Short Ribs and Barley

This recipe is a little out of season, I'll admit it. It's a little more fall/winter comfort food, than light summer fare. But it's been raining almost non-stop here and somehow it feels like fall is right around the corner (I can't believe how fast this summer went). This easy, slow cooker feast is so incredibly delicious that I know I will be making it all fall and winter. I bought bone in short ribs by accident and I am so glad that I did, the bones add so much beefy flavor to the broth, and by the time it's done cooking the meat falls clean off the bone. So if it's wet and cold where you are, make this right now, and if it's still summery, definitely keep this deliciousness in you back pocket for when fall comes.

Don't forget to enter the Coconut Oil Giveaway before Friday!

Short Ribs and Barley:
1 medium yellow onion
1 shallot
5 oz of mushrooms, shitake or exotic blend (1 package)
2 cloves of garlic
4 cups of beef stock, low sodium
1/4 cup of dry sherry wine
1 cup of pearled barley, raw
1 tsp of pepper
1/4 tsp of salt
1 1/2 lbs of bone in short ribs, 2 or 3 ribs
Olive Oil
Salt, pepper

Heat a small pan over high heat. While it's heating, thinly slice onions and shallots and add to a slow cooker. Add in mushrooms. Mince garlic and add as well. Pour in stock and sherry and stir. Add barley, salt and pepper and stir. Run the short ribs with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Sear in the pan on all sides until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Add to the top of the slow cooker and press down into the liquid. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Remove meat from the slow cooker and pull out the bones, this will be extremely easy. Shred meat. Serve a bowl full of barley topped with some meat.

Happy Eating.

Beef and Onion Soup

As I made this delicious soup, and again writing this, I wonder if this will be my last slow cooker post for awhile. I tend not to use it when it gets warmer, because, it's hot and I am not craving the comforting stews and soups. It's sad because I love the slow cooker, but also extremely happy, because it's finally not warmer. This is a perfect way to say goodbye to the slow cooker for awhile it combines two of my favorite things, onion soup and short ribs. It takes a plain old bowl of onion soup and decadants it up (without the cheese, but feel free to add it for a truely wild treat). So I will enjoy one last bowl of warm delicious comfort and then I will say hello to the fresh deliciousness of Spring and Summer.

Beef and Onion Soup:
1 lb beef short ribs
1 tbsp of butter
5 medium onions
1 medium shallot
2 cloves of garlic
1 bottle of beer
3 cups of water or beef stock
2 tbsp of Worchestershire sauce
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of dried oregano
salt, pepper

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper and brown on all sides until carmelized, about 2 minutes per side. In the meantime rough chop the onions and add to the basin of a slow cooker. Dice the garlic and shallots and add to the slow cooker as well. Pour beer, water, and Worchestershire sauce. Stir in sugar and oregano, and season lightly with salt and pepper (you can always add more). Add seared short ribs and cover. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. When finshed cooking, shred beef with two forks and adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with hearty bread.

Happy Eating.

Short Rib Tacos

This past weekend I was watching Barefoot Contessa do he thing in the kitchen, and she was talking about her love affair with high-low foods. I absolutely loved this idea, taking something fancy, gourmet, and expensive, and adding it to something typically made with cheaper, common ingredients, bringing the food off it's pedestal and back to us common folk. Later, at Wegmans, I happened to see the most perfect and beautiful looking short ribs, so I bought them. When planning my slow cooker madness, I remembered what Ina had said, and decided these short ribs were just meant to be tacos. And they were. The pictures didn't come out as fantastically as I hoped, but I simply had to share this with you, because this is, in my opinion the most delicious and best thing I have ever cooked. I am being serious. I cannot ever remember a meal I've made being so delicious, so incredible, so amazingly perfect. For a slow cooker meal, this is more work than I typically like, but it is totally and completely worth it. So make a batch and enjoy.



For the Short Ribs:
1/2 tbsp oil
1-1.5 lbs of boneless short ribs
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of chili powder

For the cooking sauce:
1 red pepper
1/2 onion
1 tbsp of rice vinegar
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tsp of corn starch
1 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of sherry
4 cloves of garlic
1 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled
1/4 lemon, juice
3 whole peeled plum tomatoes (canned), plus 1 tbsp of their juices

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Rub the short ribs with salt, pepper and chili powder. Brown the ribs on each side (all 4) for 2 minutes. Transfer ribs to the bowl of a slow cooker. Dice the onion and red pepper and add to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft. In the meantime in a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt, chili powder and corn starch. When the onions have softened, add the sherry to the pan, and stir, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Add in the soy sauce mixture and cook stirring until the sauce thickens slightly, about 30 seconds. Transfer contents of pan into a food processor or blender. Add the ginger, garlic, lemon juice, tomatoes, and tomato juice and puree until smooth. Pour the sauce over the ribs. Up to this point can be done the night before, just refrigerate the slow cooker bowl over night, and cook the next morning. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or according to the directions of your slow cooker. After cooking, remove the ribs from the slow cooker and transfer to a bowl. Shred the meat with two forks (this will be very easy to do). Ladle the cooking liquid to another bowl for serving, if desired. Serve the ribs with taco fixings (listed at bottom) and salsa verde.



Salsa Verde:
6 medium tomatillos, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of cilantro
1 jalapeño
1/4 large red onion
1/2 a lime, zested and juiced
salt, pepper

In a small pot, over high heat, cook the tomatillos and garlic until they are soft, about 7 minutes. Drain the pot of the liquid and add tomatillos and garlic to a blender or food processor. Add red onion, cilantro, and jalapeño. Puree until smooth. Add the lime juice and zest and stir. Salt and pepper to taste. This makes a lot of salsa, serve some with the tacos and keep the rest for chips and salsa snacking later on.



Taco Fixings and assembly:
Small flour tortillas
Sour Cream
Queso Blanco/ Queso Fresco
Diced red onion
Salsa verde
Lime wedges

Queso Blanco (Queso fresco is very similar), in case you are unfamiliar with it, is a delicious mild soft/crumbly Mexican cheese. It has a nice salty bite, and is really just delicious. It's great with these tacos and also with guacamoles.



Heat the tortillas on a hot pan on both sides. Add a scoop of meat to the tortilla, then sprinkle with onion, salsa verde, cheese, and a squeeze of lime. Serve with sour cream for dipping (or on it). Enjoy the insane high-low deliciousness!



Happy Eating.

Pulled Pork

Happy almost the weekend. I am loving football season this year, it seems like Sundays can't come fast enough. Need something delicious for to watch your favorite team or to tailgate like a pro? Enter pulled pork, serve it on sandwiches, rice or broccoli. Or you can just eat it right out of the crock pot. And if you really want to impress your friends, family, significant other, skip the bottle of BBQ sauce and cook up some of your own. It is super easy to make and the whole house smells like deliciousness for the whole day.



Spice Rub:
2 Tbsp of brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. (that was easy)

Pulled Pork:
2 lb pork tenderloin
Spice rub from above
1 1/2 cups of chicken stock
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
2 heaping tbsp of tomato paste

Wash the pork and pat dry. Rub with the spice rub all over until the spices are worked into the meat. In a slow cooker, add the chicken stock, vinegar and tomato paste into a slow cooker. Stir to combine. Put pork into the cooker and cover. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.



BBQ Sauce:
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1/2 cup of ketchup
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar (or other light color variety)
1 heaping tbsp of tomato paste
1/4 cup of molasses
1 tbsp of smoked hot sauce
Salt, Pepper

Heat the tomato sauce and ketchup in a small pot and bring to a boil. Add all of the other ingredients and stir. Reduce to low heat and cook covered for at least 20 minutes and up to 3 hours. The longer you cook it the deeper the flavors will be. Season with salt, pepper and additional hot sauce to taste. Serve and enjoy.




Happy Eating

Slow Cooked Short Ribs

Another great thing about the cooler weather is using the slow cooker. When I get home, it smells warm and yummy, instead of just being oppressively hot. I love my slow cooker, generally, the meals take very little work. And, if the meal did take any work, by the time you eat it, you don't even remember the work, after all it was 8 to 10 hours ago.



Short Ribs in Wine Sauce:
1 lb of beef short ribs
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 yellow onions
1 shallot
2 garlic cloves
2 medium turnips
1 large zucchini
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 cups of beef stock
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
salt, pepper
1/2 a bag of egg noodles (8 oz)
2 Tbsp of butter
2 Tbsp of flour
1 Tbsp of sour cream

In a large skillet heat the oil over high. Rub the short ribs with brown sugar, lightly salt and pepper them. Brown the ribs on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Chop the onion, turnips (peeled) and zucchini, put in the slow cooker. Mince the garlic and the shallots and add to the slow cooker. Add the wine, stock, vinegar, Worcestershire and soy sauce to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Top with the short ribs and cover with the lid. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Before serving, cook the egg noodles to package directions. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, stirring to prevent burning. Whisk the flour into the butter. Add about 1 1/2 cups (rough, no need to measure) of the liquids from the slow cooker to the rue, then bring to a boil. Reduce to low and cook, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Serve meat and veggies over egg noodles and topped with the thickened sauce. Enjoy.

Happy Eating.

Weekend Round-Up and Then Some

Well... I am sorry I was gone so long. Last week was just one of those weeks. I have a lot to catch you up on. So, I will start with last weekend. I took a little trip to DC to spend some very girly time with a darling friend (who requested a shout out). On Saturday night, she, her roommate and I, made leg of lamb with yogurt sauce and couscous. Well, I learned that I do not know whether or not something is done with out the assistance of my boyfriend, but dinner was none the less very good. I made the lamb with the same spices as I did here. The recipe for my delicious yogurt sauce is there as well (It's good enough to eat by itself, just ask the Rachels). I loved the couscous I made, it was extremely easy and very tasty. The weekend was extremely fun and extremely food-y. We ate at 2 different French restaurants (one for dinner, one for brunch), both were amazing. But anyway...

Couscous:

1 box of original couscous
2 cups (or however much is specified on box) of chicken stock
1 tbsp of butter
1/3 cup of pine nuts
1/3 cup of craisins or raisins

Make the couscous according to the directions on the box, but use chicken stock and butter instead of water. Toast the pine nuts in the oven, this will only take about 5 minutes on 375 degrees, you could also do it in a pan. When the couscous is done, fluff it with a spoon and stir in the toasted pine nuts and craisins. This side is delicious and takes about 6 minutes to make, so enjoy!

Well after my wonderful DC weekend, I had a very busy week. Some highlights from it, I made chicken kebabs, again, and they were just as delicious. I cooked with my mom one night, we made grilled salmon, shrimp and sautéed veggies. No recipes to share, but it was fun to be someone's sous chef, for a change. Then for the big one. This weekend featured two delectable dinners. Last night I made my version of Barefoot Contessa's "Engagement Chicken" again. It was my best chicken ever and I did not take it out of the oven too soon (another first).

The real excitement, however, was Friday night. I finally used the rest of the Bison meat that we were given. I decided I was going to make it into a stew (get out your slow cookers). This ended up being the right choice, because the meat, it turns out was in chunks. The stew was surprisingly delicious. And if you do decide to cook bison, be warned, the meat smells when it's raw, the smell goes away when cooked.

Bison Stew:

1 lb of Bison meat
1 can of beer
2 cups of beef stock
1-2 large potatoes
1 large onion
4 Cloves of garlic
Handful of baby carrots
1 head of broccoli
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes.

Give potatoes, onions, garlic and carrots a rough chop and put them in the slow cooker. Add beer and stock to the slow cooker. Add salt, pepper and flakes to taste. Salt and pepper the meat and add to the pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Give broccoli and rough chop and toss in as well, cook on low for about 20 minutes until broccoli is tender. Serve and Enjoy.

This is why I love the slow cooker, a few ingredients and 5 minutes of work for something that is warm and delicious, and tastes like it's been cooking all day (hey, it has!). Ok, that is all for now.

Happy Eating.

Weekend Cooks and Crafts

Well, I had a very marvelous, relaxing weekend. I love a long weekend (who doesn't). Plenty of time to cook and craft! I only cooked twice (had to enjoy some nights out and football), but I crafted and knitted a ton to make up for it.

On Friday, I made fried rice, which is one of my staples and go a to quick dinner. But, I will talk about it another time.

First crafting! On Saturday I hit the clearance sale at Micheal's hard. I bought a ton of paper, card stock, glitter, ribbon and other general supplies. And then spent the weekend (in addition to knitting, of course) making cards and frou-frou Valentine's Day crafts (mostly inspired from the Martha Stewart website's Valentine's day section). Now I am not a major Valentine's day person, but I do love to craft and I love hand made cards. I will post some pictures of them later today (if I can). The cat also enjoyed crafting, he kept jumping on the paper to stop it from moving, very adorable.

Monday night, which was this week's Sunday (roasting night!), I made pot roast and mash potatoes (using the left over butter milk from the corn muffins). It was in the slow cooker, so not really roasting, but has that patient, lazy Sunday, flavorful feel to it. Plus the meat is guaranteed to be moist and no knives are necessary to eat it.

Pot Roast:
2-3 Lbs of chuck roast
2 yellow onions
2-3 Tbsp of Flour
2-3 Tbsp brown sugar
3 leeks
3 Carrots
3 garlic cloves
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Parsley
Avocado Oil (or another high heat oil)
2 Cups beef stock
1/2 a large can of grape tomatoes
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes.

Heat the oil in a pan. Salt and pepper the meat, and rub with a sprinkling of fresh thyme. Then lightly flour the the roast, then rub brown sugar all over as well. Brown meat of both sides in the hot pan, so that sugar caramelizes (a minute or 2 on both sides). Put meat in the slow cooker. Give onions, garlic and leeks a rough chop. Lower heat on pan, and slightly brown the onions, garlic and leeks, let cook down on low for about 5 minutes. In the mean time, chop carrots and put in slow cooker. Add stock, and tomatoes and juice (from the can) to slow cooker as well. Add thyme, parsley, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. When the onion mixture has cooked down a bit, add that as well. Stir so that meat is more on the top and veggies are all mixed in. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Take meat out of the slow cooker and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing (it will fall apart like slow cooker goodness should). Serve meat with the veggies and gravy on the side or on top (and mash potatoes on the side)

Happy Eating.

Success in a Slow Cooker

While the debate rages on about whose slow cooker I used to make the chili, there is no debate that it a, it was in fact chili and the b, it was good.

So, it wasn't your classic chili and certainly would be disqualified from any chili competition but it sure was tasty and super easy to make. I will share my pseudo-recipe with you.

1 Yellow Onion (or half if it is very large)
1 Green Pepper
2 Garlic Cloves
2 to 3 chillies of your favorite variety (I used 2 greens and a shrivel-y orange one)
1 29 oz can of stewed tomatoes with juices (the big can)
1 29 oz can of tomato puree (the big can again)
1 cup of dried black beans
1 cup of dried kidney beans
1 to 1.5 pounds of lean chuck stew meat (trust me)
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and a whole lot of cumin
Sour cream, cheese, and cilantro for serving

Dump the 2 cans of tomato product into a Croc Pot. Dice the onion, pepper, chillies and garlic and throw them in the Croc Pot as well. Rinse the beans in cold water (ignore the instructions on the back of the bag, they are not for a slow cooker, just rinse in cold water and drain) then throw them in the pot. Stir everything together. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and cumin (use a lot of this) to taste. The flavor will intensify and be less tomato-y when its cooked, but it should still taste good. When you are satisfied that you have seasoned it enough, season the meat with salt, pepper and cumin then throw it in. Stir again. Put the lid on and cook on low for 8-10 hours (I'm guessing 5-6 hours on high would also work, but I didn't try it). Mine cooked for about 10, because I was at work and the mystery owned Croc Pot did not have an automatic go to warm on it, if your's does feel free to use it after 8 or 9 hours, but if it doesn't don't worry about it. Serve with sour cream, cheese and a little fresh cilantro (if you have it handy) and some bread if you, like me cannot eat a meal without bread.

It was so tasty, and the meat just falls apart and is so tender, you can eat it with a spoon. Definitely something I will be making again!

Happy Eating