Slow Cooker Pork Tacos

These delicious, succulent tacos are on the menu for Sunday night. I have a day at home to catch up on chores and some work, so bringing out the slow cooker is a perfect and easy solution to a satisfying dinner.

Ingredients:
3 whole ancho chiles - used 3 poblano peppers, roughly chopped
3 whole pasilla chiles - can leave out
4 cloves garlic
2 to 3 chipotles in adobo sauce
1/2 medium white onion, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican
3 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth - can use water if broth is not available
4 pounds boneless pork shoulder (untrimmed), cut into chunks - or any other type of pork or beef (used boston butt)
Freshly ground pepper
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick - the whole stick was too much for me, I recommend 1 tsp or tbsp
Corn tortillas, warmed, for serving
Assorted taco toppings, for garnish

Directions:
1. Put the ancho and pasilla chiles and the garlic in a bowl. Microwave on high until soft and pliable, 2 to 3 minutes. Stem and seed chiles. Transfer chiles and garlic to a blender (or food processor). Add the chipotles, onion, 2 tablespoons olive oil, honey, vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt and the oregano to the blender; puree until smooth.

2. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over high heat; add the chile sauce and fry, stirring, until thick and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Pour in the broth and reduce until slightly thickened.
3. Season the pork all over with salt and pepper and transfer to a large slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick, then pour in the sauce. Cover and cook on high until the meat is tender, about 5 hours. (Or cook the meat in a large Dutch oven, covered, for 1 hour 45 minutes at 350 degrees; uncover and cook 30 more minutes.)

4. Discard the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Shred the pork with 2 forks; season with salt and pepper. (If you prefer a thicker sauce like pictured below, leave the crock pot on Low, open the lid and let the liquid cook off for about 5-10 minutes).

5. Serve the shredded pork in the tortillas, along with toppings.


Recipe courtesy of Food Network Magazine
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/slow-cooker-pork-tacos-recipe/index.html

Red Curry Chicken - Thai our Way!

My husband and I love Thai food! One Friday night, he wanted to try making Thai at home. From that moment, we have been trying every single recipe, no matter how intimidating. Red Curry Chicken has become one of our favorite recipes. Don't be intimated by the ingredients or curry. Although there are variations to this recipe, we found this particulate one to be very easy. You can control the amount of spice and heat. We have experimented with different curry pastes and have found to love all of them.

Red Curry Chicken with Basil

Total: 25 minutes
Prep: 10 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk, shaken
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into bite size pieces (if you want to make it meat-less, use firm tofu, cut into small slices and add your desired veggies)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce or soy sauce – can leave out or substitute oyster sauce
1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced – can add extra bell pepper, onion, baby corn, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, etc.
10 large basil leaves, chopped – can leave out
Rice

Equipment: A large frying pan with tall sides and lid works much better than a wok!

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in the frying pan over medium heat.
2. Add the curry base and simmer for 2 minutes, so that it is dissolved and foaming. Stir frequently so the curry doesn’t burn.
3. Stir in the can of the coconut milk. Cook over medium heat for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally until the coconut milk begins to bubble and thickens
4. Add the sliced chicken. Simmer for 2 minutes and then add the vegetables.
5. Stir in sugar and fish sauce. Simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 3 minutes more. (I usually turn the heat down to Low-Med, close the lid, and simmer for 5-10 minutes so the vegetables soften a little. If you like a thicker sauce, keep the lid off to let the sauce reduce).
6. Add the chopped basil. Season to taste with more sugar or seasoning sauce as desired.
7. Serve chicken, vegetables, and sauce over rice.

Tip: Experiment with the amount of curry and the different types of curry. Our favorites are Panang Curry (sweeter and milder) and Massaman Curry (aromatic and loaded with dry spices). We are still exploring other curries.

Recipe courtesy of A Taste of Thai

Wedding Over, Cooking with Husband In

Our one month wedding anniversary is today! Oh, how the time flies by so fast! Although all the hard work I put into wedding planning paid off immensely, I am glad to start married life and get back to cooking with my husband. We're armored with top of the line (Calphalon One Hard Anodized Non-Stick) pans and pots, Wusthof knives, food processor, new and improved kitchen utensils and accessories, etc. So exciting! I cooked my first meal in a new pan last night so I will post the recipe here soon.




I love this picture. It's so classic, yet very paradoxical - like we're taking a leasurely walk in the park on such a busy day as our wedding day. I think it's so adorable that he's holding my bouquet!

Mastering Paella

Mayan Riviera, Mexico is a popular vacation distination for my family and my Fiancé also. We always have paella and it's so delicious. One weekend night, when we had extra time to cook dinner, we decided to master Paella. Emeril has been a great help with Cajun recipes, so we went to him first (if you haven't figured out by now, I'm a big fan of FoodTV, the tv station and the website). A little tip about Emeril's recipes - the serving sizes are huge! We were eating on this paella for a whole week.


Tips for an easy paella:

• Cut the recipe in half, or in third.
• Find a big skillet with a lid.
• Buy a roasted chicken, the meat is tender and it's so much easier than buying a 3-pound raw chicken and cutting it into small pieces. You can use the leftover bones to make chicken stock. Avoid the first step of searing the chicken.
• Leave of saffron if you don't have it. It's pretty expensive.
• Substitute Old Bay seasons (Lemon & Herb) for Creole seasoning.
• Substitute crab legs for the lobster. I will probably leave out the crab legs because they're a little difficult to eat with paella all around it.
• Mussels were delicious. Don't be afraid of cleaning them. If you squeeze them, they will begin to shut slowly. If they don't shut all the way, throw them out.
• Peel the shrimp.
• Watch the mussels and shrimp when they cook so they don't overcook.

Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/paella-recipe2/index.html

What do I do with leftover chicken stock?

Make a beef stew! Ok, ok, there is really no connection here, just a little creativity of the mind. I had chicken stock left over and I knew it was going to go to waste. Since I was working from home today, I needed an easy recipe that could simmer on the stove for hours while I worked. Chicken or pork didn’t sound appealing. The apartment is still recovering from the sea bass my fiancé attempted to pan fry and burned, so fish was out. I love cooking soups because they’re so easy and there are some amazing recipes I have found. I decided to make something with beef. Of course, it had to be beef stew…what else would we enjoy during this cold winter weather.

A quick search of FoodTV’s website, mind you a very slow search since they redesigned their website. I came upon Giada’s recipe. Giada has fool-proof, easy, flavorful recipes and is usually my top pick when I’m looking for a specific recipe.

Alterations to the recipe:

• 2 cups of wine instead of the whole bottle
• 1 pound of stew beef instead of beef brisket
• Left out pancetta, olives, and green beans
• Added sliced herbs, chopped onion, and sugar to the marinade
• Marinated for 1/2 hour on each side instead of 3 hours total
• Added sliced mushrooms
• Dredged the beef in some flour before browning

Fiancé: Absolutely delicious. He had two bowls for lunch!

Recipe: Chianti Marinated Beef Stew
Recipe courtesty Giada DeLaurentiis, 2008
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chianti-marinated-beef-stew-recipe/index.html

My Cooking Philosophy

I would like to introduce myself through my cooking philosophy. I will update this periodically with some tips and tricks for making easy, wallet-friendly, delicious meals.

SECRET #1: I have a secret for wallet-friendly, creative recipes – my pantry! I stock up when sales and coupons come around, so I always have something in my pantry I can use. The fridge and freezer are also great resources. I stand in my pantry and look at what I already have. There are always ingredients in there that I can use to make a great meal. Start in your pantry!

Secret #1a: I have to give some credit to my mom here. Her pantry and fridge are stocked full even though it’s just her and my dad living at home. My mom makes soups and casseroles all the times. She says she just throws in whatever she has in the pantry or the fridge. You would never even know!

SECRET #2: During a trip to Greenbrier Hotel in WV, we got to experience a cooking lesson from one of the 50 professional chefs in the world. She told us that a recipe is just a guideline. Read it, absorb it, and make it your own. Obviously, when you’re baking, you need to be precise, so I suggest following recipes for baked goods. But for regular meals, whether you’re grilling, sautéing, braising, baking, or broiling, take the recipe as a guideline. A lot of times, I might leave out an ingredient or two if I don’t have them, or change the volume of something if I don’t have enough or have too much.