Dave’s Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

My friend Dave loves his slow cooker and this is one of his no fail recipes for flavorful fall off the bone chicken that needs very little attention from start to finish.

Being the minimalist cook that I am, I must admit that I was a bit intimidated by the list of 10 herbs and spices that made up the seasoning mix. But after a closer look at the ingredient list I realized that I had 9 of the 10 ingredients already in my spice drawer. The spice that was absent was the savory and I swapped it out with sage because that’s what I had and it worked perfectly.

Dave and I cooked this together in his slow cooker and it was DELICIOUS. However, I wanted to get a brown crispy skin so I cooked mine in the oven and I was quite happy with the results.

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

I found it quite interesting when I discover that split pea soup has been around since ancient times, dating back to around 500 BC., where vendors in the streets of Athens sold it as "hot pea soup".  My question is, who brought it to Hawaii?, because that's where I learned to eat it.

Portuguese Bean Soup

If there is one soup that represents Hawaii it would be the infamous Portuguese Bean Soup, a richly flavored ham broth kicked up several notches with the distinctly unique flavor of Portuguese sausage and laced with a light tomato flavor. If that’s not enough to get your taste buds tingling, how about the addition of onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, kidney beans and cabbage? This is definitely a soup, but could easily be mistaken as a stew, because of all the hearty chunks of goodness in it.

Hawaiian Style Slow Cooker Baked Beans

I make baked beans once a year and it is usually for the first BBQ of the season.  The one thing that defines our family BBQ’s is a big pot of sweet and savory Hawaiian inspired baked beans with Portuguese sausage, better known as Linguica outside of Hawaii.

Corned Beef Brisket with Cabbage

Even though I’m not Irish I cook up a corned beef for St. Patrick's Day every year and wear a touch of green for fear of getting pinched.  

My family loves corned beef and cabbage, as well as, the corned beef hash that comes after.

Beef Vegetable Soup

It’s snowing outside and the first thing that comes to mind is a big pot of hearty beef vegetable soup to warm up the house and my soul. 

Soup size pieces of tender beef, carrots, cabbage, and beans that gather together on a spoon.