Italian Sunday Gravy In a Crock Pot

This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen ... it's a cross between pot roast and a hearty spaghetti sauce. Most sausage has enough seasoning to make extra salt unnecessary.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 pound hot Italian sausage
2 onions , chopped medium
12 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine (optional)
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (28-ounce) can tomato sauce
3 pounds beef tri-tip or chuck roast
Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and cook until well browned and fat begins to render, about 8 minutes. You might have to cook the sausage in batches so that it has room in the pan to brown.

2. Cook onions in sausage fat over medium heat until well browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in garlic and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook until paste begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in wine or water and simmer, scraping browned bits from pan bottom with wooden spoon, about 3 minutes. Transfer to slow-cooker insert and stir in diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.

3. Submerge meat in sauce in slow-cooker insert. Set slow cooker on low, cover, and cook until meat is tender, 8 to 10 hours. (Alternatively, cook on high for 4 to 5 hours.)

4. About 30 minutes before serving, transfer sausages, and beef to baking sheet and set aside until cool enough to handle. Shred beef into small pieces, and slice sausages. Use wide spoon to skim fat off surface, then stir sausages and shredded meat back into sauce. Enjoy.

Pesto Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 sourdough baguette (sliced into thin rounds)
1/4 cup olive oil
3-4 tomatoes (diced)
1 handful fresh basil leaves (chopped)
1 clove garlic (grated)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup store bought or homemade pesto

Directions:

Lay out the slices of bread on a baking tray. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven is hot, TURN IT OFF, and place the bread/baking tray in the warm oven for approximately 10 min. This process will dry out the bread.
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Mix grated garlic, chopped tomatoes, chopped basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Set aside.
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Remove the dry bread pieces from the oven and brush (or spray) one side of the bread with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and fresh ground pepper over the bread and return to the oven. Re-heat oven to 350 degrees and cook the bread pieces until they are toasted. This process will take approx 2-4 minutes. Watch the oven closely as dry bread pieces will toast very quickly.

Remove toasted bread from the oven and spread a thin layer of pesto over the bread. Top bread with tomato mixture and serve.
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Ingredients For Homemade Pesto:

1 bunch fresh basil (approx 2 cups of leaves)
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cloves garlic (chopped)

Place garlic in a food processor and pulse till finely chopped. Add all remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth. Add extra olive oil or a tablespoon of water if the mixture is too thick. Leftover pesto freezes well.

Potato Macaroni Salad

A must have at all hawaiian dinner parties : )

Ingredients:
2 cups elbow macaroni
3 russet potatoes
3 eggs (hard boiled)
1 cup celery (cut into a small dice)
1/2 small yellow onion (minced finely)
1/2 jar Best Foods mayonnaise
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Optional = 1/2 lb bacon, cooked till crisp and then crumbled on top of the salad

Directions:
Dice potatoes and boil till they are tender, set aside to cool. Boil macaroni and set aside to cool. Boil eggs till hard boiled stage and set aside to cool.

Combine chopped egg, cooked potatoes, cooked macaroni, diced celery, minced onion, salt, pepper and mayo. Use as much or little mayonnaise as you like. Some families add bacon and frozen peas (thawed) for color/texture

Poke

Ingredients:
1 pound ahi tuna
1/4 cup green onions (chopped)
1/8 cup sweet maui or vidalia onion (minced finely)
1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 hawaiian chili pepper, seeded and minced (use any hot pepper to taste)
roasted sesame seeds -- use as a garnish

Directions:
Cut your sashimi grade ahi tuna into bite sized chunks. Mix all other ingredients and serve cold.

Add 1/2 teaspoon kukui nut, fresh seaweed, and/or 1/2 teaspoon hawaiian salt as additional flavor components.

Haupia

This is my Aunty Donnie's recipe for the hawaiian coconut milk dessert, haupia. It's a cross between almond jello (color/texture) and coconut pudding (flavor). At times I have substituted splenda for sugar and Lactaid for regular milk. While the mixture takes only minutes to cook it will require a few hours in the fridge to cool and set. Cut the haupia into squares and serve cold.

Ingredients:
3 cups coconut milk (2 cans/13.5 oz)
2 & 1/4 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Combine cornstarch, vanilla and regular milk in a bowl and stir until there are no lumps. Set aside. Combine the coconut milk and sugar in a saucepan and cook over med heat, stirring until the sugar completely dissolves.

Add the cornstarch/milk to the sugar/coconut in the saucepan and stir constantly. Cook everything together until the mixture starts to bubble and get thick. Pour into 9x13 baking pan, cover with plastic wrap and let the mixture cool for a few hours (or overnight) in the fridge. I would let the mixture cool for 15 min on the counter before you put it into the fridge. Piping hot food should never go directly into the fridge.

Cut into squares and serve cold.

Meatloaf

Ingredient:s

2 slices bread

3/4 cup milk or water

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons ketchup

2 lbs. ground chuck

1 small yellow onion diced ( or ½ large onion diced)

Directions:

In a frying pan, stir fry the diced onion then let cool to room temp. Remove from pan to cool faster. Do not add immediately to cold meat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, soak the bread slices in the milk and mush around until broken up . Then add the eggs, garlic powder, pepper, salt, mustard, pepper, and ketchup and mix well. Gently stir in the ground chuck and mix just until combined.

Line a pyrex baking dish with aluminum foil. Form the meat into a loaf shape and place on foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until internal temperature registers 160 degrees.

Hamburger Stroganoff

Super easy ... and super satisfying. This entree takes only 15min from start to finish. Serve over rice or boiled egg noodles.

Ingredients:
2lbs ground beef
1 yellow onion (diced)
3 cloves garlic (crushed) OR 1 tsp dried garlic powder
2 cans of Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup
3/4 cup sour cream (optional)
1/2 of a can of water
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
Dice onions and crush your fresh garlic if you are using whole cloves vs. dried garlic. Stir fry your ground beef, onions and garlic in a hot skillet for 5-7 minutes or until fully cooked. Add the 2 cans of soup and 1/2 of a can of water to the skillet and mix well. After the soup is mixed in, add the sour cream and salt /pepper.

Serve over rice or boiled egg noodles. If you don't have the sour cream you can omit it, but it does make the sauce taste richer. The recipe can be doubled easily as leftovers freeze well.

Green Onions 365 days out of the year !!!

Mrs. Smong buys green onions a few times a month, but is always bummed to find that they have wilted and turned all slimey after only a few days. Check out this cool tip from lunchinabox.net.

Cut the green onions and place the cuttings on a tray or plate in the freezer. Once the cut pieces are somewhat hard (10 min), transfer them to a water bottle and store the bottle in the freezer. As the pieces are all pretty much individually quick frozen you will be able to "shake out" the amount you need and still have more for later.

I'm soooo pleased with this tip. Saimin is not the same when it's missing the green onions : )

Tomato Beef Gravy

My Popo always poured this sauce over pork chops or noodles so I'm not sure why it's called tomato "beef" gravy but here is the recipe. It's super easy and makes any plain meat taste yummy. My friend Terrina's family only makes the sauce to pour over noodles so they call it "ketchup noodle" sauce. Call it what you like ... it's easy to make and a great way to get veggies into your kids.

Ingredients:
1 large red bell pepper
2 stalks of celery (optional)
1 large yellow onion
1/4 cup ketchup
2 packets Splenda
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 or 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper (to taste)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chicken base / beef boullion base (can use 1-2 cubes)

Directions:
Slice onions, celery and red bell peppers into thin slices, as if you were going to make fajitas. Heat a frying pan on high, add oil when the pan is hot, then add sliced onions. Cook the onions for a minute or so ... until they are translucent, then add celery and red bell peppers. Cook veggies for an additional minute.

Mix the remaining "sauce" ingredients in a bowl, then add mixture to veggies in the hot frying pan. Let the sauce bubble/boil, then taste for seasonings. You may have to add more ketchup, soy or pepper (all depends on your tastes).

Thicken the sauce with a little cornstarch (mixed with water to form a slurry) if the sauce is too "thin" and not the consistency that you like. The Smongs like our sauces thick, like a gravy, so we always use cornstarch in ours.

Optional = Cut a tomato into wedges and add it to the finished sauce at the end its cooking process. As a kid, I always avoided the tomato wedges as they got to be kinda soft after sitting in the hot gravy but again ... it's another way to try and get veggies into your kids : )

Enjoy!!

Mexican Chicken Stew

8-10 chicken thighs (skinless & deboned)
1/3 cup corn starch
1 egg
2-3 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1.5 tsp garlic powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce (optional - but it helps the chicken to "brown")
1 can enchilada sauce (8 oz)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup white wine (substitute extra water if none)
2 tablespoons olive oil (use less if using a non-stick wok/dutch oven)

Remove bone and skin from chicken and chop into large 2 inch cubes/pieces. Place chicken, 2 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder, egg, soy sauce and corn starch in a bowl and mix well.

Heat a large wok or non-stick soup pot on high and add olive oil. When pan is heated, add the bowl of chicken (including the marinade). Spread the chicken out evenly across the bottom of your hot pan and leave it to "fry" or form a brown coating. Yes the chicken will look like it's sticking together in one mass.

Once the chicken "mass" has browned on one side, divide it in half or large pieces with a spatula and flip the "mass" over to brown on the other side. Once the chicken has "somewhat" browned on both sides, add the white wine to deglaze the pan. Mix the chicken and wine, and break apart the mass. Not all of the chicken will be fully browned or cooked through, this is OK ... you just want most of it browned to make the sauce taste good.

Add the water and can of enchilada sauce to the pan and mix well.

Cover the pan (but leave it slightly ajar to vent) and turn the stew on med or low and allow it to simmer for 30 - 45 min (stir occasionally). Taste the sauce and add the remaining teaspoon of salt if necessary.

The stew will thicken and look like chile colorado (except it's made with chicken and a less spicy red sauce).

Serve with spanish rice or in tortillas.

Broccoli Casserole

Homey creations made with Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup are a big hit with guests at the Smong house. Per request from my friend Renee here is the recipe.
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3-4 bunches fresh broccoli tops
1 can of Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cream cheese (or approx. 1/2 block)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Microwave the cream cheese until it's soft. Mix with mushroom soup and mayonnaise. Cut the broccoli into 2 inch florets. Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and lay out the broccoli florets in the pan. Spread the soup/cheese/mayo mixture over the broccoli then cover with breadcrumbs and salt. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400 degrees.

5 Min Cous Cous

1 tomato (seeded and diced)
2 carrots (grated)
1 cup cous cous
1 + 3/4 cups water
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter

Microwave 1 + 3/4 cups water in a large bowl for 2-3 min / until the water is boiling hot. Pour dried cous cous into the hot water, stir to coat each grain, then cover the bowl with a plate or cutting board. Let sit for 3 min then mix (fluff) with a fork.

Cut tomato in half, dig out the seeds, then dice. Peel then grate 2 carrots. Add veggies, salt, pepper, olive oil and butter to the fluffed cous cous and serve.

Easy Shrimp Pomodoro

1 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined)
2 cups cooked pasta (any shape)
2 tomatoes (diced)
1 clove garlic (grated)
2 tablespoons fresh basil (chopped)
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Boil pasta then set aside.

Heat a large/dry saucepan on high heat. Place butter in the pan and cook for 30 seconds - 1 minute ... essentially until the butter foams and bubbles. Add garlic, salt, & pepper to the pan and cook for an additional minute. Add shrimp to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and wine to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes start to break down. Add the cooked pasta and chopped basil to the pan and cook until the pasta is heated through and coated with sauce.

Total cooking time is under 15 minutes. The dish should be served immediately after cooking.

These Meatballs are to die for !!!!

Grandma Maronis Meatballs 100 Year Old Recipe - From Mike Maroni

1 pound ground chuck
4 oz dried bread crumbs
4 large eggs
4 oz whole milk (I omitted this ingredient)
6 oz grated Romano (I used 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan)
3 oz grated Spanish onion (I used 1/2 of a yellow onion)
2 oz finely diced fresh garlic (I used 4 cloves)
2 oz finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves (I used 1.5 tablespoons dried)
2 oz finely chopped fresh basil leaves (I omitted this ingredient)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
2. Mix all ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. If mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs.
3. Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Place into preheated oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!

Maroni Sauce - From Mike Maroni

6 ounces good olive oil, not extra-virgin
12 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 large or 2 medium Spanish onions, finely diced
2 (28-ounce) cans imported crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper
1 large handful julienned fresh basil leaves

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add oil.
2. Once heated add the finely sliced garlic and onions to the pan.
3. Cook over medium heat until soft and slightly brown.
4. Next add the canned crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper and stir. Allow the sauce to come to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and add the julienned basil.