Venison Stew, 18 January 14

I love warm meals on cold winter nights. Plus, I love a super simple recipe and this one fills both slots. I used this recipe about a week ago and my husband and youngest son had a fit over it. I used about a 1 1/2 to 2 lb eye of round roast and a neck roast. I found the original recipe on Pinterest. The website is http://homerecipescatalog.com/slow-cooker-venison-roast/main-dish-recipes/. I highly recommend anyone who eats venison to try this recipe. It's super simple and oh so easy.

RECIPE BY
A Year of Slow Cooking Ingredients
2 onions (sliced in rings)
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsps gluten (free Worcestershire sauce)
2 lbs venison roast (if you have a bigger piece, that’s fine, too!)
1/2 lb bacon
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup butter (sliced, to add later)

I did make a few adjustments. I not only put pepper on the roast, but I also used regular salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. I didn't have any Worcestershire sauce at the time, so I left that out. And I forgot to add the butter later. 

The full instructions can be found at  http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/08/slow-cooker-venison-roast-recipe.html.

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Peel and slice the onions, and separate the rings. Place them on the bottom of your slow cooker. Rub pepper and Worcestershire sauce directly into the meat, and place it on top of the onion. Wrap bacon slices around the roast, overlapping if necessary, and tuck in the ends of the bacon underneath. Pour on the beef broth.

Cover and cook on low for 7 to 10 hours, or until meat has reached desired tenderness. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will become. If the center of the meat isn't as juicy as you'd like, cut the meat into a few pieces, then return to the pot to cook on low until it begins to break down. Dry meat isn't the sign of over-cooking, it's a sign of under-cooking.

Slice, meat, and dot pieces of butter on it to melt. Serve with mashed or baked potatoes (or sweet potatoes) and something green.

I had two small roasts for the equivalent of about four pounds. So, I let mine cook for about 10 hours. Like I said, I forgot to add the butter at the end. What I served it with was smashed red potatoes, deviled eggs, and green beans with yeast rolls smothered in honey butter. Yum! For the smashed reds, I went super simple. I just boiled them whole for about 20 minutes then smashed them on the platter. I put some butter in the center then some sour cream on top of that. The meal was a hit. Yay! Will definitely be using this recipe again since the hubby processes deer and I'm a sucker for a super simple recipe. :)

17 January 14

It's been a while since I last posted. Almost a year. And for that, I apologize. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to follow through with my plans and ideas. This blog is one of the projects that I've allowed to sit idly by. To start off this new year, I've decided to share my latest success - a success in creating my own Chicken 'n Dumplin' recipe. Yay me. LOL

I found my base recipe in The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. I love this cookbook. There is just a smorgasbord of great recipes and tons of information for new and novice cooks such as myself. ;)

I'd tried making chicken & dumplings in the past without much success. The time before this was really depressing, But God was good and He gave me some advice and I was smart enough to try it.

The base recipe I used is simply called Chicken and Dumplings. Here is the recipe with my adjustments for our family.

• Approx. 3 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 1/2 quarts water
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 8 chicken bouillon cubes
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 2/3 to 3/4 cup milk
•  10 oz can of cream of celery
• large can of cream of mushroom soup

Bring the first six ingredients to a boil in a large Dutch oven; partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken; cool.
Pour broth through a wire-mesh strainer into a large bowl, discarding solids. Skim off fat. Return the broth to the Dutch oven; stir in bouillon cubes.
Shred chicken, cover and keep warm.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly. Add milk, stirring dry ingredients until moistened.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; gather dough into a ball. Press dough with heels of hands, pushing it away from you. Fold top half of dough down and push away from you with heels of hands. Turn dough one-quarter turn, fold top down and push dough away. Continue folding, pushing, and turning 10 to 12 times or until dough is smooth.
Roll dough to 1/8" thickness; cut into 1 1/2-X 2-inch strips.
Bring broth mixture to a simmer (do not boil). Drop about 14 dumplings, one at a time, into simmering broth. (Dumplings should float in a single layer.) Cover and simmer gently 4 to 5 minutes. or until done. (Do not overcook.) Remove to a platter with a large slotted spoon; cover and keep warm. Repeat procedure to cook remaining dumplings.
Stir in cream of celery soup and cream of mushroom soup until thoroughly mixed with broth for a creamy texture. Stir chicken into the broth mixture; simmer 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Add dumplings and serve immediately.
My husband loved it! And that was all the praise I needed. :)