Steak and Guinness Stew with Irish White Cheddar Cauliflower Mash

Steak and Guinness Stew with Irish White Cheddar Cauliflower Mash

Bacon Beef Crockpot Food Gluten-free Irish Main Course Recipe Slow Cooker Soup St Patricks Day Stew

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With St Patrick's Day coming up I have been thinking about recipes and of course recipes with an Irish beer like Guinness come to mind and it's the perfect base for a beef stew! This steak stew is a pretty basic beef stew with some of the beef broth replaced with Guinness for extra flavour! I also like to season the stew with thyme, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and a hit of fish sauce for that extra depth of flavour! This steak and guinness stew is amazing all by itself but I often like to top it with cheese, Irish white cheddar cheese of course, and alternatively mashed potatoes, almost like a shepherds pie! This time I was thinking why not combine the two for a steak and Guinness stew topped with irish white cheddar mash and instead of using potatoes I used cauliflower to keep things light! Whether you serve this steak and Guinness stew by itself or topped with the Irish white cheddar cauliflower mash, it's a great choice for your St Patrick's Day menu!

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Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Appetizer Bacon Chicken Crockpot Food Gluten-free Main Course Recipe Slow Cooker

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While I was thinking about snacks for the upcoming game day party I got a bit nostalgic about two of my favourite finger foods, buffalo chicken wings and jalapeno poppers, and I had a brilliant idea, why not combine them in the form of jalapeno popper stuffed buffalo chicken meatballs? I started out with a base of ground chicken for the chicken wing theme to which I mixed in finely diced carrots and celery, which are commonly served with wings, along with onions and garlic. I then moved onto the jalapeno popper side of things and combined chopped up jalapenos with poppers common fillings, cream cheese and cheddar cheese, along with some bacon for good measure. I then wrapped the chicken mixture around the cheese mixture, forming meatballs which I then baked in the oven until cooked and lightly golden brown before tossing them in the buffalo chicken hot sauce! Yum! Up next was a garnish of ranch dressing and a bit of crumbled blue cheese to finish things off! Biting into these meatballs is like a dream come true! It starts with a hit of buffalo chicken which bursts apart releasing a spray of ooey gooey melted cheese along with spicy jalapenos and bacon! Game day just couldn't get any better then this!

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Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

30 Minute Meals Chicken Crockpot Food Gluten-free Italian Main Course Pasta Recipe Side Dish Slow Cooker Soup

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With the colder weather I have been thinking about soups more and I thought that I would start out with this nice and hearty, light and bright lemon chicken orzo soup. This soup is essentially a take on a chicken noodle soup using orzo as the 'noodle' and it emphasizes brightness by the use of lemon juice and zest along with plenty of fresh parsley. In addition, I like to add a touch of thyme for some earthiness and a bit of tarragon which perfectly complements the bright flavours of the soup and adds a hint of the exotic with its anise-y and vanilla-y undertones! This soup is pure comfort food that is absolutely amazing on a cold winter day, it's hot, filling and it adds a bit of summery sunshine to your day! What's even better is that it takes less than 30 minutes to make and it will fit into your New Year's diet resolutions!

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Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

30 Minute Meals Chicken Crockpot Food Gluten-free Main Course Recipe Side Dish Slow Cooker Soup Tasty Soups eBook

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Chicken noodle soup has to be the definition of comfort food, especially on a cold winter day and it is super easy to make at home from scratch! A flavourful homemade chicken broth or chicken stock is essential for a tasty chicken noodle soup and both are easy to make! Once you have your chicken broth or stock ready chicken noodle soup does not take too long to make where you are just cooking the vegetables followed by adding the broth or stock, chicken, seasoning and finally the noodles. At this point you have a pretty tasty chicken noodle soup but I like to add a few extras to make it even tastier! A while ago I figured out that you can enhance a chicken broth or stock by adding a parmesan rind while it simmers and why not do the same for chicken noodle soup? Since the chicken noodle soup is not simmering for a long time to bring the flavour out of the rind, I like to add some finely grated parmesan to the soup and let it melt in and disappear. I am a big fan of miso soup and I have found that miso works very well in a lot of soups including chicken noodle soup! Finally, I like to hit the chicken noodle soup with a splash of lemon brighten it up and add some freshness.

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Cheesy Slow Cooker Bacon Ranch Potatoes

Cheesy Slow Cooker Bacon Ranch Potatoes

Bacon Crockpot Food Gluten-free Recipe Side Dish Slow Cooker Vegetable Vegetarian

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I am always on the lookout for easy side dishes and when I came across this one for slow cooker cheesy bacon ranch potatoes on damn delicious I knew that I had a winner! As soon as I see slow cooker in the name I pretty much know that it's going to be nice and easy and throw in the words potatoes, ranch, cheese and bacon and you definitely have my interest! I especially like the fact that these potatoes are made in the slow cooker because for large dinners, like Thanksgiving dinners, there tends to be a lot of things that need oven time so doing some in the slow cooker is perfect! These potatoes could not be easier to make, you simply dice the potatoes, toss the in a powdered ranch dressing mix, layer them into the slow cooker along with the cheese and bacon, cook all day and they are ready just in time for dinner! If you are looking for an easy side dish for dinner it's hard to beat these cheesy slow cooker bacon ranch potatoes!

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Maple and Bourbon Ham and Baked Bean Soup

Maple and Bourbon Ham and Baked Bean Soup

Crockpot Food Gluten-free Ham Recipe Slow Cooker Soup

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Although a ham dinner is pretty amazing I sometimes think that I like the leftovers even more, especially that ham bone! One of my favourite ways of enjoying the ham bone and some of the ham leftovers is in a ham and bean soupwhich is so easy to make and so unbelievably good; pure comfort food! This time I thought that I would change things up and instead of making a classic ham and bean soup I would make a baked bean themed ham and bean soup. I started out with my standard ham and bean soup recipeincluding the classic onion, carrot and celery combo followed by ham brothand the beans but then I took a u-turn and started with the baked bean flavours including a sweetener, molasses, ketchup, mustard, worcestershire sauce and a splash cider vinegar. Instead of using simple brown sugar for the sweetener I went with maple syrup to add another layer of flavour and I kicked things up a bit with a hit of bourbon and spicy chipotle chilies before finishing the soup off with the ham. This ham and baked bean soup is a great way to enjoy the ham bone and leftover ham in a way that makes the ham dinner look a little boring, though definitely worth it!

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Roasted Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

Roasted Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

Crockpot Food Gluten-free Low-carb Recipe Slow Cooker Soup Vegetable Vegetarian

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Despite the fact that it has been a little warmer out lately, I have still been craving soups and I recently realized that it had been a very long time since I last made one of my favourite soups, a broccoli and cheddar soup. The broccoli and cheddar flavour combination is a really good one that I never tire of reinventing in different dishes but this soup is one that I keep coming back to again and again. Since this soup is so simple it is a good idea to use quality ingredients including roasted broccoli, a nice homemade vegetable broth or chicken broth a nice quality aged cheddar. Roasting vegetables concentrates and brings out their flavours and the intensified broccoli flavours from the roasted broccoli goes beautifully well in this soup. This roasted broccoli and aged cheddar soup is super easy to make and yet it is so bursting with flavour that it is bound to satisfy! One last thing that I like to do with this soup is to add a tablespoon of grainy mustard which goes particularly nicely with the broccoli and cheddar flavour combination.

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Guinness Glazed Slow Cooker Corned Beef

Guinness Glazed Slow Cooker Corned Beef

Beef Crockpot Food Low-carb Main Course Recipe Slow Cooker St Patricks Day The Best of Closet Cooking 2013

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With St Patrick's Day coming up I have been planning my menu and the main course almost always has to be corned beef; it's just so easy to make, it's always tasty and there there are so many different ways to make it! A slow cooker or crock-pot makes cooking corned beef a sinch, you simply put the corned beef into the slow cooker in the morning and then at night you pull it out and it's ready to go. Of course you can change things up by changing what else goes into the slow cooker with the corned beef like the liquid that it is cooked in. Sure you could just use water, but why not add some flavour by using another liquid? This year I was dead set to combine another St Pat's Day favourite, Guinness, an Irish stout, with my corned beef and the first step was to cook the corned beef in Guinness in the slow cooker to infuse it with it's flavour throughout the day long slow cooking. I certainly couldn't let all of that Guinness go to waste after the corned beef was done cooking in it, I mean not only was it Guinness but now there was also all of those tasty corned beef juices mixed in! The solution was easy and while I let the corned beef rest before slicing into it I turned the Guinness and corned beef juices into a tasty glaze by adding some brown sugar, grainy mustard and Worcestershire sauce and then simmering to reduce and thicken it into a glaze. Once the glaze was ready, finishing the corned beef is as easy as removing the layer of fat, glazing and then baking until the glaze is a bubbling and caramelizing and good! With this Guinness glazed slow cooker corned beef, this years St Patrick's Day is going to be one of the tastiest yet!

Feel free to throw your veggies into the slow cooker to cook with the corned beef but if you would prefer that they not taste like Guinness you can make them separately, which is the way I went.

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Cuban Roast Pork (Lechon Asado)

Cuban Roast Pork (Lechon Asado)

Crockpot Cuban Food Gluten-free Low-carb Main Course Pork Recipe Slow Cooker

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One project that I have been wanting to try for a while was making a Cuban style roast pork and with a recent sale it was the right time to make it! Cuban style roast pork, aka lechon asado , is traditionally made by roasting a whole pig until cooked and the skin is nice and crispy but at home it is much easier to make a smaller cut of pork, say the shoulder or picnic cut and roast it in the oven. Lechon asado is made in many different spanish speaking countries and what makes this one Cuban is the Cuban style mojo sauce marinade. The mojo sauce is made with sour orange juice and plenty or garlic along with some oregano and cumin and it is used to both marinate the pork before roasting and also at the table for drizzling or dipping.

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Shrimp Etouffee

Shrimp Etouffee

Cajun and Creole Crockpot Food Low-carb Main Course Recipe Seafood Shrimp Slow Cooker Stew The Best of Closet Cooking 2013

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It is hard to talk about cajun and creole cuisine without mentioning etouffee and with good reason given how easy it is to make and how tasty it is! Etouffee is a thick stew that is made with a roux that is cooked until deep brown to ensure that it is full of flavour. The meat in etouffee is typically shellfish with crawfish and shrimp being two good choices and it is generally served over rice. The key to a good etouffee is definitely the roux and you want to cook the butter and flour for a good long time until it turns a deep golden brown before adding the veggies. Once the roux is done the rest of the recipe is nice and easy and absolutely worth the effort to make!

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Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Dip

Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Dip

Appetizer Cauliflower Crockpot Dip Food Gluten-free Low-carb Mushroom Recipe Slow Cooker The Best of Closet Cooking 2013 Vegetable Vegetarian

Unknown 16:47 Add Comment

I have really been into cauliflower lately and in particular I have been enjoying a lot of bowls of the roasted cauliflower and aged white cheddar soup which have been keeping me warm on these cold winter days. With the big game coming up I have had snacks on my mind a lot and one of my favourite snacks for for any kind of party has to be hot melted cheese dips like the spinach and artichoke dip. The other day while I was enjoying a bowl of the roasted cauliflower and aged white cheddar soup I was thinking about dips and I had a crazy idea, why not combine the two ideas and make a hot melted cheesy cauliflower dip? The recipe for the dip is pretty easy, you just need to roast the cauliflower, puree it, mix in the cheese and then bake it until the cheese is all melted, bubbling and golden brown. I have to say that this dip is another reason to love cauliflower!

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Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Appetizer Chicken Crockpot Dip Food Game Day Party Food eBook Gluten-free Low-carb Recipe Slow Cooker

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It has been far too long since I last made a hot cheesy dip and I was getting cravings. With the long holiday weekend coming up it was the perfect time for a trial run of a new dip and I had just the idea, a buffalo chicken wing dip. The idea was to incorporate all of the flavours from your standard chicken wing pub fare into a hot cheesy dip. I started with your standard cheese dip ingredients including cream cheese and mayonnaise, though I cut back on the mayo by replacing a lot of it with sour cream. Next up was some chicken and hot sauce for the main flavours of the chicken wings followed by some blue cheese as wings are often served with a blue cheese dip. I finished the dip off with some cheddar cheese to give the dip a nice melted cheesy topping. The only decision left was what to serve with the dip for dipping and the obvious answer was the celery and carrot sticks that are commonly served with chicken wings. (Chips and crackers work as well!)

This buffalo chicken wing dip is so addictively good! Melted cheese along with chicken, hot sauce and the zing of the blue cheese is such an amazing combination of flavours! Even with the carrots and the celery sticks, this dip is not the healthiest snack around but it is ok to indulge every once in a while. It would probably be ok to go with light cream cheese and sour cream if you prefer.

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Pasta e Fagioli Soup (Italian Pasta and Bean Soup)

Pasta e Fagioli Soup (Italian Pasta and Bean Soup)

Crockpot Food Gluten-free Italian Recipe Slow Cooker Soup Tasty Soups eBook

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I have totally been into soups lately making one or two soups per week and this only seems appropriate with the chilly weather that we have been having! With the release of my new eCookbook, Tasty Soups , I could not resist teasing you with sharing one of the new soups with you! This pasta e fagioli (aka pasta fazool) is an Italian pasta and bean soup that is so full of flavour and hearty enough to get you through even the coldest days. There are many different versions of this soup and although many are meatless I like to bulk mine out a little and add flavour with the addition of Italian sausage. When I make a soup I am always looking for ways to add more flavour and one good trick that I learned a while ago is that adding parmesan (aka parmigiano reggiano) rinds to a soup like this or even when making chicken stock adds umami flavour! This soup is pretty straight forward to make but it does take some so it can be a good idea to double the recipe to ensure leftover for quick lunches during the week and besides this is one of those dishes that tastes even better the next day!

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Spicy Peanut Chicken Rice Bowl

Spicy Peanut Chicken Rice Bowl

Chicken Crockpot Egg Food Main Course Recipe Rice Bowl Slow Cooker Thai

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A while ago I made some sweet chili chicken rice bowlsand they got me thinking that spicy peanut chicken rice bowls would also be really tasty! I wanted to keep things relatively simple so I braised the chicken in some of my favourite Thai spicy peanut sauceall day and shredded it before using it in the rice bowl along with the sauce that it was cooked in. The rest of the rice bowls consist of cooked rice, a fried egg, steamed spinach, fresh herbs and crispy fried shallots making for a light and tasty meal in a bowl that is just packed with flavour. If you have a rice cooker you can make things easier by setting it to have the rice cooked when the chicken is done and then all that is left is frying the eggs and steaming the spinach.

Tip: Make a double batch of the spicy peanut sauceand cook some extra chicken for use in some tasty spicy peanut chicken quesadillas

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Slow Cooker Apple Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal

Slow Cooker Apple Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal

Breakfast Crockpot Food Gluten-free Recipe Slow Cooker The Best of Closet Cooking 2013 Vegetarian

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With the cold winter days here it is always nice to start the morning off with a warm, healthy and hearty breakfast and it is even better if that breakfast is fully cooked and waiting for you when you get up! If you are a fan of oatmeal and if you have a slow cooker this is it is super easy to do where all you need to do is place all of the ingredients for your oatmeal into the slow cooker before going to bed at night. A bowl of oatmeal certainly does not need to be boring and since it is easy to add flavours you can keep things interesting and have a different bowl of oatmeal for breakfast every morning. I have done a lot of experimenting with different flavours of oatmeal and one of my favourites has to be this oatmeal themed after apple pie; and who doesn't want a warm bowl of apple pie for breakfast? At its base, this apple pie oatmeal consists of the steel cut oats, apples, brown sugar and cinnamon and from there you can add what you like. I enjoy the addition of raisins and walnuts and of course a spoonful of caramel sauce works perfectly to sweeten things up a bit!

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Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal

Breakfast Crockpot Food Gluten-free Pumpkin Recipe Slow Cooker Vegetarian

Unknown 14:40 Add Comment

With the cooler weather here I have been getting back into warming bowls of oatmeal for breakfasts and one of my favourites at this time of year has to be pumpkin pie oatmeal with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices. I often prefer to go with steel cut oats rather than rolled oats as the have a chewier texture and nuttier flavour. The only problem is that it takes a bit longer to cook and who wants to be cooking early in the morning while rushing to get to work? Up until recently I was using my rice cooker with a timer to cook the steel cut oats overnight but it recently died so I thought that I would try using my slow cooker instead. After a bit of experimentation I found that it is actually pretty easy to cook steel cut oats in your slow cooker overnight, you just need a slow cooker with a timer. It takes about 4 hours on low to cook in the slow cooker without burning on the bottom so you need one that has a timer based start or one that can be programmed to cook for 4 hours and then switch to keep warm mode and it works like a charm. Of course I sweetened the pumpkin pie steel cut oats with caramel saucerather than sugar and the flavour combo is simply amazing!

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Slow Cooker Bacon Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken

Slow Cooker Bacon Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken

6 Ingredients Bacon Chicken Crockpot Food Gluten-free Main Course Recipe Slow Cooker

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I have had a slow cooker for a few years now but I find that I hardly ever use it and when I do it is usually for things like pulled pork. I almost feel like I need to justify it taking up space when I have so little so I am always on the lookout for good slow cooker recipes to give it a workout. I recently came across a this tasty looking recipe for slow cooker bacon wrapped apple BBQ chickenon Chef in Trainingand with apples in season it seemed like the perfect chance to pull my slow cooker out! I mean you really cannot go wrong with BBQ chicken and if you then throw apples and bacon into the mix things can only get better! One thing that I do like about slow cooker recipes is that they are generally really easy, sometimes being as simple as throwing all of the ingredients into the slow cooker and turning it on and then you come home to a fully cooked one pot meal. This recipe is only requires you to dice some apples and wrap the chicken in bacon so it is easily doable even on a busy weekday morning and it is so worth the ten minutes of effort! The chicken comes out nice and moist and tender and the flavours of the bacon have melted into the chicken and BBQ creating one really tasty dish!

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Beer Mac n Cheese Soup

Beer Mac n Cheese Soup

Crockpot Food Gluten-free Pasta Recipe Slow Cooker Soup Tasty Soups eBook Vegetarian

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With the weather getting cooler soups have been on my mind more often and with it being October I have been thinking about recipes that use beer for an Oktoberfest inspired menu. With that in mind it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make a beer mac n cheese soup! I had been planning on making a mac n cheese inspired soup for a while but when I last made the ale and cheddar soup I figured that a beer mac n cheese soup would be even better! This recipe is actually pretty similar to the ale and cheddar soup recipe with the primary difference being the addition of elbow macaroni and some extra cheese so that it tastes like a really creamy bowl of mac n cheese! I completed my mac n cheese soup meal off with some soft and chewy pretzel rolls, complimenting the Oktoberfest theme.

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Bacon Double Cheeseburger Soup

Bacon Double Cheeseburger Soup

Bacon Beef Crockpot Food Gluten-free Recipe Slow Cooker Soup Tasty Soups eBook

Unknown 12:53 Add Comment

Fall is officially here and as if on cue the cooler weather rolled in which is good because I can now get into all of those fall dishes that I have been holding off on like soups! This is quite a relief in that I have had the idea for this bacon double cheeseburger soup burning a hole in my mind pretty much all summer and I was just waiting for things to cool off a bit before making it. The idea for this soup is quite simple in that it contains all of the flavours of a bacon double cheese burger in soup form, and who doesn't love a bacon double cheese burger?

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Shrimp and Roasted Corn Chowder

Shrimp and Roasted Corn Chowder

Crockpot Food Gluten-free Recipe Seafood Shrimp Slow Cooker Soup Tasty Soups eBook

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One of my favourite things about summer is all of the fresh corn on the cob and for the last few weeks I have been picking up a half a dozen or more ears every week! I recently came across the idea of a shrimp and corn chowder on Bev Cooks and I immediately took it as an excuse to update my dusty old corn chowder recipe and to add some succulent shrimp to it! Over the last few years I have picked up a few tricks to getting more flavour into soups like this and I seized the opportunity to do so with this new recipe for a shrimp and corn chowder!

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