Potato and Canadian Bacon Slow Cooker Chowder

I had such high hopes for this recipe (partly from my mother's comment of "This is so good I'd make it for company") I started writing this blog before I even tasted the soup.

This is easy to make and very satisfying on a 25 degree day with snow blowing everywhere. It's really thick and comforting. And of course you must eat this with bread.

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Despite being at my parents house to enjoy their company before I move 800 miles away to Michigan, my mother appointed me cook for the duration of my stay. She wanted to have French onion soup for dinner one night, and wanted a particular recipe for the soup, a slow cooker version from Cook's Country. Since I haven't written a post in awhile, I leapt at the opportunity. 

This soup is pretty good, but you probably want to be alone when you're doing the initial preparation-- slicing five pounds of onions and microwaving beef bones can leave a rather pungent smell wafting through the house, but once the onions get in the slow cooker, you'll be in heaven. 

You start the recipe by microwaving the beef bones on HIGH until they turn brown (it took 8  minutes).

While those are cooking, put the butter in the slow cooker and set it to high, and then start slicing those onions!

Once the onions are all sliced, add them to the slow cooker along with 2 teaspoons of salt, the brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of pepper, and the thyme.

Then it's time to add some unusual ingredients (unusual for French onion soup).

Mix together the flour, apple butter, sherry, and soy sauce until smooth (be patient and use a whisk). Then add the mixture to the onions and toss it all together.

Don't be scared-- you won't taste the apple butter at all.

Now, get those beef bones from the microwave and nestle them under the onions toward the outside edges of the slow cooker. 

Check out that marrow!

Put the cover on the slow cooker and cook the onions on high for 5-7 hours (the original recipe instructs you to cook the onions for 10-12 hours, but the onions turned soft and golden brown after about 5 1/2 hours in my mom's cooker). 

To finish the soup, remove the bones. In a pot on the stove top (or in the microwave) bring the beef broth to a boil, and then add it to the slow cooker. Continue cooking the soup until you're ready to eat. We served this with some good chewy, crusty bread and salad. If you're a traditionalist, feel free to ladle the soup into bowls, top with a slice of bread and some Gruyere cheese, and melt the cheese under the broiler (just make sure your dishes are broiler safe.

I was so excited to eat the soup, I forgot to snap a picture of it in the pretty serving bowls. At least I got a shot of the leftovers in the Gladware container before it went in the freezer!

Slow Cook French Onion Soup adapted from from Cook's Country (serves 6-8)

2 lbs. of beef bones (the bones I used weighed about 1 1/4 pounds)

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

5 lbs. of yellow onions, sliced into 1/4 pieces

1 Tbsp.  brown sugar

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

5 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

3/4 cup apple butter

3/4 cup sherry

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 cups of beef stock

Salt & pepper

Quick Mediterranean Soup

Since I've stopped eating sandwiches at lunch, soup has been my food of choice. I didn't have time to cook any over the weekend, so I decided to try a recipe from the Easy Beans cookbook, Quick Mediterranean Soup. Since I don't have time during my lunch break to cook a whole pot of soup, I put all the ingredients in a crock pot this morning.

 

A chopped onion:

Two chopped potatoes:

A can of chick peas:

Tomato paste:

Chicken stock & spices:

Then, I set the Crock Pot to high and let it cook for 4 hours.

Before serving, I added some freeze-dried parsley (not nearly as good as fresh), several drops of hot sauce, salt, and the juice of one lemon.

I let that simmer for a few minutes before helping myself to a big bowl for lunch.

While this soup seemed a little bland at first, it started to grow on me by the time I was finished. Maybe the leftovers will have a little more cook. On a scale of 1-5, I'd give it a 2.5.

Quick Mediterranean Soup
1 can chickpeas
2 tablespoons of dried parsley
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp. cumin
1 onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
6 cups of chicken broth
8 drops of Tabasco sauce
Juice of one lemon
Salt to taste

Combine the first 10 ingredients (chick peas-stock) in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours. Remove lid, and add the lemon juice and Tabasco sauce, and season with salt to taste. Simmer a few minutes more and serve.

Cola Chicken

I'm about to share with you one of the easiest and tastiest ways to make chicken. This dish is sweet with a little bit of southern twang, and is so so simple. It's called Cola Chicken.

Cola Chicken is kind of like BBQ chicken- I like to serve it on sandwich buns with fries. It's also great served over a baked sweet potato.


My mom turned me onto this recipe about a year ago (she may have gotten it from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). You need four ingredients: chicken, an onion, ketchup, and a can of Coca-Cola. I've heard Diet Coke and Coke Zero work as well, but I try to avoid artificial sweeteners when I can, opting for the calorie-laden, sugar laced, pure and classic Coke. 


There are two ways to cook it: the skillet or the slow cooker. I chose the slow cooker method today since I spent all day at work (we're hosting a volleyball tournament) and my dear husband had to put the ingredients together. These were my instructions to him:

Cola Chicken (Slow cooker)
Put four frozen chicken breasts (you could use fresh) in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Place the sliced onion on top of the chicken.
Pour in one cup of ketchup.
Add the can of Coca-Cola.
Turn the slow cooker on low and cover.

By the time I get home the chicken will have cooked on low for about six hours. Now, all I have to do when I get to the house is take the lid off the slow cooker, shred the chicken with a couple of forks, and let it cook with the lid off until the liquid reduces and forms a sauce. In the meantime, I'll bake up some fries. A  perfect meal to sit down with in front of the TV and watch Georgia beat South Carolina!

Cola Chicken (Skillet)
The skillet method of cooking goes a little faster, and takes a little over an hour. Basically, you add all of the ingredients to a skillet you've set on medium heat. Put the lid on the skillet and cook for about 45 minutes. Remove the lid, shred the chicken, and cook until the liquid reduces and you get the consistency you like for a sauce (15-30 more minutes).