Dixie Collard Greens & Swiss Steak with Onions and Mushrooms from ATK

So we've now cooked two more meals from the Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook from America's Test Kitchen. I made their recipe for Dixie Collard Greens to go along with a dinner of BBQ chicken and mashed potatoes and also made the Swiss Steak with Onions and Mushrooms which we also had with mashed potatoes (and carrots). I didn't get pictures of the Swiss Steak dish and honestly they wouldn't have been very pretty...the meat cooked until it fell apart so it ended up more like a stew than steaks, but was delicious anyway! First for the greens.

Let me start by saying I've never had luck cooking greens. For some reason they always either taste bland, don't cook well or are over cooked.  This recipe, however, turned out wonderful greens, and even though I could probably have let them go another hour or two since they were still a bit "al dente" as compared to most I've had, they were very tasty and didn't suffer from undercooking a bit.  I took a shortcut in buying pre-cut greens and decided to use a smoked turkey leg instead of the ham hock in the recipe just because I hate cleaning hocks and prefer the leaner turkey leg. I also used more red pepper flakes than called for just because we like a little more heat than the average joe. My biggest surprise with this recipe was the fact that my almost-3-yr-old actually ate them! She doesn't usually like anything leafy green, but she ate these for two meals (the recipe makes a BIG batch) and liked them! The recipe states it serves 6, but I would say unless you're eating a whole bowl of them (like a soup bowl!) it serves at least 8, probably more like 10-12... Ok, onto the recipe and a few photos...

Dixie Collard Greens

Serving Size  : 6

1 onion -- minced

6 garlic cloves -- minced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes

2 pounds collard greens -- stemmed & leaves cut into 1" pieces

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 cups water

1 smoked turkey leg

2 tablespoons cider vinegar -- plus extra as needed

hot sauce -- for garnish

Microwave onion, garlic, oil and red pepper until softened, about 5 min., then transfer to slow cooker. Stir in greens, broth, water and 1 tsp salt. Nestle turkey leg on top. Cover and cook until tender, 9-11 hrs on low or 5-7 on high. Transfer turkey leg to cutting board and cook until able to handle. Shred meat into bite-sized pieces and discard skin and bones. Add meat and vinegar to greens. Season with salt, pepper, additional vinegar and hot sauce to taste. Can be held on warm setting for 1-2 hrs before serving.

Source:

  "Slow Cooker Revolution by America's Test Kitchen"

Pre-cook - This is my largest slow cooker (6 qt) and as you can see, 2 lbs of greens FILLS it up completely...

Clamped the lid down to keep it on...

After cooking - This was after 8 hours. Probably could have gone another 1-2.

And now for dish #2... Swiss Steak with Onions and Mushrooms... We love Swiss steak  but most of the time, my version of Swiss steak is more like cube steak with mushroom gravy. This Swiss steak was actually a cut of steak called blade steak. It's also known as a flat-iron steak in this part of the country. 

Now, this is another recipe with a lot of prep work, similar to the beef stroganoff recipe I mentioned in my previous post. However, this one was good enough, I'd definitely do it again and call it worth it :) My almost-3-yr-old daughter even helped me with this one as she stood on a chair at the cutting board with a disposable plastic knife and cut up the mushrooms for me. The recipe calls for them to be "cut thin" but mine were probably 1/4" thick on average and with the long cooking time I think they did fine. They did take a little longer for the "soften" and "brown" part of the prep, but nothing too terrible. My onions, on the other hand, took less time than in the directions, perhaps because I was using an enameled cast iron pan for browning and it didn't cool down in between the mushrooms and onions or perhaps because I cut them thinner than ATK, but either way, I was keeping an eye on them so it didn't really matter.  My only quarrel with the directions during prep was the one for "smoothing out any lumps"...um, there are onions in there, so there are going to be lumps! But I think the idea was to make sure the flour wasn't in lumps, and that wasn't a problem...

I cooked the dish on low for about 8 hours and as I mentioned, the steaks basically fell apart. I did check them at 7 hrs and they were still in one piece and not yet tender, so if you really want your steaks in whole pieces, you may want to keep a close eye on them in between those times. Personally I didn't mind the "stew" version since we were serving it over potatoes anyway. I was a little short on heavy cream so I put in a big spoonful of sour cream which I usually use in my non-crock pot Swiss steaks. I think it helped make it a more smooth gravy. Also, since the steaks had disintegrated into small pieces, I didn't bother removing them before adding the cream/sour cream since that would have been hard to do.  Overall this was a very successful albeit not pretty dish that we'll definitely try again. Now onto the recipe:

Swiss Steak with Onions and Mushrooms

Serving Size  : 6

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 pounds button mushrooms -- trimmed and sliced thin

salt and pepper

2 onions -- halved & sliced thin

1 tablespoon fresh thyme -- or 1 tsp dried

1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup dry sherry

6 beef blade steaks -- (6-8 oz each) 3/4-1" thick

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and 1/4 tsp salt, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until mushrooms are dry and browned, 5-10 minutes longer, then transfer to slow cooker. Heat remaining oil until shimmering. Add onions, thyme and paprika. Cook until softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for another minute. Slowly whisk in broth and sherry, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps; transfer to slow cooker. Season steaks with salt and pepper and nestle into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 9-11 hrs or on high for 5-7 hrs or until beef is tender. Transfer steaks to a serving platter and tent loosely with foil. Let liquid settle for 5 minutes then skim to remove excess fat. Stir in cream and parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon 1 cup sauce over steaks and serve with remaining sauce.

Source:

  "Slow Cooker Revolution by America's Test Kitchen"

Back to Cookbook-ing...

So when I made up our menu plan for the next two weeks, I pulled out our new slow cooker cookbook and picked several recipes from it to try... We tried the first one on Sunday and another tonight and so even though I neglected to take pictures, I thought I'd share with you about these two recipes and then hopefully I'll remember to take pictures for the rest :) The cookbook we're working out of is by America's Test Kitchen, one of my favorite resources for recipes and tips. I love their TV show and usually their recipes, so when I saw this cookbook, I knew I just had to have it for my collection! The cookbook is Slow Cooker Revolution.

 

Now, the first recipe we tried, from page 64, was for Beef Stroganoff. Let me say that I'm a stroganoff fanatic, BUT I have my own preferences when it comes to the beefy, mushroomy goodness that is that dish. This recipe was good, but not one I'd make again.  First of all, the prep work for it takes quite a bit of time between browning mushrooms, sauteing aromatics, cutting up meat, etc. and then 9-11 hours in the slow cooker. It also has wine in it which sometimes I enjoy, but to me it gave the stroganoff an "off" flavor, like it was trying to be more of a stew and less stroganoff. I make a stew called Red Wine Stew and this dish came out somewhat of a cross between a good stroganoff and that stew...jack-of-all-trades, master of none.  It also involves dried mushrooms which most people don't keep on hand and while I agree that the addition of them probably kept the mushroom taste in the dish, don't think they rescued it in any way. Now, honestly I didn't enjoy the dish that much the first night, hot out of the crock, but the next day, as leftovers, with a little extra sour cream tossed on top, it was actually better in my opinion than it was the first night. As I said though, not something I'll be making again, especially since I enjoy my own recipe so much more... And since I won't be making it again, I'm not going to share the recipe here :) If you want to try it yourself, you'll have to get the book!

The second recipe we tried was tonight's supper and it was FABULOUS! Even my 11.5 month old loved it, and she isn't big on potatoes as a rule. My almost-3-yr-old also loved it, even with the bacon in it, and she usually doesn't like bacon! And of course hubby and I liked it.  It DOES make a big batch and I don't know how well it would freeze, so I would probably consider either cutting it in half next time, making sure we have company or trying to freeze it. This time we'll just eat the leftovers :)  This recipe I'll share with you, along with my alteration (because I can never leave well enough alone!) As with the previous recipe, this one had a little prep work, but nothing as involved. It does, however, require frying bacon on the stove, so make sure you have a splatter guard handy or be willing to clean up the spatter...

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Recipe By     : America's Test Kitchen
Serving Size  : 6    

8 ounces bacon -- chopped
1 onion -- minced
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme -- or 1/2 tsp dried
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 pounds russet potatoes -- peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper
3 scallions -- sliced thin

Cook bacon on stove top in a skillet until crisp. Drain, reserving 2 tbsp of the fat and cool bacon pieces. Refrigerate for later use in topping soup. Meanwhile, in reserved fat, saute onions, garlic and thyme until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add flour, whisking to incorporate thoroughly. Cook for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth, making sure to scrape up any of the browned bits in the pan. Pour all of this into the crock. Add potatoes and remaining broth. Cook on low for 4-6 hrs or until potatoes are tender. Once tender, transfer 2 cups of the potatoes to a bowl and mash until smooth. Add cream to this. Mix shredded cheese into soup to melt, reserving 1/2 cup or so for topping. Add mashed potato mixture back in and stir to combine. Heat through, about 5 more minutes. While heating, microwave bacon bits from earlier prep for 20-30 seconds until warm. Serve soup with bacon bits, reserved cheese and scallions.

Source:
  "Slow Cooker Revolution"

My notes: 

I did NOT peel the potatoes since in my opinion the peel is part of what I like about baked potatoes. This worked just fine. I also did not remove the potatoes to mash until smooth. Instead I took my manual potato masher and just mashed up the soup in the crock before adding the cheese and cream. I also added another cup of broth to the soup since it was very thick and I didn't want it to burn in the crock while on "warm" waiting for hubby to get home from work... This was by far the best crockpot potato soup I've made. I didn't have scallions on hand so didn't use them and think I might consider adding a dollop of sour cream to the top sometime...