Robert Ames (.com!)

Slow Cooker Beef Tacos

• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

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• 2 pounds beef (I used a boneless chuck roast)
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 large sweet onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced

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• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (I love spice and used two!)

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• Flour tortillas

original recipe here

Mix together the chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika in a small bowl.

Rub the spice mix into the beef, covering each side evenly.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat skillet and sear beef until browned on all sides.

Transfer beef to the slow cooker and top with diced onion and minced garlic.

Leave the pan on the heat, and add in the beef stock to deglaze, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the tomato paste and minced chipotle and whisk into the pan sauce.

Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for a 3-5 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly.

Pour the pan sauce down over the onions, garlic, and beef in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Shred the beef and onions with two forks. Serve the beef in the flour tortillas, topped with your favorite taco toppings.

Top with…

• guacamole or avocado
• fresh salsa
• Mexican rice
• grated cheese
• fresh lettuce
• tomato
• onion
• cilantro
• squeeze of lime juice

08:08 CST | category / entries / recipes
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Nuts and Bolts

• 1/2 box pretzel sticks
• 1/2 box rice chex
• 1/4 box cheerios
• 1 can mixed nuts
• 1 package walnut or pecan halves
• 2 sticks margarine, melted
• garlic powder
• 8 dashes worchestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 250.

Mix all ingredients in a wide pan (not deep).

Place in oven for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.

Store in airtight container with paper towels around bottom / edges.

13:49 CST | category / entries / recipes
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Yorkshire Pudding

• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp grease / crisco / pan drippings

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Sift flour and salt.

Break eggs into flour mixture, beat until smooth.

Add milk slowly, beating until smooth.

Cover 9x12” glass baking dish with ~3 tbsp grease or drippings.

Place just greased pan in oven until the grease melts and is sizzling hot.

Remove pan, pour in batter, return to oven.

Cook at 425 for 20 minutes, then pour off fat.

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For an advanced version, try this:

(courtesy Mr. Alan Cox)

15:28 CST | category / entries / recipes
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Bruschetta

• 1 cup tomotoes, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2-3 leaves fresh herbs, chopped
• (preferably fresh basil, but you can use dried “italian mix” seasoning)
• Splash of Vinegar (~1 tsp?)
• Splash of Olive Oil (~1 tbsp?)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Thin toasted bread

Dice tomatoes and place in a bowl.

Mince garlic, chop basil.

Drain any excess liquid / water from the tomatoes the add the garlic / basil.

Add salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, mix by had and let the mixture rest in the fridge.

Toast bread then serve mixture spooned on top.

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Usually I’ll use fresh basil with a little dried oregano added for some extra flavor.

Be very careful to use only a little bit of vinegar if you are not used to cooking with it.

If you add too much salt, the mix will be overly salty and unpleasant.

Let the mixture rest before tasting (so flavors combine), and try a little bit immediately before serving.

If more salt is needed, you can easily sprinkle some over the prepared toast or add a little more to the mix.

11:10 CST | category / entries / recipes
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Spaghetti Carbonara (simple)

• 1 lb spaghetti
• 6 slices bacon, diced (~1 lb?)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

Boil Spaghetti according to directions (salted water), reserve 1 cup pasta water.

Saute bacon until crispy, reserve 2 tbsp bacon drippings.

Blend milk, eggs, yolks, and salt.

Heat bacon drippings and whisk in flour. Cook 1 minute.

Rapidly whisk in egg mixture. Continuously whisk so the mixture doesn’t scramble!

Cook mixture 2-3 minutes so it thickens.

Remove from heat and mix in ~1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese.

Toss with pasta, bacon, reserved cheese, reserved water, and pepper.

14:06 CST | category / entries / recipes
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Cowboy Cookies

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar

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• 2 whole eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

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• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

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• 1 pkg semisweet chocolate
• 2 cups rolled oats

Cream shortening and sugars.

Mix eggs into shortening one at a time, trying to get the mixture fluffy.

Mix vanilla into shortening and egg.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and baking soda.

Mix (slowly) flour into shortening mixture.

Mix (slowly) oats and chocolate chips into mixture.

Drop approximately 1 tbsp onto greased cookie sheet (do not form into balls).

Bake ~15 minutes at 350 degrees.

11:40 CST | category / entries / recipes
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Baked Beans

A combination of two recipes, from-scratch baked beans turned out pretty well for the BBQ. The sauce I’ll give is more of a ratio for the sauce as compared to an exact ratio of sauce-to-beans. You’ll end up with relatively lightly sauced beans, not beans drowning in a too-flavorful sauce. Don’t skimp on cooking time, you’ll need closer to 4 hours total than 2 hours. Once they’re baking in the oven you’re in good shape as they can “hold” very well, an extra 30-60 minutes will not do them any harm if they’re already cooked. Next thing to try is lightly salting the water when soaking the beans.

• ~1lb dried navy beans, soaked overnight
• ~1lb bacon, cooked, crumbled, reserve drippings

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• ~1 cup ketchup
• ~1/2 cup mustard
• ~1/4 cup brown sugar
• ~1-2 tbsp molasses
• ~1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• salt, pepper

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• 1-2 cups onions, finely diced
• 2-4 tbsp reserved bacon drippings

Wash and clean beans.

Soak beans generously covered in water overnight.

Boil beans in soaking water for ~1-2 hours (beans should be slightly mushy).

Add more boiling water if necessary to keep beans covered.

you should be able to smash a bean between your fingers with some resistance

Drain beans, reserve liquid.

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While beans are boiling, crisp and crumble bacon, reserving fat.

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While beans are boiling, add wet ingredients to a sauce-pan.

Mix over medium heat until well-combined (2-5 minutes).

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Combine beans, diced onions, sauce, some reserved water, and some reserved bacon drippings in a casserole dish.

be sure to taste beans at this point and adjust salt, pepper, drippings ratio until you are happy with the flavor

beans should not be swimming in liquid, but there should be enough sauce to coat the beans when mixed

the reserved liquid is to prevent beans from drying out when they bake

Cover casserole with aluminum foil.

Bake for 1-2 hours at 325 degrees until beans are soft.

09:07 CST | category / entries / recipes
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Cheesecake

• 1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar

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• 4 x 8oz package cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs

Combine crumbs, butter, sugar and gently press onto sides and bottom of springform cake pan.

Blend cream cheese, sugar, vanilla in large bowl with blender until combined.

Blend in one egg at a time until smooth, do not over-work.

Pour batter into crust.

Bake 45-50 minutes until center is almost set.

Let cool for 5 minutes, then slide thin spatula between crust and rim of pan.

Let cool and refrigerate overnight (4+ hours).

Top with strawberries + glaze if desired.

08:36 CST | category / entries / recipes
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Tomato-Peach Barbecued Ribs

• 4-5lbs pork ribs
• 1 onion, chopped in quarters
• 2-3 whole cloves
• 1-2 bay leaf

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• 2 cups chopped, peeled peaches
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

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• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Bring to boil ribs, onion, cloves in large pot with ~2 inches of water covering ribs.

Cover and simmer for ~1 hour.

Combine other ingredients over stove in sauce pan.

Simmer sauce for ~20 minutes until slightly thickened.

I have never made the sauce the same way twice. Try it with chipotle.

Remove cooked ribs from pot, baste with sauce on low-medium grill until ribs are sticky.

You can even finish ribs on a baking tray in the oven on high heat.

08:31 CST | category / entries / recipes
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Slow Cooker Carnitas

Using the following (visual) recipe as a base, I tried making these carnitas, but in a slow cooker instead of stovetop. You can follow the original recipe but I’ll share as I made it.

• 4-6lb pork butt roast
• 1 large onion, cut in eighths

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• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tbsp cumin, ground
• 1 tbsp coriander, ground
• 1 tbsp oregano, dried
• 1 tbsp salt

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• 5-6 chiles chipotles in adobo
• 2 bay leaves
• 2qt chicken broth
• 2-3 tbsp oil

Cut onion into large chunks.

Cut meat into 2” chunks.

Place meat and onion into slow-cooker and thoroughly mix with herbs and spices.

(I didn’t have coriander so I substituted a mixture of dried cilantro, lemon pepper, and a touch of nutmeg)

Add chipotles, some extra adobo sauce, bay leaves and broth.

(you want to just cover the meat with broth / liquid)

(if you slice the chipotles the end result will be a little spicier because the pepper seeds and skin will propagate throughout while cooking)

Cook on low ~8 hrs.

Remove cooked chunks with slotted spoon and press to see if it shreds.

Shred all chunks on a baking sheet. (discard remaining broth mixture)

Bake shredded meat ~10 minutes at 400 degrees until meat begins to slightly dry and crisp.

Serve as tacos with corn tortillas, diced onions, cilantro, queso panela, avocado, salsa.

14:16 CST | category / entries / recipes
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