A Menu That Worked

Since I'm always interested in easy meal plans with lots of make-ahead components, I thought I'd share the menu from a recent afternoon get-together that I thought worked particularly well.  As you'll see, it's slow-cooker heavy, since-- lazy as I am-- I now own two of these workhorses!

In my small slow cooker:  Spinach and Artichoke Dip (8 oz cream cheese; 2 cups grated mozzarella; 1 can of artichoke hearts, drained of course; and 1 bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.  Combine in the slow cooker and heat on "low"-- stirring every now and then--until it's all nicely melted.)  I assembled this about an hour before our guests arrived, and set out crackers, a serving spoon, small plates, etc., so that they could help themselves directly from the slow cooker.

In my large slow cooker: Pot Roast  This was a 6-lb beef chuck roast that I cooked overnight (12 hours) on "low" along with a cup of red wine; a can of beef broth; a package of frozen mixed peppers and onions; and (key) the drippings from at least six strips of bacon, which I also crumbled into the pot.  In the morning I added extra seasonings to taste, including paprika, caraway seed, salt, and a couple tablespoons of sour cream.

In the oven:  Slow-Roasted Tomatoes ...  Wow.  Last month I'd never even heard of this dish, and now I'm convinced that it's the perfect make-ahead side for wintertime!  Following this recipe from the most recent issue of Cooking Light, I baked plum tomato halves overnight in a 200-degree oven.  The next morning, I was able to chill them and later-- just before dinner-- reheat them, adding a sprinkle of mozzarella and fresh basil.  The taste was intensely rich, complimenting the pot roast so well; moreover, the (scant) leftovers reheated nicely on the next day, too, without any apparent change in texture or moisture.  I'm definitely making this again!

On the stovetop:  Mashed Potatoes, which I'd boiled the previous night, ready for day-of mashing with butter and cream ... and Steamed Asparagus, just a quick three minutes in a steamer basket.

Bread and Butter, of course; and then:

Dessert #1:  A guest asked "what to bring?" and I pounced on the offer!  She made a marvellous homemade Apfelkuchen-- and hopefully she'll also post the recipe on her blog, as I thought it absolutely perfect: light and mildly (not cloyingly) sweet.   I just couldn't stop cutting slices for myself!

Dessert #2 (and I might also label this "In the Refrigerator") I'd made a batch of Rote Grütze, a wonderful German berry dessert-- sort of a thick compote served with heavy cream-- which I love, love, love!  A German military wife hooked me on it last year, after which it became one of my go-to recipes.  And it's so simple!  While this version (also easy) calls for fresh fruit and cornstrach, I only stewed a large bag of frozen mixed berries and a small bag of frozen cherries together (with just enough water to cover) in a large pot; slightly thickened the mixture with a package of vanilla cook-and-serve pudding; and then added just a tablespoon of sugar.  I then chilled it overnight, and served it in bowls with a small pitcher of heavy cream... and wished that I didn't have to share!

As you'll note, I could do most of the work on the previous night, after children were in bed.  At that time I set up the pot roast, which began to cook shortly before midnight; prepped the tomatoes and put them in the oven to roast overnight; boiled the potatoes; and made the Rote Grütze.  On the morning of the get-together, all that I really had to do was throw the spinach-artichoke ingredients in a crock pot; season the pot roast; mash the potatoes; slide the tomatoes back into the oven; and steam the asparagus.  ...Yes, plenty of time left to stress over a wrinkled tablecloth and try to match the napkins (a losing battle)! 


I'd love to see examples of your successful menus!  If you have a post or an idea to share, please leave me a note in the comment box... And as always, thank you!  Although married for over eleven years, I still feel like a novice when it comes to entertaining.

Rakott krumpli

As we sometimes joke to each other, my husband and I are both very much "ethnic wannabes."  We each have one immigrant Polish parent-- in his case, born in a Siberian gulag during the war; and in mine, born in a DP camp in Germany, where my grandparents had been deported for forced labor.  My husband's mother is half Polish and half German; and my father is half Polish and half Hungarian.  On either side, no ancestor arrived in this country before the twentieth century... Although my husband and I don't speak Polish, have never been to Poland (or Hungary, or Germany), and are decidedly "American" in our attitudes (as we always discover when speaking with actual Europeans!), still we cling to the idea of ethnic identity-- and admit that the attempt is, well, half pathetic.

Now, inevitably, our immigrant parents are aging; and our immigrant grandparents are dying.  Someday that direct link to the past will be severed...

While we've always been eager to claim our heritage in small ways (i.e. the framed Polish eagles on our walls), lately I've grown a little desperate!  Along with a great uncle on my father's side, I've been dabbling in Hungarian genealogy.*   I've also been reprinting family photos, displaying deceased family members' cherished personal effects, and-- the true topic of this post-- experimenting with Eastern European recipes.

For dinner last night I made a version of Hungarian rakott krumpli, which is an extremely simple-- but incredibly rich!-- potato casserole.  Basically, it consists of sliced boiled potatoes layered with lots of melted butter; sliced hardboiled eggs; meat (ham and/or bacon and/or sausage); and finally, sour cream, or a sour cream sauce, topped with a sprinkle of paprika.  Then, bake in a medium oven for about 30 minutes... The dish can be varied in many ways, including omitting the meat for a Lenten dish.  I used diced ham and added a layer of chopped cabbage for extra nutrition.

Here's one recipe; and here's another; and another.

The hardboiled egg and sour cream give rakott krumpli a very distinctive, old-world flavor (and I never would have considered using hardboiled egg in a baked casserole!  But try it-- it's delicious.).  I found that sliced cucumber and a glass of wine provided a fresh, pleasant contrast to the casserole's richness.

As I continue to mine my Hungarian and Polish cookbooks, I'll post about the results.  In the meantime, my husband agrees-- we're definitely making rakott krumpli again!


*Ironic, considering that my children are not genetically related to me!  But I'll save that reflection for another day.

How I served my in-laws

My husband's parents drove in on Friday and-- after stuffing our freezer with delicious pierogi from one of Chicago's Polish supermarkets!--drove off again this morning, leaving us in a sort of post-visit malaise.  Today is for winding down, washing sheets, folding laundry, making applesauce... and yes, for blogging all about it!

Since these days we host family more than ever, I'm always interested in easy, economical meal plans that minimize time in the kitchen.  Just to throw some ideas out there-- here's what I served for dinner this weekend to a no-fuss, meat-and-potatoes type of couple.


Friday:  Minestrone  (Saute fresh garlic in oil, then add four cans of diced tomatoes; two cans of white beans; two "cans" [using the empty cans as a unit of measure!] water; two beef bouillon cubes; chopped celery; about 1/2 bag of frozen chopped spinach; and a cup of red wine. Bring to a boil, and then add 1/2 box of small shell pasta and cook for 10 minutes.)  ... with French bread, plus the rest of the wine


Saturday:  Taco pizza   (I whipped up the dough in my bread maker; pre-baked the crust at 425 degrees for five minutes; and then topped it with hot taco sauce, hot sausage, and mozzarella.   After baking at 425 for 10-15 additional minutes, I first sliced the pizza and then added crushed Doritos and grated cheddar.)   ... with a green salad


Sunday:  Slow-cooker pot roast  (4 lbs beef shoulder cooked on low for 8 hours, with mushrooms, peppers, and-- per Mrs. Thetimman's French dip recipe-- onion soup mix and one cup water.)   ... with a green salad and oven-roasted potatoes



What is your mealtime strategy for family weekends?  Any tips? 
 

Scattered thoughts from a busy week

Are "quick takes" for Fridays?  If not, I'll still use the concept as an excuse for scattered thoughts...


1.  Our family tried St. Louis Catholic's recipe for French dip sandwiches (see the comments section of this post), and yes-- it's THE recipe!  Incredible flavor. My husband loved it; I loved it; and it was unbelievably simple to make in my slow cooker...  Thank you, Mrs. Timman!!  This meal is going on our regular schedule.

2.  Lately naps have scarcely overlapped at all, so I've had very little free time during the day-- although I'll admit that I've been carving out an early-morning coffee hour by letting the girls hang out in their cribs a bit longer before breakfast.  (So long as they're not crying...!?)

3.  With my toddler, I've fallen into an unfortunate habit of using videos as a distraction during diaper changes and her baby sister's pre-nap feeding/rocking session.  True, she watches (what I consider to be) good stuff: excerpts from The Nutcracker ballet, orchestras playing classical music, scenes from Disney's Cinderella, a half-hour alphabet video from Sesame Street...  But I can see that video is becoming an addiction for her, as she's constantly requesting it outside of the normal times.

4. With regard to the above, I'm beginning to create my own short videos of the toddler's books-- sort of a virtual storytime.  With the camera zoomed in close to the page, I read, point out fun bits of illustration ("Do you see the puppydog?" etc.)...  While of course this can't possibly replace actual storytime, I figure that this sort of video has to be a cut above Cinderella!  Especially if our toddler has the books, too, in her hands, so that she could potentially follow along... Again, not ideal-- but perhaps a slight improvement.

5. One final thought:  Our seven-month-old does better push-ups than I do.

Have a great weekend!

Slow-Cooker Sunday: A New Family Tradition

Until recently, the slow cooker had always struck me as a rather pointless gadget:  after all, unless you worked outside the home, why would you invest in a device that took eight hours to accomplish what a Dutch oven could do in three or four?  Moreover, it couldn't reduce a liquid down to the silky, rich sauce that I expected in a pot roast or stew; and its throw-everything-in-and-walk-away method seemed to leave no room for creativity... So for years I skipped all of those slow-cooker recipes, confident that there was really nothing in them to miss.

Until recently.  To my shock, that once-despised slow cooker has actually proved itself...!

You see, on Sundays our family assists at Tridentine Mass (Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite) in the city 35 miles from our home, and-- depending on traffic-- it can take us anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes to reach the church. Once Mass ends, we're hungry; the babies are both tired and (despite take-along snacks) hungry; and we still must face the long commute home.  It's a problem.

In pre-parenthood days, my husband and I loved to follow Mass with a leisurely brunch at one of the downtown restaurants; and even when our eldest first came along, we still could usually sneak in 40 minutes or so at a family-friendly establishment.  When our second child arrived in January, however, that option was shot.  There was no enjoying a sit-down meal with two frazzled little ones to manage!  ...And so, we began pulling into Sonic for a quick meal of burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and tater tots.  I'd squeeze between carseats in the back of our sedan, where I could give the infant her bottle (if necessary) while handing the toddler bits of chicken and greasy fried potato.

Needless to say, this arrangement was less than ideal.

On a whim, I picked up a seven-quart Crock Pot (with visiting family in mind?) at Walmart on a Saturday, along with 3lbs of pork shoulder and some barbeque sauce.  At eight the next morning I loaded meat, vegetables, and sauce into the thing, turned it on "high," and ran upstairs to go back to bed prepare for Mass...  "I hope it doesn't burn the house down," my husband said as we drove away-- late, as usual.  (Mea culpa.)

But when we returned home, the smell was amazing-- and the pork was tender and savory.  We could sit down to our meal almost immediately, no fuss, with naps to follow... Leisure restored!  I was sold.

Since then, we've experimented with beef sirloin on two successive Sundays (not as tasty, since it really needs more cooking time); and this past Sunday, we tried this worthwhile Food Network recipe for pork carnitas.  In the interest of time, I initially skipped the final "crisping" step, but tried it on the next day's leftovers-- and we both found that it elevated the ok to the sublime!  (Please don't forget the "crisping" step!  It creates those flavorful brown bits...)

Humbled, I now ask-- do you have a favorite slow-cooker recipe?