Week 9: Root Beer BBQ Ribs

1 can of root beer

2-4 lbs baby back ribs

1 bottle bbq sauce

Cut ribs into sections of about 4-5 ribs and place in Crock Pot.  Add can of root beer.  Cook on LOW about 7-8 hours.  Drain root beer.  Brush ribs with bbq sauce of your choice and return to cooker for about 30 more minutes, until sauce is heated through.

Are these frigid winter nights making you long for the summer evenings when you sit on your patio with a beer in one hand and your bbq tongs in the other?  Well, I can't change the weather for you, but maybe I can satisfy your craving for summertime treats!  Thank you to the Zoller family for suggesting this one and providing the recipe.  I have made recipes before that require a can of cola, even beer, but have never thought of root beer.  Delicious!  Make sure you don't substitute diet root beer in this recipe-you need the sugar!  I let my ribs cook for about 9 hours and I think it was a little too long.  These are literally fall off the bone ribs, so if you don't like this idea...wait for summer when you can uncover the grill!  Any bbq sauce will do at the end of this.  I used Famous Dave's Rich and Sassy.  Yummy!  I read several similar recipes to this one and noticed that quite a few suggested basting and throwing the ribs on the grill for 15 minutes at the end.  This might add a little bit of smoky flavor, but as I said before, these are fall off the bone, so I'm not sure how good this tip would work.  Some pasta salad, green beans, and crescent rolls topped this meal off nicely. 



Week 8: Lovebirds

2 cornish hens, thawed and rinsed

1 lemon

4-5 sprigs fresh rosemary

white cooking wine
salt/pepper

Pour enough cooking wine into the pot to just cover the bottom.  Slice the lemon in half and quarter one half.  Place a sprig of rosemary and a quarter of lemon in the cavity of each hen.  Cut the other half of the lemon into slices.  Place a lemon slice and rosemary sprig on top of each hen and around the hens in the pot.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook on HIGH about 4-5 hours, LOW for 7-8 hours.

In the spirit of Valentine's Day I thought I could get creative!  These make a very pretty presentation and are so easy to make.  Add some wild rice and broccoli and you have a delicious, healthy, beautiful meal.  How do I eat these things?  There is a couple of different ways to serve this.  You could just place the entire bird on your plate and have at it!  I can't always eat the whole thing, so I prefer to cut it in half.  Just take your kitchen sheers or some sharp scissors and cut from front to back along the breast bone.  This leaves half a breast, a leg, and a wing on each side to eat.  It's kinda crunchy when you cut it, but it is not hard and I think it makes it much easier to eat.  Have some chicks at home?  Depending on the size of your pot, I think you could probably squeeze one offspring into here!  Or, just use a whole chicken, placing more lemon (probably 1/2-3/4 lemon) and rosemary into the cavity. 

Crock Pots on Parade

A big congratulations and a huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Crock Pot-Luck last night!!  A raging success!  What a funny sight to see the entire night shift march in with their own slow cooker full of something tasty!  And then scramble to find a power cord and enough outlets to house these monsters!  7 pots simmerin', steamin', bubblin', and just smellin' awesome!  Our pots served the department, respiratory,security, radiology, pharmacy and lab.  And the best part was that everyone got a good, hot meal whatever time of night they wanted!  Full bellies and smiles all around.  Every pot was scrumptious and will be featured at one point or another on this blog.  Thank you all so much for the display of support I am receiving about my new project!  Keep the recipes rollin' in!  My pot truly boil-eth over.

Week 7: Fruit Cobbler

   

Filling:                         

30 ou frozen fruit

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup baking mix

Topping:                    

2 1/4 cup baking mix

1/2 cup sugar

4 Tbs melted butter

1/2 cup milk

2 tea cinnamon

Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.  Mix ingredients for filling and place in pot.  Mix together baking mix, 1/4 cup sugar, butter and milk.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls on top of filling.  Sprinkle with remaining sugar and cinnamon.  Cook on HIGH about 3-3 1/2 hrs, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.  Serve warm topped with vanilla ice cream. (I recommend Graeter's!)

Thanks to Rebekah for recommending this recipe from Paula Deen's website.  The recipe calls for berries, but I used peaches- if I'm having cobbler, I want peach!!  Make sure you spray the pot- I accidentally left this step out and was scrubbing for awhile.  By "baking mix", they mean something like Bisquick. You can start to tell when the cobbler is done baking because the fruit will bubble up from underneath.  Now those of you who know Graeter's Ice Cream, you know why I chose this.  If you don't know Graeter's, first, I'm sorry.  And second, GO GET SOME!!!  If you are in Colorado, King Soopers is now carrying quite a few of the flavors, but if you are lucky enough to be in Cincinnati, I recommend driving immediately to the nearest Graeter's and getting some fresh (plus, a scoop to enjoy on the ride home, plus some of those pretty little cookies with the dollop of frosting on top).

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/slow_berry_cobbler/