Miscellaneous recipes

I've been cooking quite a bit lately and I have some recipes that I don't want to lose track of.

The first one is something that Doug and the kids loved.  I'm not a big ham eater so I didn't really care much one way or the other.  I will say that anything that I can put in the crock pot and have done when I get home is a winner with me.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com

Slow Cooker Ham

2 c packed brown sugar
1 cured (8 pound) bone-in picnic ham

Spread about 1 1/2 c brown sugar on the bottom of the slow cooker crock.  Place the ham, flat side down, into the slow cooker.  (You may have to trim it a little to make it fit).

Use your hands to rub the remaining brown sugar onto the ham.

Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours.


Cream Tarragon Chicken

2 T butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken (about 1 1/3 pounds in all)
3/4 t salt
1/4 t fresh ground pepper
2 T chopped onion
1 c mushrooms, sliced
1 T flour
1 c dry white wine
1/2 t dried tarragon or 1 1/2 t fresh tarragon
1/2  c heavy cream

In medium frying pan, heat the butter over moderate heat.  Season chicken  with 1/4 t of the sat and the pepper.  Add it to the pan and cook the chicken until brown  about five minutes.  Turn over and cook just unitl done, about five minutes longer.  Remove chicken from pan and keep warm.

Reduce the heat to moderatly low.  Stir in the onion and cook until starting to soften, about 2 minutes.

Add mushrooms and cook until done.

Sprinkle flour over the onion and stir to combine.

Increase heat to moderate. Whisk in wine and the tarragon and cook until sauce starts to thicken.

Stir in the ream, the remaining 1/2 t salt and any accumulated chicken juices.

Serve the sauce over the chicken.

French Onion Soup

One of the Christmas presents that I received from my wonderful husband and sons is a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  The first recipe I tackled was something I'd been wanting to make anyway -- French Onion Soup.

Today is January 2.  The boys got home from visiting their dad yesterday.  Doug and I have been sick the whole time they've been gone.  And Doug got considerably worse yesterday.  And it's about 15 degrees here.  So today seemed like a good day for soup.

The instructions for this recipe are from Julia Child.   I've put the exact ingredients that I looked.

5 medium onions, sliced (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 stick butter
2 T oil  (I used peanut oil because it was sitting next to the stove)
1 t salt
1/4 t sugar (helps onions to brown)\
3T flour
4 cans beef broth
4 cubes beef bouillon dissolved in 1 cup water
1/2 c dry white wine ( I used Chenin Blanc)

Cook onions slowly with butter and oil in covered saucepan for 15 minutes.

Uncover, raise heat to moderate, and stir in salt and sugar.  Cook for 30 to 40 minutes stirring frequently until the onions have turned and even, deep, golden borwn.

Sprinkle with flour and stir for 3 minutes.

While onions are cooking, heat broth/bouillon to boiling.

off heat, add onions to boiling liquid.  add the wine and season to taste.  Simmer partially covered for 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve in soup crocks, covered with a piece of crusty bread and cheese.

(I used the combination of cheeses that we used for fondue -- Gruyere, Jarlsberg, Emmental and smoked gouda.)