Easy Crockpot Recipe: New Potatoes, Green Beans & Ham

This crockpot recipe is so wonderful and easy to make! It contains three of my favorite foods and will have your house smelling so good while it cooks that your mouth will be watering the whole time you wait!

Carole in Orlando, Florida, posted this recipe on Food.com and says she once had no broth, so mixed a packet of Lipton's Garlic and Herb soup with 4 cups of water and it "really added richness to the broth." Fix a batch of cornbread and you have some good down home comfort food. Oh, and did I mention it was easy to make?!? You betcha!

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 8 hrs 15 mins

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

8 red potatoes, scrubbed and halved	2 cups ham, cut into bite sized pieces
1 16-oz. pkg frozen green beans (or fresh)	vegetable or chicken broth
1 large onion, cut into about 8 wedges	salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Add all the ingredients to the crockpot, cover, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours (or on high for about 6 hours).
   
2. This may also be cooked in a dutch oven on the stove, but you'll need more broth. The crockpot makes broth as it cooks, so doesn't need as much. Use your own judgment on the amount of broth.
   
3. Serve with fresh, sliced tomatoes and corn bread for a great Southern meal.

See! Told you that was easy!
Now ya just gotta wait for it. That's the hard part!
Hehehe =)

Recipe from Carole in Orlando, Florida

Try These Sinfully Healthy Medieval Recipes!

Getting in the spirit of the Renaissance, I thought I'd share a few medieval recipes for you to try.  Considering these are from 14th and 16th century cookbooks, there are no images available, but I have done my best to ensure that the instructions are translated well enough for the modern cook to understand.

I've put together a three course meal, including a salad, chicken (or capon) dish, and cherry pottage.  I've also included a modernized recipe for apple pecan bread.  I've provided the sources for these recipes in case you'd like to check for more.  Enjoy!

Sallet of Herbes and Flowers
The Good Huswifes Jewell, Thomas Dawson, 1596

1 small head of butter lettuce	2 hardboiled eggs, sliced
1 cup watercress	4 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves	3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves	1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup flower petals*	1/8 tsp pepper
1 cucumber, pared and sliced	1/2 tsp brown sugar

* You can use roses, primroses, nasturtiums, chive blossoms, violets, or calendulas, but be sure they haven't been sprayed with insecticides.

Directions:

1. Wash the lettuce, watercress, and herb leaves in cold water, pat dry, and refrigerate. Rinse the flower petals in a bowl of cold water, gently pat dry and refrigerate.
2. Tear the lettuce into bite size pieces and combine with the watercress and herb leaves.  Add the cucumbers and toss to mix.
3. Mix together the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar; stir until blended.  Add dressing to the salad and toss until well coated.
4. Gently mix in the flower petals (reserving a few to garnish the salad with). Top the salad with the egg slices and garnish with the reserved flower petals.

Blank-Mang
Forme of Cury, c.1390

2 large, boneless capon or chicken breasts	1 cup rice
2-1/2 cup water	1 Tbsp butter
1-1/4 tsp salt	4 tsp brown sugar
1/2 cup blanched almonds	toasted slivered almonds
2 Tbsp ice water	candied anise (if you can find any)
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Bring the 2-1/2 cups water and 1-1/4 tsp salt to a boil.  Boil the chicken, covered, for 15 minutes or until done.  Remove the chicken and set aside, reserving the broth.
2. Grind the almonds with the ice water in a blender or with mortar and pestle, until smooth.
3. To make the "almond milk," combine 2 cups of the broth with the ground almonds and allow to stand for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Put the almond milk into a pan and cook the rice in it with the 1 tsp salt, butter, and brown sugar.
5. Meanwhile, dice the chicken breasts.  Just before the rice is done, add the chicken.  Stir to distribken pie chicken pieces and finish cooking the rice.
6. Just before serving, garnish with the toasted almonds and candied anise, if you can find any (apparently, it's difficult to find).

Syrosye (Cherry Pottage)
Curye on Inglysch, 15th c.

2 lbs ripe red cherries, pitted and stems removed	1 cup breadcrumbs
1-1/2 cups white wine	pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar (preferably raw sugar)	flower heads of clove pinks (optional garnish)
4 Tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Wash the cherries and remove the stems and stones.  Puree the fruit in a blender with 1/2 cup of the wine and half of the sugar.  Add a little more wine as needed to get a smooth puree.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the fruit puree, breadcrumbs, remaining wine, remaining sugar, and salt.  Simmer, stirring often, until the puree is very thick.
3. Pour into a serving bowl, cover, and let cool.  The cherry pottage should be the consistency of a thick apple sauce.
4. Refrigerate until served.  Before serving, decorate the edge of the bowl with the clove pinks, if desired.  Sprinkle sugar over the dish.

Apple Pecan Bread
A Boke of Gode Cookery ~ Modern Recipes for Beginners
James L. Matterer

1/2 cup butter or margarine	2 cups flour
1 cup sugar	1 tsp double-acting baking powder
2 eggs	1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp milk	1 cup chopped apples
1 tsp vanilla extract	1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x5 loaf pan; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter or margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredients and stir just until well blended.  Fold in apples and nuts.
5. Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour.  Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.  Once cool, wrap and let stand overnight before slicing.  Yield: 1 loaf

Try These Scrumptious Holiday Recipes!!

Are you ready for Christmas? It's that time of year when sugar plums go dancing around in our heads. Especially when it comes to wondering what else we could make to ensure there's enough food for everyone and to suit their different tastes!

So I'm always looking for new recipes to try, particularly around the holidays. Even if it's something I wouldn't normally eat -- like cheesecake and Brussels sprouts! I used to steer clear of cheesecake because I simply didn't like it -- until I discovered chocolate cheesecake!

After having a store bought one that was so incredibly good, I went on the hunt for a chocolate cheesecake recipe and have since made my own variations of it. I like to put different toppings on it each time I make it. Whatever I put, it's any combination of peanut butter sauce, chocolate sauce, Heath bits, peanuts, Reese's bits, caramel, or whatever else comes to mind that sounds yummy!

Then I discovered pumpkin cheesecake! last year at Olive Garden and thought, "OMG! That's even better than chocolate cheesecake!" Shhh...don't tell anybody I said that. LOL So, of course, the holiday season is upon us and I find myself looking for new recipes and this one was a MUST HAVE!

I have yet to try Brussels sprouts EVER in my life, but thought the recipe below sounds mighty good. Good enough for me to actually try Brussel sprouts! While my family doesn't plan on making them for the holidays, every last one of us are interested in trying them out soon -- and not one of us has ever liked Brussels sprouts!

So I do encourage you to try both of these recipes. Once we've tried out the Brussels sprouts recipe, I'll come back here and report how wonderful it was! I really would like to get into eating healthier foods, so I'm actually looking forward to trying it. Anyway...

I hope you enjoy!

The Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

Prep Time: 40 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 44 mins

Servings: 8

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs	1 tsp vanilla
5 tablespoons butter, melted	3 eggs
1 cup sugar, plus	1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar	1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 8-oz pkgs cream cheese, softened	1/4 tsp allspice
1 cup canned pumpkin	whipped cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and put foil part way up the outside part of an 8-inch springform pan.
2. Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and 1 T sugar in a medium bowl.
3. Stir well enough to coat all the crumbs with the butter, but not so much as to turn the mixture into paste. Keep it crumbly.
4. Press the crumbs onto the bottom and about two-thirds of the way up the sides of the springform pan. Be sure not to go all of the way up.
5. Bake the crust for 5 minutes and set aside until you are ready to fill it. For best results, make the crust the night before and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
6. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth.
7. Add the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and continue beating until smooth and creamy.
8. Pour the filling into the pan and bake for 60-70 minutes until the top has turned a bit darker.
9. Remove from the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool. Once it has reached room temperature, put it in the refrigerator.
10. When the cheesecake has chilled, remove the pan sides and cut the cake into 8 equal pieces. Serve with a generous portion of whipped cream.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnut Brown Butter

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter (only real butter - no substitutes)
1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons water

Directions

1. Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 450°F.
2. Put butter on a large rimmed baking sheet and roast until butter is melted, browned and fragrant (4-5 minutes).
3. Remove baking sheet from oven and toss Brussels sprouts and hazelnuts with the browned butter; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Return to oven and roast for 7 minutes; sprinkle with water, toss, and continue roasting until the sprouts are tender and lightly browned (another 7-9 minutes).

Note: I recommend using a bit more butter and adding extra hazelnuts to help dress up the flavor. You might even try some of your favorite spices -- oregano and thyme are two I'm considering.