Shredded beef tacos are some of the best; I prefer this method of cooking over using ground beef in a fry pan. This is the type of taco meat you would find in your more high quality tacos and burritos. This recipe uses a frozen rump roast, but don’t worry about using a frozen one, it will turn out fine. If you would prefer to use a fresh one, that will work as well but the cooking time will probably be less. What’s really great about this recipe is that the slower cooker pretty much does all the work. I will only include how to make the actual meat in the recipe because everything else is pretty basic. Used whichever type of taco shells you prefer, and optional condiments such as shredded cheese, lettuce, and tomato. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 (4 pound) rump roast (frozen or fresh)
1 cup white wine
2 (7.75 ounce) cans Mexican style hot tomato sauce
3 tablespoons garlic (crushed)
salt and black pepper (to taste)
1 bunch green onions (chopped)
1 cup cilantro (chopped)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Place the roast into the slow cooker. Pour the wine and Mexican tomato sauce over the top of the roast. Season with garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
Step 2: Cover and cook in the slow cooker on low for 9 hours (or less if using a fresh roast). When done the roast should shred easily.
Step 3: Shred the roast with 2 forks into the juices. Stir in green onions and cilantro.
(Makes 14 Servings)

It’s no secret I enjoy Mexican food, and with Cinco de Mayo coming up early next month, I will be posting a lot of Mexican recipes. This is a great recipe for anyone looking to make their own homemade enchilada sauce. This is specifically the red enchilada sauce. I personally prefer this over the green. This sauce beats anything you will find in the store, is easy to make and is extremely delicious. This goes perfect with any type of enchiladas… beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, ect. If you are looking for a solid enchilada sauce recipe, be sure to try this one. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 teaspoon onion (minced)
½ teaspoon oregano
2 ½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried parsley
¼ cup salsa
1 (6 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 ½ cups water

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat oil. Add garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add onion, oregano, basil, chili powder, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, parsley, salsa, and tomato sauce. Mix well. Stir in the water.
Step 2: Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 3: Pour over pre-made enchiladas for baking.

Sloppy Joes are an American classic and favorite. The great taste of that sweet tomato sauce with the hamburger and vegetables is just too good to pass up. Sloppy Joes make a quick and easy meal if you are in a rush. Many of you may have made your own before, or used a canned sauce. This is so much better than a canned sauce. This recipe might be a little different because of the addition of mushrooms. If you do not want mushrooms in your Sloppy Joes, feel free to leave them out. I also topped mine with sliced provolone, which is totally optional as well. These are great for parties or game day. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef         
2 stalks celery (finely chopped)
1 small onion (chopped)
8 ounces fresh mushrooms (sliced)
1 green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup barbeque sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
Sliced provolone cheese
Hamburger buns

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large skillet over medium high heat brown ground beef, celery, green pepper, mushrooms, and onion. Drain any excess fat. Stir in tomato sauce, ketchup, barbeque sauce, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar.
Step 2: Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. If after 20 minutes the mixture still seems to watery, simmer for a little longer until the mixture has thickened.
Step 3: Serve on a bun and top with a slice of provolone cheese.

It’s been awhile, I think it’s time for another pizza recipe.  This particular pizza I am presenting today is none other than chicken bacon ranch! I first tried this pizza at Dominos not too long ago and just loved it. I quickly decided I had to attempt to make my own, and it was a success. This is not really a recipe but more like a guideline for making the pizza. Of course, you can add additional toppings or spice up the crust to your liking. I decided to put minced fresh garlic into my ranch dressing for a little garlic flavor. If fresh garlic does not appeal to you, feel free to leave it out. The chicken and the bacon should be fully cooked for this pizza. If you are a chicken bacon ranch lover, or want to try it for the first time, I highly recommend this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 large pizza crust (homemade, pre-made or box mix)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
½ cup ranch dressing
2  boneless skinless chicken breast halves (cooked, and sliced into small pieces)
1-2 roma tomatoes (seeded and diced)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
½ lb bacon (cooked until crispy and crumbled)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley (minced)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Lay out the pizza crust onto a pizza pan. Place into the oven and pre-bake the crust for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Step 2: Spread ranch dressing in an even layer over the crust. Top with minced garlic. Top with chicken, bacon, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.
Step 3: Return to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted and the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and top with fresh parsley.

This is a classic recipe for German Chocolate Cake. I am sure many of you have tried this before so you already know how dominant and rich it really is. The cake itself is fairly rich and moist; the frosting uses ingredients such as shredded coconut and chopped pecans. As you can see from the ingredient list, this might not be the healthiest recipe for you, but it sure is good! This cake is a triple layer so make sure to take small slices. This recipe makes a perfect dessert, give it a try for Easter.

Ingredients:
1 (4 ounce) package sweet dark chocolate
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (softened)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs (separated)
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting-
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
4 egg yolks (slightly beaten)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (7 ounce) package shredded coconut (about 2-2/3 cups)
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 (9 inch) round baking pans. Over a double boiler melt the chocolate. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Remove from heat and set aside. In another bowl sift flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time beating well after egg one is added. Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture alternately with buttermilk beating well after each addition (so add a little flour, then a little buttermilk, repeat until gone). Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until they form a peak. Fold egg whites into batter. Pour and divide evenly into the 3 baking pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes remove from the cake pans and finish cooling on wire racks.
Step 3: To make the frosting- In a large sauce pan add milk, sugar, butter, egg yolks and vanilla. Cook on medium heat for 12 minutes while stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened and is golden brown. Remove from heat, stir in coconut and pecans. Cool to room temperature and spreading consistency.
Step 4: Spread the frosting between each of the layers and then over the top and sides of the entire cake.

Here is delicious apple brine for turkey, chicken, or pork. If you have never tried brining before, it may be time to start. This brine helps to keep the meat from becoming overcooked. This brine will make the turkey or chicken very moist and not so easy to overcook. This brine also gives the meat a nice and slightly sweet flavor. Don’t worry though; this is a very mild brine. This is enough brine for a 14lb turkey. Give this a try for the holidays or for a fantastic home dinner. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 quarts apple juice
1lb brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
3 quarts water
3 oranges (sliced into quarters)
4 ounces fresh ginger (thinly sliced)
6 garlic cloves (crushed)
15 whole cloves
6 bay leaves

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Bring apple juice, salt, and sugar to a boil over high heat. Stir well. Skim the foam. Turn off heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
Step 2: Add water, oranges, ginger, garlic, cloves, and bay leaves. Mix well.
Step 3: Pour brine over turkey to cover and brine for 24 hours.

This dish really needs no introduction, macaroni and cheese is popular pretty much everywhere. As you probably already know from experience, most of the boxed Mac and cheese can be rather disappointing. Here is a homemade version and somewhat of a different take on the classic dish. This recipe uses three different types of cheeses- sharp cheddar, parmesan, and cottage cheese. Best of all, this dish is so easy to make and is perfect for a quick meal. This is also perfect for a dinner party or event. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package elbow macaroni
1 (8 ounce) package shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 (12 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 cup dry breadcrumbs
¼ cup butter (melted)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook elbow macaroni according to package directions. Drain.
Step 2: Grease a 9×13” baking dish, in the baking dish stir together macaroni, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. In a small bowl mix together breadcrumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the macaroni in the baking dish.
Step 3: Place into the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
(Makes 4 Servings)

For those that are craving a little heat Enchiladas Verdes might be perfect for you. This dish is pretty much a classic and is just like you would find in a Mexican restaurant. For this recipe we are making our own fresh green salsa that is basically a combination of fresh tomatillos and Serrano peppers. If you are not familiar with tomatillos, they are much like a green tomato in a husk. They can be found at any decent sized grocery store. For the chicken, the chicken is boiled in chicken broth, onions and garlic. You can use either white meat or dark meat, it’s up to you. Just remember that dark meat chicken takes a little longer to cook. This recipe calls for corn tortillas but I prefer flour so I used those instead. If you are using flour tortillas skip the frying/dipping into the salsa step and just add salsa on top. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 bone-in chicken breast halves
2 cups chicken broth
¼ of a large white onion
1 garlic clove
2 teaspoons salt
Salsa-
1lb fresh tomatillos (husks removed)
5 Serrano peppers
¼ of a large white onion
1 clove garlic
1 pinch salt
Other-
12 corn tortillas
1 cup queso fresco cheese (crumbled)
½ white onion (chopped)
1 bunch fresh cilantro (chopped)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a saucepan add chicken breasts, pour chicken broth into the pan, add ¼ white onion, 1 garlic clove, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil, boil for 20 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove chickens breasts from the pan but reserve chicken broth. Set chicken aside to cool. Discard onion and garlic. When cool enough shred the chicken into pieces with a fork.

Step 2: To make salsa- Place tomatillos and Serrano peppers in a pot and add water so that they are fully covered. Bring to a boil and boil until tomatillos turn from bright green to dull green. Strain tomatillos and peppers and place into a blender with ¼ piece of onion, 1 garlic clove, and a pinch of salt. Pour In reserved chicken broth so that the liquid covers the vegetables. Blend until completely pureed. Pour pureed mixture into a saucepan and bring to a low boil.
Step 3: Pour a little oil into a frying pan over high heat. Fry each tortilla for just a few seconds on each side. Drain on a paper towel. Dip slightly fried tortillas into the low boiling green salsa mixture until the tortillas become soft again.
Step 4: Top tortillas with chicken, extra green salsa, queso fresco cheese, chopped onion and cilantro.
(Makes 4 Servings)

It doesn’t get much better than this. Mongolian chicken is nearly the perfect Asian recipe. Many of you are probably familiar with this dish because of Mongolian Beef. If you would prefer to use beef in this recipe as well, that’s totally fine. I would consider this dish to be sweet, salty and spicy.  I wouldn’t call this recipe totally authentic as it tastes much different from a lot of Mongolian /chicken beef dishes I have had. However, I might even go as far as to say its better! This recipe is all about the sauce. The sauce uses a combination of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and oyster sauce for a nearly perfect combination of flavors. I recommend deep frying the chicken to ensure it is crispy. I always eat my chicken immediately because I love the crispiness.  Serve with white rice. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (sliced into thin strips)
½ cup cornstarch (or more, for coating)
2 tablespoons garlic (minced)
1 white onion (sliced)
2 green onions (sliced)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Oil (for frying)
Sauce-
¼ cup chicken broth
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (or less, to your taste)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a medium bowl whisk together chicken broth, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, sherry, sugar, soy sauce and crushed red pepper flakes. Set aside.
Step 2: Toss chicken with cornstarch in a bag until all of the strips are thoroughly coated. Heat a deep fryer to 375 degrees. Fry chicken strips in batches until golden brown and fully cooked. Drain on paper towels. Place into the oven to keep warm.

Step 3: Add a tablespoon or two of oil to a wok over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion and green onions. Season vegetables with salt and pepper. Stir fry until vegetables have reached your desired tenderness. Remove from pan and set aside.
Step 4: Pour the sauce mixture into the wok and cook until the sauce becomes thickened and bubbly. Add chicken strips into a large serving bowl, pour sauce over chicken, add onions and mix well. Serve with white rice.
(Makes 4 Servings)

I had tried a recipe for chicken scallopini (Scaloppine) before and did not really care for it. I decided to give it another shot with a different recipe and it turned out fantastic. This dish is served at many restaurants and I would say is fairly popular. If you are not familiar with it, I believe it is an Italian based dish. For this recipe, the sauce is where it’s at. The sauce basically consists of butter, lemon juice, white wine, and heavy cream. All of these ingredients can be adjusted to your taste. Another great option if you want to add more flavor is to add crumbled bacon of pancetta on top. This is a dish that is sure to impress almost anyone with your cooking skills. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb linguini (cooked and drained)
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (pounded to an even thickness)
1 1/2 cups flour
Salt and pepper (for seasoning)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
12 ounces of fresh mushrooms (sliced)
Parmesan Cheese
Sauce-
¼ cup butter
The juice of 1 lemon
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoons capers
3 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour on both sides. In a large skillet heat oil and 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Fry chicken breasts on both sides until fully cooked golden brown. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven.

Step 2: Melt butter in the same pan, add sliced mushrooms and stir fry for a few seconds. Pour in wine, lemon juice, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and cook for about 1 minute until the sauce has reduced. Pour and stir in cream, add capers, and add salt and pepper to taste. Add parsley and remove from heat.
Step 3: Pour sauce over chicken and linguini and top with parmesan cheese.
(Makes 6 Servings)