Category Archives: Delicious

Crock-Pot Caramelized Onions

Braising, Delicious, Onions, Sides, Vegetables

Sometimes I think what the heck would we do if we did not own a Crock-Pot, or slow cooker, if you will. The Crock-Pot is a thing of beauty and has helped me so many times throughout the year, especially during the work week. I typically use the slow cooker to break down beef, or chicken, or really anything I will not have time to make when I return home from work. Recently I smoked a pork shoulder, and decided that after 5 hours on the smoker, that I would place it in the slow cooker, and continue to render that should down. Let me tell you, it was delicious! As I was cleaning out the Crock-Pot, I noticed some onions I had, and decided that I would try tossing those in the slow cooker, and see if they would caramelize over time. They did, and let me tell you, they rocked. Super simple, and one that you can set and forget.

Crock-Pot Caramelized Onions

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 4 Spanish Onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 4 sprigs of Thyme

Add everything to the Crock-Pot. Cover, and set on low heat. Cook for 18-24 hours, or until the onions are nice and caramelized. Stir a few hours into the cooking process to get the oil, butter, and seasoning incorporated.

crockpot-caramelized-onions-ingredients

The end result is nothing short of amazing. The onions yield nearly three cups of deliciousness. I’ve been using these in stuffed mushrooms, and pizzas. The great thing I love about caramelized onions is that you can essentially use them in everything from omelettes, sandwiches, and pizzas. Give these a shot next time you want to caramelize onions.

How to use Caramelized Onions

How to Make Homemade Butter

Appetizers, Baking, Cookies, Delicious, Kids

Homemade butter? Yes, and trust me on this that it might change your take on butter. My oldest kid uses butter on a regular basis to sear up ham and buns, yep, he is into that and I don’t mind as he is exploring in the kitchen and cooking on his own. After watching a recent Vimeo video of this guy’s passion of making bread and butter, I decided that I was going to make my own butter. If you have never made butter before, try it. It was super simple, and you know what you are getting when you are making it yourself, and that is the beauty of it all.

Homemade Butter Recipe

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 2 pints of Organic Heavy Cream
  • KitchenAid with Whisk attachment or a large mason jar with lid
  • 2 cups of ice cold water
  • Salt, optional
  • Cheese Cloth, optional

Yep, that’s how butter is made. Way to simple.

I used a KitchenAid, however rumor has it that you can shake the crap out of the cream in a large mason jar. I support KitchenAid, so I went that route.

Start by adding the heavy cream to the KitchenAid bowl. Place in the mixer, and spin on medium to medium-high spin for about 10 minutes, keeping an eye on it along the way.

After about 10 minutes, possibly sooner, the cream begins to curdle and separate. It’s cool, it’s really cool. Once it separates, turn off the mixer. Strain the liquid from the solid. You can reserve the liquid should you desire. Once the liquid has been strained, return the solids back to the mixer. Add in the ice cold water, and continue to mix until you have a tight, solid mixture. Drain the excess water.

how-to-make-homemade-butter-ingredients

Once you think the liquid has been strained, it has not. Use a large wooden spoon and press the butter against the bowl. Lots of liquid will come out, trust me. Continue until you know that all of the liquid has been removed. I ensured this by placing the butter into some cheese cloth and tightening it until all of the liquid was removed.

Now you can add salt if you desire. I added about half of a tablespoon of course Kosher salt. You could add Sriracha salt as well. Give a gentle stir, and save in a sealed tight container, in the refrigerator.

The end result is a great, really great butter. I haven’t seen my wife spread butter on a bagel in some time, and she was all over that. We spread it on corn, as well as seared up some ham sandwiches. Give this a shot if you want some really good product, and remember, use organic, I think that makes a huge difference.

Easy Iced Coffee

Delicious, Drinks

I’m a big fan of drinking coffee in the morning, and granted I only drink about a cup and a half, or so, but my body and mind needs it before heading into work. We have been using a Chemex for some time now, and love the idea of the pour over coffee.  There is something about the slowness, the body, and ultimately the taste that keeps us brewing with the Chemex.  My wife and I, however, have not mastered the quantity of coffee that we brew on a regular basis, and with that said, I was about to do something about it. It was killing me that I would pour out about another cup or so of leftover coffee prior to cleaning the Chemex, and I was no longer going to let it go to waste. Bring on easy iced coffee.

There is no magic to this iced coffee, trust me. It’s so simple to make, is perfect to drink on a hot summer morning, and is great for the remaining use of coffee. I typically brew with local coffee from Colectivo, however this time I decided to try a blend from Anodyne Coffee. Whatever the case, use what you love.

Easy Iced Coffee

Ingredients:

  • Leftover coffee, room temperature
  • Ice cube tray
  • Cream, to your liking (optional)

This was also a good use of my ice cube tray, which I purchased last year to make craft cocktails. The tray itself it deeper and wider than a standard tray, so it fits two cubes nicely into a glass.

How to make iced coffee

Pour the coffee into the ice cube tray, and freeze. When you are ready, place a couple of cubes into your drinking glass, or pour over your cream, or milk. I actually pour a bit of hot coffee over the cubes as well to begin the melting process.

What’s great about this, is you typically have frozen cubes after you end your drink which is great, because as they continue to melt you still get more coffee, and who doesn’t love that, right?

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

Appetizers, Beans, Delicious, Events, Game Day, Sides, Snack

My wife and I are big fans of hummus. Typically I make a batch every few weeks or so, so that we can take some to work to snack on, or have some when we come home from work as a quick dip for chips for vegetables. My standard is the classic. A bit of garlic, chickpeas, lots of tahini, and a bit of lemon juice, salt, and cold water. But there are times when I go off that beaten path and do something a bit different, as in this case. I wanted to use some leftover sun dried tomatoes, and what better than to put them into hummus and ‘kick it up a notch’ as the good Emeril Lagasse once said.

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

The base remains the same, however the addition of the sun dried tomatoes really adds a nice depth of flavor.

Let’s get started.

  • 15 oz can, chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons tahini
  • 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
  • 6 1/2 tablespoons ice cold water
  • Salt, to taste

Add the chickpeas to a pot, and cover with water. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes. Drain, and add them to a food processor.

How to make sun dried tomato hummus

Add the tahini to the food processor, along with the garlic, lemon juice, salt, and sun dried tomatoes. Turn on the processor and build a nice, smooth consistency. Drizzle in the ice water as you continue to process.  It should be nice and smooth. Taste, and adjust any salt to your liking.

Simple, easy, and delicious. Who doesn’t love that, right? Hope you enjoy!