Slow Cooker Carne Asada Tacos

Another week, another challenge for the 52 weeks of cooking. This week the challenge was tacos, which is right up my alley. Fajitas are one of my favorites things to make (and eat!) and tacos aren't very different as far as technique goes.

A couple weeks ago I made chicken fajitas in my slow cooker, so I thought I'd try to make the taco meat for this weeks challenge in the slow cooker as well. In the past year, I haven't used my slow cooker much, but I'm beginning to see the appeal. A little prep in the morning, let it cook all day and voila!, you have a tasty meal to come home to after a long day at work.

Enough mooning over my slow cooker, let's get to the recipe!

Slow Cooker Carne Asada Beef Tacos
adapted from the following recipes: Tyler Florence Tacos Carne Asada and Crock-pot Carne Asada Tacos

Ingredients

For the mojo:

4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
1 orange, juiced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil

For the tacos:

3 lb flank steak

flour or corn tortillas

salsa

shredded lettuce

Directions

To make the mojo:

In a mortar and pestle or bowl, mash together  food processor, pulse the garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and pepper to make a paste. Put the paste in a glass jar or plastic container. (I used a mason jar and it worked really well. Bonus: you could make a bigger batch and store half for later use.)Add the lime juice, orange juice, vinegar, and oil. Shake it up really well to combine.

Taco Meat:

Set your slow cooker to low for 8 hours. Place the meat flat on the bottom and pour the mojo over. Poke holes in the meat with a fork so the sauce can penetrate it while cooking. After 8 hours, remove the meat and shred. Return to the crock-pot and keep on warm until ready to serve.

Heating tortillas:

Set oven to 350. Wrap up to five tortillas in aluminum foil and place in oven for about 15 minutes. Keep wrapped until ready to serve.

Rating
Overall, I'd say this recipe was a win. The meat was very tender from cooking all day and the mojo was just right. I'm not a huge fan of cilantro so I was worried when the sauce called for so much, but it ended up being perfect. If you're looking for a complete meal, serve with black beans and rice. 

Take Out Fake Out: Pei Wei Kung Pao Chicken

Another week has gone by, and that means another challenge for 52 weeks of cooking has been completed. This week the challenge was "Spicy". I couldn't pass up this chance to try a take-out fake out of one of my favorite dishes at Pei Wei: Kung Pao Chicken.

 

After some searching, I couldn't really find a recipe online so I used the picture from Pei Wei's website, the ingredient description from the menu and my memories of what it tasted like.

Ingredients
1 lb chicken, cut into one inch pieces
3 carrots, sliced into thing circles
8 oz (about a handful) of sugar snap peas
1 cup unsalted peanuts

For the sauce:
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp chili paste
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp corn starch
2 tbsp chicken broth

Directions
Add about 2 tbsp of cooking oil to a wok and let it get screaming hot. Once the oil is sizzling, add the diced chicken and cook through (takes about 7-8 minutes). If the pan is looking dry, add a splash of chicken broth. Once cooked, remove the chicken from the pan with a slotted spoon and add the carrots and peas. What I love so much about Pei Wei's dish is that the veggies aren't cooked to death. So in order to achieve this, only leave them in the pan for about 2 minutes.

While they are cooking, whisk together the broth, soy sauce, vinegar, oil, chili paste and sugar. Add the chicken back to the pan. Once the pan is heated through, pour in the sauce and let it cook down while you mix together the corn starch and chicken broth. (This creates that shiny glaze look that you always get when ordering Asian dishes out.) Add the corn starch mixture and peanuts to the pan and give it a stir. Once the sauce thickens up, it's ready to serve!

And since this is is a takeout fake out, here is the comparison photo:

So how did I do?

Georgia on my Mind: Pecan Crusted Chicken with Spicy Peach Sauce

Today brings another entry for my 50 week challenge. Last week was Korean, and this week the theme was "Inspired by Music". I had a bit of a tough time with this one at first. All week I was stuck on making ice cream inspired by Taylor Swift but I knew I could do better. Then Michael Buble came on my Spotify mix and a light bulb came on over my head: Georgia on my Mind.

Yes, I know that Buble did not originally sing this, but that's the song that inspired the dish, so I'm sticking with it.

Anyway, here is my recipe for Pecan Crusted Chicken and Spicy Peach Sauce.

Ingredients
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 cup crushed pecans
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Handful of parm cheese
1.5 lb hand trimmed chicken breast
vegetable oil
1 can peaches, drained
1 teaspoon each - cinnamon, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
Lay three shallow dishes on your counter. Combine panko, pecans and cheese in one. Crack the egg in another, and add the flour to the third. It should look like this:

Dredge each cutlet in the flour, then the egg, then coat in bread crumb mixture.  Lay it on a plate and repeat with the remaining cutlets.

Heat oil over medium until a little bit of water sizzles in the pan. Fry the cutlets two at a time so you don't crowd your pan about 3-4 minutes per side, depending on thickness.

When the chicken is done cooking, remove to a plate with a paper towel. Drain excess fat from the pan.

Puree the peaches, spices and brown sugar in a food processer until smooth. Add the mixture to the hot pan and let it heat through. Once heated, add the butter and stir to melt it.

To serve, either top the chicken with the sauce, or spoon onto the side.