Bourbon Chicken (Crockpot Recipe)

 

Bourbon Chicken (Crockpot Recipe)

Place 2lbs. of organic chicken breast in a crock pot.

In a bowl mix the sauce:

1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

4 cloves homegrown garlic

1/2 tsp. organic crushed red pepper flakes

1/3 cup organic apple juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. organic honey

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

1/4 cup home canned (or organic) ketchup

3 Tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup Bourbon

1/4 cup organic soy sauce

1/4 cup water

Mix all together and pour over chicken.  Cook on low for 7 hours or so.

Just about 15 minutes before serving, remove chicken from crock pot, shred and set aside.  

Mix 3 Tbsp. water with 3 Tbsp. organic corn starch.  Add to the crock pot mixture and stir.  

Shred chicken and add back to the crock pot. Stir.

Note:  I did not turn up the heat to speed up process, I simply let it sit on low, put the chicken back in, and gave it a stir.

Serve over organic wild rice or rice of your choice and top with chopped green onions from your herb garden.

Strawberry Margarita Jam

Saturday the rain  came back again with a vengeance.  I forgot one item at the grocery store - limes.  I had planned on canning jam first thing, but had to go back to the store first.

However, on Friday, I picked up a flat of locally grown strawberries.  Hubby got his cold strawberry pie for Father's Day, and I got some to can jam. 

 

I made strawberry margarita jam for the first time. I did an immediate taste test -  super sweet but very good.  Just a dab ol' do ya'. The recipe is in Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication:  Canning, preserving, and freezing and drying (Sept. 2013).  The recipe is also online.  

With all the rain coming, we forfeited the last of the sweet potato slips.   I hate to do that, but it's a weather crisis, and I don't want to spend the extra cash on buckets and a truck load of dirt.  Did you know organic soil for vegetables is $6.77/bag (2 cu. ft.)?  I am hanging onto about 6-7 to plant if I can, but that's all the tilled space I have, and we are running out of time.  They take much more time than regular potatoes.

We are getting more rain today.

Rhubarb Vodka

Rhubarb is in season now.  Guess what concoction I made?  Well, the title of this blog sort of gave it away, ha ha!  I created rhubarb vodka.

You can find the recipe online just about anywhere.  I used the recipe from BBC recipes online, adapted with homegrown and organic ingredients.  

Rhubarb Vodka

·         1¾ pints (3 1/2 cups) organic vodka

·         2 stalks of homegrown rhubarb
          3 Tbsp sugar

·         Lemon zest from half of one organic lemon or homegrown

·         3 organic whole cloves

·         1 organic cinnamon stick

·         

(right after adding the sugar - shake it up when you sprinkle it on the rhubarb)

1. I used my food processor to chop up the rhubarb, then placed it in a canning jar with sugar, screwed on a lid left it sit overnight.  I also put it in the refrigerator.  Note:  smaller pieces will macerate faster than larger pieces.

2. I then added the cloves, cinnamon and zest and poured in the vodka.

3 Leave the jar in a cool dark place for 3 weeks, and shake daily.

Strain using a cheesecloth.

Bottle and wait 3 months before drinking.
Shake daily.

What can you make with it?  Well, you can make Rhubarb Mimosa.  

You can also make a rhubarb martini, rhubarb fizz cocktail, rhubarb cosmopolitan, rhubarb vodka sour, and many other mixed drinks with it.  I wanted to give this a try to see if it's gift worthy or not.  Or just plain good.

Note:  Ingredients will not fit in a quart jar.  I used a larger one, but could have tripled it in it too.  We will do a taste test first, and then decide if it's gift worthy.

Note:  Each time I bake/cook with lemons, I take off the zest and put it in the freezer for cooking/baking and now boozy recipes.