Stuffed Summer Squash

*** THIS IS NOT A CROCK POT RECIPE ***

I decided to do a bit of experimentation on the family today that used the bounty that is beginning to come from the gardens this time of year ... So I dcided to go with a zucchini version of stuffed peppers

The kids pronounced it a success ... Except for the oldest daughter, but she's not a big zucchini fan to begin with.

From Oh Crock!!!!!

ingredients
1 HUGE zucchini
1 large yellow summer squash (looks like a yellow zucchini)
3 cups hashed brown potatoes
1 1/2 lbs ground beef/hamburger
2 cups mixed shredded cheese (I prefer a pizza mix since it's meant to get melty)
2 cup broccoli

instructions
Set deep water on stove to boil on back burner & preheat oven to 350•F
1. first size your pans making sure it is large enough to hold both squashes at the same time - if you don't have an oven-safe skillet large enough, use a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Brown the hamburger until no longer pink. Removed from pan and drain, do not wipe pan but you can take out the drippings if you want.
3. Add a little oil to the pan and add the hashed browns, cook for 5 minutes each side.
4. Slice the top 1/3 off the length of the zucchini and squash. Scoop out the insides leaving about 1/4 inch on inside of shell - kind of like a dugout canoe.
5. Chop up the insides that you scooped out (removing any large seeds) about the same size as the hashed brown bits.
6. In large bowl mix together the insides, the hashed browns, and the hamburger (chop smaller if need be)
7. Chop the broccoli and add to the mix, sprinkle in 2/3 of cheese mix. Blend thoroughly with your hands or spoon.
8. place boats in boiling water but turn off the heat and let sit 10 minutes ... You may have to do this twice flipping it if the squash is longer than your pan.
9. Pat inside of canoes dry and season to taste.
10. Pack meat mixture into canoes heaping it up a little. Place them carefully back in the skillet or on the pan they will be baked on.
11. Top with the remaining cheese (I put the extra filling into a loaf pan and baked it right along with the skilleted canoes)
12. Bake for 1/2 hr.
Let stand for a bit after removing from oven so cheese can set up. Slice into serving sized portions ...

YUM!!!
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Things I'd change:

Add some chopped onion in with the hashed browns or hamburger depending on how you like them ...

Use smaller zucchini and cut off the ends, then hollow it out all the way down - Then stuff it with filling ... When cooked, slice into rings ...

Use some bread crumbs or cracker crumbs in meat mix to help absorb some of the moisture which comes off the squash boats as they cook ...

Use sausage instead of hamburger to change taste (not breakfast kind, something with some bite) but will have to rinse out as much of the fat as possible ... Although it herbed stuffing mix is used, then the slickness would not need to come from the meat.

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This definitely going to get made again

The recipe leaves plenty of room for variation as you can see.

And it was easier than it sounds like above ... If you do more than one thing at a time (like cooking hashed browns &soaking canoes at the same time) you will really save time.

Turnip Greens

I decided to give turnip greens a try in the slow cooker ... Figuring that it would be the perfec candidate since greens generally need to be cooked down to a wilted slime ... Or at least they get that way over regular hat.

For a change, instead of using bacon as flavoring I decided to use breakfast sausage instead - maple flavored sinc I had heard that turnip greens can be quite bitter.

INGREDIENTS
1 bunch turnip greens, washed thoroughly
1 pkg breakfast sausage (about 10-12 per pkg)
1/2 Cup water

METHOD
1. cook sausage as directed (I prefer the stove top method for flavor). Save the grease!
2. Remove sausage from pan and about 2T of grease/drippings into crockpot and use pastry brush to coat inside of crock ... To prevent sticking.
3. Cut sausage into small bite-sized pieces (no so much to fill the mouth, but big enough so you know what it is)..
Put in cock pot.
4. Rough dry the greens after washing them (you will be shocked at the amount of grime that will come off) ... Remove the stems.
5. Stack several leaves and roll them into a "cigar", then cut them into 1/2inch slices (if the leaves are too big you may have to cut them in half down the length as well.
6. place them in the crock pot and coat with the fat n the crock ... If there snt enough to. Coat you can add a little more fat.
7. Add water.
8. Cover. Cook on high for 1 hr. Or until it wilts.

RESULTS
well - first I forgot to plug in the crock pot ... But I did cook it as I had written above.

There was a definate "plastic" taste to these greens ... YUK.

Not sure what caused it, so I am planning on cooking some more on the stove top in the traditional method to see if the issue could either be (a)heat as a factor (b)time as a factor or (c)just the way they taste as I had never had them before.


taste 1 star
Ease to make 4stars
Would I do it again? 0stars as written now.

This recipe needs some major tweaking ... I hope the family is up to it.
But at $1.29 a bunch it is a cheap experiment and if I have to pitch it out I won't weap over the price ... Ok, the meat I would cry over.

Chicken with Baked Melon

Now this is NOT a crock recipe, but my kids pronounced it a five gold star meal so I thought I'd share any ways.

It is a one pan entree, I served it with mashed potatoes on the side, and I wished I had some steamed red cabbage to go with it but the grocery wanted 99¢/lb for it

ingredients
8 chicken thighs, frozen but separated
1 lg onion, sliced into half moons
1 cup mixed melons, under ripe preferred
1 peach or nectarine, pitted and chopped
salt
Pepper
Oil
Cast iron pan large enough to hold all the chicken pieces

Preheat oven to 400•F
Over high heat, use just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
When hot, turn the flame to low and sweat the onion while you cut up the fruit.
remove the onion (set aside to go back in later), crank the heat back to med-hi and CAREFULLY add the chicken, skin side down. Salt & pepper this side ONLY to taste.
Brown each side for 5-6 minutes each ... Adding the fruit and the onions back to the pan after turning the chicken over (bird now skin side up).
Shut off heat and grab your oven mitts, because now the bird (pan and all) goes into the oven.
Bake 1/2 hour at 400•F
Reduce heat to 350•F, cook an additional 1/2 hour moving chicken to be sure it isn't sticking to the pan.
Violá

I used frozen chicken which I purchased when the store had it on sale for 99¢/lb ... It wouldn't thaw for me in time so I had to make due ... Remember that ice crystals hitting the hot oil will SPLATTER so be very careful adding the chicken to the pan.

I used a mix of cantaloupe and honeydew for my melon - it was what I had on hand, but experiment ... This would be a great dish for well drained pineapple and mandarin oranges too.
The melon cooks mushy so under rips are great foe this recipe, but they give up their juicy goodness to make a wonderful glaze with out adding extra sugar or honey.
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chicken is a bit greasy this way since you cook it in the same pan you fry it in ... But frying it first helped to keep it from drying out while trying to get it to cook completely through coming from the frozen state.
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Difficulty: easy
Time: 1 1/2 hour total including prep (mostly thawing chicken enough to separate pieces in hot water)
Device: stove & oven
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The ratings from the family:
"it was pretty good with the apple" hubby told me(sorry no apple in there)
"it was AWESOME" my 15 yr old son said
"chicken- gold star; onions- gold star; melon - 2 gold stars; peach - gold star; mashed potatoes - gold star. yum, save that recipe for me when I grow up" my 11 yr old daughter ... Is there any better compliment?
My 22 yr old will eat just about anything but onions, so you can imagine how he felt about it.

Spare Ribs & SaurKraut

This is an old family favorite from my mother, but she would do hers on the stovetop for special occasions and top it all off with dumplings once the spare ribs & kraut were removed ... she saved it for occasions in the winter as much as possible so the steam would help heat the house.

I did a version using the crock pot and a fry pan.
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Spare Ribs & Saurkraut -- 4th gen American Style
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1 slab of spare ribs, cut into 1 or 2 rib sections (hopefully they will be more meat than fat)
1 T Old Bay
2 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp Garlic Garni
2 large, or 4 small whole bay leafs
1 cup water
1 jar saurkraut (bagged kind can work too)
2 tsp caraway seed
1/2 stick butter

put rib sections into a gallon sized bag and add the Old Bay, Lemon pepper, Garlic Garni, and shake well to mix up and coat all peices, squeezing bag to work spices into meat.  Place half of bay leaves on bottom of crock pot, put in the ribs, top with last half of bay leaves.  carefully pour water into crock so that it doesn't knock the spices off the meat.
Cook on low for 6 hours.

Dzia Dzia John's Favorite Kraut

Open the kraut and drain off the brine (reserve it to add to the ribs above if you wish, it will help to tenderize the meat - my kids don't like it, but hubby & I sure do).
Rinse the kraut under cool water to rid any extra brine and squeeze the water out very well without bruising the kraut.  You can do this by hand or put a plate on top of the kraut in its strainer with a can placed on top for a few hours -- nice if you have the time.
Heat a cast iron or heavy fry pan (you need the heat), melt the butter swirling it to coat the bottom of pan - use a pan that is large enough so the kraut is no more than 1" deep. 

JUST BEFORE SERVING RIBS:
Now there is two way of doing this:

#1 - put the caraway into the butter and let it 'bloom' for a few seconds to release the oils ... some people (cough, cough, hubby) find this too strong ... add the kraut on top, stir to incorporate the seeds throughout the kraut.
#2 - put the kraut in the pan and then add the caraway, stir to spread evenly.

reduce heat to medium and let the kraut sit for 5 minutes - you will be tempted but don't stir it, you want a nice browning.  use your turner to flip the kraut in small sections and brown the other side the same way.

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Follow Up:
well it tastes very different without the brine in the pot, and the ribs I had were rather meatless ... but they were sooooooo tender that I swear you could have eaten the bone (ha ha) ... 3 out of my 4 kids absolutely love the kraut made this way - in fact its the only way they will eat it! 

I served it with mashed potatoes for my one child who simply hates kraut in any form.

here -- try some good Polish food for supper this weekend!  You'll love it!Now from here its the same: