Blueberries and Cream Slow Cooker Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Here's another slow-cooker steel-cut oatmeal recipe.  I kind of put this together after making so many other oatmeals; you can pretty much make any flavor, as long as you keep the liquid to oats ratio the same.  Borrowing an idea from this Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, I used part apple juice for some of the liquid.  This provided sweetness without having to add much sugar.  Although, for good meausure, I did throw in a few tablespoons of maple sugar, because I had it around and enjoy using it.  You can leave it out or sub brown sugar.  If you can't get dried blueberries, try dried cranberries instead.

Blueberries and Cream Slow Cooker Steel-Cut Oatmeal
by What a Dish!, from inspiration all over the web

1 cup steel cut oats
2 cups apple juice
1 can (1.5 cups) whole evaporated milk
1/2 cup almond/coconut milk (or cow's milk)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
3 TB Maple sugar
1/2 cup (heaping) dried blueberries (or cranberries)

1. Combine all ingredients in small or medium slow cooker; cook on Low for 4-5 hours.

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Nutella Brownies

These Nutella Brownies from Buns in My Oven caught my eye a while ago, so I decided to make them one night when we were having guests over for dinner.  We had Raspberry White Chocolate Ice Cream with these.  They are a variation of the popular "Bombshell Brownies" I first saw on Allrecipes.  They are thick, chewy, moist & dense.  Very delicious, and great for serving a group.

Nutella Brownies
adapted from Buns in My Oven

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup Nutella
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking dish.  In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely. Stir in sugar and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not allow sugar mixture to boil.  Remove from the heat and stir in the Nutella until well combined.

2.  Pour butter mixture into a large bowl or stand mixer, beat in cocoa powder, eggs, salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.  Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until just combined.

3.  Spread into prepared pan (batter will be very thick and sticky) and bake for about 30-35 minutes, until a tester comes out mostly clean. The edges should be set and the center should still look slightly moist, but not uncooked. Cool on a wire rack.

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Swedish Meatballs

These were very good.  The recipe is supposed to be a Weight Watchers recipe, using Neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese, but for some reason, Neufchatel seems to be unavailable here anymore, so I had to use full-fat cream cheese.  By all means, use Neufchatel if you can get it!  I'm sure they will taste just as good.  This recipe has Allspice in it, which made my kids not want to eat the meatballs, but they loved the gravy.  They're weird about spices like that in savory dishes, although most of them love it when I make Indian food- go figure. 

The recipe calls for straining the broth before making the gravy, and at first I was not going to, but there is a lot of little bits of meat "residue" after simmering, so it's best to.  Also, using an immersion blender doesn't work too well here; better to use the regular blender.  Vent the lid and cover it with a cloth though, because hot liquids in a blender have a tendency to explode the lid off.  Just be careful. 

The first time I made this, we had it with dried German Spaetzle noodles, pictured above.  The next time, we had it with these mashed potatoes.... soooo good!  (For the taters- I used 2 oz of cream cheese for this meatball recipe and just threw the rest into the potatoes.)  They are so much better with the mashed potatoes.  When making the gravy, I had to thicken it with a small amount of flour/water slurry and then cook until thickened- no big deal. 

The second time I made these, there was no ground beef at my store, AT ALL.  Not even frozen.  Not even ground turkey.  So I did something I've never done before- picked up a small bag of pre-made, frozen meatballs and used that.  Not nearly as good as homemade; they tasted ok but had a too-soft, spongy texture, and were very salty.  But still, with the homemade gravy and mashed taters, the meal was very enjoyable. 

Swedish Meatballs
adapted from Skinnytaste

1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced (or a few shallots)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 celery stalk, minced (optional; I didn't have)
1/4 cup minced parsley (or 1-2 TBS. dried)
1 lb 93% lean beef
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp allspice
2 cups reduced sodium beef stock
2 oz light cream cheese

1.  In a large deep saute pan, heat oil on medium heat, add onions and garlic; sauté until onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add celery and parsley and cook until soft, about 3-4 more minutes. Let cool a few minutes.

2.  In a large bowl combine beef, egg, onion mixture, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and allspice. Mix well and form meatballs with your hands 1/8 cup each (fill 1/4 cup then divide the meat in half).

3.  Add beef stock to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and slowly drop meatballs into the broth. Cover and cook about 20 minutes. Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and set aside in a serving dish. Strain the stock, add to blender with cream cheese and pulse until smooth. Return to pan and simmer a few minutes to thicken, then pour over meatballs. If gravy does not thicken, make a small amount of flour/water slurry and add to mixture; cook and stir until thickened.  Garnish with parsley and serve over noodles, mashed potatoes, or with toothpicks if you want to set these out as an appetizer.

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Raspberry-White Chocolate Ice Cream

This is a perfect ice cream for Valentine's Day!  I made this about a month ago for some guests, and it was a hit with them as well as our fam.  I concocted this recipe using a few other recipes on my blog, namely this White Chocolate recipe and this Chocolate Raspberry one.  You can make it even more festive-looking by incorporating a raspberry puree swirl.  I thought of it, but already had too many other things to do.  Borrowing an idea from the David Lebovitz Choc-Raspberry recipe (link above), I added raspberries (frozen) and fully incorporated them into the mixture, then strained it to remove any seeds.

Raspberry-White Chocolate Ice Cream
by What a Dish! with inspiration from David Lebovitz

2 cups half and half
1 2/3 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup vanilla sugar, divided
1 vanilla bean
3 egg yolks
12 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries, slightly thawed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Pour the cream and half-and-half into a heavy medium-size saucepan along with about half the sugar. Split vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out with the dull edge of a knife. Add vanilla bean seeds to the milk and half-and-half, and drop in the empty pod. Bring mixture to a simmer.

2. In the meantime, place egg yolks and remaining sugar in a heavy-duty stand mixture and beat at a medium-low speed until lightened and smooth. With mixer running, remove milk mixture from the heat (after it has been brought to a simmer) and slowly beat into the the eggs. If you mix it too quickly, the eggs will scramble. Pour all of the mixture back into the pan and put over low heat.

3. Stir constantly with a wire whisk until the custard slightly thickens. Be very careful at this point- stir constantly and do not let mixture come to a boil. Add the slightly thawed raspberries and whisk. Let mixture come to 160 degrees F, stirring constantly.  If raspberries do not break up enough, you can use an immersion blender to puree them.

4. Have ready a large glass bowl with a fine-mesh strainer fitted over the top. Place the chopped white chocolate into the bottom of the bowl. Remove the raspberry-custard mixture from the heat and pour it through a mesh strainer into the bowl over the white chocolate. It will take a while to filter down. Discard the seeds leftover in the strainer. Stir in the vanilla extract. Whisk very well until all the white chocolate is melted and incorporated. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

5. Stir the chilled mixture; freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

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Cheesy Broccoli-Quinoa Bake

My husband and I really loved this one.  For some reason, quinoa in any form is a hard sell with my kids, even if it is covered in cheese.  I don't make it nearly often enough, and maybe that's why.  Although, we were making quinoa (occasionally) years ago before it was popular!  My husband worked in a natural food store in high school and became familiar with quinoa and other "health foods".  He sometimes makes a breakfast quinoa; I will have to share that recipe sometime. 

Cheesy Broccoli-Quinoa Bake
adapted from Annie's Eats

1½ cups quinoa
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 shallots, diced
2 cups milk (low-fat is fine)
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. dry mustard
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded*
2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1.  Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. Meanwhile, steam the broccoli using a steamer basket, until the broccoli is crisp-tender.  Set aside.

2.  Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, shallots, garlic powder, dry mustard and cayenne. Continue whisking the mixture until it is light golden, about 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk. Allow the sauce to simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles and thickens, 5-8 minutes. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the cheddar until melted and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, broccoli florets, shredded cooked chicken and the cheese sauce. Fold together gently until evenly combined.  (Or you can mix all ingredients right in your large casserole dish.)

3.  Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased casserole dish. Bake until the top is lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. Serve warm.

*For best results, always use freshly shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese comes coated in things such as flour, cornstarch to prevent clumping and results in an unpleasant, gritty texture when melted. 

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Cinnamon-Sugar Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread, to me, will always be the savory, buttery roll version.  I know a lot of people call the sweet version monkey bread, and I finally decided to make some a few weeks ago.  It was SO GOOD!  As you can tell though, it kind of fell apart as I was trying to "unmold" it from the bundt pan, lol.  It was ok, though.  My kids encouragingly told me "It makes it easier to eat that way!" as they dug in. 

Part of the reason this fell apart was because the sugar mixture stuck SO bad to the side of the pan.  I buttered it up beforehand, so I'm not sure why.  Maybe flouring it would help, but I'm not sure.  I used an older, not non-stick pan.  I'm making this again today and using a newer, better pan, so hopefully it works out better. 

After the roll dippage, I had a ton of leftover butter, so I whisked it into the icing, and it made it so good.  I plan on doing the same today.

*I made these again and used a newer bundt pan- a non-stick fancy NordicWare (Cathedral Style).  The only other difference was that I used melted butter instead of softened to grease the pan.  This came out PERFECTLY in the NordicWare!!  It was beautiful.  Pic below.

Cinnamon-Sugar Monkey Bread
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Dough:
3 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
1 cup milk, warm (about 110 degrees)
1/3 cup water, warm (about 110 degrees)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface (I used one cup whole wheat pastry)
2 teaspoons salt

Brown Sugar Coating:
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
*any leftover butter from dough-ball dipping

1.  Butter a Bundt pan (a non-stick pan works best) with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Use a pastry brush to really help get inside all of those nooks and crannies. Set aside.

2.  In a large liquid measuring cup, mix together the milk, water, 2 Tbs. melted butter, sugar, and yeast. Mix the flour and salt together in a standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Turn the machine to low and slowly add the milk mixture. After the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes. If you think the dough is too wet (i.e. having a hard time forming a cohesive mass), add 2 tablespoons flour at a time and mix until the dough comes together (it should still be on the sticky side, just not overly wet). I had to add about an extra 2/3 cup flour because of my humid climate.  Coat a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat lightly with the cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, 1-2 hours (alternately, you can preheat the oven to 200 degrees, turning it off once it reaches 200 degrees and place the covered bowl in the oven to speed up the rising time).

3.  For the sugar coating, while the dough is rising, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Place the melted butter in a second bowl or shallow pie plate. Set aside.

4.  To form the bread, gently remove the dough from the bowl and press it into a rough 8-inch square. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut the dough into 64 pieces.  I found it easiest to divide the huge mass into 4 pieces, and then make 16 out of each 4th.  See, you DO use math in the real world!!!  I just got a bench scraper, BTW, and LOVE it!

5.  Roll each dough piece into a ball (it doesn’t have to be perfect, just get it into a rough ball-shape). Working one at a time, dip the balls in melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into the bowl or pie plate. Roll the dipped dough ball in the brown sugar mixture, then layer the balls in the Bundt pan, staggering the seams where the dough balls meet as you build layers.  You may need a little extra sugar/cinnamon mixture.

6.  Cover the Bundt pan tightly with plastic wrap and let the monkey bread rise until puffy and they have risen 1-2 inches from the top of the pan, 1-2 hours (again, you can use the warm oven approach to speed this up).

7.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees F (remove the pan from the oven if you placed it there to rise). Unwrap the pan and bake until the top is deep brown and caramel begins to bubble around edges, 30 to 35 minutes. Cover with foil at the end if browning too quickly.  Cool the monkey bread in the pan for 5 minutes (any longer and the bread will be too sticky and hard to remove!), then turn out on a platter or large plate and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

8.  For the glaze, while the bread cools, whisk the confectioners’ sugar and milk together in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. If you have any leftover butter from the ball dippage, add it and whisk, whisk, whisk.  It really adds something.  Using a whisk, drizzle the glaze over the warm monkey bread, letting it run over the top and sides of the bread. Serve warm.

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Panera's Mac & Cheese

I had this delicious mac and cheese at a cooking friend's house this past summer, and made it for myself last week.  It's different from the majority of mac and cheeses I make in that it's a stove top recipe, requiring no baking, and it has a bit of white American cheese to help in the smooth and creamy department.  The rest of the cheesiness comes from extra sharp Vermont white cheddar.  For the pasta, I used organic mini wagon wheels I brought back from our last trip to Germany.  I couldn't find the requested pasta shape (pipette). 

The recipe calls for a full pound of pasta, but I found that was too much for the amount of sauce (for us, anyway).  It was perfect though, because my baby ate some of the leftover cooked plain pasta over the next few days and loved it.  Next time, though I'd probably only cook about 14 oz. of pasta instead of the 16 oz. 

Panera's Mac & Cheese
adapted from Smells Like Home, via Cookin' Mama

14-16 oz pipette pasta or other small pasta shapes (Go with 14 oz for more sauce)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk or half-and-half
4 oz white American cheese, chopped or torn into pieces
8 oz extra sharp white Vermont cheddar, shredded
2 tsp – 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (to taste)
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp hot sauce

1.  In a large stockpot, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

2.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 4-quart sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and has started to bubble, whisk in the flour; cook for 1 1/2 minutes whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in the milk until no lumps remain. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook milk mixture, whisking frequently, until it thickens and bubbles, about 8 minutes.

3.  Remove sauce pan from the heat and by the handful, stir in the cheeses, allowing all of the cheese to melt into the sauce before adding more. Stir in the mustard, salt, and hot sauce. Return the sauce pan to the heat and stir in the pasta. Be sure to stir up the sauce from the bottom of the sauce pan and thoroughly coat all of the pasta with sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat until heated through. Serve hot in bowls with spoons.

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