Zinfandel Braised Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Polenta
I am something of a comfort food junkie. I have discovered, over the last year, the delightful bliss that is polenta. I have also discovered that I am passionately in love with chicken thighs. So, when I was craving something rich, creamy, and comforting the other night I decided to take my two new comfort food favorites and combine them into one dish. The braise for the chicken thighs is rather short, but chicken cooks fairly...
Porchetta
When I was at the FoodBuzz festival back in November I had something that was life-changingly good. It is called porchetta. Porchetta is a pork shoulder with the fat and skin attached. It is slowly cooked so the skin becomes crunchy while the meat becomes ridiculously tender. The skin, attached to the fat cap, is easily removed after the porchetta finishes cooking and I like to chop it into small pieces to garnish the meat. ...
Cranberry Chipotle Glazed Ham
**UPDATE** The winner of the Microplane was #43 (as chosen by Random.org). Congratulations to Amanda from The Two Boos Who Eat! We have ham today, but first … how about a giveaway? Because it is the Holidays, and because I appreciate all my readers more than I can express, I am giving away one of my FAVORITE kitchen tools! A Classic Series Microplane! This handy tool is great for zesting, grating, and finely shaving all...
Slow-Cooker Braised Short Ribs with Honey Garlic Glaze
Braising is one of my favorite ways to prepare tough cuts of meat. This slow method of cooking breaks down the connective tissues and fat making otherwise tough cuts of meat tender, juicy, and very flavorful. I almost feel bad for people who have no idea how wonderful cheap cuts can be. Of the cheap cuts short ribs have quickly become my favorite. They have so much beef flavor, they are tender and buttery if prepared properly, and...
Slow-cooked Beef Roast
I love a good old-fashioned roast beef dinner, but I really do not have the time to make it during the week. Well, I didn’t until now. A few weeks ago I had a serious craving for some roast beef, the tender, fall-apart kind my grandmother used to make when we would go to her house for a visit. She would slowly cook hers on the stove for hours. I, sadly, work all day and knew the only way I would get what I wanted was to...
Soft Taco Stack
I’ll admit it. I do not use my new slow-cooker enough. I really don’t. That is why I am going to try and make a habit of participating in Thoughtless Thursdays over at Pots and Plots. For this edition of Thoughtless Thursday I made a Soft Taco Stack. It is all the components of tacos, just arranged differently and cooked more slowly. What you end up with is something like a Tex-Mex lasagna. It’s spicy,...
