Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Sandwiches

Funny story. I hadn't had the motivation to cook for a WHILE now and after I made this, Hubby asked if I took a picture yet. After I said no, he asked "then how will you remember how you made this? You have to put this on your blog! :O" And this is how I started blogging again...

This sandwich recipe is super spicy for my sis and I so we put a generous amount of mayonnaise to help temper it. The guys loved it as is so they just had it in the form of meat and bread! We originally toasted the bread with some cheddar cheese (see pic), but we found that it wasn't necessary. Just put more meat with the bread and lots of mayonnaise for those who can't handle the heat.

Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Sandwiches 
(serves 4-6) 

Ingredients:

• 2lb chuck roast
• 1 199g (7oz) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 Tbsp granulated garlic
• 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tap pepper
• 4-6 ciabatta buns, halved
• Mayonnaise (optional)

Directions:

1. Place everything except the beef and bread into the slow cooker. Mix well. 
2. Place beef into the mixture and turn to coat all over. 
3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. When finished cooking, shred beef with two forks and mix with juices. Keep warm until ready to serve. 
4. To serve, lightly toast ciabatta bread. (Optional) slather a generous amount of mayonnaise on each halves of the bread. Top one half with the shredded beef with peppers and top with second slice of bread. Cut on a bias (easier to eat). Serve with soup and salad. 

"About to Get Sick" Soup

The weather here has just been horrendous. It gets warm, and then the week after, it's below freezing. This makes for a lot of people getting sick and spreading their germs around. Yuck. A friend of mine had told me about this soup and swears that it keeps her and her family from getting sick every time they feel something coming on. Since I was feeling it coming on and K was already feverish for a couple of days, it was only a matter of time before I'd be down for the count as well. May as well give it a go, right?

It's pretty darn good. It's a pretty sweet soup because of the corn and carrots. I have no clue why K didn't drink more of it, but he just didn't care for it. I loved it and just drank it like water throughout the day. TEEHEE. And sure enough, I only had a mild cough for a week (usually my coughs last at least 3 weeks) and then I was ALL better. Hubby didn't get sick at all either. So I'd say it's pretty good stuff.


"About to Get Sick" Soup
(makes about 2 1/2 liters)

Ingredients:

• 2 small corn on cob with 1 layer of husk
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 1/2 lb pork sirloin (or any cut of boneless meat)
• 10 whole chestnuts
• 2 inch knob of ginger
• Salt, to taste
• Water

Directions:

1. Throw everything into a large 5 quart dutch oven. Fill with water until about 1 1/2 inches of space is left from the top of the pot to the top of the water. Bring to a boil. Lower to the lowest setting and simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Season with salt and skim off any excess fat.
2. Serve hot and drink as you would water throughout the day.

You can eat the veggies. They're still pretty good. I usually make a soy dipping sauce to eat the meat with when making soups like this. Nothing goes to waste!

Mom's Chicken Soup

Call it a broth, consomme or whatever but to me it's a "soup". That's what we call it in Canto anyway.

Super SUPER easy. It just takes some time. Mom always uses a whole chicken (skinned so that it's less oily) but I use chicken carcasses. I find that if you use two carcass for a large dutch oven, it's good. I'll use a 3L pot for one carcass. This takes a while, but it's so yummy. I used fresh goji berries for the soup that's pictured, but if you use the dried goji berries, it gives the soup a deeper red colour.

You can get the dried goji berries and dried Chinese yams in Chinese medicine shops or Chinese supermarkets. The goji berries would usually be labeled wolfberries and the Chinese yams would be labeled dioscorea opposita. Thank goodness I know what they look like because I always have a hard time remembering their Chinese names and I never had a clue what their English names were. Just imagine me poking around an Asian supermarket at the bags of Chinese herbs with the English names. Now THAT was a whole new experience. Totally different than going to Chinatown with Mom to shop for these things.


Mom's Chicken Soup
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole skinless chicken, or 2 skinless chicken carcasses (skin on will produce more fat to skim off later)
• 1/4 cup fresh wolfberries (goji berries), or 3 Tbsps dried wolfberries (goji berries), rinsed
• 3 pieces dioscorea opposita (dried Chinese yam)
• 2 inches knob of ginger, smashed
• Water
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Throw everything into a large (5.4L or so) pot or dutch oven. Add enough water to fill the pot/dutch oven 3/4 of the way up with water. Bring to a gentle boil. 
2. Skim off any scum that surfaces. Lower heat to the lowest setting. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
3. After 2 hours, bring the soup back to a boil. Skim off remaining scum and oil. Season with salt.

The soup can be made in a slow cooker. I've dumped the chicken carcasses (frozen or fresh) into a slow cooker with everything else and just cooked it for 6 hours on low. It works fine. Just harder to skim off all the scum and oils at the end because the soup isn't boiling. Still good though!

Ground Pork & Sweet Potato Stew with Coconut Milk

This is a slow cooker meal, but I decided to use the stove top for this one. It was pretty yummy, I gotta say. K ate almost half an adult portion, so I'm pretty impressed. Hubby thought it was too sweet so he (as usual) doused it with some hot sauce. No worries. I had a feeling it'd be hard to get him to eat anything with sweet potatoes in it anyway.


Ground Pork & Sweet Potato Stew with Coconut Milk
(serves 6-8 divided into 2 bags)

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1 1/4 lbs lean ground pork
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsps packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp garlic chili sauce
• 2 tsps minced ginger
• 2 tsps minced garlic
• 1 400ml (13.5oz) can of coconut milk

Directions:

1. Divide all ingredients, EXCEPT the coconut milk, into two separate freezer bags. Lay flat to freeze. Defrost in the fridge overnight the day before cooking.
2. Dump everything from one bag into a large pot. Bring to a boil. Break up the meat using a spatula. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
3. Stir in 1/2 can of coconut milk. Simmer for another 10 minutes with the lid off.
4. Serve with hot rice.

Slow cooker method: Just dump everything into the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until potatoes are done. Stir in the coconut milk and cook on low for another 30 minutes before serving on rice.

September 27 Update: better when simmered with the coconut milk afterwards for only 10 minutes is enough.