Alternatively Titled: Why I’m not Betty Crocker and/or Martha Stewart.
I make it no secret that I like to hijack new recipes from bloggy folk. I generally get my recipes that I cook from bloggers and magazines like Fitness, Real Simple and Self.
So the other day, Definitely RA mentioned what I thought, upon checking it out, was a bad ass recipe. I’m trying to get used to using my slow-cooker more often since it’s so effing handy, and knowing that my mom was coming into town this weekend, I decided to give this recipe a try Saturday since I knew we’d be out all day.
Beef and Chipotle Burritos from Better Homes and Garden
Ingredients
* 1-1/2 pounds boneless beef round steak, cut 3/4 inch thick
* 1 14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
* 1/3 cup chopped onion (1 small)
* 1 to 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (see tip, page XX)
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 6 9- to 10-inch tomato-flavored or plain flour tortillas, warmed
* 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (3 ounces)
* 1 recipe Pico de Gallo Salsa
* Shredded jicama or radishes (optional)
* Dairy sour cream (optional)Directions
Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 6 pieces. In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker place meat, undrained tomatoes, onion, chipotle peppers, oregano, cumin, and garlic.
Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. Remove meat from cooker. Using 2 forks, pull meat apart into shreds. Place meat in a large bowl. Stir in enough cooking liquid to reach desired consistency. Divide meat among warm tortillas, spooning it just below the centers. Top with cheese, Pico de Gallo Salsa, and, if desired, jicama and sour cream. Roll up tortillas. Makes 6 servings.
Pico de Gallo Salsa: In a medium bowl combine 2 finely chopped medium tomatoes; 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion; 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro; 1 fresh serrano chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped (see tip); and dash sugar. Cover; chill several hours.
Now note the bolded part. “1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.”
I don’t usually cook at 8:30a but with mom here, we woke up early and before heading out, I put dinner together and turned the slow cooker on.
1-2 Chipotle peppers. I read as…1 can of chipotle peppers.
Serving size, per the back of the can of peppers, 1-2 peppers. Servings in can? 13. I threw in the CAN as in 26 chipotle peppers!!! In the mixture in the slow cooker.
That dinner? Was hot. Like, sweating through my clothes hot, sweating like fat man eating a massive steak hot. I put in 26 freakin’ chipotle peppers!!! What the HELL was I thinking?!
Needless to say, mom and hubs said it was still good, I threw in a can of tomato paste in an effort to tone it down but this further goes to prove two things:
1. Read the recipe. Thoroughly.
2. Don’t cook before 9am. At least not unless I remember to read the recipe thoroughly.
The best part about this all is that Mom was looking over my shoulder and asking if I was reading the recipe right. Seeing me dump the can of hot chipotle peppers in, I said “oh yeah! The thing I love about cooking is that it’s all to taste! I just kind of wing it with spices” blah blah blah. Yeah, I won’t be winging it again for a while. I think she knew the whole time.
This goes up there in my cooking bloopers along with the time I made carbomb cupcakes and instead of bailey’s when making the frosting, accidentally used worchestershire sauce (the bottles were right next to each other and looked similar) – I should note that I did this when the then almost-in-laws were visiting. They don’t let me live it down. Now there’s another to add to the book.
I’m not perfect though. Nor am I Martha Stewart. Today? I’m breaking out the bread maker though. This time? I’ll follow the recipe.
