What to do with leftover lamb?

As the follow-up to my last recipe post about my leg 'o lamb... here is how I ended up using the remaining scraps...

One night I made a pizza. A Greek pizza. Roll out some fresh pizza dough from Trader Joe's. Sometimes I cook pizzas on a regular cookie sheet which I think works just fine. Lightly oil the pan with some olive oil on your fingertips and press the dough into a rectangular shape. Spread some oil on top of the dough and layer on shredded mozzarella, crumbled feta, diced lamb, sauteed onions, roasted garlic and dried oregano. Bake according to the directions on the pizza dough... usually about 10 minutes at 400 degrees but eyeball it until it's done to your desired crispiness.

Feeling like I was close to being "lamb-ed out" the following night I used all of the remaining meat and made lamb stew. Here is my brother, my sous chef, who helped and requested a shout out...

Anyways, here's what you do. Dice up the lamb, as much as you have left, and put in the crock pot along with a sliced onion, a can of garbanzo beans, a can of Italian style diced tomatoes and a carton of beef stock. Sprinkle in some salt, pepper, a pinch of oregano and a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes (I always season more once the dish is done cooking, too, based on what I think it needs.) Because I had limited veggies on hand, I didn't add some "stew staples", but would recommend adding some diced celery, carrots, potatoes or anything else you have laying around. Despite the lack of veggie presence, the stew ended up fantastic so no need to stress. Cook on low for 10 hours and serve with some piping hot Pillsbury Grands biscuits!

Next, take a break from lamb for a while :)

Carnitas in the crock

Crock pot creation of the week! I had a boneless pork lion roast in the freezer so decided to make carnitas in the crock. As I knew that my husband would be parked in front of the TV glued to the NFL draft (apparently this year's draft is "shocking")I thought that a low-maintenance eat-while-sitting-on-the-couch type dinner would be in order. Crock carnitas are a long-time favorite meal of mine from when I was a kid. Of course, because they're made in the C-P, they are super easy!

Here's what you'll need for the meat:
1 pork loin roast
1 small can of chicken broth
about a teaspoon minced garlic
about a tablespoon whole peppercorns
about a teaspoon red pepper flakes
a dash o' salt

I went ahead and thawed the pork in the fridge for a day and over night and the popped it in the C-P with some chicken broth. I actually made chicken broth with some bouillon as it's all I had on hand. While whisking in the bouillon, I added some minced garlic for some extra flay-vah. Pour the broth over the pork and add the peppercorns and pepper flakes. Aaaaaand, that's it. Seriously. Put on low for 10 hours and you're done.

Go to work, run your errands, yadda yadda etc. etc.... get home 10 hours later and smell the amazingness in your house! Bust open the lid and get to shreddin'. I leave the meat in the broth just in case the meat is a little dry, let it soak up those juices. I like mine to eventually look like this:

As for the fixins... you can do anything. Tonight I chose to throw together some grilled onions, simple guacamole, crumbled queso fresco, salsa and some sour cream.

For the guac, I mash up one avocado with some S&P and juice from half a lime... easy and awesome. For the grilled onions, I decided to bite the bullet and slice them thinly pre-sauteeing. It was painful. I cried. Post-onion-chopping-cry-fest, I got them grilled and ready to go. I heated up some soft taco sized flour tortillas on the stove and kept them warm in one of those handy tortilla warmers you see in Mexican restaurants when they bring you tortillas for your fajitas. If you don't own one, you might want to consider adding one to your next grocery shopping list. Mine was a total impulse buy (which I am notorious for any time I go grocery shopping really, but especially at Whole Foods after a visit to their wine bar, that's another story...) and I felt so funny putting it in my cart but seriously, swallow your pride and spend the $5. You'll thank me later when your tortillas stay warm for longer than 90 seconds.

Construct your carnitas soft taco to your liking. I finish mine off with a splash of my hot sauce of choice- Red Rooster. Mine looked like this and it was fabulous:

Pair with a cold Tecate and you're totally set to contently sit on the couch in front of the TV while watching something boring with someone who thinks it's really interesting :)

Tri-Tip Tuesday: A New Tradition!

In honor of possibly the most delicious tri-tip dinner I have ever made, we considered last night's meal the Inaugural Tri-Tip Tuesday in our house. Here is why I love this dish this much:

1. It is cooked in the crock pot. I have an abnormal love-love relationship with my crock pot. It's perhaps one of the greatest kitchen purchases I have ever made. If you don't own one, I suggest you follow suit and invest. (Target has a bunch, for cheap!) It will change your life.

2. I throw everything in the crock pot dish the night before and pop it in the fridge. The next morning when I'm running around like a chicken sans head getting ready for work, I pop the dish in the crock pot base and... voila! Dinner will be ready in about 8 hours!

3. When I come home at the end of the day, my whole house smells less like dog and more like heeeeaaaaven! Sigh... I feel like I've been cooking all day but in fact the good ole c-pot has been doing all the dirty work. Love that thing. My favorite moment (besides doing the consuming) is opening the pot for the first time and watching that flavorful steam escape. You can't see the steam in the photo below, but just imagine that it's there and give it a waft...

4. Just like a fine wine, leftovers are even better the next day. Gotta love double duty dinners. And fine wine.

Ok. So would you like the  recipe?

Here is what you will need (I don't do measurements. Get used to it, that's how I roll...):
1 Tri-tip (whatever size you want for however many people you're cooking for)
1 can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes (available at Fresh & Easy)
1 yellow onion thinly sliced
5-6 whole cloves garlic, trust me
1 small can of beef broth
about 1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce (I can never spell this)
Montreal seasoning

Rub some Montreal seasoning on that chunk 'o beef. Place the meat in the crock and cover with remaining ingredients. And the manual labor portion of the job is done. Cook in the crock pot for 8-10 hours on low. I usually go with 10 hours. Once it's been in there for 8 hours, what's another 2?

Once it's done the meat will shred and the veggies will be all soft and yummy. The garlic will be amazing, too. I usually pull out a clove and eat it whole. You can serve it with mashed potatoes and use the juice/veggie fixins as gravy, use it as filling for tacos, or do what we did and make open faced sandwiches on toasted garlic bread (again from Fresh & Easy)... heavenly! You could also add more beef broth and some roughly chopped celery and carrot (or Mirepoix for you francophiles) and dice up the beef prior to cooking and it would make a lovely stew.

You might wonder where the green in the above photo came from... As a last minute side, I sauteed a diced shallot in a couple tablespoons of butter and then added some fresh haricot verts (or green beans for you non-francophiles) and cooked them for a few minutes. I like my green beans with a nice bite but if you like them mushy and soft, just blanche them to your desired crispiness before sauteing.

Also of note, all the ingredients in this meal cost just under $20 and it could have fed 4 people... totally budget-friendly!

So thus began Tri-Tip Tuesday. Who will help me in starting this new catchphrase?