Recipe Of The Day: Caribbean Beef Stew

When we returned from Turks & Caicos we found ourselves craving three things, Jerked Chicken, Slow Cooked Spicy Beef & Strong Rum Drinks. I recently stopped by a favorite spot I frequent in Hollywood that makes some of the best authentic Jamaican food to be found on the West Coast. 

I was talking to the Chef and he told me that his secret was slow cooking the beef with a hint of allspice, sugar and cumin. 

The spices the Chef told me about added to the broth an amazingly dark color and a flavor that words could do no justice too when describing its taste. We’ve worked on the format over the last few months and feel that this Slow Cooked Spicy Beef recipe is something that needs to be shared.

Enjoy!

(click read more for the entire recipe)

Slow Cooked Carnitas Tacos

There are few things in this World that can beat coming home to a delicious Home-Cooked meal (especially one that wasn’t hard to make or clean up after.) Having the sense to pre plan out a few meals during the week will enable you to spend some time doing something else that either needs to be done in your life or around your home. 

These slow cooked Carnitas Tacos are always a hit, simply because they cook themselves over 5 or 6 hours in a Crock pot or Dutch oven. Putting them up before you head out for work is a great idea, just make sure that your not going to be gone too long (if over 6 hours, try lowering the heat a tad bit to avoid burning the tender meat to a crisp.)

The Carnitas can be used to fill up tacos, burritos on a tostada, on nachos or even rolled up and fried into flautas, the possibilities are endless.

Enjoy!!!

(for the Entire Recipe, click READ MORE)

Recipe Of The Day: Long Braise on a Beef Short Rib

Ingredients

Marinade:

5 lbs (3-inch thick cut) bone-in beef short ribs

1 bunch each fresh thyme, rosemary, and sage leaves, chopped

2 TBS ea Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 TBS Smoked Paprika

¼ TBS Garlic Powder

1 tsp Cayenne pepper

2 (750-ml) bottles Cabernet Sauvignon

Olive oil, for searing ribs

1 yellow onion, medium dice

2 carrots, peeled and medium dice

2 ribs celery, medium dice

3 cloves garlic

4 quarts veal stock

3 bay leaves

1-ounce dry porcini mushrooms

Directions:

Season the ribs liberally with herbs, salt and pepper, paprika, garlic powder & cayenne pepper.

Place in a large non-reactive bowl or deep container and cover with wine. 

Marinate for 12 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove ribs from marinade, pour all the wine into a saucepot, and reduce by half.

Meanwhile, heat a layer of olive oil in a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat.

Sear ribs on all sides until well browned. Place browned ribs into a braising or deep roasting pan.

Brown onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in the same cast iron pan, adding more oil as needed.

Scatter browned vegetables over the ribs.

Add the reduced wine, the stock, bay leaves, and mushrooms.

Cover the pan with parchment paper and foil and place in the oven for 5 hours. Transfer from the oven and allow the ribs to rest for 1 hour before removing the bones.

Skim any fat from the sauce.

Remove vegetables from the pan and set aside.

While ribs are resting, strain sauce into a saucepot and reduce for 1 hour.

Pour hot sauce over ribs and vegetables and serve.

Recipe Of The Day: Ropa Vieja

Ropa vieja, which is Spanish for "Old Clothes," is a popular dish of the Canary Islands, Cadiz, Greater Miami and the Caribbean, especially Cuba,Panama, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. It is a shredded flank steak in a tomato sauce base. 

For those of you that are lucky enough to live in or near by an area that has some sort of influence from any one of these nations you already know what kind of deep flavors come from Ropa Vieja. But if your unaware of the amazing food that comes from each and every single one of these spots, let us introduce you to a slow cooked favorite of ours that melts in your mouth with each bite.  This is to be enjoyed with cold beer, rum & Coke, mint mojitos & Tequila shots.