I had exactly enough!! I asked the hubby to "rate" my "bakery" last night after he had finished a piece still warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream melting on top. He gave me a perfect "10." Hey, where's my gold medal?!?!?!

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup white flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup water
4 cups rhubarb, chopped

Topping:

1 cup white flour
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a 1 1/2 quart pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. In medium bowl, put the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Mix well with large spoon and then add the water and combine. Gently mix in the rhubarb until well incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan. In a small bowl, put the flour, oats and brown sugar. Combine with a large spoon. Add the melted butter and mix thoroughly. Pour on the rhubarb mixture and spread evenly so the entire top is covered. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the rhubarb crisp is bubbly and the top is starting to brown. Remove from oven and when it cools for a bit (like a 1/2 hour or so) serve with a large spoon. Add vanilla ice cream or whipped topping, if desired. Serves 6-8.               

Blueberry and Sour Cream Scones

Last night, as our dinner of chuck roast, potatoes and carrots was bubbling away in the crockpot, I decided to "test" out a recipe. The hubby, Lauren and Dominic were all kind of hanging around the kitchen, so when these scones were done and I had put the glaze on, I asked if anyone wanted to try a small "sample" before dinner. Yes, I sometimes let the "kids" have something sweet before dinner :)   Lauren, Dominic and I split a scone three ways. Lauren gave it a "thumbs up," so I knew she liked it. When I turned my back for just a moment, Dominic had snitched the last crumb off the plate, so I knew he liked it. The hubby said, "isn't a scone a breakfast item?!?!?!"  My response back, "yes, but we like scones anytime of the day!" LOL. I tucked a scone into the lunch I was making this morning for my husband, so he could eat it when he got to work.  About six months ago, my hubby told me that scones were not one of his favorite "bakery" items. Hmm, I always thought he liked them! Anyways, I was curious how he liked the scone he ate for breakfast. He just sent me an e-mail a few minutes ago telling me, "actually, I like this scone a lot!" Awesome, maybe I've "converted" him to liking scones :)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups white flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1 cup blueberries, rinsed and patted dry

Powdered Sugar Glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl, put the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. "Cut" in the butter with two knives until well combined. Add the sour cream, egg, vanilla extract and milk. Using a large spoon, mix together until a dough begins to form. Gently "fold" in the blueberries. On a lightly floured surface, press into a circle that is about 10 inches in diameter. Slice into eight equal pieces.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the bottoms of the scones are just starting to turn brown. Remove from oven and let sit on the cookie sheet about five minutes before removing the scones to a wire rack to continue to cool. In small bowl, put the powdered sugar and water for the glaze. Mix thoroughly with small spoon until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over each scone. Note: this glaze makes a bit more than you probably need for the eight scones. That just means you need to make eight more scones! Store at room temperature in a covered container.

Cantaloupe Granita

When the hubby brought home a cantaloupe recently that was literally as big as my head from the grocery store, my first thought was, how in the world would we be able to eat it all before it goes bad?!?!  It sat on the kitchen counter for about a week, before I decided I better at least cube it up. Even with Dominic, the hubby and I eating it, I knew I had better figure out a way to use more of it!! Have you ever heard of "granita?" In Italian, it means, "fruit ice." Of course, I had to have a "sample" of this last night, after I put Dominic to bed. Yesterday was very warm and our house (even at 10:15 at night) was kind of stuffy. I put the rest of the granita in the freezer, thinking  it would be warm enough today that we could have it later after dinner. Well, guess what? Today is damp, chilly and just barely 50 degrees. Figures! Do you think maybe I should make hot chocolate instead!?!?!?!

4 cups cantaloupe, cubed (seeds and rind removed)
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/8 teaspoon salt

In blender, put the cubed cantaloupe. Blend until smooth. Pour into large bowl and then add the lemon juice, agave nectar and salt. Stir well with a large spoon and then put into an 8-inch square pan. Put into the freezer for 8 hours and then remove. Using a fork, scrape into small pieces and enjoy! Makes four cups. If you have any leftover, put into a plastic container, cover and put back into the freezer.