Thanksgiving in August

Its a cool, rainy day here in New York. Despite the fact that it is August, autumn decided it wanted to show us Yankees what is waiting in the wings for us come September.

And speaking of weather, I am home sick today under it.

I still needed to make something for dinner and was not in the mood for anything strenuous despite craving comfort food. So, I took out my Crockpot and decided to make something that reminds me of Thanksgiving dinner (one of my favorite dinners each year). I have been taking cookbooks out of the library all summer and one I am currently reading is Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes. The author, Beth Hensberger, adapted the gravy for this dish from a Marcus Samuelsson recipe, and that is why it also caught my eye. It also caught my eye because I am a huge fan of sweet and savory together.

Turkey Cutlets with Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

For the gravy:

One package of turkey gravy mix

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

2 tablespoons half and half

1/4 cup dried cranberries

For the meat and vegetables:

3 medium-size sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/3 inch thick slices

4 ounces of French green beans (fresh), trimmed

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 pound turkey breast cutlets

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1) In a small saucepan over high heat, combine the gravy mix, water, wine, and cranberry sauce, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and whisk until thickened and the cranberry sauce has melted. Stir in the half and half and dried cranberries. Set aside.

2) Spray the inside of the crock with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange the sweet potato slices in the bottom of the crock. Then add the green beans and the slices of garlic. Salt and pepper the turkey cutlets and then roll up each cutlet, placing them in a layer on top of the vegetables.

3) Pour the warm cranberry gravy over the cutlets and vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, until the turkey and the sweet potatoes are tender.

Oh Goodness, My Guinness!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

To celebrate the festivities, what could be better than eating Beef and Guinness Stew? I love Guinness and although it is a meal in and of itself, it is also a great ingredient for a meal! For those of you who are Irish, and those of you like me who are honorary Irish folk for the day, enjoy your celebration. I hope it includes lots of soda bread, Guinness, merriment, and luck!

Beef and Guinness Stew (Courtesy of The Gourmet Slow Cooker Cookbook by Lynn Alley)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of flour

2 1/2 pounds very lean stewing beef, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 large potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

2 large yellow onions, quartered

2 sprigs of thyme

2 cups of Guinness stout or other very dark, hearty beer

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Place flour in a re-sealable plastic bag and add the beef, shaking to coat completely.

Heat a large saute pan on high heat and add the oil. In batches if necessary, add the beef and cook until brown on all sides. Using tongs, transfer to paper towel to drain.

Place the beef, carrots, potatoes, onions, and thyme in the slow cooker and pour the beer on top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (until the meat is very tender). Season with salt.

Enjoy stew with a pint of Guinness!

My Blossoming Birthday Celebration!

Today is my actual birthday that I share with my beloved twin sister.

Life lately has been beautiful. Celebrations with friends and family have been abundant, and I am so grateful for a life rich with a close family and strong friendships.

Life has also been blessedly hectic lately between my new niece, a promotion at work, and so many great outings with friends and family. Hence, I decided to take this day off from work and spend it relaxing and enjoying rare quiet time alone. The gift to myself today is downtime and a chance to text and talk with friends and family instead of being at my desk at work on the trading floor. I woke up and went out for coffee and a bagel with a good schmear, pampered myself today at the nail salon with a manicure and pedicure, cracked open a bottle of pink prosecco, and also enjoyed this dish that was prepared in my Crockpot (no way was I making anything today that would ruin the nails!). I served this on top of white rice. I would have done brown rice if it were not my special day to make it healthier, but I wanted to indulge! Oh, and of course I read food blogs ALL day. Fellow foodie bloggers, you make my day and being able to read them leisurely today was a great gift!

I highly recommend this dish any time of year in the Crockpot. It was delicious and full of wonderful flavors and so easy to make. The next time I make this I may do half pineapple juie and half orange juice for even more great flavors, but it is truly perfect the way it is!

Orange Blossom Chicken Teriyaki (a recipe for a slow cooker)

Ingredients:

8 chicken drumsticks (you can also do half thighs if you want, but use dark meat; I also used skinless since skin slow cooker recipes make little sense to me - it gets too soggy)

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup grated fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon cardamom (I was fortunate to have this particular spice given to me recently by a friend who was in Ethiopia, so I cracked the outer shell and ground the pods in my mortar and pestle!)

1 thinly sliced, unpeeled orange

1 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp water

Directions:

1) Mix onion, garlic, and olive oil and place at bottom of slow cooker.

2) Place the chicken on top (sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste).

3) Whisk together orange juice, soy, honey, brown sugar, ginger, and cardamom in a mixing bowl. Pour over chicken.

4) Cover chicken with sliced oranges

5) Cook on high setting for 4 hours or low setting for 8 hours (I did low).

6) Remove chicken and oranges with slotted spoon.

7) Add cornstarch to the water and mix - then stir into the juices and whisk to thicken.

8) Place chicken and oranges back in the pot and keep on warm setting until ready to serve.