slow cooker

A Secret Recipe: Slow Cooker Coconut Curry with Eggplant

By Love & Flour in Entrees 15 Comments Tags: , ,

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry 013 Edited A Secret Recipe: Slow Cooker Coconut Curry with Eggplant

I enjoyed reading Dancing Veggies for my latest Secret Recipe Club assignment. Amanda writes her “blog focuses on recipes that are simple and quick, with ingredients that can easily be found at the local market.” I couldn’t agree more. Aside from the eggplant and Garam Masala, I had everything I needed to make this Slow Cooker Coconut Curry recipe in my kitchen.

For someone who has started to purchase spices with an obsession most women I know reserve for purchasing shoes, one would think I would have encountered Garam Masala before now. On the contrary, I had no idea what it was or how easy it was to find. I actually found a bottle in the “specialty” spice section at my grocery store, but having done the research to know I had each spice I needed for the mixture, used this recipe to make some at home.

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry 005 Edited A Secret Recipe: Slow Cooker Coconut Curry with Eggplant

I halved the amounts to get closer to the one tablespoon needed for this recipe, knowing I would have one tablespoon to use and one tablespoon to save. Given my recent interest in baking oatmeal cookies, I will likely use my leftover spice to make Garam Masala Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies. Or maybe I will hold on to it to make some more slow cooker coconut curry once zucchini is in abundant supply this summer.

As someone who often feels as though I am fighting an uphill battle when it comes to eating more vegetables – despite my best intentions they just do not make it into more than one meal per day – I will be returning to Dancing Veggies for future inspiration. First up? Pineapple fried rice and rosemary thyme brussels sprouts.

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Thanks for the inspiration Dancing Veggies, and thanks for the opportunity Secret Recipe Club. Enjoy!

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A Secret Recipe: Slow Cooker Coconut Curry with Eggplant
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Ingredients
  • 2 pounds eggplant or other squash, peeled (if desired) and cubed
  • 1 small to medium onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 2 thai chilis or serano peppers, seeded and minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can (14.5 ounce) light coconut milk
  • 1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon Garam Marsala
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons salt

Instructions
  1. Place the prepared eggplant or other squash into a slow cooker.
  2. Process the onion and peppers in a food processor until finely chopped. If you do not have a food processor, simply chop the vegetables by hand. Add to the slow cooker along with the eggplant/squash.
  3. Add the garlic cloves, coconut milk, tomato paste, curry powder, Garam Marsala and salt to the slow cooker.
  4. Stir everything together as best as possible and cook on low for four hours.
  5. Serve with rice or with naan.

 


A Secret Recipe: Slow Cooker Coconut Curry with Eggplant

Stuffed! Sweet Spiced Apples

By Love & Flour in Sides 4 Comments Tags: , ,

Stuffed Apples 021 Edited Stuffed! Sweet Spiced Apples

Though it is now well past Thanksgiving, I can’t help but leave November with one final Stuffed! recipe. It seems appropriate considering stuffed is how I, and I suspect many of you, felt about a week ago.

These stuffed apples are good for ridding the kitchen of a few lingering cranberries. They also make for a sweet and filling dessert that, aside from the brown sugar, is not all that unhealthy.

Stuffed Apples 015 Edited Stuffed! Sweet Spiced Apples

The cranberries themselves add a nice tart pop to the sweet baked apple and spiced brown sugar. Though I did not garnish my stuffed apples, allowing a dollop of ice cream or cool whip to melt over their tops seems like a great idea. With just a few simple steps and a little bit of time, you too can enjoy sweet stuffed apples.

Another way to use up fresh cranberries is to sugar them. This creates a fun snack as well as a simple syrup good for flavoring sparkling water. Click here to view the recipe.  If cranberry sauce remains in your kitchen, a recipe for warm cranberry dip can solve your problems.

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So long, November. Hello, holiday baking…

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Sweet Spiced Apples
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Serves: 5
 

Ingredients
  • 5 medium apples
  • ⅓ cup fresh or frozen cranberries
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, optional

Instructions
  1. Core or hollow out the centers of apples. Be sure to leave the bottoms fully intact.
  2. If desired, peel the top third of each apple.
  3. Combine the cranberries, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  4. Spoon the mixture into the apples.
  5. Place in a slow cooker and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until tender.
  6. Garnish with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

 

Homemade Dulce de Leche

By Love & Flour in Candies 8 Comments Tags: ,

SAM 5787 Edited Homemade Dulce de Leche

Deep in the midst of January, I began to wonder what to do with the cans of condensed milk I had left over from my holiday baking. The answer turned out to be homemade dulce de leche. A simple internet search on what to do with leftover condensed milk conveniently reveled a can of sweetened condensed milk placed in a warm water bath overnight will result in homemade dulce de leche. I was one of those kids who had a chemistry set, so I thought the chance to turn condensed milk to into caramel in my own kitchen would be pretty cool.

I approached this project with a great deal of trepidation. Phrases like “molten caramel bath” and “shrapnel” were used by multiple sources to describe what would happen if a hot can under pressure was dropped or opened before fully cooled. I was so frightened, I spent a bit of time looking for a pair of safety goggles to wear before I removed my can of sweetened condensed milk from the crock pot. I couldn’t find the safety goggles, so I simply turned my head away, sucked in a breath, and hoped for the best. It turned out that making homemade dulce de leche was easy, and by using common sense, safe.

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I cooked my can of condensed milk on low heat for eight hours, and I let the can sit in the cooling water bath one additional hour until I could remove it by hand. A deeper caramel can be obtained by cooking the sweetened condensed milk for an additional one to two hours. I was so happy to have found a solution to my leftover condensed milk problem that I overlooked what turned into a dulce de leche problem. What exactly should I do with this sweet, caramel substance?

Since my internet sleuthing revealed dulce de leche is crazy popular in Argentina, I asked a friend from work who has spent a significant amount of time in Argentina for suggestions. Her advice was to use the dulce de leche like I would use Nutella. She and her family members spread dulce de leche on toast and stir it into coffee. So far, I have added mine to some ice cream, and I need to try the coffee idea. My friend also suggested  making a traditional Argentinian dessert, mil hojas, which is layers of thin pastry and dulce de leche.

SAM 5789 Edited e1327117513176 Homemade Dulce de Leche

On another note, today is a little bit sweeter for Donna, who was chosen as the first giveaway winner. Congratulations to Donna, and thank you to all who entered. I truly enjoyed learning about your favorite kitchen gadgets, and I wish I could make you all winners. Be sure to visit on February 12 for  a chance to win Giveaway 2. Have a wonderful weekend!

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Dulce de Leche
Author: 
Recipe type: Sweetener
 

Ingredients
  • 1 or more cans sweetened condensed milk
  • water
  • aluminum foil
  • crock pot

Instructions
  1. Line the bottom of a crock pot with aluminum foil.
  2. Place one or more cans of sweetened condensed milk in the crock pot and cover the cans with water.
  3. Place the lid on the crock pot, turn heat to low, and allow to sit for eight hours.
  4. Turn off the heat, remove the lid from the crock pot, and very carefully remove the can(s). Use tongs wrapped with rubber bands to remove the cans from the hot water. Alternately, allow the water to cool to room temperature before placing your hand in the water and removing the can(s).
  5. Allow the can(s) to cool to room temperature before opening.