Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef

Makes enough meat to stuff 30 tacos
4 chipotle peppers (from a can) plus all the adobo sauce it sits in
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 red onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 head garlic, peeled and cloves smashed
5 dry bay leaves
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Juice of 4 limes
1/2 cup cider vinegar
5 to 7 pounds beef brisket
4 to 6 cups beef or chicken stock


Stir together chipotle peppers and sauce, cilantro, red onion, garlic, clove, salt, lime juice, and cider vinegar in the insert of a slow cooker (if you have a food processor, pulse till combined first before adding). Place the brisket on top of this mixture. (I like to cut my brisket in two pieces so it fits better in the slow cooker.) Add stock to cover the meat and place bay leaves on top. Use tongs to move the meat around gently to combine everything and put the lid on.
Cook on HIGH for 4 hours. Once finished, turn crock pot to WARM and let sit for 6 to 8 hours.
I like to make mine before bed and then let it sit on WARM overnight. This allows the meat to cook fully and then come to a point where it can be shredded easily and will essentially fall apart when pulled with a fork. If you don't have overnight to accomplish this, another hour of cooking on HIGH will get the job done. The meat will not be as tender, but will still be tasty.
Remove meat from slow cooker and place on rimmed baking sheet. Use two forks to pull the meat apart. Discard the fat, if desired. If you plan on frying it again before use, the small fat bits are extra tasty and should be kept! Place shredded beef in large bowl and ladle cooking liquid over the top a few scoops at a time. You want the meat to hold the liquid but not swim in it.
To keep it warm for guests you can return it to your slow cooker after you have removed the remaining liquid. That liquid is extra tasty and can be frozen into ice cube-sized portions to be used in other dishes later, if you so desire. Serve with fresh tortillas, onion, cilantro, and salsa.
Note: This recipe makes roughly 30 tacos, give or take. You can make two recipes back to back in your slow cooker for the initial 4 hour cooking time (or two slow cookers at the same time) and then add the meat to the same slow cooker to sit overnight since the meat will have reduced in size. This will allow 60 tacos of meat to be finished up at the same time.

Minestrone soup

Ingredients

• 3 large carrots , roughly chopped
• 1 large onion , roughly chopped
• 4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• 2 large potatoes , cut into small dice
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2l vegetable stock
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 400g can butter or cannellini beans
• 140g spaghetti , snapped into short lengths
• 1⁄2 head Savoy cabbage , shredded
• crusty bread , to serve

1. In a food processor, whizz the carrots, onion and celery into small pieces. Heat the oil in a pan, add the processed vegetables, garlic and potatoes, then cook over a high heat for 5 mins until softened.
2. Stir in the tomato purée, stock and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 mins.
3. Tip in the beans and pasta, then cook for a further 10 mins, adding the cabbage for the final 2 mins. Season to taste and serve with crusty bread.

Tilapia in thai sauce

Ingredients

• 4 tilapia fillets
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 4 spring onions , sliced
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• small piece fresh ginger , finely chopped
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• juice 1 lime , plus 1 lime chopped into wedges, to serve
• 1 red chilli , deseeded and sliced
• handful Thai basil leaves or coriander leaves

Coat the fish fillets in the cornflour, then set aside. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan, sizzle the fillets for 2-3 mins on each side until crisp, then remove and keep warm. In the same pan, briefly fry the spring onion, garlic and ginger, then add the soy sauce, brown sugar and lime juice and simmer until slightly syrupy. Spoon the sauce over the fish, scatter with chilli, Thai basil or coriander, then serve with the lime wedges.

Chilli prawn noodles

Ingredients

• oil , for frying
• 1 red chilli , chopped
• 1 orange or red pepper , deseeded and sliced
• 150g sugar snap peas , sliced lengthways
• 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 3 tbsp ketchap manis or soy sauce with a pinch of sugar
• 2 x 150g straight-to-wok medium noodle , pouches
• small bunch chives and coriander
• 300g raw peeled prawns

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok or frying pan and cook the prawns for 1 minute. Remove.
2. Tip in the chilli and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add the spring onion and sugar snap peas and cook for 1 minute, then add the sweet chilli sauce, ketchap manis, noodles and about 100ml water.
3. Simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce is syrupy, then stir in the prawns.
4. Snip the chives and coriander over.

Falafel

Ingredients:

• 2 x 400g tin of chick peas
• 2 x small onions
• 2 x clove garlic
• 2 x eggs
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp coriander
• 2 tsp paprika
• Large bunch of fresh parsley
• 1tbsp lemon
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper

Finely chop onions and garlic and cook on low heat in oil until soft not brown,
Wash and drain chick peas and place in food processor with onions, garlic and all other ingredients. (if you don’t have a food processor mashing in a bowl will work but will take time).
To cook heat a fair amount of oil on a medium heat, shape mix into small patties and place in oil (makes about 16).
Cook for three minutes each side avoiding touching them while they are cooking and turning very carefully or they will break apart. Ideally would deep fat fry for a couple of minutes instead if you have a deep fat fryer.

Uzbek Palov Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs fresh lamb (better if you have some meat on the bone for the taste)
• 2 medium onions
• 5 medium carrots
• 3,5 cups of rice
• 1 bulb of garlic washed (optional) if the skin is to think remove the top layer only*
• 1 cup of canola oil
• 3 tsp of salt
• 1,5 tsp of ground cumin (or 1 tsp of ground cumin & 1/2 tsp of whole cumin)
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 8 cups of previously boiled water



Directions: Clean, wash and julienne carrots like in the below pictures
Cut the onion in half circles measuring 1/4 of an inch. Keep the meat in bigger chunks.
Heat the medium cast iron pan or a regular non stick pan. Add the oil and heat it on high heat until you see a slight smoke
Using a skimmer carefully and slowly lower the meat in to the oil. You should immediately see the boiling sensation around the meat. Keep on each side for 30 seconds and keep frying until desired color is reached. Remember you are frying the meat on a high heat. Once the meat has a slight brown crust put the onions on top. Add pinch of the cumin half of the salt and the black pepper. Mix everything well and keep mixing to prevent the ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Since you are cooking on high heat these steps are going to happen quickly. Stay on top of everything.
Color of the onions is the essential element do determine the color of the Palov. If you are aiming for a lighter color Palov, there is no need to much caramelize the onions.
Once the onions reach the desired color, put ready carrots in the pan. Add remaining salt and cumin. Stir everything well and fry until carrots are relatively soft. Keep stirring every 30 seconds to prevent the carrots sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the carrots are ready turn the heat down to medium (5 in electric stove tops) and pour previously prepared 8 cups of boiled water.
Water will start simmering but not boiling. Add the garlic bulb, push it deeper in to the bullion and let everything simmer on medium heat for 1 hour. Meanwhile, depending on the type of the rice you are using, wash it thoroughly. Sometimes it takes multiple washes to get the starch out of the rice.
When the time is up, remove the garlic bulb and evenly distribute the rice with the skimmer. If the water is not enough, add some more water. If using the Basmati rice, keep the water level 1 inch above the rice, for any other time keep it 1/2 inch above the rice level. From this point, until Palov is ready, there is no mixing the ingredients together. You need to keep everything layered until Palov is ready.
Drop the garlic bulb back in the pan. Remember – your heat is on medium. Be attentive, water may evaporate faster than you expect.
Once the rice starts absorbing the water, take out the garlic bulb. Using the skimmer, flip the top layer of the rice to keep it evenly moist (this is the original way of letting the rice absorb the water. If you want to speed up this process close the lid of the pot for about 8 minutes and in medium-high heat let it stand for 10 minutes or until the rice absorbs the water. Check every 2 minutes, because you do not want the bottom of the Palov burnt).
Check the sides of the pan to make sure there is no water remaining. Turn the heat down to medium-low and quickly make a dome from the rice. Put the garlic bulb on top of the rice and push it in.
Cover the rice with a plate suitable for high temperatures. Put the lid on the pan and TURN THE HEAT DOWN TO LOWEST. In electric stoves it is 1. In Gas stoves it is barely visible flame. Let Palov rest for 20 minutes (Basmati 30 minutes).
Once the time is up, remove the lid and the plate. Remove the garlic bulb, extract the meat and mix the rest of the ingredients using the skimmer
Cut up the meat into a small cubes and serve it on top of the Palov.

Meat Pie

Ingredients for the crust:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour (or less)

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 lb lamb meat
• 2 medium onions
• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 ground black pepper
• 1/2 ground cumin
• 1 egg

Directions:
In a medium bowl mix melted butter, sour cream, 1 egg, baking powder and salt.
 If your sour cream is on the thick side, add the first 2 cups of flour and see if you can knead a very soft dough, which will not stick to your hands or to the walls of the bowl. If that doesn’t seem to be enough, add the remaining flour and keep on kneading. Once done kneading, divide the dough into two portions. One portion should be slightly smaller than the other one. Ultimately, bigger portion goes on the bottom of the pie and the smaller one is going to cover the top of the pie. Wrap them with a plastic wrap and set aside to rest.
Preheat the oven at 375F. Thinly chop up the onions. Cut the meat into tiny cubes and cut the potatoes into small cubes, too. Place these 3 ingredients in a medium bowl, add the spices and mix well. Set aside.
Take out the bigger dough ball and roll it into a 12-15 inch circle. Carefully place the dough on top of the baking sheet. I usually roll the dough around the rolling pin and carefully unroll the dough over the baking sheet. The dough is very soft but it should not be a big hassle to work with.
Place the filling evenly on top of the flat dough leaving 2 inches of space on all sides. Following the same steps, roll the second dough, making it slightly smaller than the previous one. Cover the top of the meat mixture with the second dough and seal the edges nicely.
Mix the egg with a little bit of water and brush the top of the pie with it. Make small cuts on top of the dough to help the heat escape. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the pie turns golden brown.