It's Never Too Cold For Gelato

Many, many choices...

 In a mind-boggling tangle of chain restaurants and megastores at Colorado Springs' University Village (Panera, Chipotle, BJ's, Costco, Target, Loews, Kohl's, etc.) lies an unassuming gelato shop called Glacier.  This place has the ability to get me to eat dessert many more times than I normally would.  I think about stopping here every single time I go to Costco.  I don't, but I do often visit because I don't want these Boulder folks to regret opening up a Colorado Springs location.

It's so special that I feed this to my kids often, too!  I hate to sugar up the little ones, but this is just so darn tasty.  How could I deny my family the wonderful flavors of Nutella, Pistachio, Straciatella, Lemon Poppy Seed, Bittersweet Valrohna Chocolate, Hazelnut, Coffee, Colorado Peach, Pumpkin, Sweet Potato Pie, Vanilla Bean, or Caramel?

Glacier also sells pints to go which are reasonably priced at $3.99 each.  Enormous gelato and cookie sandwiches are $6.50.  They also have coffee drinks, too, although these are a bit weak for my taste.  But if you're into lots of milk and syrup and little espresso or coffee, then these hot numbers are for you.

If you stick with the ice cream or gelato, you will not be sorry.  It's worth a trip even when it's almost winter in the Rockies.

Slow and Easy Wins the Race

I did it!  I finally broke down and bought a slow cooker!  Then I checked out a bunch of cookbooks and found, much to my chagrin, that this is NOT one-pot cooking.  In fact, you dirty a lot more pots and pans, because you end up sauteeing everything first, then putting it all into the slow-cooker, then sometimes even sauteeing it all AGAIN!  So why do it?

Well, it is nice to be able to have a warm meal ready and waiting for you when you'd like it.  Sometimes you don't want to cook during that hour right before dinner.  And maybe your family has a particular weakness for very tender meat.

This recipe dirties one pot/pan (I traditionally use one of those Le Creuset dutch ovens for all my pre-slow-cooker cooking), one baking sheet, and then the slow cooker.  You have to cook the stuff again after the slow-cooker part, but I just used the same pan again.  If you line the baking sheet with parchment paper, then the baking sheet doesn't get too messy.  This dinner was a huge hit with everyone in the family and I got 2 dinners out of it!

slow -cooked teriyaki chicken - art of the slow cooker, by andrew schloss

1 T vegetable oil

4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8), bone-in (or you can mix thighs and drumsticks)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T finely grated gingerroot

1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 T water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sherry or apple juice

1 T rice wine vinegar

2 T dark molasses

3 T honey

2 t cornstarch

1 t dark sesame oil

2 scallions, trimmed and cut into thin slices

heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. brown the chicken thighs in batches on both sides, about 3 minutes per side, then transfer to a 5 - 6 quart slow cooker. 

add the garlic and ginger to the skillet and cook over med-high heat until aromatic, about 30 seconds. add the 1/4 cup of water and scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. add the soy sauce, sherry/apple juice, rice wine vinegar, molasses, and honey and stir to blend. pour over the chicken, cover the cooker, and cook on high for 2 -3 hours, until the chicken is cooked through. 

preheat the broiler to high.  remove the chicken to a rimmed baking tray lined with parchment paper and broil for 2 minutes on each side.  while the chicken is broiling, pour the liquid from the cooker into a skillet. bring to a boil over med-high heat. dissolve the cornstarch in the 1 1/2 T of water, add to the sauce in the skillet, and stir until the sauce is lightly thickened, about 1 minute. arrange the chicken on a platter and spoon the sauce over top. drizzle with sesame oil, and sprinkle with the scallions.