Wish Upon A Chef

My Crock Pot and I have a love/hate relationship.  I love the convenience of using it and I love most of the foods that come out of it (we can count the so-called "lasagna" as a colossal failure.)  But I hate the fact that I can never seem to find more recipes that float my Crock Pot boat, and believe me, I spend alot of time surfing Pinterest for recipes when I should be doing my real job in my spare time.

Whereas Boy Toy uses his Crock Pot incessantly, I use mine mostly only for roasts (this one being my favorite), an occasional soup (although none of them have turned out to be blog post worthy) and for making these caramelized onions from the lovely Becky Turner of Random Musings of a Deco Lady (we miss you Becky!)  Maybe I should take a Crock Pot lesson from the Boy Toy because he cranks out some tasty dishes from that thing. 

This recipe is one of my favorites to prepare when I catch pork roasts on sale.  I served it with BBQ sauce instead of the gravy as a sandwich for the kids and actually got two compliments from the Little Miss and the Teenage Boy ate FOUR sandwiches, which I deem to be an unspoken compliment.  I enjoy it alongside typical BBQ trimmings - a helping of homemade mac & cheese and coleslaw. 

It is fall-apart tender and any leftovers can be frozen and enjoyed later.  What's not to love?


Crock Pot Pork Roast with Gravy

printable recipe

4 to 5 lb. pork loin roast
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Rub roast with salt and pepper. make tiny slits in meat and insert slivers of garlic. In Crock Pot put 1 sliced onion on bottom. Add roast then remaining onion and other ingredients. Cover and cook 1 hour on high. Turn to low and cook 9 to 10 hours or until done.

GRAVY: Remove roast, onions, clove and bay leaf. In separate cup or bowl, blend 2 tablespoons cold water with 2 tablespoons cornstarch to form smooth paste. Set Crock Pot on high and pour in paste. Stir well and let come to a boil (10 to 15 minutes) until thickened.

Sweet potatoes are something that I've had to learn to like through the years.  Held in a higher regard and deemed healthier than white potatoes,* I used to only enjoy sweet potatoes when baked and slathered with mounds of butter and honey (and no Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is complete without a sweet potato casserole piled high with melted gooey marshmallows, am I right?)  But surely all of the added fat, sweetness and calories cancels out anything remotely healthy about the tubular root. 

Up until a few weeks ago, I would've described my feelings for sweet potatoes as "Take 'em or leave 'em.  I just eat them because they say I should."  But then I started ordering organic produce from Backyard Produce and having it delivered right to my door.  I included something called garnet sweet potatoes in one of my orders and fully expected a bunch of impressive looking gourmet ruby-colored potatoes to show up on my doorstep.  Instead, they were your Average Joe regular looking sweet potatoes.  But as I sat down to enjoy my dinner that evening, I realized they were far from just an average sweet potato that had done nothing much to win my affections before. 

A garnet sweet potato, I learned after a bit of research, gets its name not because of its flesh color but instead its skin has a more reddish hue than other varieties of potatoes.  And let's just say that I was blown away by the amount of flavor packed into these spuds.  Organic foods have more flavor than non-organic or genetically modified items because they aren't pumped full of the equivalent of steroids to make their production larger and bulkier. When you interfere with the natural process, you essentially grow any flavor right out.  These potatoes had the perfect amount of  sweetness and flavor and I chose to roast them with fresh rosemary and a drizzle of olive oil which concentrated the flavors even more. 

Thank you Backyard Produce for delivering right to my door and for introducing me to how sweet sweet potato love can be!  To find out more about Backyard Produce's delivery service and see if you are in one of their many delivery zones, check out their website and get signed up today. 


Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Fresh Rosemary

Printable Recipe

Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into medium-sized chunks
Olive oil for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Fresh rosemary, leaves removed from stem and chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Drizzle potatoes with olive oil (about 2 or 3 tablespoons, depending on how many potatoes you use.  You just want a light coating of oil) and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary.  Toss potatoes to coat and spread them on a baking sheet in a single layer. 

Roast for about 15-20 minutes, stirring once, or until potatoes start turning golden brown.  Season with more salt and pepper, if desired. 


*When the health benefits of a sweet potato versus a white potato are studied a bit closer, it seems that both have benefits in their own right and one isn't necessarily more healthy than the other.  There is not alot of difference between the spuds nutritionally - calorie, fat and protein counts are relatively similar.  Sweet potatoes contain anti-oxidants, beta-carotene and Vitamin C whereas white potatoes contain folate and have more dietary fiber.  The glycemic index of both depend on how it's prepared for consumption.  I may not be a doctor and I've certainly never played on on TV, but I'm prescribing my theory of "all things in moderation" when it comes to incorporating either sweet or white potatoes into my diet. 

My weekly produce deliveries from Backyard Produce have allowed me to be a bit more daring than I normally would be on my regular visits.  I'm usually on a mission when I shop - to get in and get out quickly.  I have my list and try not to deviate (too much) from said list. 

A few weeks ago, I made the daring decision to include kumquats in my delivery from Backyard Produce - something I've always been curious about but have never purchased (and most likely wouldn't ever have.)  Kumquats resemble an orange in color and have a similar thick peel but are only about the size of the end of your thumb.  They are native to south Asia and the Asia-Pacific region but have been cultivated in North America for nearly 150 years now (and I'm just now brave enough to try them?!?)  The growing season ranges from January through June for those grown in California and November through mid-March for fruits harvested in Florida. 

I wasn't sure what to expect or do with the kumquats.  Do I peel them?  Are they sweet?  How exactly should I use them?  The answers to the first two questions are no and HECK NO! The skins aren't quite as thick as an orange peel and provide the only bit of sweetness amongst an otherwise extremely tart fruit.  For such a tiny thing, it packs a punch of zing - it took me a few minutes to come back to my senses after popping one into my mouth for taste-testing. 

Preliminary recipe research showed that most people enjoy them sliced and raw on a salad but they were a bit too sour for me to enjoy that way.  Others baked with them but quite frankly, I was too lazy to deseed them, so I opted to turn them into candied kumquats to enjoy spooned over the Hillsborough Farm goat cheese (also from Backyard Produce) and crackers.  I think it would make a fantastic topping for vanilla ice cream as well. 

Dare yourself to try something new by picking up a container of these little jewels on your next shopping trip and if you're interested in receiving fresh organic and natural produce delivered right to your door, check out Backyard Produce's website for how you can get started. 




Candied Kumquats

Printable Recipe

4 cups roughly chopped kumquats (about 1-1-1/2 lbs)
1 cup water
2 cups sugar

With a pairing knife, roughly chop the kumquats.  Discard any seeds that are easy to get too, but they're edible so don't worry if you don't get them all. 

Heat the water and sugar over high heat until boiling.  Reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes.  Add the kumquats and simmer for 10 minutes.

Drain the kumquats through a sieve over a bowl.  Return the syrup to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the syrup.  Combine the kumquats and 1/4 cup syrup together.

Serve or jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. 

I cannot stress how much I LOVE summer produce.  Meats become pretty much non-existent in my summertime meals because I prefer to feast mainly on the bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables available from farmers markets and from my Backyard Produce delivery service. 

Eggplant Caprese may be considered just a snack or appetizer for some folks but combined with some freshly baked hearty bread, it makes an entire meal for me.  Choose the best quality ingredients you can find because the sum of this dish is only as good as its individual components.  Pull out your best EVOO, choose the ripest heirloom tomato and the freshest Mozzarella and savor the flavors of summer!

I'm sharing my quick trick for turning a not-so-expensive balsamic vinegar into an expensive tasting one and it only takes about 5 minutes of your time.  It takes this fresh combination of flavors totally over the top!



Eggplant Caprese

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 
1 small-medium eggplant
1 large ripe tomato
1 ball of fresh Mozzarella
1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh basil
Balsamic vinegar*

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees (or use the "broil" setting).

Wash the eggplant and cut it into 1/2" inch thick slices.  Slice the tomato and Mozzarella in slices as well.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Season eggplant slices with salt and pepper and place the eggplant slices into the pan.  Drizzle with a little more oil, if needed.  Fry eggplant, turning once, for about 2 minutes or until golden brown, but not too soft.  Remove eggplant from the pan and place in an ovenproof dish. Top each slice with a slice of tomato and a slice of Mozzarella. Season with more salt & pepper. Place dish in the oven for about 2 minutes or until Mozzarella starts melting. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with some chopped basil and a little balsamic vinegar.

*If you're using an inexpensive balsamic vinegar and would like to turn it into a delicious and expensive tasting vinegar, just pour about 4 times as much vinegar as you're going to need into a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and allow vinegar to simmer for about 2-4 minutes.  Allow it to reduce until it's slightly thinner than what you want because it will continue to reduce after you take it off the heat.   Drizzle over meat, fish, fruits or vegetables. 

This recipe from A Little Bit Crunchy A Little Bit Rock and Roll isn't an artisan style bread and it's 100% whole wheat (something I've never really cared for with store-bought breads before), but I can promise that it is good bread.  Really good bread. 

I've always struggled with making homemade bread, failing more often than not, but this bread was simple to make and I nailed the results on the first try.  The best part about the recipe - it makes two loaves!  One for now and one for later.  I froze my second loaf in a large Ziploc bag for a couple of weeks and it was just as fresh as the loaf I ate straight out of the oven. The bread was soft unlike many other whole wheat bread recipes I've tried (my last attempt could have been used as a wheel chock for a dump truck) and there was a deliciously slight taste of honey.  This will definitely now be my go-to recipe for bread. 

A Little Bit Crunchy A Little Bit Rock and Roll is a great blog to read - full of healthy real food recipes and a few indulgent ones too.  Head on over and check her out!


Soft 100% Whole Wheat Bread
from A Little Bit Crunch A Little Bit Rock and Roll

Printable Recipe