The Slow Cook Book Recipe # 2: Mexican Meatballs

So it's Thanksgiving week and you're busy shopping, prepping, and cooking all things Thanksgiving.  With so much focus on the Thanksgiving preparation it's really hard to fit in and focus on the meals leading up to Thanksgiving.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to be eating fast food or frozen pizzas leading up to the big day.  I still want to eat a home cooked meal, but I want it to be something that doesn't burn me out on cooking before the big day arrives. 

I have two solutions to the Thanksgiving week cooking dilemma.  First, get out the slow cooker.  It's your friend, especially at times such as this. Next, pick a recipe(s) and make a big batch so that you have enough for the next night and you can skip cooking for a day or so.

Over the weekend I made these Mexican Meatballs which can easily be reheated and served over rice, pasta, in sandwiches, etc.  Tonight I'm going to be making a big batch of taco meat for tacos and a huge pan of Mexican rice and refried beans.  The idea is that I'll have dinner for tonight and tomorrow so that I can focus my energy on cleaning, Thanksgiving prep work, baking pies, etc.   

 These Mexican Meatballs were a quick fix that everyone enjoyed.  They were much like a regular meatball  in tomato sauce, but instead were flavored with cumin, jalapenos, and cilantro.  They were great served on their own with rice and they also made great meatballs subs.

Mexican Meatballs

Adapted from The Slow Cook Book 

Serves 4-6

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

Auto/Low: 6-8 hours

For the Meatballs:

1 pound ground beef

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 red chiles, deseeded if you like or with seeds if you like it hot

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons fresh white breadcrumbs

bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

2-3 tablespoons all purpose flour

3 tablespoons olive oil

For the Sauce:

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 cinnamon stick, broken

pinch of dried chile flakes

splash of Tabasco sauce

1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar

2 (14oz.) cans of whole tomatoes

2/3 cup hot veggie or beef stock

Preheat the slow cooker, if required.  Put the ground beef, garlic, chiles, and cumin into a bowl and season.  Combine with your hands, then add the egg, breadcrumbs, and fresh cilantro, and mix well again.  Shape the mixture into about 20 small balls an toss lightly in the flour.  Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook half the meatballs (in batch and with extra oil, if necessary) for 6-8 minutes until brown all over.  Remove with a slotted spoon and sit on paper towels to drain.  Wipe the pot out with paper towels.

To make the sauce, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the pot over medium heat, add the onion, and cook for 3-4 minutes until soft.  Stir in the garlic and red bell pepper, and cook for 3 minutes.  Transfer the cooked vegetables to the slow cooker along with remaining ingredients.  Add seasoning, cover with the lid, and cook on auto/low for 6-8 hours.  Taste and add more Tabasco sauce, if needed.  Serve with rice and a green salad.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Slow Cook Book Recipe #1: Mustard Chicken Casserole

I received this cookbook, The Slow Cook Book, a little over a month ago and I was really taken with it.  It's certainly not your average slow cooker book with all the traditional recipes.  It's more of a slow cooking gone gourmet kind of book.  There are your average types of chapters such as soups, stews, casseroles; but, the recipes are anything but average.

After looking through the book, and marking way too many recipes, I decided it was time to break out my slow cooker and start cooking with it more.  For the next few weeks, I'll be featuring some slow cooking recipes from The Slow Cook Book.   

Now, after saying all that, the first recipe I chose was one of the more traditional recipes in the book; but, I simply couldn't pass it up....Mustard Chicken Casserole! 

The recipe calls for chicken thighs, but I'm sure you could use whatever you have on hand.  The chicken marinates in a mixture of whole-grain mustard, English mustard, and honey for at least 30 minutes, longer if possible.  After marinating, the chicken is cooked in a skillet until golden.  Using the same pan the chicken was cooked in, you saute onions and parsnips until golden.  After that, everything is placed in the slow cooker and that's it.  Easy peasy.

 Mustard Chicken Casserole

Adapted from The Slow Cook Book

Serves 4-6

2 Tbsp. whole-grain mustard

1 Tbsp. English mustard

2 Tbsp. honey

8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin on

salt and black pepper

2 Tbsp. olive Oil

2 onions, roughly chopped

10 oz. parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped

few sprigs of thyme

2 cups hot vegetable or chicken stock

bunch of flat-leaf parsley

Note: I omitted the parsnips because I couldn't find them in the store. I served the chicken over boiled and buttered baby potatoes instead.

Mix the mustards together in a bowl and stir in the honey.  Season the chicken thighs well with salt and pepper, then smother them with the mustard mixture.  Cover and leave to marinate for 30 minutes, if time permits.

Preheat the slow cooker.  Heat half the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the chicken pieces, a few at a time.  Cook for 6-10 minutes until golden-be careful, because the honey may cause them to blacken quickly.  Remove and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in the pot over medium heat, add the onions, and toss them around in the pot to coat in any juices.  Stir to scrape up the sticky bits from the bottom, then add the parsnips and thyme.  Transfer everything to the slow cooker, pour in the stock, and add the chicken pieces.  Season, cover with the lid, and cook on auto-low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.  Add the parsley, taste, and season, if necessary.  

Notes/Results:  This chicken dish was so good that I simply couldn't get pictures of it fast enough.  The chicken was nice and tender and had a wonderful mild flavor without any overwhelming mustard flavors.  Everyone in the house declared it a winner, including the kids, and it was gobbled up in one serving.

I am submitting this to my friend Michelle of Ms. enPlace for her See Ya in the Gumbo event.