Chicken Tortilla Soup- Slow Cooker

What a great way to use green chiles, the last of the tomatoes from the garden,  and some leftover corn tortillas from last week. I used this recipe as a starter but I've amended the recipe below.

1 pound chicken breasts 4-5 fresh chopped tomatoes 1 medium onion, chopped Good amount of chopped green chile 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 C chicken broth 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn-make sure it is organic! Corn tortillas- white is best to stay GMO safe

Directions:

1.	Place chicken, tomatoes, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, and salt. Stir in corn. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours.
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3.	Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
4.	Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.  **I have yet to do the tortilla crisping. My husband just put chips on his. I ate it plain. This was a great soup. Very easy and tasty.

Pear Bread GF,DF

We are really concentrating on being gluten-free for the next few weeks. I found this recipe on a gluten-fee blog. I was trying to find something nice for breakfast and a way to use up a couple of pears from the box this week.

Ingredients

1½ cups superfine brown rice flour, plus more for dusting the pan
½ cup tapioca (or corn or potato) starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cup sugar
½ cup grapeseed (or other neutral flavored) oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ripe pears, peeled cored and grated
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan with gluten-free non-stick cooking spray, add some brown rice flour and shift it back and forth in order to spread the flour evenly around the pan, tap out the excess flour.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the 1½ cups brown rice flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Add the pears and walnuts and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 – 70 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

**of course, the house smelled amazing as it cooked. I cut the sugar back a bit (couldn't help myself- it seemed like sooo much), but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It slipped out of the pan well. I cooked it for 60 minutes- but the middle seems a little wet- it could have gone for another 5-8 minutes. Delicious! I'll be making this again.

Chile Verde- Slow Cooker

After grinding some pork for the meatloaf, I had extra pork shoulder. This looked like a great recipe to try, especially with the green chiles we received in the harvest box this week and the tomatoes I still have in my garden. This recipe comes from the cookbook, Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Entertaining. I couldn't find the recipe online, but you can get the cookbook at Page One.

3 lbs boneless pork shoulder trimmed of visible fat and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 T oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic crushed
2 large ripe or 5-6 canned tomatoes, chopped (I used my romas from the garden)
12-15 roasted green chiles, cut into 1/2 to 1" wide strips
pinch ground cumin
1/2 t salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pat the meat dry with paper towels. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm 1 T oil until hot. Add the meat in batches and cook until browned on all sides, 4-5 minutes, adding the remaining oil as necessary. Transfer to the slow cooker along with all but 1 T of the pan juices.
Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and cook, stirring, until limp; add to the slow cooker along with the tomatoes, chiles, and cumin. Add water just to cover (or a bit less) Cover and cook on low until the pork shreds easily when pressed with a spoon, 6-8 hours. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

**Very tender, but needed to be spicier for me. The green chiles just weren't hot enough. The next day I tore up a corn tortilla and mixed it up with the chile verde. That was tasty. If I make this again, I will use stock instead of water.

Meatloaf with chili sauce

This recipe was requested by my daughter. I used my home made ketchup mixed with a heaping teaspoon of sriracha chile sauce. You can find this recipe on the Martha Stewart site.

• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 slices white sandwich bread, torn into pieces (I used gluten-free)
• 1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
• 1 1/2 pounds ground pork
• 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup chili sauce, plus 1/4 cup for glaze
• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center. In a large bowl, pour milk over bread; let soak, about 30 seconds. Add sirloin, pork, onion, garlic, 1/2 cup chili sauce, parsley, Parmesan, eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using your hands, mix until combined; do not overmix or meatloaf will be dense.
2. Divide mixture in half. Gently pat each half into a log, and place each log in an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Do not press down or into corners.
3. Bake 50 minutes. Brush tops of loaves with remaining 1/4 cup chili sauce; continue cooking until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 160 degrees, about 10 minutes.
4. Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes. Turn loaves out of pans; slice each into eight 3/4-inch-thick slices.

 **Very nice. Make sure to use a thermometer so it doesn't overcook and get dry.

Sauteed Kale

After reading the reviews of this recipe, I thought I'd give it a go. You can find it on the food network.
I've kept the recipe as is, but I didn't add the red wine vinegar.

• 1 1/2 pounds young kale, stems and leaves coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft, but not colored. Raise heat to high, add the stock and kale and toss to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring until all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add vinegar. 

 **No kidding, this was fantastic.

Potato Leek Soup with Dill

I have a very simple potato leek soup that I normally make. However, with the dill in the garden still growing and a package of smoked bacon that I picked up in Nashville, I decided to try this recipe from the Nourished Kitchen. I have amended the recipe below.

• 4 ounces pasture-raised bacon, fried and crumbled with fat reserved
• 4 leeks, rinsed well with white and light green parts sliced very thinly
• 1 pound waxy potatoes, scrubbed well and cubed
• 1 quart fresh chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves, preferably fresh though dried will do
• 2 cups fresh whole milk 
• 1 bunch fresh dill, chopped fine
• unrefined sea salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
• crème fraîche or sour cream, to serve

Instructions

1. In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat reserved bacon fat over a medium flame until melted and sizzling. Add the thinly sliced leeks to the melted bacon fat (depending on how fatty your bacon is- you might need to pour some off) and fry until they begin to soften and release their aroma – about five to six minutes or so. Add one quart fresh chicken broth to the leeks and dump in the cubed potatoes and cover the pot. Cook the potatoes, leeks and broth together over a medium-low flame until the potatoes are softened and tenderly fall apart when pressed with the tines of a fork – about thirty minutes. If you like your soup lumpy, then leave as is. Otherwise you can blend/mash it up now)
2. Remove the soup from the flame and allow it to cool slightly, then pour two cups fresh whole milk into the soup pot, stirring in the fresh dill as you go. Season with unrefined sea salt and white pepper as it suits you, then serve the soup with plenty of good quality pasture-raised bacon and a dollop of crème fraîche or sour cream.

** This was a nice soup. I didn't put the sour cream on top. I also used 2% rather than whole milk. The addition of the dill was not great for me. I think I'll stick to my other recipe next time.

Pasta Puttanesca

We love this dish at our house. It is so easy to make. And it is great if you have a bumper crop of romas!
I did a quick search and found this recipe on another blog, Cooking with Amy.

Pasta alla Puttanesca
makes enough for a pound of pasta (I used brown rice pasta)

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
3 anchovies (from a tin)
1/2 cup Kalamata olives
1 Tablespoon capers
1 - 2 pinches chili flakes (depending on how spicy you like)
1 28 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes- I used fresh- chopped
optional: a few fresh bail leaves or oregano leaves

Mince the garlic finely. Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, and add the anchovies and garlic, stirring to break up the anchovies and keep the garlic from burning. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and the anchovies melt. Roughly chop the olives and add them, the chili flakes and the drained capers to the pan. Stir and then add the tomatoes, crushing each one in your hand before adding it to the pan along with the juice. Simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Sauce should be thick and rich. Toss sauce with penne, spaghetti or bucatini over medium heat for a couple of minutes before serving to allow the pasta to absorb some sauce. Add torn basil leaves or oregano if desired. Note: This sauce does require need salt or cheese, because of the salty flavors of anchovies, capers and olives.

**Delicious and super easy