from Vanessa: Crockpot Apple and Brown Sugar Corned Beef 1 corned beef brisket 1 quart apple juice 1 cup brown sugar 1 tbsp. prepared mustard 8 small red potatoes 2 medium carrots, pared and cut into chunks 1 onion, peeled and cut into eighths 1/2 head cabbage, cut into chunks Place all ingredients in a large Crock Pot (cut meat in half if necessary): stir to mix. Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours. Remove meat and vegetables and some of the cooking liquid. Slice meat thinly across the grain. Serve with vegetables and some of the liquid. Makes 6 servings -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Karen Kidd: I usually simmer corned beef on the stovetop, but I don't know why it would not do just as well in the crock pot. Here is my recipe (originally from Sunset magazine) Corned Beef Dinner Rinse a corned beef brisket and place in pot. Add: 1 can of beer (minus a sip for the cook? ;-} ) 1 cinnamon stick, halved 6 whole cloves 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper 1 bay leaf Simmer 2 hr. (I would think that 4-5 hr. on High or 6-7 hr. on Low setting of crock pot.) After meat is done, remove it, wrap in foil and a towel to keep it warm while you steam the following veggies with the savory juices: 4-6 small red potatoes 2-3 quartered, peeled carrots 1 c. frozen or fresh cut green beans 4 cabbage wedges Slice the meat and arrange with the veggies on a warm platter. Serve with asst. mustards, warm bread and a hearty brew. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Lila Alexander: Make your own corned beef brisket wanted to share this recipe I got off the net for making your own corned beef. It is so amazingly easy, and quick, that I only make my own anymore. Also, it's not slimy like the ones you can purchase from a grocery store. Generally I wait for a meat sale and then stock up on any kind of low fat, not too thick, roast or boneless steak type beef. Once I did use a larger roast and let it marinate for a longer period of time, and that was fine except that, in the very center, about a quarter size piece was not corned. I bought a 21-cup rubber maid container that I can put it in --- the juice does stain the plastic so you might not want to use something that you really want to keep nice and clean looking. Corned Beef Dissolve: 4 cups water 1 cup Morton Tender Quick (or Morton Sugar Cure - Plain) Tender Quick is usually in the spice isle at the grocery store, on the bottom shelf. Add: 2 tablespoons pickling spices 5 cloves crushed garlic (I just slice them) Place brisket in brine, adding 1 or 2 more cups of water if brisket is not covered. Weight brisket down with saucers to keep submerged. (I use a gallon baggie filled with water - put it empty on top of the meat, then fill with water until the meat is held under the surface, and zip closed.) Cover container with tight fitting lid and refrigerate for 24 hours. Flip brisket and continue brining for 24 - 48 more hours. When you've finished brining your beef, place it in your crockpot, cover totally with beer (I use apple juice) and cook on low for 6 hours. This makes the best sandwiches. Enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Lila Alexander: Crockpot Italian Beef 2 pounds stew meat 1 package Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix 1 package Au Jus gravy mix 1 cup water Mix together the water, Au Jus mix, and the Good Seasonings mix. Pour over meat in the crockpot. Cook on low 6 - 8 hours. >From Kathy Sharman: I used a roast beef and turned it over half way through the cooking to get the liquid on the whole roast. It worked fine and the meat was really tender. Then I took the broth in the crockpot and made gravy out of it. Yummy!!!!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Vanessa: Crockpot Italian Pork 6 pork chops (bone in or boneless) or 1 3-4 pound pork roast 1 bottle Italian salad dressing (I use the med size bottles) Put the meat in the crockpot and pour the whole bottle of dressing over it. Cook on low 6-8 hours. DD#2 has also used the above recipe with a beef roast and loved how it came out. I've tried it with chicken and it was good also. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Robin Martin: Crock Pot BBQ Ribs I used regular beef ribs, and a bottle of BBQ sauce. Cut the ribs into sections so it would fit into crockpot and layered them. BBQ Sauce, Ribs, bbq sauce, ribs til it was full. You just slather the bbq sauce onto the meat and then let it cook for a couple hours. Melt in your mouth tender! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Vanessa: Cranberry Crockpot Chicken 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts 1 "regular sized" can of cranberry sauce, either jellied or whole berry 1 cup fat free Catalina, Russian, or Thousand Island salad dressing (I always use the Catalina) 1 envelope Lipton's Onion Soup mix, dry Mix the cranberry sauce, dressing, and onion soup mix in the pot Put chicken in pot, turning each piece to coat with sauce Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Lynne Pato: Goat Cheesy Chicken Rolls 4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin 1/2 cup goat or feta cheese, crumbled 1/2 cup fresh basil, minced 2 T sun-dried tomatoes, softened in olive oil & minced 1/3 small onion, minced 1/2 teasp. oregano 1/2 teasp. season salt 1/3 cup dry white wine Preheat oven to 350, oil glass baking dish, combine all ingredients except chicken & wine. Spread mixture on chicken breasts and roll them, fasten with toothpicks. Arrange in baking dish so they do not touch each other; then pour wine over them. Bake 45 min. Not bad !! Of course, dh thinks he should eat three! NOT ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Cheryl Chow: Cheesy Tomato Basil Chicken Breasts Sauce: 3 Tbsp. butter or margarine 2 c. cubed 1" ripe tomatoes (about 2 medium) 1/3c chopped onion 6 oz can tomato paste 1 Tbsp. basil leaves 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 2 sp minced fresh garlic 3 whole boneless chicken breasts, skinned, cut in half Topping: 1 c fresh bread crumbs 1/4 c chopped fresh parsley 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine melted 6 oz Mozzarella cheese, cut into strips Heat oven to 350F. In 13x9" baking pan melt 3 Tbsp. butter in oven (4 to 6 min.). Meanwhile, in medium bowl stir together remaining sauce ingredients except chicken; set aside. Place chicken in baking pan, turning to coat with butter. Spoon sauce mixture over chicken. Bake for 30 to 40 min. or until chicken is no longer pink. Meanwhile in small bowl stir together all topping ingredients except cheese. Place cheese strips over chicken; sprinkle with topping mixture. Continue baking 5 to 10 minutes longer or until chicken is fork tender and bread crumbs are browned. Serves 6. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Sharon T: Chicken Recipe Okay you guys. I know this is a quilting site, and we have wandered a bit with discussions of holiday preparations and the current potato debate! But I have to tell you, that I just had the BEST new chicken recipe. My new cooking guru is Rachel Ray. She does the 30 minute meals. I have purchased her last two books and they are wonderful. Anyways, the chicken Boneless skinless chicken breasts - marinate for a few minutes in some balsamic vinegar (About 1 tablespoon per breast half), then dip into some olive oil and then put on a plate. Sprinkle the breasts with some fresh rosemary leaves (about 2 tablespoons total) and some salt and pepper. In a saute pan, pour a bit of olive oil, when hot add a couple cloves of chopped garlic. When it is sizzling, add the chicken breasts. Turn them frequently so they cook evenly. Takes about 12-15 minutes total cooking time. They get a wonderful brown color because of the balsamic vinegar. This was so flavorful and tender! And no negligible carbs, and very little fat for those doing the WW thing! Try it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Kathy M: Brine Soaked Turkey The recipe I use is from Alton Brown's TV show - it's on the food network web site but their recipes are set up so that there isn't a visible link to copy and paste. Soooooo, I'll just copy and paste the recipe! It might seem like a lot of work but it really isn't. I bought a new 5 gallon plastic bucket from Home Depot and washed it really well before using it the first time. It is my dedicated bucket - no one gets to use it for anything that isn't food related! The 1/2 hour at 500 degrees can smoke up the house so be sure to have your vent fan turned on! Kathy Mc Woodinville Good Eats Roast Turkey 14-16 lb Turkey (I use up to 18 lbs and it works fine) For the brine: 1 cup kosher salt 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1 gallon vegetable stock 1 tablespoon black peppercorns 1/2 tablespoon allspice berries 1/2 tablespoon candied ginger 1 gallon iced water For the aromatics: 1 red apple, sliced 1/2 onion, sliced 1 cinnamon stick 1 cup water 4 sprigs rosemary 6 leaves sage Canola oil Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining. A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine. Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil. Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Marie Windham: the recipe for the blackberry BBQ glaze 4 lbs pork ribs or chicken breasts 3/4 cup blackberries, rinsed blackberry sauce(recipe follows) 1.rinse meat and pat dry. Trim and discard excess fat. 2.prep BBQ for indirect heat (charcoal or gas flames balanced on the sides of the meat) When grill is med-hot, lay meat on it and turn as needed till well browned, 40-50 minutes 3.baste one side of meat with half the sauce. Turn the meat sauce side down, and cook until sauce browns and forms a thick, sticky glaze, about 10 minutes. Baste top of ribs with remaining glaze, turn and cook about 10 min longer. 4.Transfer meat to platter and garnish with blackberries and mint sprigs. Serve Blackberry Sauce: In food processor or blender, combine 1 1/4 cup rinsed blackberries; 1/4 cup each ketchup, honey, firmly packed brown sugar, and minced fresh ginger; 1 teaspoon pepper; and 1/2 teaspoon salt(optional). Whirl until berries are pureed. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons hot sauce to taste. Pour in microwave safe container, cover loosely, leaving vents for steam. Cook in microwave at full power, stirring occasionally, till mixture is reduced to 1 1/3 cups, about 8 minutes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------