What a Crock

Slow cookers have been in the news lately, but not because January is National Slow Cooking Month.  In last week's episode of the popular NBC drama, "This is Us," a faulty slow cooker started a house fire which is presumably how a beloved character dies.  Reaction was swift with some fans posting on social media they threw out their slow cookers.  Crock-Pot -- the brand name -- reacted by setting up their first Twitter account (@CrockPotCares) to address the issue and assure consumers about the safety of crock-pots.

Although I've never watched this particular TV show, I am a fan of crock-pot cooking and have been since the late 1980s.  Like any appliance I use, I follow certain safety precautions.  I don't use a crock-pot with a damaged cord, cracked insert or if the unit is malfunctioning in any way.  When I use my crock-pot, I place it on the counter away from any flammable items.

If you like cooking with a crock-pot, here's a tasty recipe for Sweet and Sour Chicken you might want to add to your collection.  

Carrots, green pepper and onion are placed on the bottom of the crock-pot.

Minute tapioca -- also known as quick cooking and typically found in the grocery near boxes of gelatin -- acts as a thickening agent and is sprinkled over the vegetables.

Cubed, boneless, skinless chicken breasts go on top of the tapioca.

Pineapple chunks go over the chicken.  You can add two cans of pineapple, but make sure to discard the juice from the second can.  If you don't, you'll end up with a thin sauce.  To keep the pineapple from getting mushy, don't stir the mixture until it's done cooking.

Combine the remaining ingredients and pour them over the pineapple and chicken.

If you don't have instant chicken bouillon, you can crush a chicken bouillon cube and measure out 1/2 teaspoon of the granules.  One cube makes approximately 1 teaspoon of granules.

In eight to 10 hours, you'll have a ready to eat entree.  I serve the chicken over white rice with some Broccoli with Lemon on the side to round out the meal.

Whether you use your crock-pot for soups, entrees, vegetables, desserts, or something else, remember two final safety precautions.  When the food's done cooking, turn off the crock-pot and unplug the cord from the wall.

Crock-Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken

4 to 6 Servings

1 1/2 cups sliced carrots

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp. Minute tapioca

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes

1 (8 oz.) can pineapple chunks in juice, drained (reserve juice)

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. instant chicken bouillon granules

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. salt

Place vegetables in bottom of crock-pot; sprinkle with tapioca.  Add chicken; add pineapple.  Combine reserved pineapple juice and remaining ingredients; pour over chicken and pineapple.  Do not stir. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

© Margaret's Morsels

Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is only eight days away!  If you're planning your menu or looking for something new to serve, here's some Thanksgiving recipes I've shared in the past.  I'm putting the finishing touches on two recipes -- one vegetable, one dessert -- I plan to post before Thanksgiving.  

Cranberry Delight Spread

 

Cornbread Dressing

Cranberry Orange Relish

 Sweet Potato Souffle

Potato Salad

Carrot Souffle

Southern Cranberry Salad

Quick and Easy Candied Sweet Potatoes

One Hour Buttermilk Rolls

Fruit Tea

Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie

No Bake Turkey Cookies

© Margaret's Morsels

National Pi Day

That's not a typo in the title.  National Pi Day isn't referring to the sweet and savory pies we eat, but the Greek letter (π) used in mathematics to represent the numerical value of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, approximately 3.14159....  Math is an important part of cooking -- just think of all the fractions!  Since today is March 14 (3/14), I thought it would be fun to use this play on words with pie recipes I've posted in the past.

Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie:  The addition of a streusel topping takes a plain pumpkin pie from ho hum to wow!

Banana Cream Supreme:  This cool and creamy, no bake pie is a cross between banana pie and banana pudding.  

Lemonade Pie:  What's more refreshing on a hot summer day than a glass of lemonade?  A piece of lemonade pie!  This beat the heat dessert gets its wonderful lemon flavor from a can of lemonade concentrate.  

Easy Peanut Butter Chip Pie:  The pie is made with peanut butter chips and not peanut butter.  If you love chocolate and peanut butter, top the pie with a bottle of chocolate Magic Shell topping!

Chocolate Dream Pie:  This no bake pie only uses four ingredients and half of them are chocolate!  

Chocolate Cobbler:  This eggless cobbler makes its own chocolate sauce! It's best served hot from the oven with a scoop of ice cream on top!  

Cookie Apple Cobbler:  This apple pie is super easy to make.  The crust is made with a package of refrigerated sugar cookie dough!

Chicken Pot Pie:  The picture doesn't do this pie justice!  Refrigerated pie crusts encase a filling made with canned chicken, vegetables, soup, milk and seasonings.

Broccoli Quiche:  You don't have to make the pie crust, cook the broccoli or, if you don't mind spending a little extra, even grate the cheese!

Bacon Quiche:  This quiche uses a package of refrigerated pie crusts and is baked in a 13 x 9-inch pan.  The filling ingredients can be assembled and refrigerated ahead of time.

© Margaret's Morsels

   

  

On the Side

Thanksgiving is a couple of weeks away, but it's not too early to plan the menu, especially if you're the one doing the cooking.  My Thanksgiving menu is almost identical to the one my mother served every year.  Some of the food is prepared using her recipes; the rest from recipes I've acquired over the years that have become family favorites.


One difference in our menus is my mother always served sweet potato casserole.  Some years, I don't even serve sweet potatoes.  When I do, I alternate between sweet potato casserole and Quick and Easy Candied Sweet Potatoes.


The terms sweet potatoes and yams are used interchangeably even though, technically, they are two separate vegetables.  Southerners tend to call sweet potatoes "yams."  To confuse the matter, cans of sweet potatoes are often labeled yams.  Unless you're in a specialty shop, chances are the can of yams you're buying is actually sweet potatoes.

The can is labeled "Sweet Potatoes* Yams in Syrup."

The recipe for Quick and Easy Candied Sweet Potatoes calls for two 15 ounce cans of sweet potatoes.  My grocery store sells a 29 ounce can considerably cheaper than two 15 ounce cans.  I save the money and use the 29 ounce can.  There's no need to change the proportions of the other ingredients for one less ounce of sweet potatoes.


Unlike sweet potato casserole which is baked in the oven, Quick and Easy Candied Sweet Potatoes are cooked on the stove.  You need two burners -- one to heat the potatoes and one for the sauce -- but I usually have more burners available than I do space in the oven!  When you heat the potatoes, don't stir them too hard or they'll fall apart.  To keep the potatoes intact after heating them, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon, allowing the liquid to drain off.  This dish takes less than 15 minutes to prepare, so it's the last thing I cook before we sit down to eat.

Stir gently so the potatoes don't fall apart.

Some people -- like my husband and son -- don't like sweet potatoes, but my in-laws and I do.  If your family doesn't like sweet potatoes either, check my blog Monday for a Thanksgiving side dish that doesn't get any respect at all!

Quick and Easy Candied Sweet Potatoes

4 to 6 Servings

2 (15 oz.) cans cut sweet potatoes

5 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

Pour sweet potatoes and liquid into a 2-quart saucepan.  Cook until potatoes are heated through.  Drain liquid and set potatoes aside.  While sweet potatoes are heating, combine butter or margarine and brown sugar in a 1-quart saucepan; cook until hot, but not boiling.  Pour over hot sweet potatoes.  Stir just to coat.  Serve immediately.

© Margaret's Morsels