Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Here is a super retro recipe that I found in one of my vintage cookbooks. I was so excited to find The Meats Cookbook by Southern Living at a book fair I visited several months ago. What could be more exciting for a southern gal than a whole cookbook of meats?

This recipe captures some of my favorite fall flavors - absolutely delicious! The pork is tender and juicy, sweet with the flavors of the apple juice and cinnamon. The sweet potatoes melt in your mouth. And the apples? Let's just say it's like having dessert built-in to your meal!

Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Adapted from The Meats Cookbook by Southern Living

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large pork tenderloin
2 cups milk
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 medium apples, peeled and cored
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons raisins
2 large sweet potatoes, quartered
4 large marshmallows

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet on the stove. Meanwhile, dip the pork in the milk. Mix the flour with the salt and pepper and cinnamon, and dredge the pork with the flour mixture. Brown the pork in the skillet over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, fill the center of the cored apples with the brown sugar and raisins, and place the sweet potatoes and the apples in your crock pot. Add the pork and any drippings. Pour over the remaining milk and cover.

Cook on low for about 6-8 hours or on high for about 4 hours. Place a marshmallow on each apple just before serving (optional).

Tip: You could easily adapt this recipe for a dutch oven by adding all your ingredients to the pot after browning the meat. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Healthy Crock Pot Chicken

Trying to stay healthy but still love the ease and convenience of a nice, hearty crock-pot dinner? Have I got the recipe for you! This is a rustic, hearty, and flavorful meal that slow cooks to perfection but does not include any of those creamy condensed soups that have a tendency to pack a lot of calories and fat. This is also an extremely versatile recipe - your chicken can be almost any cut, even a whole chicken would work. And as for the veggies? Whatever you have on hand can be thrown on in there - we used onions and potatoes this time, but carrots, celery, even green beans would be delicious.

Healthy Crock Pot Chicken

2-3 medium potatoes, quartered
2-3 small red onions, quartered
Carrots and celery would be good, too, but we didn't have any on hand
2 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube/packet (sodium-free)
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 bone-in chicken breasts (boneless will work, too, but bone-in = more flavor!)

Place the potato and onion wedges in the bottom of your crock pot. Cover with water. Stir in bouillon, poultry seasoning, Worcestershire, parsley, and salt and pepper. Place the chicken breasts on top. Season the meat with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Remove the bones before serving (the meat will be so tender that it should fall right off). Serve the chicken and veggies over cooked brown rice or whole-grain pasta, if desired. Pour some broth over the top for extra flavor.

Kidney Bean Casserole

This recipe is a favorite side dish in my family, especially during the summer for all of our cookouts. The flavors blend beautifully for a zesty, sweet side dish packed with delicious and colorful veggies and beans. Just one bite, and you will be a fan for life!

Kidney Bean Casserole
from my Auntie Moo Moo
also contributed by my mom to Puttin' on the Peachtree, 1979

2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, partially drained
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped or sliced
2 small onions, coarsely chopped or sliced
1 strip raw bacon, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 of a 14-ounce bottle ketchup or chili sauce

Combine all ingredients in casserole dish and bake, covered, for 2 hours at 325 degrees. May be prepared in advance and reheated.

Alternatively, combine ingredients in your crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then low for 2-4 hours. Enjoy!

Slow Cooked Fresh Tomato Sauce

Tomato season is in full swing here in North Georgia, and those 'maters were piling up high in our kitchen this week! I decided to take all our fresh, ripe Roma tomatoes and make a gorgeous slow-cooked tomato sauce.

I'm not gonna lie to you, dear readers. This sauce was a heck of a lot of work! In the end, was it really truly worth it?! Oh, heck yeah!!!

Fresh Tomato Sauce
made up on the fly by yours truly

2 lbs. fresh, ripe tomatoes (or 2 large cans crushed tomatoes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup water
1 tablespoon of your favorite Italian seasoning blend
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup Italian red wine (optional)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Fresh basil and oregano

Boil a large pot of water. Place the tomatoes (in batches if necessary) into the boiling water for 60 seconds. Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and place into a bath of ice water to cool. When tomatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skins, and core/seed the tomatoes. (BTW, this part will really freaking hurt if you have paper cuts on your fingers - oow!) Place the remaining flesh into your crock pot.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the green pepper and onion, sauteeing until soft - about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another two minutes. Pour the veggies over the tomatoes in the crock pot.

Next, add the water, Italian seasoning, vinegar, sugar, and wine into the crock pot. Turn on low and cook for 4-7 hours, stirring occasionally if possible (i.e. get your husband/friend/dog to do it when s/he comes home for lunch). During the last hour of cooking, add the tomato paste and a teaspoon or two of fresh basil and oregano, chopped.

If you like a finer texture, then transfer half of the sauce to a blender or food processor and carefully blend until smooth (remember you're dealing with a very hot liquid!). Return the blended sauce to the crock pot and stir.

Serve hot over cooked pasta of your choice, and garnish with fresh herbs. Enjoy!

How to Make Your Own Chicken Stock

So we all buy those nice convenient little roasted chickens at the grocery store, right? They are a great shortcut for those recipes that call for cooked chicken. Well, why not make your chicken go twice as far by using the carcass to make some chicken stock? Here is a great, basic recipe. I used the recipe from my kitchen bible, The Joy of Cooking, and adapted it for the crock pot to make things extra-easy!

Basic Chicken Stock
adapted from The Joy of Cooking

1 chicken carcass
4 quarts of water
10 pepper corns
6 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons parsley
1 teaspoon thyme
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
3 ribs of celery, roughly chopped

Place the chicken carcass in your crock pot. Pour the water over it and add the rest of the ingredients. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours; on high 3-5 hours. I left this batch on low overnight.

Strain well. Refrigerate or freeze in mason jars or ziplock bags until you are ready to use your stock!

Beannachtaí lá Fhéile Pádraig Duit, A Sheáin Léitheoirí!

Blessings of St. Patrick's Day to You, Dear Readers!

As I've mentioned a few times now, I have a mostly Irish heritage. So today is a fun and festive day in my family when we celebrate with food and friends! Here is what I put in my crock pot this morning. As opposed to a London Broil, I like to call this a Dublin Boil.

Here is what my crock pot probably looks like right now, bubbling away in my kitchen:

I can't wait to get home and enjoy this overflowing, bountiful Irish feast!

Dublin Boil
Inspired by a few recipes I perused in The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors:Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother

3 lbs. corned beef brisket
2 12-ounce bottles Irish lager beer
2 cups of water
1 bay leaf
8 black peppercorns
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1" rustic chunks
1 lb. small red potatoes, rinsed clean and sliced in half
2 tablespoons Irish butter
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 cup leeks, rinsed and chopped, white part only
1 large rutabaga (i.e. turnip), peeled and chopped into 1" chunks
1 large green cabbage, cut into quarters or sixths
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Spray the inside of your 8-10 quart crock pot with cooking spray. Place the corned beef brisket in the crock pot. Add the beer and enough of the water to cover the beef. Next, add the bay leaves, the peppercorns, the parsley, the Worcestershire, and the salt and pepper. Also add the potatoes and the carrots to the pot.

In a heavy skillet, heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Add the garlic, the leeks, and the yellow onion, sautéing for 4-5 minutes. Add these veggies to the crock pot.

Cover the pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the meat is very tender. In the last hour or two of cooking, add the turnips and the cabbage. Taste the broth and season as needed with the salt and pepper.

Remove the bay leaf before serving. Serve hot in generous bowls with a wedge of Irish Soda Bread.

Chicky-Chicky-Parm, Chicky-Chicky-Parm

Have I ever mentioned that my brothers are a little bit silly? Yeah, they used to sing "Chicky-Chicky-Parm, Chicky-Chicky-Parm" whenever my mom would make us Chicken Parmesan. And they always did it with this incredibly catchy but annoying rhythm to it. So now I'm cursed because what I think of every time I have Chicken Parmesan!!

Here is an easy and "lighter" (i.e. not fried) version of this dish that you can make in the crock pot. It even came out pretty crispy on the top. Don't ya just love it when things are easy AND delicious?!

Crock-Pot Chicky-Parm

4 raw skinless boneless chicken breasts;
1 cup flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Fresh parsley or basil for garnish

NOTE: Chicken can be fresh OR frozen. For frozen (which I used here), simply add an extra hour of cooking time.

Apply cooking spray to the inside of your crock pot. Next, set up three shallow bowls. In the first bowl, place the flour and half of the salt and pepper. In the second bowl, place the lightly beaten egg. In the third bowl, place the panko bread crumbs, the parmigiano reggiano, the rest of the salt and pepper, and the Italian seasoning. Take your chicken breasts one at a time, and dip them first in the flour, coating completely. Next coat with the egg mixture. Finally, coat with the panko mixture. Then place the chicken breast in the bottom of your crock pot. Repeat with the other chicken breasts.

Pour your marinara sauce around the sides of the chicken breasts. (Around, not on top - this will keep the tops crispy.) Sprinkle a few more tablespoons of the parmigiano reggiano cheese on top of the breasts. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours. During the last hour of cooking, top the chicken with the shredded mozzarella cheese so that it can melt and get nice and bubbly. Garnish each serving with fresh parsley or basil. Serve with spaghetti or angel-hair pasta.

Hearty Black Bean Soup

I love black beans, and it's still cold enough here in Georgia to justify my cravings for nice, hot, steaming bowls of soup. Heck - we even have snow on the ground, lingering after the storm that dumped 6 inches on our little town over the weekend! This is exciting for those of us who only see a light dusting once a year or so!

So I wanted a hearty, chunky black bean soup to warm us up. Forget all of your wimpy pureed soups - this soup is thick, filling, and delicious! Here is what I came up with!

Hearty Black Bean Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 15-ounce cans black beans
2 15-ounce cans of water
2 shakes of your favorite hot sauce
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 chicken bouillon cube or seasoning packet
Finely minced red onion, for garnish
Sliced avocado, for garnish
Sprigs of cilantro, for garnish

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, and peppers. Stir and allow the veggies to cook until the onions are translucent and the peppers become slightly tender, about 3-4 minutes. Next, add the beans, the water (use the bean-cans to measure), cumin, oregano, lime juice, salt, pepper, and bouillon. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, and then reduce the heat to low. Allow the soup to simmer for about 1 hour, uncovered, until reduced and thickened. Serve hot with garnishes of your choice.

This recipe can be easily converted to a crock pot. Simply measure all ingredients into the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Note: To make this recipe vegetarian, omit the chicken bouillon cube and the water. Substitute with 2 15-ounce cans of vegetable broth.

Crock Pot Spinach Casserole

This spinach casserole has been one of my favorite dishes since childhood. The recipe came from the little booklet that came with my mom and dad's Crockpot that they got back in the early 70s. Over the years, we've upped the amount of spinach and also adapted it for a dutch oven, but it's still a family classic.

It's a great way to get kids to eat their spinach; it's a great way to get kids to love their spinach. It makes a delicious veggie side to go with dinner or it makes a great dip served hot with crackers. No matter how you serve it, you are going to love it!

Mom's Spinach Casserole
Adapted from Rival Crock Pot booklet from the early 70s

3 10-ounce packages frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 cups cottage cheese

1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

1 1/2 cups (about 8 oz.) american cheese, cubed (recommended: Velveeta)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

Apply cooking spray to the inside of your crock pot. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour into prepared crock pot. Cook on high for 1 hour, then turn it down to low for 4-5 hours.

You may also use a dutch oven for this dish. Simply bake, covered, at 375 for 1 hour.

Overnight Irish Oatmeal

I have been cozying up to my crock pot a lot lately - it's just so nice to be able to throw stuff in there and have it come together perfectly with barely any work at all. And I'd read that you can actually make oatmeal in a crock pot by fixing it the night before and setting it on low overnight. I love oatmeal and eat it almost every morning, especially during the colder winter months. I enjoy the Irish-style steel-cut oats the most, but they take so long to cook that I rarely make make time for them in my morning routine. So I decided to try cooking them in the crock pot overnight to see if I could make it work - and it did!!

The oatmeal was not only fabulously creamy from the slow cooking process, but it was also full of flavor from the extras that I threw in. This was a hearty, rich, and healthy breakfast. If you fix this the night before AND set your coffee maker to automatically brew your coffee at a certain time, then it's truly like having a personal chef fix your whole gourmet breakfast for you!

Overnight Irish Oatmeal

1 cup Irish steel-cut oats (ex. McCann's)
4 cups water
1 medium apple - peeled, cored, and sliced
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon half and half

Grease the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray. Pour all ingredients into your crock pot.

Alternative method: pour ingredients into a heat-proof bowl that fits inside your crock pot. Place the bowl inside your crock pot. Fill the crock pot with water until it reaches about half-way up the side of the bowl.

Stir your ingredients together, place the lid on your crock pot, and turn the pot on low. Allow to cook for 8-9 hours or overnight. Here is what it will look like when you wake up in the morning!

Simply stir up your oatmeal and serve it hot in bowls. Enjoy!

An Apple a Day

My husband loves to cook up some apples around this time of year. It makes the house smell amazing, and his recipe is delicious! It's great as a snack on its own, as a side to pork chops, as a topping on some vanilla ice cream, or as a sweetener for your morning oatmeal.

Homemade Stewed Apples ~ Homemade Apple Sauce

1 cup of water
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

Heat up the water in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until it is simmering. Stir in cinnamon and cardamom.

Pour in the apple slices.

Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, for at least an hour - until the apples are tender and the water is nearly gone.

You can also do this in a crock pot - just cover the mixture and turn it on low for 4-8 hours.

If you want to make applesauce out of the stewed apples, simply blend the mixture in a food processor or blender. For lumpier applesauce simply blend using your mixer.

Hubby's Veggies

My husband loves southern veggies. He could eat a veggie plate every night for dinner and be happy. One of my favorite veggie dishes that he makes for us is his Beefy Veggie Soup. It tastes so amazing that you would never believe how easy it is to make. We always have it with some nice hot cornbread on the side. Yummmmmm....

Hubby's Beefy Veggie Soup

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can of corn
1 can green beans
1 can sliced potatoes
1 can sliced carrots
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can butter beans
1 can vegetable juice (recommended V8)

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef, onion, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook through, drain, and pour into a large pot or crock pot. Dump the rest of the ingredients in. Note that you should not drain the canned veggies - pour them in, juice and all. Stir ingredients together. If you're using a pot, then simmer for 1 hour. If you're using your crock pot, cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 2-4 hours.

Serve with Southern Boy's Cornbread.

Make-Ahead Mexican Fiesta

I've seen a lot of different versions of recipes for Salsa Chicken in the crockpot floating around and decided to throw my two cents in! Here's my version - it's easy, healthy, and full of flavor. I hope you enjoy it!

Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

4 uncooked chicken breasts, cleaned
1 jar of your favorite salsa
1 can of mexicorn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon fajita seasoning
Whole wheat tortillas
Fresh chopped cilantro
Fat free sour cream
Shredded cheese

Place chicken breasts, salsa, mexicorn, beans, lime juice, cumin, and fajita seasoning in your crock pot. Mix ingredients up a little bit, making sure to cover chicken.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours. Serve as is OR you can shred the chicken up, stir it into the veggies, and serve it with tortillas.

Garnish with cilantro, sour cream, and shredded cheese.

Guinness Beef Stew

My brothers and I calculated it once, and I think we came up with the figure of 85% - we're 85% Irish. My maiden name has an apostrophe in it, and the only bad part about being married is that I miss my apostrophe. ;-)

I like to put together a special Irish menu every St. Patrick's Day, and a couple of years ago I was inspired to try to re-create the amazing bowl of Guinness Beef Stew that I enjoyed one night in a pub in Dingle, on the west coast of Ireland, when I was studying abroad there. Now it's become one of my favorite slow-cooker recipes!

Guinness Beef Stew

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1.5-2 lbs. boneless beef chuck, cut into 1" pieces
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 large or 2 medium onions, roughly sliced
1-2 baking potatoes or 5-6 red potatoes, roughly chopped
3 large carrots, coarsely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 16-ounce Guinness
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 15.5-ounce can low-sodium beef broth or stock
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Clean the beef and pat it dry. In a bowl toss your stew meat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle with flour, salt, and pepper, tossing to coat all pieces. Arrange the meat in a single layer in the heated skillet. Cook just until the pieces are browned on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Note that the meat will still be raw on the inside.

Meanwhile, toss all of your veggies into the crockpot. Pour the Guinness and Worcestershire sauce over the veggies, sprinkle the thyme on top, and drop in the bay leaf. When all your meat is browned, pour it into the crockpot, too. Return the skillet to the stove and pour in the can of beef broth. Stir in the tomato paste, and use a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits on the bottom of the pan into the broth. This not only saves you some cleaning time but also ensures that you don't lose any of the flavorful bits left behind in the pan!

Pour the broth mixture over the contents of the crock pot. Season with salt and pepper, and gently stir everything together to mix thoroughly.

Put the lid on the crock pot, and cook on low for 6-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Meat should be very tender (falling apart, melting in your mouth) and veggies should be fork tender (and wonderfully cooked in the broth). Remove bay leaf and adjust the seasoning before serving, adding additional salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, egg noodles, or some hearty bread.

Mom's Chili

Chili is just one of those classic dishes that reminds me of a chilly fall night when I was a little girl. No one's recipe will ever compare to my mom's because mom's chili is the culinary manifestation of comfort and warmth. Mom always serves it on a bed of rice, topped with shredded cheese. It's just the best.

Great things about this recipe: It freezes really well in freezer bags. It can be made super-lean by using ground turkey and serving it on brown rice. It can be spiced up with sausage and bell-peppers or spiced down with just the listed ingredients. This recipe can easily be adapted to a crock pot, too. I love coming home to the smell of it after a long day!

Mom's Chili

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 lbs. lean ground beef, bison, or turkey

2-3 cans tomato soup (recommended: Campbell's)

1/2-1 soup can of water (use 1/2 first, adding more as needed)

2-3 15.5-ounce cans kidney beans and/or black beans, drained and rinsed

4 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic in the oil for 3-5 minutes, and transfer to a large pot or crock pot. Return the empty pan to the heat and cook the ground meat in the pan, draining off all fat when it's cooked all the way through. Pour the meat into the large pot or crock pot with the onions. Add all remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. Simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. You can have this simmer in the crock pot on low for 4-8 hours. Remember to taste the chili and adjust the seasonings (chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper) before serving.

This chili is great served on white or brown rice, on a baked potato, on cornbread, or on its own. Top with cheese, chopped green onions, or fat free sour cream. Enjoy!