Slow-Cooker Beer-Braised Pork and Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

• 2 12-ounce bottles of beer (preferably lager)
• 1 can chopped chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt (pork shoulder)
• Kosher salt

Preparation:

In the bowl of a slow cooker, combine the beer, 3 cups water, the chilies, adobo sauce, cumin, onion, beans, pork, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Set the slow cooker to low and cook, covered, until the beans are tender and the pork pulls apart easily, 11 hours. Using a fork, separate the pork into large pieces.

— I really had high hopes for this recipe! Along with another recipe to use my left over beer – it looked tasty!

I ended up putting a whole can of the chipotle chilies in adobo sauce instead of the smidgen they said to use. I could be in big big trouble tomorrow at lunch, but tonight it was tasty!

All in all the taste was just so-so, so i don’t see it being cooked again.

And the final left over beer recipe!

Beef and Beer Chili – seriously how could beef and beer go wrong!

Adapted from CL – Beef and Beer Chili

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (about 1 medium)
• 1 coarsely chopped green pepper
• 1 pound extralean ground beef
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 splenda packet
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (19-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can diced green chili
• 1 jalapeno – chopped
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 (12-ounce) bottle beer (such as Budweiser) amber and a stout
• 2 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
• 1-3 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Preparation

• Combine first 4 ingredients in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook 5-10 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble.
• Stir in chili powder, cumin, sugar, and salt; cook 1 minute.
• Add oregano and next 7 ingredients (through beer) to pan; bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat, and simmer 15 to 60 minutes. Stir in cornmeal; cook 5 minutes. Stir in juice.

Juice will cut the bitterness of the beer.

Make a nice thick chili with a great taste and a nice kick!! Mmm! Make nearly 8 servings! Yeah!

• Servings Per Recipe: 7
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 241.9
• Total Fat: 9.1 g
• Cholesterol: 33.6 mg
• Sodium: 430.3 mg
• Total Carbs: 20.7 g
• Dietary Fiber: 5.9 g
• Protein: 13.7 g

Recipe number to 2 to rid my house of weird beer I don’t want to drink!

Cheddar Beer Soup

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle beer – harp lager
• 4 3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
• 2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk, divided 2 cups fat free milk
• 1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese
• 1 1/4 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese (bad choice, get the good cheese!)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in beer; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes or until onion is very tender.

Immersion blend the onion, beer and broth mixture.  Blend until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan. Stir in remaining 3 cups broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and 1 cup milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture and remaining 1 cup milk to pan; cook 12 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove pan from heat. Gradually add cheese, stirring until smooth.

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I added some red pepper flakes and a smidge of cayene to add a little kick! And i had some left over corn i threw in too!

And with the left over tonight we tossed some shrimp with some “Chimayo Chorizo Sausage Spice” from Savory Spice Shop put it on the grill and then tossed it in the soup – and WOW! Yeah!

Lessons learned – for cheese soup definitely go with a light beer and a good tasteful cheese.

What do you do when you have a party and end up with a bunch of beer you don’t like?

If you are me, you start looking up recipes!

The winners were Beer Cheddar Soup, Beer Beef Chili, and this yummy – Beer Basil Bread!

I didn’t realize it was from Real Simple at the time or I would have realized how good it would be and how terrible for my waistline it would be!

Ingredients

• Olive oil for the baking sheet (I used spicy olive oil)
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmesan
• 1 12-ounce bottle beer, preferably ale (i used oatmeal stout)
• Flour for the work surface
• 1 cup chopped or torn fresh basil – I had a few tablespoons of dried basil

Preparation

Heat oven to 400° F. Oil a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a standing mixer on low, or in a large bowl using a spoon, combine the flour, yeast, salt, pepper, and Parmesan. Add the beer and mix just until the dough comes together. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle with the basil and knead gently just until incorporated. Shape the dough into a round loaf and transfer to the prepared sheet. Sprinkle additional basil on top, baste with olive oil. Bake until the loaf is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. (I cooked it 41 minutes and my toothpick wouldn’t even poke in!) Turn the loaf onto a wire rack. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

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This was absolutely delicious! Super easy, no rise time – hello – no rise time!!

This will become a once in a while recipe – simply due to it being 165 calories in a slice, and only get 12 from the loaf!

That’s what she said….

ok, ok, i need to grow up!

My co-worker/client said he had zucchini to get rid of, me being all about the veggies, said, hook me up.

Of course he brings in three 8 pound ginormous zucchinis on the day i ride my bike. Jesu-cristo…

I swear i lost a couple inches riding home with those in my backpack!

I pawned one off on a friend of ours, but still had 2 to do something with.

Finally sunday was the day – i cut one in half and then sliced length wise into long slabs! Put some olive oil on and slapped it on the grill!

But i still had half of this bohemouth and needed something interesting to do with it. Well, interesting and awesome did i find!

Ajlouk Qura’a (Mashed-Zucchini Salad)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds zucchini, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon harissa
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Preparation

• Place zucchini in a large saucepan; cover with water to 1 inch above zucchini. Bring to a boil, and cook 20 minutes or until zucchini is very tender. Drain. While zucchini is still in colander, coarsely mash zucchini with a fork; drain.
• Combine juice and next 6 ingredients (juice through garlic) in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Add zucchini; toss well. Sprinkle with cheese.

The result was superb – so much better than i expected!

Nice kick, nice flavor, great!!

I’ll be enjoying this recipe time and again! Can’t wait!

I made this for the girls craft weekend in may, and have been hanging onto the recipe debating if it was worthy of keeping. For our desert for chick flick night i decided to make it again. And, am i glad i did!

Came out amazing!And headed the warning of others to put foil in the pan! I also used my new pampered chef brownie pan, which might have cooked everything evenly as well…

Butter Crunch Lemon-Cheese Bars

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 1 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
• 1 cup granulated sugar splenda
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white (from the carton)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• To prepare crust, place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour to butter mixture, and beat at low speed until well-blended. Press crust into an 8-inch square baking pan with a piece of foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
• To prepare filling, place cottage cheese in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once. Add 1 cup granulated sugar splenda and remaining ingredients, and process until well-blended. Pour filling over crust. Bake at 350° for 25 30 minutes or until set (the edges will get lightly browned), and cool. Cover and chill for 8 hours.

For a topping i simply got a bag of frozen raspberries and let it defrost, so there were raspberries and the “sauce” so it got soaked up…  Mmmm!

This is definitely a keeper!

Found this little ditty on Stephanie Dae’s site. I had some stew meat that i needed to do something with, and beef bourgenese(sp?) was out of the question – not enough time… 365 crock pot to the rescue! This will be a keeper for making a batch of lunches for me! Hubby was luke warm on the left overs. (he wasn’t included in the original tasting!)

This was the main dish for my chick flick night last week.

Coconut Beef – Crockpot

1-2 lbs stew meat
–1 yellow onion, cut in chunks
–1 can coconut milk
–1 juice from one lime
–2 cloves chopped garlic
–2 tsp brown sugar
–1 tsp curry powder
–1/2 tsp ground coriander
–1 tsp cumin
–2T chili paste (or 1-2 tsp red chili flakes)
–1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

Preparation:

I used a 4qt cause i have a pound or under of meat.

Add meat, lime juice, and coconut milk. Follow with the onion and garlic. Add the brown sugar and all the spices. Grate the ginger. Toss meat a bit in the liquid and spices to coat.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10.  (probably was even longer…  we didn’t eat till almost 7, i turned it off for an hour between 5 and 6)

Serve over white rice.