Tag: crockpot

Categories
latino

Aaron Sanchez / Sierra Mist lunch @ Centrico

Sierra Mist had a lunch event with TV Celebrity Chef Aaron Sanchez at his NY restaurant, Centrico. It was to promote Comer Juntos, “a recipe web series he’s partnered with Sierra Mist Natural to create, that provides fresh, and unexpected, recipe ideas to bring families around the table any day.”  He mentioned how research has shown that families that eat together, tend to have kids that grow up with better social skills. I believe he’s absolutely right. I hardly ate with my family growing up…

Aaron also did a cooking demo using Sierra Mist. I don’t remember the last time I had a Sierra Mist, but dang …you ever had a Diet Sierra Mist? I just had it. That’s the best tasting diet soda I’ve ever had …and I think better tasting than regular Sierra Mist. It’s too bad I don’t drink soda anymore.

It’s hard to imagine cooking with soda pop, but I think the citric acid helps tenderize the meat. I tried root beer with something along time ago. I forget. A steak? That sounds stupid.

Alright, onto the food made with Sierra Mist:

Ceviche del Día with Plantain Chips – This was awesome. Squid tentacles. Great tangy flavors that went really well with the Plantain Chips.

Raspberry Rumba (cocktail drink) – Too sweet for me. It was a downer when I learned there was no alcohol in it.

Salad – I’m not sure if there was Sierra Mist in it.

Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken – Very tender chicken. Good flavor. How do you get a boneless piece of thigh? I wasn’t paying attention

Mexican Chocolate Pudding Cake – I missed it! The blogger next to me tricked me into leaving. Oh well, I don’t think it had Sierra Mist in it.

The recipes and cooking videos with Chef Aaron Sanchez are at http://www.facebook.com/sierramist …look for the “Eating Together” link/photo.

 

Categories
homemade

Trader Joe’s Cabernet Beef Pot Roast

I cooked up a Trader Joe’s Cabernet Beef Pot Roast in the crock pot for the SEC championship game. I woke up 5am to do this and it had better be worth it. First I browned the pre-marinated pot roast on a skillet with some olive oil. Then layered the bottom of the crock pot with sliced onions (I hear this is good so the meat isn’t directly touching the surface of the crock pot and it avoids it from sitting in the fat while it cooks). Dropped in the pot roast and surrounded it by potatoes and carrots and added a 1/2 cup of water. Left it on the LOW setting and promised that I wouldn’t touch it until 5pm. I went back to bed smelling like cooked seasoned meat (from when I browned it). It was good.

Game time came and I broke my promise. I opened it up about an hour and half early. Well Russ first opened the lid, then I said screw it. The meat just fell apart to the touch and there was so much juice from it breaking down. It’s weird thinking how most of it is water, including us. Everyone praised the pot roast and I took the credit. They didn’t have to know Trader Joe’s and the crock pot did most of the work.

As far as breaking my crock pot promise, it was sad seeing Tebow break his as well. Russ added an amendment to the Promise (see photo). You can’t blame Tebow. We now know he is human. I did feel like blaming ourselves throughout the game though. Maybe it was because I didn’t cook the lucky bacon that they were losing. There was also a five minute discussion on how the cardboard Promise on our wall was bad luck. I think I yelled at Russ for something he did that was unlucky –as if he was the reason Alabama scored.

I suppose we all learned lessons from this game. Maybe our superstition can’t affect something that is happening hundreds of miles away. Maybe there is no reason to beat ourselves up. It’s just a game. We are the same now as we were before. And while Coach Meyers taught Carlos Dunlap a lesson in responsibility by suspending him, perhaps Meyers learned the lesson that he’s supposed to win, not teach lessons. The ultimate lesson: God taught Tebow a lesson in humility. Go Gators!

…maybe it was the open umbrellas in the hallway.

Categories
homemade recipe

Crock Pot BBQ Ribs

I took this easy recipe from Cooks.com. Seasoned the ribs with salt and pepper and stuck them into the broiler for about 10 minutes on each side to brown (per this other similar recipe). I did have the blue dotted rack in there. But I figure it wasn’t worth $4 to take a chance on it. Even if I cooked it, I’d probably avoid it in the end. It just didn’t look appetizing so I threw it out. Thank you guys for commenting and leaving advice on my last post about it. Now other people and Google will have an idea.

I layered the bottom of the crock pot with sliced onions and some Jack Daniels Barbecue Sauce, which smells like McRibs/McNuggets BBQ sauce. Then put the whole rack of ribs entact in there. Poured the rest of the BBQ sauce and some whole potatoes. Added some salt to potatoes. Turned it on Low and let it cook for 10 hours.

Now this is the part I find tricky. If I want to do 10 hour slow cooked meats for a weekend lunch, I have to set it around 2am to have it ready for noon. Or if I want a weekend dinner time meal, I have to get my lazy drunk ass up around 8-9am? It’s get tricky. Maybe it’s best for weekdays and set it before leaving to work for dinner. However, I’d be afraid that something would happen and the place would burn down if I’m not there. But is it better to not be home and having it burn down …or while you sleep? The crock pot is psyching me out.

I had Bonnie turn off the crock pot in the morning. That helped a lot. When I came upstairs, the whole place smelled like McRibs which was quite awesome. I checked it out. The thick BBQ sauce turned thin and liquid-y, probably because of the fat cooking off. The meat was falling apart off the rib bones. It wasn’t going to be like eating traditional ribs, but more like a stewed barbecue sauce ribs you might find at a Family Homestyle Buffet. It was really good. The potatoes were soft, but the skin was a little tough. Add more salt to that and maybe some butter would be good. Made some cole slaw on the side (green and red cabbage, carrots, salt, pepper, vinegar and mayo). My first time mixing it and it tasted pretty good. I probably put too much white wine vinegar, but it gave it a nice citrus-y taste. Russ and I got stuffed and we barely dented the ribs. Hooray for crock pot cooked non-blue dotted ribs!

02 Crock Pot Babecue Ribs Falling Apart