Cherry Coke Chicken

*WARNING* this is untested. It is a crock pot experiment--but it's a variation of Crock Pot 365's Candy Chicken. THAT is a fabulous recipe.

Ingredients:
- about six pieces of chicken breast (my husband cut them, so I'm not sure how big they are. It looks like six breast halves)
- about 16 ounces leftover cherry coke from Target café
- about 3/4 cup brown sugar
- about 1/4 cup maraschino cherries with juice
- 2/3 cup Archer Farm strawberry basil balsamic vinegar
- 2-3 tablespoons Wegmans cherry raspberry vinaigrette dressing
- between 2 teaspoons and 1 tablespoon dried basil

Crock pot. Low. About 8 hours.

After 2 hours, something sweet had, well, congealed. I'm hoping it will melt as the heat increases over time. To help it, I added about eight ounces water and upon tasting it, I tossed in

- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Because it was sickly sweet and a little slimy. Experiments can be risky.

At 12:30 I have deemed this a failure. Congealing got worse. Chicken VERY sweet. Removed to baking pan. Husband has said it's not so bad.

I'm glad I won't be home for dinner.

Venison Stew

I started a stew this morning and quickly discovered I had none of the ingredients.

I chopped my venison cubes into bite-sized chunks and cooked them over medium-high heat in the Le Creuset skillet with some canola oil, fresh ground pepper, and country herb blend.

When that finished, I added about a half cup of balsamic vinaigrette. Then, in my Le Creuset cassoulet, I placed a can of condensed beef vegetable soup, about four cans water and another half cup of vinegar in my Le Creuset cassoulet.

I added the meat and its juice into the cassoulet and let it come to a boil and then reduced it to a simmer. I also threw in two carrots, nicely chopped.

It turned out to be one of my best stews.

Top Round Steak

This is a combination of recipes I found online to do something a little different with the one pound top round steak I bought at Target for $3.50.

In my large Le Creuset skillet, I placed the steak, with about one teaspoon of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees.

On the steak, I scattered the following:
- 1 clove diced garlic
- about 1.5 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
- about 2 teaspoons country herb blend
- about two teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- about one teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
- about two teaspoons lemon juice

I threw one can of potatoes around the steak and plan on baking it for about an hour. I placed my large pfaltzgraf platter over the top as a cover.

Pickled Green Beans

During the weekend, I picked the ripe green beans in the garden. I never got around to cooking them. I was going to toss them in the compost when Gayle suggested using the 100 degree heat to pickle them. Why not?

So into the pint jar went salt, pepper and lots of garlic. Two handfuls of dill from the garden. Child shoved in green beans. I filled jar with equal parts white vinegar, balsamic vinegar and water.

In the sun it goes.

Venison loin in the crock pot

My mother gave me some venison so I soaked some in brine this morning. I placed a loin in a solution of water, vinegar, pepper and salt. In a fit of indecision, I added apple cider and balsamic vinegar.

After a couple hours, I tossed it in my skillet with a couple tablespoons of canola oil and seared it on medium high for about three minutes on each of three sides.

I tossed it in the crock pot on low with water, a touch of garlic powder, a few shredded leaves of fresh sage and sorrel and a hearty squirt (about 3 ounces?) of Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut dressing.

Steak stuffed with feta and apples

This is what I'm attempting for tonight's dinner with my dad and stepmom:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/09/crockpot-flank-steak-stuffed-with-apple.html

Of course, being me, I have deviated from the recipe.

It's 7 a.m. and I have just set 4 pieces of sirloin tip steak to marinate in the crock pot reservoir in the fridge. I made my marinade with:
- somewhere around 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing

I came home about 12:30 and embarked upon the stuffing. Her recipe calls for one golden delicious apple, "one half block" of feta, something like 1/3 cup chopped almonds and two cloves garlic. I had more steaks than her, but she said she had leftover stuffing. Now, my stepmom doesn't like garlic...

So I mixed:
- About 3/4 cup feta (instinct says I should have used more)
- two gala apples
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- about 3/4 teaspoon minced garlic (the jar kind)

And I eliminated the nuts. Cheese and meat are enough protein. The nuts can't add that much texture...

I rolled about a large handful and a half of stuffing into each steak and returned it to the juice in the crockpot and put the crockpot on high. Then I tossed some extra stuffing on top. I planned to reduce the heat to low when I get home from my meeting, which will probably be after school at 3:30.

There was also a lovely raspberry, spring mix, feta, raisin and sesame stick salad...

Thai (Peanut Butter) Noodles

I don't quite remember where this cookbook came from, but I'm fairly certain Shannon gave it to me probably 15 years ago. Okay, so the copyright is 1996, so it's more like a decade ago. It's called Quick & Easy Recipes Pasta and Noodles Food Writers' Favorites. I was surprised to see that includes a recipe for kugel that is attributed to the wife of my former boss and favorite editor at The Morning Call.

It's been a year, maybe two, since I've made peanut butter noodles. The name sounds gross, so I often call it "Thai noodles." We'll be serving it tonight with a side salad, and maybe some fresh mango.

The recipe came from Christine Randall, who was then asst. features editor at The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C. She writes: "When I first came across this recipe, it sounded a bit offbeat, but I figured I'd try it once because it was so easy-- and I loved it."

Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles

Makes 2 to 3 servings

1/3 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy  

2 tablespoons vegetable oil  

2 tablespoons soy sauce  

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (can be adjusted to taste)

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar  

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped  

8 to 12 ounces spaghetti or linguine

1. In a bowl, combine peanut butter, oil, soy sauce, cayenne, sugar, vinegar and garlic. With a rubber spatula, work mixture together until creamy and smooth. If time permits, refrigerate, covered, for four hours. (If time does not allow, don't worry, it will still be good.) Bring to room temperature before using.

2. Prepare spaghetti. Drain. Combine hot pasta and peanut butter sauce. Mix gently. Serve immediately.