City Chicken a.k.a. Mock Chicken Legs

This post is mainly a marker; I haven't actually made these yet, but my mother-in-law does every year, and since they're a family favorite, I figure I should record the recipe for posterity. Next year, I'll watch her make them and add more details, but for now, she offered this:

Ingredients:

4 lbs. veal (special order from the butcher)

4 lbs. pork boneless roast, also special ordered, because the butcher cuts it up for mock chicken legs, though Grandma cuts them further.)

Put on sticks (the butcher from Festival Foods throws these in with the the price of the meat), alternating pork and veal.

Dip in egg, roll in saltine cracker crumbs (w salt and pepper)

Brown in Crisco in roaster (This is the most time-consuming part, as this recipe makes about 50 "legs."

Place in roaster (covered) with 1 large diced onion over the tops, in oven at 350 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes or so (50 legs takes that long, apparently) Poke with a fork to check for doneness. Transfer to another pan to keep warm so that you can make gravy from leavings in bottom of pan.

Finally, have a family feast!

Stay tuned for updates next year! :)

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

Last summer, my niece and her kids stayed with us for some days during which I was tutoring in the morning, and this recipe seemed like a great idea; you make it the night before, let it cook all night, and let your guests eat it when they wake up. They loved it. I made it again last night for my daughter and her friends (who had a college-friends-catch-up sleepover) so I took a few pics and thought I'd share the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 24-oz bag of frozen hashbrowns 

1 lb. cooked bacon or sausage (I used one package of regular breakfast sausage in a tube.), drained

2 cups of grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

Optional ingredients:

1/2 cup diced green onions 

1 green pepper, diced 

1 cup diced diced mushrooms (my addition, required, if you ask me!)

1 dozen eggs

1 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon dried mustard (optional)

Directions:

First, cook and drain the meat, crumbling the bacon if that's what you used.

Layer the hash browns, meat, veggies, and cheese 2-3 times, ending with cheese. My crock pot is big, so I just made two layers.

Whisk eggs, milk, and seasonings together

and pour evenly over the stuff in the crock pot.

Set to low for eight hours, checking after seven hours but making sure the eggs are cooked. This recipe can burn around the edges if you let it go too long. Here's what mine looked like after seven hours:

I served it with ketchup, and it was fantastic. YUM

I just realized that this recipe would be perfect to make at our family reunion next summer; it can easily be prepped ahead.

For a printer-friendly copy without the pictures, click here.

I found this recipe here.