Slow Cooker Chile Colorado with Pico de Gallo

Mmm... even as I type this, it's been a few hours since we ate and I still have the awesome, awesome flavour of the chile sauce in my mouth.  I was tired of chicken and ground beef in my tacos and enchiladas, we'd been eating a lot of pork lately and I didn't want that, so I thought I'd do something with a little more pop.  Came out so good!

I woke up today with Nerf Herder's "Pantera Fans In Love" stuck in my head... no idea why!  So it's what I'm using for the recipe tunes.  -jen

SLOW COOKER CHILE COLORADO
Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time:  6-8 hours
Difficulty:  Medium
Serves:  6-8

• beef chuck roast, 3.5-4 pounds
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 3 teaspoons ground cumin
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large Anaheim chile, julienned
• 1 large poblano chile, julienned
• 1 jalapeño chile, julienned
• 1/2 large onion, julienned 
• juice of 1-2 limes
• 12 oz beer of choice (I used PBR because that's what we had)
• 1 and 1/2 cups red chile sauce (see recipe below)

Trim excess fat from chuck roast.  In a small dish, mix together salt, pepper, oregano and cumin.  Sprinkle evenly over entire roast (bottom too!)  Place roast in slow cooker and cover the top with the minced garlic.  Add chiles and onion, making sure to cover the top of the roast with them.   Pour lime juice over veggie-covered roast and then add the beer, pouring it on the side of the roast (not over it!)

Cook on high for 6-8 hours, until you can shred the roast easily using two forks.  While roast is cooking, make your chile sauce and pico de gallo (see recipe below).

When roast is done and shredded, drain over a bowl and set broth aside.  Put the beef back into the crock pot and add 1 and 1/2 cups red chile sauce, as well as 1/2 cup of the reserved broth.  (You can refrigerate or freeze the broth to use later in a delicious soup, like Spicy Mexican Pepper Soup!)  Turn slow cooker to low and cook another half hour.

Serve in tacos, tamales, burritos, enchiladas, over rice, on nachos, whatever!

CHILE SAUCE
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easty
Makes:  3 cups

• 1/4 pound dried guajillo chiles (if you like it hot, use 1/8# dried guajillo & 1/8# dried chipotle)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 9-10 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/3 cup packed cilantro
• 1 jalapeño (optional, for spiciness!)
• juice of 1-2 limes 
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon Caldo de Pollo (or 1 chicken bouillon cube)
• 2 cups hot water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  If you want a hotter chile, tear off stems but leave seeds in dried chiles.  If you want a mild one, tear off stems and empty out seeds.  (I recommend at least keeping half the seeds.)  Place seed pods on baking sheet and roast for 3-4 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Let chiles cool to touch before packing them into a large blender.  Add the onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, cumin, oregano, Caldo and carefully pour the hot water over everything.  Blend until completely pureed. 

PICO DE GALLO
Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  about 2 cups

• 1 large tomato
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 jalapeño
• 1/4 cup packed cilantro
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon salt

In a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until desired consistency (I like mine like a relish).  If you don't have a food processor, just dice everything small.

Baba Ghanoush Hummus

Having just survived through Thanksgiving, I've been in the mood for stuff on the healthier side.  I decided to make some baba ghanoush, but ended up kind of crossing it with hummus.  Came out way tasty!  Makes me think of the show MXC, which is only the best show that's ever been on television, because Vic and Kenny always name one of the contestants Baba Ghanoush.  But Justin also came up in an instant with the best song EVER for this dish!  Nerf Herder's "Nose Ring Girl".  This is an awesome live version!  "...and rice cakes! Rice Cakes! Rice Cakes! Rice Cakes!"  Admit it... Nerf Herder and MXC are a beautiful union.  Just like baba ghanoush and hummus.  -jen

BABA GHANOUSH HUMMUS
So awesome!
Time:  1 hr roasting/10 minutes prep
Level:  E-Z 

Roasted Veggies

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 large zucchini
• 1/2 of a large onion
• 1 head of garlic
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil (this helps clean up!)  Cut eggplant and zucchini in half lengthwise.  Score the flesh of each in a diamond pattern, cutting all the way through the flesh, but not through the skin.  Drizzle olive oil over each, salt and pepper.  Place both vegetables scored-side down on baking sheet.  Chop onion into large chunks, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on baking sheet.  Cut the top off of the head of garlic to expose some of the heads.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on baking sheet.  Roast all of the veggies at 400 degrees F for 1 hour.  Set aside to cooled enough to handle.

Dip

• roasted veggies listed above
• 1 can (15.5oz) garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup tahini
• juice of 1 large lemon
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro (depending on taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic (or 1 fresh clove)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Accent or MSG (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/8 teaspoon (or a few cranks) of black pepper
• 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil

In a food processor, combine the scooped out flesh of the eggplant (discard the skin), the zucchini, and the onions.  Squeeze out the roasted flesh of the garlic head (discard the paper/skin) and add to processor.  Then add the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, vinegar, cilantro, minced garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, Accent, red pepper flakes, and black pepper.  Process at high speed, slowly drizzling in the olive oil.  1/4 cup makes a thick dip, but you may want to add as much as 1/2 cup olive oil to your dip to thin it out more.  Blend at high speed until garbanzo beans are completely broken up and dip is smooth and creamy.

Serve as a dip with toasted pita chips, tortilla chips, crackers, or fresh vegetables like carrots, bell peppers and cucumbers.  Or use as a condiment for lettuce and tortilla wraps, burgers, or sandwiches! 

Olive oil drizzled in the center