Crock Pot Chicken Mole

Mole is really good stuff. My mom and I used to like getting it at a local Mexican restaurant near our house until they closed up shop.

Fast forward several years without mole. I have seen recipes for it in books, chefs make it on Food Network, but never got around to making it myself because the ingredient list looked daunting. Not to mention spicy.

My momma would be proud!

Now to the Williams-Sonoma cookbooks we recieved as wedding presents. Two of them have recipes for slow cooker mole. The thing is, the recipes couldn't be more different. One has dried chiles, and the other just spices. One chicken and the other turkey.

I decided to make the recipe without the dried chiles. I didn't want to spend the extra money on them, and the store didn't have the kind I needed anyways. Only one problem, the recipe called for a couple of turkey breasts. I guess it isn't really a problem since I don't have any problem with changing out ingredients for recipes on the first shot. I had 6 more chicken thighs that I didn't use after making the Chicken Tagine.

The spices look like a lot. Believe me, they look like a lot. I measured them all out in the measuring spoon I used to measure the almonds (you'll see) and it seems like a lot. Especially the chili powder. But it really isn't. The cinnamon and cumin balance out the chili powder really nicely. I wouldn't even say that the dish was "spicy". Although next time I would really like to try it with the dried chiles!

Chicken Mole

adapted from Williams-Sonoma

6 chicken thighs, bone-in/skinless

1/4 c. flour for dredging

olive oil

2 small/medium) yellow onions, chopped

1/2 c. slivered almonds (these are different from plain old almonds, they have been blanched)

1 tbl. chili powder (trust me on this one!)

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, drained (I like the low sodium kind)

1 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate (I had semi-sweet bakers chocolate and it worked just fine! You could also sub chocolate chips, I'm sure)

1 tsp. dried oregano

salt and pepper

1 14oz can chicken broth (again, I prefer the low sodium kind)

Cooked rice (optional)

First things first, I like to dredge the chicken in flour and brown it on both sides before adding it to the slow cooker. It's completely optional, but I would like to think it brings another depth of flavor and texture to the party. So, if you want, dredge the chicken in flour and then brown both sides in a skillet over medium/med-high heat and then stick them in the crock pot.

Now, onto making the oh-so-tasty sauce. In a frying pan or saucepan, or whatever you want, put about 3 tbl of olive oil and heat it up over med-high heat. Once the oil has warmed up, add the onion and the almonds. Stir it around and saute until the almonds have browned. Don't let it sit there untouched or the almonds will burn quickly! This step adds a nice toasty-ness to the almonds!

Once the almonds have browned and the onion started to turn translucent, add in your chili powder, cinnamon and cumin. Stir it around until it's nice and fragrant. Now add your diced tomatoes, chocolate, oregano, some salt & pepper and about half of the chicken broth. Stir everything around until the chocolate has melted completely.

In a food processor or blender add your mixture (a little bit at a time, as the mixture is very hot and we don't want to redecorate the walls!) and blend until it's all nice and smooth. This is the part that I really enjoyed having an immersion blender for. It's a beautiful thing, really. Once everything is blended and back in the pan, stir in the rest of the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Stir it all around and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Remember, the sauce won't thicken up much in the slow cooker since the lid is on and no steam can escape.

Add the oh-so-tasty sauce to the slow cooker and move the chicken around a bit so that every bit of it is covered. Cover the slow cooker and turn it on low. This will take about 2 hours to cook. (Maybe longer if you didn't brown your chicken?)

Take the chicken out after the 2 hours and shred it all up. Stir it back into the sauce and serve over cooked rice.

Note: This recipe makes a bunch of mole. It can feed 4, with leftovers. What to do with those leftovers? Roll up some mole in flour tortillas and cover with monterey jack cheese and bake in the oven until the cheese has melted and everything has heated through. (375 degrees for 20 min or 350 for about 30)


I liked up this tasty dish at:

• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
• Recipe Share Party at Harrigan Howdy
• It's Party Time Thursday at Pony Tails & Fish Scales 
• Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum
• I'm Lovin It Fridays at TidyMom
• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
• Friday Food at momtrends
• Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
• Easy Recipe Saturday at Woman Who Do It All
• Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen

Chocolate Yummies

I have been on a search for a recipe that incorporated the three basic s'mores flavors for a couple weeks when I discovered this recipe at the Kellogg's Rice Krispie's site.

The recipe is super duper quick and easy to make, and very fun to eat. I really like the fact that there are all three distinct flavors I was looking for- the graham cracker, the marshmallows and chocolate.

The only change I made to the recipe was halving the peanut butter in it since I was looking for more of a s'mores type of thing. But you could put all of it in there if you are a peanut butter person. Peanut butter and chocolate go really well together!

Chocolate Yummies
adapted from Kellogg's Rice Krispies

Graham crackers- I find that one of the packages in the box is about enough
2 1/2c. mini marshmallows (yes, they have to be the small kind)
1 pkg (2 c.) chocolate chips
2/3 c. light corn syrup
3 tbl. butter
1/4- 1/2 c. peanut butter (I used the smooth kind, but you can use whatever you have)
3 c. Rice Krispies

Coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and line the bottom with graham crackers. Break them up into smaller pieces to fit in and cover the entire bottom.
Sprinkle the marshmallows over the graham crackers in an even layer. Microwave the entire thing for one minute or until the marshmallows have puffed up. (You could stick it under the broiler for more of the toasted taste!)
In a micromave safe mixing bowl, add the chocolate chips, corn syrup and butter. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring the mixture every 30 seconds.
Mix in the peanut butter thoroughly, then stir in the Krispies until everything is well blended. Spread the mixture (carefully) over the marshmallows and refrigerate for at least an hour until the whole thing has firmed up.
Now you can cut it up into tasty little bars! Enjoy!


This recipe has been linked up at:

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tuesdays at the Table at All The Small Stuff
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy 
• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
• It's Party Time Thursday at Pony Tails & Fish Scales
• Recipe Share Party Thursday at Harrigan Howdy
• Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum

Homemade Pita Bread

I was first introduced to pita bread by my friend Dave when he introduced me to how wonderful hummus is. I later spotted a recipe over on Delightful Country Cookin' for Homemade Pita Bread. The recipe looked very simple- having only 6 ingredients!

Who doesn't like fresh baked bread?

I mean really?

That's right. Everyone loves fresh baked bread.

And this recipe couldn't be easier! Plus! It goes with just about anything!!!

You can tear it up and enjoy it with your favorite hummus....

Or you can stuff it with Chicken Tagine

Or you can cover it with pizza sauce, some cheese and your favorite toppings and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes and have a mini pizza.

Or stuff it with those pizza ingredients and bake and have a calzone!

The possibilities are endless!!

Homemade Pita Bread

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

1 1/2 c. warm water

1 tbl. sugar

4 c. all purpose flour

2 tbl. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

Dissolve your yeast and sugar in only 1 cup of the warm water. Allow the yeast to bubble up for a few minutes.

Put the last three ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Add the yeast mixture to the bowl and knead with a dough hook for about 10 minutes. The dough will probably be a bit dry, so add some more of that water, 1 tbl at a time until a nice sticky-to-the-touch dough forms.

Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled. This part can take anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours- so be patient!

Once the dough has risen, shape it into 10 even sized balls and roll each ball into a 6-7 inch circle. Let the cirlces rest for 10-15 minutes while you preheat your oven.

Preheat the oven with a cookie sheet inside at 500 degrees. Be careful if you usually use nonstick cookie sheets, as some of them aren't designed to handle that high of a temperature!

Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and put some parchment on it to prevent sticking, then 2 or 3 dough circles or whatever fits. Bake for 3 to 6 minutes or until the circles have puffed up and turned golden. Let cool on a rack or towel. Don't stack them immediately or they can turn soggy because they are still hot and will just steam.

Enjoy!

I have linked up this recipe at:

• 
  
  Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative 
• 
  
  Saturday Blog Showcase at All That Splatters
• 
  
  Made By You Monday at Skip To My Lou
• 
  
  Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• 
  
  Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo's Sweet Stuff
• 
  
  Made It Monday at The Persimmon Porch
• 
  
  Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple
• 
  
  Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• 
  
  Tuesdays At The Table at All The Small Stuff
• 
  
  Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy

Chicken Tagine

Let me start this off by saying how much I enjoy Williams-Sonoma cookbooks. After receiving my first at my bridal shower, I put some on my wedding registry and we received most of them! Awesome!
Also, how awesome are slow cookers? I mean really. Put all the ingredients inside, turn on, and dinner is ready later. It's wonderful.
I made this Chicken Tagine for my parents once when they came over soon after the wedding. Hubby found it to be a bit too lemon-y, so I cut back a little this time and I think it was better.
With a few more tweaks, like the addition of onion and bell pepper because I had them in the fridge and NEEDED to use them soon, the recipe came out great.
I served the whole thing with homemade pita bread (will be my next post), roasted red bell pepper hummus (didn't come out right, unfortunately) and some couscous. Yummy!

Chicken Tagine
(recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma Slow Cooker)

1/4 c. flour
salt & pepper
6-8 chicken thighs, bone in & skin removed (the original recipe has the skins on, but they end up all soggy after slow cooking for a couple hours)
olive oil
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 can chicken broth (I prefer low sodium)
1/2 c. chopped parsley (optional, but it brings nice color to the party)
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
2 14oz cans of diced tomatoes, drained
1 onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced (mine were about 3/8 inch wide pieces)
1 lemon, cut into 8ths
1 15oz can garbanzo beans, drained
cooked couscous (optional)
pita bread (optional)

First step is to sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then dredge them in the flour. By doing the salt and pepper first, it ensures even coverage. This recipe makes a lot of sauce, so you can keep it at 6 thighs, or go all the way up to 8.
Heat up a skillet over medium/medium-high with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Brown both sides of the thighs, going a few at a time so the pan doesn't get crowded. We just want some nice color, not to cook them all the way through. Once they are browned, place them in the slow cooker.
Now we make the sauce. Add the rest of the flour you used to dredge (might need to add a little more if you are cooking more thighs) to the warm skillet along with the cumin and cayenne. Stir it around until the flour and spices are fragrant and absorbed into the remaining oil. Add the can of chicken broth to the skillet and bring to a boil. Make sure to stir it around to get up all of those tasty browned bits left in the pan!
Add the broth mixture to the slow cooker along with the parsley, garlic, tomatoes, onion and bell pepper. Swish it all around a bit to get it in between those thighs.
Tuck a few pieces of lemon around in the slow cooker between thighs. If you have a really juicy lemon, add less. If you like the nice tang than citrus brings, add more. I had juicy lemons and added 3 pieces.
Cook on high heat for 1 1/2 hours (or low for 4). Stir in the garbanzos and cook for an additional hour.
Serve over a bed of couscous(top photo). Or, you can take the chicken out, shred it up and mix it with some of those tomatoes and garbanzos and some couscous and stuff it in a pita. talk about TASTY! (photo in middle of page)


This delicious dish is linked up at:

• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
• I'm Lovin It at Tidy Mom
• Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum 
• Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
• Putluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen
• Sunday Showcase at Under The Table and Dreaming

Easy Bean Dip

Okay, so this picture DOES NOT do the dip justice in the least. But boy is it sooooo good!
The hubby and I had some leftover chips and cannellini beans from our taco night. Not having any more tortillas or meat for tacos, I saw fit to make a bean dip. I hadn't had bean dip in yeaaarrrsssss.
Taking some inspiration from Stephanie O'Dea and her use of the CrockPot Mini Dipper- I knew I wanted to make a warm bean dip. Yummy.
This recipe is really more of a parts list that can be changed around to suit your tastes.

I used up the rest of my cooked cannellini beans (about a cans worth) and added in a can of low sodium black beans...it's what I had in my cabinet other than garbanzo beans, which I thought would be weird. Definitely not going for the hummus flavor here. Not yet.

So to my 2 cans worth of beans I added an 8oz can of tomato sauce. Heated the whole darn thing up in a small saucepan and added some various seasonings. In my case, garlic powder, cumin and pepper. Just a little at first because you can alwasy add, but cannot take away!
Blend all that goodness up in a food processor, blender, or in my case- the immersion blender! What a fun tool! Taste for seasonings and serve.
I put my dip in the little dipper to keep it warm- but this stuff is great right out of the fridge.

Easy Bean Dip

2 cans worth of beans (black, white, whatever you like!), drained (I prefer low sodium)
1 8oz. can of tomato sauce (I prefer low sodium)
seasonings! cumin and some lime juice would be great.
                   some chili powder for kick
                   garlic and lime juice
                   italian seasoning
                   you're only limited by what's in the cabinet!

Combine everything in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook just long enough to warm everything up. Then blend it all until smooth, or chunky, or whatever you like. Check the seasonings and add more if desired!


I linked my dip up to these awesome parties:

• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at BlessedwithGrace
• Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam 
• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at somewhat simple
• It's Party Time Thursday at Pony Tails & Fish Scales
• Recipe Share Party at Harrigan Howdy

Banana Fudgesicles

What's better than a nice cool treat on a warm afternoon? What frozen confection brings you back to childhood?  And what's a tasty way to use up some very ripe bananas when you're tired of banana bread?
I'll tell you. It's banana fudgesicles. :)
Last summer I began my search for popsicle molds. I didn't find them, but luckily the hubby and I recieved a pack of 6 as a wedding present. Yay!
Now that the weather is warming up, I knew it was time to break out the popsicle molds and make something tasty. What is tastier than chocolate? Not a lot. What goes great with chocolate that I happen to have a few of? Bananas!
The banana makes it healthy, right? ;)
I found these fudgesicles to be so nice and refreshing on a warm day! The chocolate is just strong enough that it compliments the banana perfectly, and I am so glad I didn't have to make more banana bread!
My recipe makes 6 popsicles. Each hold about a half cup of popsicle goodness. You can use small dixie cups with posicle sticks, or even double it up to make a bunch. Yum.

Banana Fudgesicles

2 tbl. cornstarch
sprinkle of salt
1 1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
heaping 1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 very ripe banana, mashed up good.

Mix together the first five ingredients in a saucepan. Once combined, bring to a boil over medium heat and stir for one minute, or until the mixture has thickened up. Congratulations, you just made a really quick and easy pudding.
Turn off the heat and stir in the chocolate chips until they have melted completely. Then mix in the maches banana.
Like a good gravy, this stuff will thicken up fast as it cools down. You can put piece of plastic wrap over it, touching the surface to prevent a skin from forming and stick it in the fridge if you don't want to make the fudgesicles right away. Otherwise, fill up your molds or dixie cups with the pudding. Stick the tops on the molds, or put plastic wrap over dixie cups and stick a popsicle stick through the plastic wrap. The plastic helps to hold the stick upright.
Freeze for at least four hours and enjoy!
Note: If the fudgesicles don't come out of their molds easily, run a little warm water around the outside and they should pop right out.


I linked this recipe up at:

• Friday Food at momtrends
• Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
• Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen
• Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming
• Made By You Monday at Skip To My Lou
• Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple
• "You're So Crafty" Monday at Miss Crafty Pants
• Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff
• Marketing Mondays at Trendy Treehouse
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at BlessedwithGrace
• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy
• Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam
• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at somewhat simple
• It's Party Time Thursday at Pony Tails & Fish Scales
• Recipe Share Party at Harrigan Howdy

Pork Chop Piccata

I like to follow along with Pioneer Woman's blog, and have my own account over at Tasty Kitchen. One day, Ree submitted a delicious chicken piccata recipe (here). I made it and the hubby and I both really enjoyed it. Recently, however, I had found myself wanting that tasty piccata sauce. Short on chicken, I decided to use some boneless pork chops. Hey, pork is the other white meat, right? So I followed along with the recipe for the most part, changing a couple things here and there to suit our tastes. And voila!
It was delicious! VERY delicious. I made the recipe with only 2 chops, but still made the full amount of sauce, that way I could have it over pasta for lunch the next day!

Pork Chop Piccata
(adapted from Pioneer Woman's Chicken Piccata)

4 boneless pork chops (1/2-3/4inch thick)
1/4 c. flour
salt & pepper
4 tbl. butter 
4 tbl. olive oil
3/4 c. white wine (I like using those cute 4 packs of wine that equal up to a full bottle- use 1 sm. bottle here)
1 can chicken broth
Juice from 1 lemon (I'm used to big and juicy lemons, you may need to use 2 to get more juice)
3/4 c. heavy cream
slurry of 2 tbl. cornstarch and 1/4 c. water (optional)
cooked spaghetti

Sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper, then dredge in the flour.
Heat up a skillet over medium heat along with half of the butter and half of the oil. Cook two of the chops, until browned and cooked all the way through. Then put the rest of the butter and oil in the pan and cook the remaining chops. Set aside someplace to keep warm.
Pour into the skillet the wine, chicken broth and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until it has reduced by half, scraping up all of the tasty browned bits on the bottom. Season with some salt and pepper.
Reduce the heat to low and add in the cream. Cook and stir until the sauce has thickened up a bit.
At this point, if you want the sauce to be more like a gravy, add in the slurry and watch it thicken up!
Taste the sauce and add more lemon juice if you want more tang, more cream if you want less tang.
Serve sauce over the chops and some spaghetti!

This recipe is linked up at:

• Recipe Share Party at Harrigan Howdy 
• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
• It's Party Time Thursday at Pony Tails & Fish Scales
• I'm Lovin' It Fridays at Tidy Mom
• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
• Ultimate Recipe Swap at lifeasmom.com