Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue

INGREDIENTS:

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) bottle or 1 /12 cups barbeque sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place chicken in a slow cooker (frozen okay).
2. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
3. Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

NOTES:

I used the Stubb's brand for the BBQ sauce. It was a little too vinegary for us, so I added a bit more brown sugar. I'll try the Jack Daniels brand next time.

Before the last hour, I went in and shredded the chicken. That is also when I tasted it and adjusted accordingly. We made sandwiches with the chicken and added some mayonnaise to the bread.

Oh, and I cut the recipe in half. That was more than enough to feed Vuong, Emma, and I for two days.

RESULTS:

This was very, very good.

UPDATE:

I've made this recipe several times. I've found that the best BBQ sauce is the original Sweet Baby Ray's. I usually have to add a little bit more brown sugar, though...but I don't add it until I go to shred the chicken so I can add according to taste. I once added way too much sugar and it kind of ruined the chicken. You want to add enough sugar so it doesn't taste too tart, but it still tastes like BBQ.

For the italian dressing and worcestershire sauce, brand types don't seem to matter. The last time I made it, I used the safeway generics and the chicken probably came out the best it ever did.

Oh, and I usually cook it in the crockpot for 6 hours on low. Shred the chicken. Then leave it on "keep warm" for another 30 minutes or so...just enough time for the chicken to absorb the sauce.

We use just regular white loaf bread for our sandwiches. It's also good with some sliced cheese.

Also, leftovers freeze very well!

Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:

4 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter
4 TB sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix eggs, sugar, butter, & milk.
2. Add flour
3. Cook on greased griddle. Make the pancakes small.

NOTES:

The pancakes come out pretty thin. It's probably more of a crepe than a pancake. Don't flip onto the second side until it's almost cooked. It shouldn't have to cook too long on the second side.

RESULTS:

Yummmmmmy!!! You don't even need syrup with this. I am never making pancakes out of the box ever again. Vuong always wants me to make these pancakes and Emma eats an entire one by herself.

Bran Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon vinger + enough milk to make 1 cup, let stand for 5 min)
1/3 cup oil (or applesauce)
1 egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease or line 12 muffin cups.
2. Mix together wheat bran and buttermilk. Let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla. Add to buttermilk mixture.
4. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
5. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture until just blended.
6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
7. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

NOTES

This recipe is enough to make exactly 12 regular sized muffins. The first time I made these, I used up the batter to fill about 10 cupcake cups. They didn't come out nice and round at the top. So if your batter fills up less than 12 cupcake cups, you probably overfilled. Doesn't matter really, 'cause you can still eat them. =P

As mentioned above, you can make your own buttermilk. Just take one tablespoon of white vinegar, add enough milk to make it a cup, and let it stand for 5 minutes. Now I'll never have to buy buttermilk and waste the rest of it again! Also, you can substitute oil with applesauce. You can pretty much do that for any baking recipe.

You can also add fruits or maybe some grated veggies (i.e. carrots or zucchini) to the batter. I plan to try blueberries next time. I also plan to try wheat flour next time too.

RESULTS

These are good and very moist! Emma looooooves these. She can eat one whole muffin by herself...and probably more if we let her. I baked these Friday night and we ate them over the whole weekend. It makes for a good breakfast or snack for Emma...and us!

Eggplant Gratin

INGREDIENTS

Good olive oil, for frying
3/4 pound eggplant, unpeeled, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 extra-large egg
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good bottled marinara sauce

DIRECTIONS

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2) Heat about 1/8-inch of olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add several slices of eggplant and cook, turning once, until they are evenly browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Be careful, it splatters! Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to paper towels to drain. Add more oil, heat, and add more eggplant until all the slices are cooked.

3) Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, half-and-half, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

4) In each of 2 individual gratin dishes, place a layer of eggplant slices, then sprinkle with Parmesan, salt and pepper and spoon 1/2 of the marinara sauce.

5) Next, add a second layer of eggplant, more salt and pepper, half the ricotta mixture, and finally 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan on top.

6) Place the gratins on a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the custard sets and the top is browned. Serve warm.

NOTES

Definitely a keeper. Even Vuong enjoyed it and he usually needs meat in his dishes. Next time, I'll try to put some ground beef in it. It was perfect to feed Emma also, 'cause the eggplant was nice and tender.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/eggplant-gratin-recipe/index.html