barbacoa

There is a restaurant here in our home town, that make AWESOME burritos... not quite Chipotle... but still as great. I was searching the internet for some ideas; for ingredients. Tweaked a few ingredients to fit my family's taste. Absolutely loved it, not bad for my first barbacoa.


Ingredients:

-about 3 lbs of chuck roast (or any kind of roast - for me I use what I have, because I get my meat by the whole, I get half the cow/pig and another family gets the other half ... much cheaper that way!)
-1 tablespoon of oil (I use olive oil, but vegetable or canola is fine)
-1/4 cup of apple cider viniger
or.... because I didn't have apple cider viniger when I made it, I used
               -2 tablespoons of apple cider

               -2 tablespoon of white viniger

-1/2 cup of chipotle pepper marinade mix (1 packet makes 1/2 cup... follow directions on packet)
-4 cloves of garlic

-1 tablespoon ground cummin

-1/2 tablespoon oregano

-1/2 tablespoon black pepper
-1/2 tablespoon sea salt
-1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- about 3/4 cups of beef stock

In a food processor combine all ingredients, except for the oil, roast and beef stock. Process for about 1 minute, until mixed well and saucy. let that sit for a few minutes.

In the a crock-pot, add the oil and turn on high (let it heat up).

With the roast, pat dry, trim the fat, cut if needed to fit in the crock-pot ( I cut into large pieces).

Place the meat in the crock-pot, add your sauce and add the beef stock (you want the fluid to come 2/3 of the way up on the meat.

Turn the crock=-pot to low for about 6-8 hours. Until you are able to pull the meat apart. (varies depending on the meat and crock-pot)

Lasagna

preheat oven 350*F

Grease 9x13in baking dish

Filling > 15oz of Ricotta cheese mixed with 2 eggs & 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
          > Spaghetti Sauce (either home made or store bought)
          > 9 lasagna noodles
          > 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
          > 4 cups of mozzarella cheese


Cook Lasagna noodles (9 of them), three at a time so they don't stick together. And it also depends on how big your pot is. Also to prevent the noodles from sticking together add about a tablespoon of oil (I use olive oil). Every brand is different, so cook the noodles the way the direction says on the package. Pat dry before layering. I use a kitchen towel (clean) because the paper towel likes to stick to the noodles.

Layering
1. spaghettii sauce
2. 3 noodles
3. ricotta cheese mixture
4. parmesan cheese
5. shredded mozzarella cheese
6. Repeat 1-5 (sauce, parm, moz)
7. Last layer is noodles, sauce and mozzarella cheese


Cover with foil, lightly. Try not to let the foil touch the cheese. If it does then when the cheese melts, it will stick and pull it all off. So use your hand to pop it up, not letting the foil touch.
Bake at 350*F for 1 hour

Food For Thought

Actually, a medium-size spud has only 110 calories, is naturally fat free, high in vitamin C and packs more potassium than a banana. 

Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:
2- 12 oz cans of tomato paste
4- 12 oz cans of water
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs basil
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs parsley
1/2 tbs Italian seasoning
1 tbs sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb of ground beef
1/2 lb of ground pork

brown your beef and pork, drain

In a large pot add, tomato paste, water, seasoning, sugar and stir. Add browned meat.
simmer for 1-2 hours

EASY meatballs/pepperoni

An easy recipe that my paternal grandmother in law gave me.
Great for game days and parties!

Ingredients:
-meatballs (package from the frozen section)
-pepperoni (the log and slice them (1/2 inch)
-spaghetti sauce


Put it all  into a crock pot for 4-6 hours on low.

Get your toothpicks and serve!

I love the kick the. pepperoni gives to it