Slow Cooker Cheesy Ham & Potatoes

Since everyone has been on the slow cooker bandwagon as of late due to the uber hot weather, I wanted to share with you this delightful gem of a recipe.  Whether you add a salad, a roll and make it a full dinner meal like we do, or as a side or even as breakfast, this hearty fulfilling dish will leave you with some very happy tummys!

Using my food processor to slice the potatoes and shred my cheese makes this ever so faster.  This dish was in my slow cooker and on my plate in just 4 hours.  (on high or 8 hours on low)  It's super velvety, creamy, cheesy, salty...it just doesn't get any better than this for a quick set it and forget it type of meal.  I hope you enjoy!

Cheesy Ham & Potatoes
adapted from Mixing Bowl Magazine

6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 pound boneless ham, cut into small pieces
3 cups of shredded cheddar
1 small onion, diced
1 can of cream of chicken
1 can of cream of celery
Paprika
salt/pepper

In a 3.5-4 quart slow cooker, layer half the potatoes, half the ham, half the onion, half the cheese and one can of soup (spread out as best you can with the back of a spoon).  Add salt/pepper.  Repeat another layer with remaining ingredients.  Sprinkle paprika over top.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  Edges will be bubbly and cheesy and browned. 

Note:  spray the inside portion of your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking or use a slow cooker liner available at your grocery store in the foil aisle.  It's a lifesaver as this cheese likes to stick to everything.

Pancetta Mac & Cheese

I realize there are many, many, MANY mac and cheese recipes out there but how many are party worthy?  Elegant enough to serve company yet still maintain that creamy dreamy comfort factor everyone craves and loves?  This one!  This mac and cheese has an Italian flair that is by far a true show stopper and worthy of any upcoming party table.  From crispy bits of pancetta to the pretty buttery panko topping, this mac has it all!  Even its bite sized oricchette (small ear, in Italian) pasta shape makes it kid appealing even with its "grown up" adult taste.  Everyone loves this and I hope you will too.

Cranberry Mandarin Sauce - Day #5 Thanksgiving Spectacular

Welcome to Day #5...today features a guest recipe from the one and only Siggy Spice.  If you haven't already, stop by her site as well for her holiday special as well featuring LOTS of recipes from cooks all over the web.  Lots going on over there!  


Here is my morphed, tweaked hybrid of a sauce that I serve every Thanksgiving. The Mandarin Oranges really give it a pop of flavor that is perfect with turkey, rolls, or on a sandwich!
 

 Cranberry Mandarin Sauce

• ¾ cup Orange Juice
• 2 TBSP Grand Marnier
• 2 TBSP water
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ tsp cornstarch
• 1 bag fresh cranberries, 10-14 ounces
• 1 can Mandarin Oranges, 11 ounces, drained

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a bowl, mixing with a fork to ensure no clumping of the cornstarch. In a medium saucepan, combine orange juice, Grand Marnier, and water. Whisk in sugar/cornstarch mixture. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Add cranberries, return to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally…careful of the popping cranberries! Add drained Mandarin Oranges and stir to break up oranges slightly. Cover and cool completely at room temperature. It will thicken as it cools. Refrigerate until serving time or overnight.

 Join me tomorrow for a truly Sinful Saturday featuring a NY Cheesecake to die for with the easiest homemade caramel sauce EVER.

Sweet Potato Casserole - Day #3 Thanksgiving Spectacular

Welcome to Day 3 of our Thanksgiving Spectacular!  Today is a special guest post featuring one of my kitchen soul sisters Brandie.  Brandie is known as thecountrycook and was recently a Featured Member on Tasty Kitchen.  You can also find her posting new massively yummy recipes almost daily on Facebook under Thecountrycook!  With that...here's Brandie!  /clap  (don't forget to stop by Siggy Spice's blog too for her continuing Holiday special as well!)

When it comes to Thanksgiving, I’m a side dish kinda gal.  You can have a big ‘ole deep fried turkey in the middle of the table or a sweet, glazed, bone-in Smithfield Ham but my attention will always be on what is hovering around the edge of the Thanksgiving table – the sides.  You got your veggies, your rolls, your stuffing and my personal favorite – the casserole.  Whether it be green bean or sweet potato, I adore them all. I could fill up my entire plate with just the side dishes and be as happy as a clam.  

So having said that, I’m going to share my favorite Sweet Potato Casserole dish with y’all today.  The beauty of this particular dish is it has a shortcut (to help out the already busy Thanksgiving Day cook) and it can also be made up to 2 days in advance and put into the fridge until ready to bake.  Also, for your guests who think they don’t like sweet potatoes, I do believe this may change their minds. Let’s do this!

Ingredients

1 Bag of Ore Ida Steam-n-Mash Sweet Potatoes

½ stick butter, softened

1/2 cup Evaporated Milk

1 Egg

3/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar

1/2 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 pinch of Salt

1/2 cup Chopped Pecans (optional)

1 1/2 –2 cups Mini Marshmallows (enough to cover the top)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray an 8x8 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Cook sweet potatoes in the microwave according to package directions (the Steam and Mash potatoes are a big time saver here). Empty into a large mixing bowl, add butter and beat with a hand mixer until smooth. Mix the remaining ingredients (except marshmallows) and beat until well incorporated.  Remember, the brown sugar is gonna turn this mixture from a bright orange to a brown-ish color. Don’t be put off by that.

I tend to like my sweet taters a little more cinnamon-y, so I will usually taste test this while it’s still in the mixing bowl and add a little extra cinnamon (about a teaspoon or so).

Pour into prepared dish and bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with mini marshmallows. Place under the broiler until lightly browned and slightly melted. DO NOT walk away from the oven while this is under the broiler.  Watch it like a hawk!  This can easily burn on you if you’re not careful.  If you don’t want to mess with the broiler, you can certainly put the marshmallows on and then just pop the casserole back in the 350 degree oven for another 5-10 minutes until melted.  Put out on the table, sit back and finally relax and enjoy all the fruits of your labor!

Cook’s Note: You can make this up to 2 days in advance. After pouring all ingredients (except marshmallows) into the baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator. When ready to bake, take it out of the fridge, remove plastic and finish baking per above directions.  You may need to bake it a few minutes longer since the ingredients will be starting out cold.

For a slightly different twist, try using Marshmallow Fluff on top instead of mini marshmallows.  

Lastly, this recipe is easy doubled.  I usually have this as a small side dish because there are already so many other dishes on our crowded table.  But, if you‘re making it for a large crowd, just double the ingredients and bake in a 9x13 casserole dish.

Happy Thanksgiving!

thecountrycook

Coming tomorrow - my mom's infamous secret side dish!

Easy Rice Pilaf w/ Orzo Pasta - Day #1 Thanksgiving Spectacular

Its Day 1 of our big Thanksgiving Spectacular week!  I am so excited to bring you some of my family's tried and true holiday recipes as well as inviting Brandie (thecountrycook) and Sieglinde (SiggySpice) to share some of their family favorites too.  Its a very special week here - stay tuned and don't miss a day!

I think for me the biggest planning part comes with side dishes.  Growing up my mom always had the standard green bean casserole, grandma made dumplings, my aunt brought deviled eggs, my other aunt made her version of the cheesy hashbrown casserole I blogged about and my uncle Robert cranked out about 200 hand rolled butter croissants.  I like all those things but not EVERY holiday!  So I like to mix mine up now I have my own family gatherings and keep it interesting for everyone.  

This year I will be serving a super quick and easy rice pilaf with orzo pasta mixed in.  Its doubly good for the holidays because it can be made ahead of time and just reheated with a bit of butter in a skillet before serving.  (or microwave, who am I kidding?  Its another dirty dish if you break out a skillet.  lol)  This seriously simple pilaf is in fact, one pan cooking and tastes better than any box kind you could possibly get.  Its so easily adaptable for seasoning too.  Add some chicken bouillon, garlic, chopped onions or parmesan cheese and you totally change the flavor.  I have also stirred in an onion soup packet for seasoning and used beef broth and it was out of this world delicious!  This makes about 8 servings so its absolutely perfect for a big holiday meal.  It also freezes very well...not that you'll have any leftover!

Tiny orzo pasta is perfect with rice!

Easy Rice Pilaf w/ Orzo Pasta

1/2 stick of unsalted butter

1 cup of orzo pasta

1 cup of long grain white rice

2 cups of good chicken stock

1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp chicken crystals/bouillon

salt & pepper, to taste

seasonings, optional and to taste

Melt butter in a skillet (that has a lid) over medium high heat until all bubbly.  Add the pasta, stirring frequently till browned.  Add the rice, stock and water. (if using a soup mix packet, as I mentioned above, add here)  Season with bouillon, salt, pepper and your choice of seasonings/herbs.  Stir to combine and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, cooking for 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and pasta is tender, stirring every so often.  Remove from heat and let sit with lid on for 10 more minutes.  Re-season as necessary, fluff with a fork and serve.

Note:  if the pasta doesn't seem "done" enough to you at the 20 minute mark and the liquid is almost gone, give a small splash of water or stock and continue cooking another few minutes until pasta is cooked to your liking.  

  Coming up tomorrow - my super easy & mega moist Bay & Lemon brined turkey!

Lazy Day Macaroni Salad & Mega Big Announcement!

I had a perfectly lazy weekend, did you?  Hubby and I stayed up till 4 am Friday night watching TV and slept in till noon on Saturday.  Then we skipped lunch and went to a special holiday tasting sampler at The Fresh Market here in Columbus followed by Christmas shopping.  Sunday was just as kicked back and relaxed, including our menu for the day.  To keep in line with the easy peasy weekend I was having, lunch today was a totally different take on macaroni salad than I've ever had before.

This recipe from Amynb on Tasty Kitchen has been in my 'favorites' for awhile but I'd never ventured to make it.  I'm always leery to make a recipe with no photos since I generally like to gauge my end result to theirs.  Boy, was I glad to take a gamble on this one.  Its coleslaw flavoring meets macaroni salad.  It was fresh, new and utterly fabulous.  This dish came together in a snap and used just a handful of ingredients.  Better still, it was just as delicious warm as it is cold.  (hey, I had to taste test!)  I only tweaked it a bit, adjusting to our palates but feel free to check out the original up there by clicking on Amy's name.  It was really massively yummy.  And as a bonus, once warmer weather rolls around, this will be perfect for picnics since there isn't any mayonnaise to go bad on you!  I LOVE THAT!

Click to enlarge.

Macaroni Salad
 from Amynb @ Tasty Kitchen, tweaked by me

• 1 pound box Elbow Mac (or your choice of macaroni shape - I used cavatappi)
• 1 whole Small Onion Chopped
• 2 stalks Of Celery, Chopped
• 4 whole Hard Boiled Eggs, Chopped
• Paprika, Salt  & Pepper to taste
• Approx. 1/8 cup sugar  (again, to taste)
• 1 cup Marzetti's Original Cole Slaw Dressing (or more to taste)
• 4 whole Hard-boiled Eggs, Sliced (as edible decoration on top, optional) 

Cook the macaroni according to the directions on the box.

While it cooks, chop your onions, celery, and eggs.

When pasta is cooked, drain. While it is still warm add the cole slaw dressing, onions, celery, chopped eggs, and add sugar, paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Mix together well, adding more dressing if you desire
.
Place salad in your serving bowl. Smooth out the top and place the sliced eggs on top. Sprinkle lightly with paprika.

* Oh, wait!  Yeah, my MEGA BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!  If you didn't catch it on Facebook, keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming Thanksgiving Spectacular with a triple feature from Siggy Spice, Thecountrycook and me! You won't want to miss this!  *

Double Bonus Monday!

Oh what a Monday!  I bought Linkin' Park's new album last week and I have had the song "Waiting for the End" replaying in my head like a skipped record.  I am just so enamored with the lyrics to this song as its dead on accurate to how I've been feeling lately in dealing with a broken friendship.  Instead of pouting and puttering about the house miserable (even though I want to do so), I've been plunging forward in projects that have been laying about in my head.  So to kick off this wonderful transition phase for me, you get to reap the rewards with a bonus Monday with TWO recipes.  Who doesn't need a kick of motivation on a Monday?

There is a cake out there that has like 1,000 names.  Wacky cake, Garnet's cake, War cake...whatever you want to call it, its the recipe that has no eggs in it and was developed war time when supplies were in great shortage.  War time kitchen engineering/finagling has paid off big time in this time tested recipe that is so good, so gooey and so chocolately rich, you'll never miss the eggs.  And BONUS!  It's made IN the cake pan.  No bowls to mess with at all!  No greasing, no flouring...serve this cake right from the pan warm with a glass of milk.  Its so quick and easy, it'll be your kids favorite after school snack.  Hey, its cholesterol free too, so its good for them too!  (well, as good as a chocolate cake can get!)  Mine is shown with two mini scoops of my homemade triple chocolate ice cream and a drizzle of dark chocolate syrup.  (yum and totally not healthy)

This recipe is from King Arthur Flour's website which I *so* encourage you all to visit.  A treasure trove of baking recipes await and some of the coolest things are in their shop.  Stop by!  You can view this recipe there with variations to make it mocha cake or a rum type cake.  This however, is the true blue original.

KAF Original Cake-Pan Cake

1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa (not dutch processed, just regular)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup cold water 


Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Measure all the dry ingredients into an 8" or 9" round or square cake pan; if you use an 8" pan, make sure it's at least 2" deep. Blend the ingredients together thoroughly with a fork or whisk and scoop out three holes, or indentations.

Pour the vanilla into the first hole, the vinegar into the second, and the oil into the third. Take the cup of cold water and pour it directly over everything in the pan.  Stir all the ingredients together with your fork until they are well blended making sure to get the corners if using a square pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve right from the pan; warm from the oven.


~*~*~*~*~*~  NEXT ~*~*~*~*~*~


This is the BEST potato salad I've ever had in my life.  I've never been a potato salad fan because I hate mustard and undoubtedly, like me, you grew up on your mom's yellow potato salad.  Every holiday or family gathering someone brought this mustard laden concoction to the party and I shuddered just even smelling it.  I really loathe mustard, can you tell?  This recipe however, has no mustard and the cooked potatoes marinate overnight in this vinegar/herby blend before adding the mayonnaise right before serving.  Its tangy, its creamy and cool.  Perfect with burgers or with pigs-in-a-blanket!  Its a bit of work and takes some planning (its not a simple throw together on the fly type of thing)...but so is every other homeade potato salad out there really.  This makes a HUGE amount that we ate off of all weekend long with light sammies.  We ran all weekend long so I wanted something easy to pull out and snack off of.  Its just perfect.  I hope you really give it a go. 

Marinated Potato Salad

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
12 fist sized Idaho potatoes
 ⅓ cups cold water
⅓ cups white vinegar
1-½ tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
½ large yellow onion (not sweet Vidalia ones, just regular)
5 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise (no Miracle Whip, please)

Place potatoes WITH skins on in a large pot and cover with water.  Place on stove and turn on high.  Once they start to boil, boil for 45 minutes or until a fork inserted, comes out easily and gives no resistance.  Drain and cool for about an hour.  (will likely still be warm)  Peel cooled potatoes with a spoon.  Chop peeled potatoes into chunks, place in a large bowl and set aside.

In a smaller bowl, mix together the water, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, parsley flakes, onion and celery.  Pour over the warm potatoes and stir to coat all the potato chunks.  Cover well with plastic and place in fridge overnight or at least 12 hours to marinate.

Before serving, add mayo to potatoes and stir well to coat all pieces.  (can add more mayo if you need to but do so a little at a time)  Add chopped, boiled eggs and stir again.  Keep cool until serving.  Refrigerate leftovers in a tightly sealed container.  Stir leftovers before serving.  (may separate some as is normal)

Nom Nom - It's Labor Day!

This Labor Day, being in a new house, in a new state, I decided to try something, well, new to our plates as well.  At most holidays, we make a Coca-Cola Ham, deviled eggs, cheesy hash brown casserole and a cake.  This year I wanted to mix it up a bit.  And it's so dang hot still in the south, I wanted a break from being over an oven all day long.  (people keep trying to re-assure us that its actually 'cool' down here right now but I'm not biting)

Pineapple Whip drink

Today's menu started with a refreshing pineapple whip drink.  Its so easy to make, you'll wonder why you never thought of one on your own beforehand.  I'm so addicted to the Blue Bell ice cream that's found down south here anyways so it was just perfect for this drink.  Pineapple juice, ice cream and frozen pineapple.  Zip in your blender and boom!  Its just that easy.  Of course, it was supposed to have a garnish but um...I eated it.  Creamy, frothy and cooling - it was the perfect drink for my meal.  I think next time though instead of pineapple juice, I will add a different layer of flavor and use orange juice or maybe go half and half pineapple and orange.  In any case, its delicious and so easy to do.  I think these would make great frozen popcicles too!  Or maybe add a splash of rum for an adult treat.  Lots of possibilities! 

New-Dorf salad and Marilyn Monroe sammies

Next on my plate was a New-Dorf Salad from my wonderful friend Siggy Spice.  Crunchy, cool, crisp and sweet - this was definately a hit with my husband who went back for seconds then thirds.  Celery, grapes, Craisins, apple and vanilla yogurt.  (its supposed to have a crunchy almond topping but I'm allergic so I left them out)   You could use regular raisins but I went the route Siggy did and used pomegranate flavored Craisins.  It just added another layer of goodness in the flavor rainbow there.  I loved it.  I think next time I might grate a little lemon zest over top or some mint just to add another bit of zing to it.  Not that it isn't outstandingly fabulous on its own..I'm just a food tweaker. <3 me some Siggy Spice.

Next was the most glorious sammie named Marilyn Monroes.  I have no idea why they're called that but man, they sure were the star of our plates.  I used thick sliced EverRoast chicken from the deli, pepperoni's and mozzerella cheese.  The thing that puts this over the top though is a secret ingredient you'd never imagine.  GARLIC POWDER!  You butter your bread slices then sprinkle them with garlic powder and let me tell you what, you'll wonder why you're not doing this to every grilled sammie you make.  This sammie was like pizza meets garlic bread, meets chicken.  Then to top it all off, you dip it in pizza sauce.  *shebang!*  It was gooey, cheesy, garlicky goodness all between two pieces of sourdough bread.  Its so good, we're having it for dinner too.  LOL

Fudgy Brownie Cookies

And finally, dessert was about as pain-free as you can get. Brownie cookies using a box mix.  Once all put together, this mix needed to set for two hours to chill so I made this first while I made lunch and watched a movie.  Then we baked these little bites of chocolatey goodness.  So yum!  Well, you can see for yourself!  Slightly crisp on the outside, soft, chewy like a brownie on the inside and the chocolate chunks just put it WAAAAY over the top.  Too, too good and don't forget the BIG glass of milk with this.  So rich and decadent, you can't have just one.  Well, maybe one PLATE!  lol

Well that was my holiday menu - easy to do, let me enjoy my day and veg on my couch watching television with Jon.  I wasn't slaving in my kitchen over a hot stove...well, save for the cookies!  But they were worth it to sink my teeth into some warm brownie cookies!  All of these recipes can be found at Tasty Kitchen by clicking on the the links above.  

Brandie's pic from Tasty Kitchen

Ooh and let me clue you into the WORLD'S BEST PORK CHOPS evvvvvvvvvver!  I found them over at Tasty Kitchen too from a lovely woman named Brandie.  I am oh so serious when I say this.  The best ever.  Period.  You may *think* your grandma made the best.  No.  Wrong.  These are.  As in, I will never attempt to make another pork chop fried, baked or otherwise.  Life changing.  (and make her chicken philly too - its equally as amazing and I was awe-struck to realize two of my favorite recipes came from the same person)  Make these.  Do not pass go.  Do not question.  Just make and enjoy.  I served mine over egg noodles and they were *DIVINE*. 


Pork Chops and Gravy - by Brandie (thecountrycook)

• 4 whole Bone-in Pork Chops
• 1 envelope Onion Soup Mix (1 Oz. Packet)
• 1-½ cup Chicken Broth
• 1 can (10.5 Oz) Cream Of Chicken Soup (low Sodium)
• 1 envelope Dry Pork Gravy Mix (1 Oz. Packet)

Place pork chops in slow cooker. In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients and pour over chops. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with mashed potatoes to take advantage of all the yummy gravy.

Cook’s Note: You may want to also use a low sodium chicken broth if you are sensitive to salt. You can always add salt in later if you feel it necessary. Also, try other cream soups, like cream of mushroom with this dish.

Anyways...I hope you had a great Labor Day.  Mine was uber nice sitting with my slew of moving boxes still trying to unpack.  I have no room.  I need a bigger kitchen.  Until next time!