Photo by Denice Rovira Hazlett

Ask my husband who makes the best pot roast on the face of the planet, whose is the most flavorful and tender, with just the right balance of perfectly-seasoned carrots and potatoes and will always and faithfully answer the same way.

Nancy Billings.

When we were first married, I was still learning the basics--starting potatoes in cold water, starting stir-fry vegetables in a hot pan, and having the tip figured out when the pizza guy rang the bell. If ever I missed an ingredient or step in my red-and-white covered Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, we were always welcome at Nancy's house. And if it happened to be a special occasion, like Easter Sunday (and Nancy always made it clear that she'd love to have our company on Easter Sunday), there was sure to be a falling-apart roast and mounds of steaming mashed potatoes. 

For years, I've tried duplicating that roast, but it's always too dry, or too gristly, or not quite flavorful enough. But today, I finally found a recipe that looked promising, and with a few variations, it's as close as I've ever come to making a roast like Nancy's.

Part of the secret for this is the right cut of meat. The best cuts for cooking in crock pots are cuts that are normally tough when cooked any other way. Inexpensive cuts like chuck roasts (which I used today), pork shoulder or beef brisket work the best. The low-temperature, long cooking time perfectly breaks down the meat's connective tissue, and you end up with a very tender pot roast. 

After the post-lunch nap, as I sat down to write this post, I asked my family who makes the best roast ever. I wasn't surpised when husband agreed that today's was pretty darn close but maintained that Nancy's were still the best.

But each of my darling children, all too young to clearly remember any roasts but mine, lavished generous praise upon today's mouthwatering Easter feast. 

Mission accomplished. 

Fall-Apart Roast and Veggies, Crock Pot Version

Ingredients

Directions

Photo by Vegan Feast via Flickr.I'm terrible about eating breakfast. Awful. When I wake in the morning, I hit the ground running. I'm lucky if I remember to brew a cup of cinnamon tea, and then I'm lucky if I remember to take the strainer out, and then I'm lucky if I remember to drink it. Good thing cinnamon tea is delicious cold.

But to stop and eat breakfast? Nearly unheard of. My body, however, is beginning to protest. "No breakfast?" it grumbles. "Then no brains." And because I need my body to survive, because I need my brains to write, I have begun to take notice.
I love steel cut oats with a bit of butter, a puddle of syrup, a few islands of fresh berries. What I don't love? Keeping it company as it cooks. I wondered if steel cut oats could be tossed into my rice cooker and forgotten, kind of like cinnamon tea. So I did a little searching on the interwebs, and I found this recipe on Tastespotting. I made a batch this morning (I even remembered to eat it) and it's as simple as it sounds. My husband and I each downed a big earthenware bowl of the stuff, and now I'm hooked. It literally requires two minutes of your time, if you don't count scarfing it down.
 

Ingredients

1 part steel cut oats
3 parts water
pinch of salt for each cup of oats

Directions

Put oats, water and salt in rice cooker. Cook up to half the maximum capacity of the rice cooker, since oats seem to bubble up a lot more than rice.

Press “on.”

Top it with brown sugar and butter, or jam and syrup. Toss in some fruit, a few toasted pecans, maybe a dash of cinnamon, and you've got yourself a delicious breakfast. 

How can you have a New Year's Eve gathering without tender pork, fluffy potatoes and tangy sauerkraut? You can't, that's how.

This year, our family is celebrating New Year's Eve with a houseful of loved ones who also happen to dig good food, and that house will soon be filled with the mouthwatering aromas of the trifecta of Auld Lang Syne deliciousness.

This pork roast has been my standby for the past few years, with the big stars of the show being the thickened caraway sauerkraut and the savory onion gravy. Cook the pork sl-o-o-o-o-w-ly for maximum tenderness and flavor!

(8^8)-*-.oOo.-*-(8^8)-*-.oOo.-*-(8^8)

Hungarian Pork Roast with Onion Gravy and Caraway Sauerkraut

1 large pork roast (6-7 pounds)
7 large onions, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons sugar to caramelize the onions
salt and pepper

Seer all sides of the roast in a hot roasting pan over high heat. Do not add any fat.
Put all the chopped onions and 2 tablespoons sugar into a roasting pan (I use my electric roaster when doubling this for a great big batch) and cover.
Cook at 325 degrees for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Check periodically to turn it over and push the onions around. The onions should caramelize, or take on a rich, brown color.

When roast is finished cooking, remove it from the roasting pan.
Mix 2 tablespoons of flour into 2 cups of water.
Stir the water/flour mixture into the onions, scraping the sides of the pan to get all of the onions/juices into the gravy. Season with salt and pepper.

Caraway Sauerkraut
2 pounds of Sauerkraut, preferably the bagged kind, rinsed and drained
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoons of lard or butter, partially melted
2 tablespoons of flour

Put the sauerkraut in a pot. Add the caraway seeds, sugar and water.
Slowly cook until the kraut is soft, about a 1/2 hour.
In a small bowl, mix the lard or butter and the flour. Stir into the kraut. Stir until thickened.
Simmer for five minutes.

Serve this with mashed potatoes (be sure to make your mashed potatoes with plenty of butter, cream cheese, heavy cream and salt/pepper).

Original recipe found at June Meyer's Authentic Hungarian Recipes. It's packed with fabulous foods! This particular dish includes a recipe for Farina dumplings which I have not yet tried, but look fabulous and can be frozen for use in other recipes. Her recipe for mashed potatoes looks great, with the addition of egg and sour cream.

I hate to admit it, but it took 40 years for me to experience Indian cuisine, and it was The Best Indian cuisine in North America. I was very, very hungry, and the buffet at Indian Spice in Pittsburgh, PA, was ample and delicious, especially the Chicken Tikka Masala. 

Since then, I've had Chicken Tikka Masala at lots of other places, but none like Indian Spice. I've tried making it at home, with all of the prep steps, whirring the hot sauce in the trusty old Cuisinart, but it hasn't been quite what that very first taste delivered. 

This, however, is pretty darn close. Plus, it's easier than other recipes I've attempted. It comes from The Tasty Kitchen, and it's perfectly lovely. 

Serve it with Curried Lentils and Basmati rice. 

FOR THE CHICKEN:
9 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
1 Tablespoon Ground Coriander
1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 cup Yogurt
4 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Jalapeno Pepper, Stem Removed, Pepper Pierced Several Times With A Sharp Knife
FOR THE SAUCE:
4 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Large Onion,
Peeled And Diced 6 cloves Garlic,
Peeled And Minced
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
3 Tablespoons Garam Masala
1 piece Fresh Ginger, About 2-3 Inches, Peeled And Grated
4 cups Crushed Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon Raw Sugar (can Substitute White Granulated If Necessary)
2 teaspoons Cornstarch Or Cleargel 1-½ cup Heavy Cream
TO SERVE:
Hot Buttered Rice And Peas Chopped Fresh Cilantro

I've been told that this makes a delicious omelette or enchilada filling, too. I haven't done it, but I'm sure it's true. Let me know if you try it. 

20 oz cooked chicken breast, cut into bite-sized cubes *
2 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes
1 c ranch dressing
3/4 c. hot cayenne pepper sauce (I've been using Frank's)
1 1/2 c. cheddar, shredded

1. Heat the chicken and hot sauce in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing
3. Mix in 3/4 c. of the cheddar cheese
4. Pour into crock pot (or, if baking, a baking dish)
5. Top with remaining cheddar cheese
6. Cook on low for one hour (or bake 20 min. at 350°F or until mixture is heated through and bubbly)
7. Serve with tortilla chips and celery sticks

*For the chicken breast, you can either use canned chunk white chicken, or you can poach your own. I use boneless chicken breast and poach it in salted water, then cut it up when it cools. 

Source: Ginger and Molasses Cupcakes (http://www.marthastewart.com/338290/ginger-and-molasses-cupcakes-with-whippe) by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.

Years ago, while making our Christmas gift lists for others, my eldest daughter suggested a great gift for her grandmother who loved creating stained glass artwork--a gigantic jar of jaggedy, colorful pieces of old fashioned hard candy. Back then, it was kind of difficult to find flavoring oils, but now it's easier. It comes in so many flavors, from almond to wintergreen (though I've never been brave enough to try pomengranate or guava flavor) that we can make a couple of batches every day, right up through Christmas eve, and never repeat flavors. They're so gorgeous as a centerpiece during the holiday season. I keep a basket of cellophane treat bags nearby to fill for friends and neighbors who stop by during the season. Every day, the house is alive with a delicious new flavor. Right now, it's cinnamon. 

Make sure everything is prepared ahead of time, because once you start, you don't want to stop!

Line a cookie sheet or pan with heavy foil and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.  

In a 2-quart saucepan, mix together sugar, corn syrup and water. Stir over medium to medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to bubble.

Once the mixture starts bubbling, stop stirring. Insert candy thermometer. Make sure it doesn't touch the bottom of the pan.

Boil the mixture, without stirring, until the temperature reaches 260º F

Add food coloring, whatever color(s) you want to match the flavor of the candy. Do not stir; the boiling action will do the mixing.

As soon as the thermometer hits 300° F, take it off of the heat immediately. Wait until the bubbling stops, and then add the flavoring oil. BE CAREFUL! Some of the flavors, especially the oils like cinnamon, wintergreen, peppermint, etc., will burn your skin if the steam hits your face. They're very strong! Make sure the boiling has completely stopped, put the oil in, then stand back for a few seconds before you stir it.

After you have stirred the flavoring in, pour the very, very hot candy onto the prepared cookie sheets. Do NOT drip any on your skin! This stuff is like napalm and will keep burning through!

Don't refrigerate it. Leave it sit to cool until hard.

Then comes the fun part! Using the heavy end of a butter knife or other clean, sturdy tool, crack the candy into bite-sized pieces. It helps if  you life the foil off of the cookie sheet a bit. Use caution. The pieces can be quite sharp, and, if you have too much fun breaking them, they can fly into your face. No one wants that. 

Once the pieces are broken up, put a little bit of powdered sugar (about a teaspoon or two per batch) in a sturdy (not glass) container, like a clean, dry pot or storage container, and add the candy pieces, shaking or stirring to coat them with the powdered sugar. Then, put them in a clear glass jar for holiday display and yumminess. 

The "time" involved in this dish is about a half-hour for the lentils to cook, but, other than that, it's an extremely simple dish and very inexpensive to make.

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1 cup lentils, rinsed and picked through for debris or stones
3 cups broth or water (use vegetable broth or water for a delicious vegan dish!)
2 large onions, chopped
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder

In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, water or broth, half of the onions and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender.
While the lentils are cooking, heat the oil in a pan, add the onions and cook until they begin to brown. Turn off heat and add minced garlic and curry powder.
When lentils are soft, add the curry powder mixture to the lentils and stir well. Heat through.