Cuban Shredded Beef

I made this today. It makes a lot, so I froze the left overs for later. This would probably also be good made with a pork roast. I used a red bell pepper instead of green, hickory smoked salt for the regular salt and garlic pepper for the black pepper. It had a nice smoky flavor. This a "Mr. Food" recipe. I served it in tortillas. On the original recipe he just served it on a big roll.

Ingredients
4 to 6 servings
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (2-1/2- to 3-pound) bottom round roast
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
In a slow cooker (3-1/2 quarts or larger), combine bell pepper, onion, and garlic; place roast on top of vegetables.
In a small bowl, combine tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper; mix well and pour over roast. Cover and cook on high setting 7 to 8 hours, or until meat pulls apart with a fork.

Turn off slow cooker and shred beef by pulling it apart with 2 forks. Stir beef mixture and allow to sit 5 minutes.

Crispy Fried Chicken Tenders

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken tenders
Salt/Pepper to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten with 2 Tbsp milk
1 cup dry breadcrumbs, seasoned (I used Italian, plus put some rotisserie chicken seasoning in)
1/4 cup olive oil (I used the light tasting one)

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Salt and pepper both sides. Dip each tender first in the flour,
then the egg wash, then the seasoned breadcrumbs. Shake off excess and place on a cookie sheet. If
time allows, chill 30 minutes in refrigerator to help the coating adhere to the chicken. Heat the oil,
enough to generously cover the bottom of a large skillet, over medium high heat. (I used my electric
skillet). Add the chicken, being certain not to crowd the pan, and brown about 3 minutes on each side. I
did mine in three batches. Place on a cooling rack over paper towels on a cookie sheet to drain. Sprinkle
with a little more salt, if needed. Serve immediately. These are also good warm, room temperature, or
cold.

Chicken Burritos--Crock Pot

These burritos steam in individual foil packets for easy serving and sealed in flavor.

2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (1.25 ounce) taco seasoning mix (I used chicken taco season mix by McCormick)
1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
½ cup minced onion
salsa

Place chicken and seasoning mix in a large zip-loc bag; seal and shake to coat.

Spread beans evenly over tortillas. Top each with chicken, cheese, tomato, and onion; roll up.
Wrap each burrito in foil; place in slow cooker.

Cover and cook on HIGH 2 hours. Serve with salsa.

Applesauce in the Crock Pot

I made this amazing applesauce last night in the crock pot. I peeled, cored, and sliced 12 large granny smith apples. I also did one fuji apple. Put in a big bowl with 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Stir to combine and coat all the apples. Pour all that out into the crock pot. At this point I decided to add some cinnamon. It wasn't in the original recipe, but my girls like cinnamon applesauce. I probably put in 1 - 2 Tablespoons and stirred it around again. Cover the crock pot and because my apples were sliced thin on the apple peeler/corer/slicer I only had to cook it 2 1/2 hours on HIGH. The original recipe called for cutting the apples into 1 1/2 inch chunks and cooking it 4 hours. When the apples were cooked I smoothed them with my immersion blender. Genius! It worked so quickly and the result was a velvety smooth consistency. You could just mash it for a chunkier applesauce, but that is not for me. This applesauce is for the girls' lunch boxes so I spooned it into 4 ounce containers to freeze. Then they can just take one out the night before and it will be ready for their lunches the next day. I was pretty proud of myself for doing this recipe. It's not like it was hard or anything, but it is something I had never made before and I love it when things turn out exactly the way I want and taste delicious. It was simple satisfaction of a job well done. It made 16 4-ounce containers or 8 cups total.

No-Knead Bread

This recipe is from the New York Times. Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery came on the Martha Show to demonstrate making this bread. There is a good video on her website from that episode as well.

I like to make this bread to serve with soup and then make a panini on it the next day. It makes a beautiful round loaf.

Ingredients

Makes one 1 1/2-pound loaf

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Olive oil, as needed
Cornmeal or wheat bran, as needed (optional)

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Coat a second large bowl with olive oil. Transfer dough to oiled bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, but preferably up to 18, in a room about 70 degrees in temperature. When surface is dotted with bubbles, dough is ready.

Lightly flour work surface. Place dough on work surface and sprinkle with more flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle just enough flour over work surface and your fingers to keep dough from sticking; quickly and gently shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran; place dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran. Cover with a second cotton towel and let rise until it has more than doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 2 hours.

After about 1 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot, such as cast-iron or Pyrex, in oven as it heats. When dough has fully risen, carefully remove pot from oven. Remove top towel from dough and slide your hand under the bottom towel; turn dough over into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough looks unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking until browned, 15 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Baked Potato Wedges

This recipe is from Barefoot Contessa Family Style (Ina Garten).

I make these potato wedges with chicken or fish. Tonight we had them with crispy catfish filets. You can very the seasonings any way you would like. I like lots of garlic!

Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes, unpeeled
4 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Scrub the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, then cut each half in thirds lengthwise. You'll have 6 long wedges from each potato. (I find it easier to make 8 wedges out of one potato). Place the potatoes on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary. With clean hands, toss all the ingredients together, making sure the potatoes are covered with oil. Spread the potatoes in a single layer with 1 cut-side down.

Bake the potatoes for 30 to 35 minutes, turn and bake 20 minutes more. Bake until they are lightly browned, crisp outside, and tender inside. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Apple Surprise

This recipe is from epicurious and was included in the Taste of the NFL recipes contributed by Ernest Wilford of the Jacksonville Jaguars. It is a yummy Fall treat! Sorry no pictures got taken of any recipes this weekend! Camera battery died!

Ingredients
1 package Pillsbury yellow cake mix
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs, divided
1 (20 ounce) can apple pie filling
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup almonds or walnuts, chopped (I used sliced almonds)
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl, using electric mixer on low, beat together cake mix, butter, and 1 of the eggs until crumbly. Press into ungreased 13 x 9-inch pan. Spread apple pie filling evenly on top.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts, then sprinkle over the apple layer.

In another small bowl, blend sour cream, remaining egg, and vanilla. Pour over brown sugar layer. Bake until top is golden brown, 40-60 minutes.