Slow Cooker Lamb Tagine

Slow Cooker Lamb Tagine
Serves 8-10

4.5 lbs lamb, cleaned and cubed
Salt and pepper
2 medium red onions, half-moons
1/2 head of garlic, peeled only
2 tsp honey
3 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2c each dried dates and dried apricots, halved
2c pitted green olives
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained a little
2 carrots, sliced
Chopped parsley

Season the lamb, and sear in batches until browned. Deglaze the pan with 3/4c water, and add meat + juices + deglazed pan juices to the slow cooker.
Also add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, seasonings, dried fruit, olives, chickpeas, and tomatoes.

Cook on low for about 8 hours, or a workday. Before serving, turn to high and add the carrots and more chickpeas/etc if desired. Once carrots are done (30 min or so), finish with parsley and mabe pine nuts and serve.

Slow Cooker Pastrami'd Brisket

Slow Cooker Pastrami'd Brisket
Serves 6-8

3-4 lbs brisket, trimmed a bit.
4 Tbs coriander
2 Tbs salt
2 Tbs pepper
2 tsp paprika
Some cayenne
Vegetable oil
3/4c brown sugar
1/3c yellow mustard
1/2 red onion, rough chopped
1 can beef broth

Trim the brisket of any super-thick fat, and pat very dry with paper towels.
Season with the mix of seasonings on both sides, rubbing it in some.
Heat a large pan and sear the meat in minimal oil until well browned. Remove and let rest 20 minutes, loosly covered with foil.
Mix the mustard and brown sugar into a paste. Lay the brisket out onto two overlapping big sheets of foil and cover both sides of the meat with all of the paste. Wrap up tighly with foil and let sit overnight, if desired.

When ready to cook, either get out the slow cooker or pre-heat the oven to 300.
In the oven, cook in the foil, in a roasting pan, 10 hours or until very soft to the point of a knife.
In the slow cooker, spread the onions in the bottom of the vessel and pour in the stock. Put the meat on top and cook on low 10 hours or while you're at work.

Black Beans and Rice

Black Beans and Rice
Serves 4

1 lbs dry black beans
1 lbs chorizo, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 habanero, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 packets sazon
2 tsp cumin, oregano
1 orange, zest+juice
2 bay leaf
1/2 black olives, sliced
water
cilantro
scallions

Put beans, aromatics, orange peel, and spices in a crock pot. Add water to 1-2 inches above the beans. Cook 10 hours on low, or around that.

Crisp up the chorizo. Once everything is ready, add the chorizo, orange juice, garnishes, and olives into the crock pot. Serve over rice.

Cochinita Pibil

Yucatan Cochinita Pibil - sort of. Don't forget the onions.
Serves 6

Shortcut Yucatan Roast Pork - Cochinita Pibil

Pork:
3 lbs Pork Butt, trimmed some and chopped into a few chunks to lie in the slow cooker
Juice of 2 Lemons
Juice of 2 Oranges or more - roughly 1/2-3/4cup
2 chopped Habanero peppers
2 Tbs Brown Sugar
2 Bay Leaf
3 Tbs Achiote Paste (or 1.5 Tbs ground Annatto + a chunk of trimmed pork fat)
1 Tsp each Cumin, Coriander, Paprika, Cinnamon
Salt, Pepper

Punch a lot of holes in the pork with a fork. Rub down with the achiote or annatto. Marinate overnight.
Pour everything into a Slow Cooker, adding OJ if the liquid doesn't get at least 1/3 up the meat. Cook on low 12 hours or 5+ on high.

Serve chopped in tortillas or sliced with braising liquid over rice, both with Pickled Onions and Cilantro.

Pickled Onions:
2 Red Onions, Thin sliced
Juice of 1 lime
Orange juice (at least 2 oranges)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs Salt
1 jalapeno, thin sliced

Blanch the onions for about 15 seconds. Drain and combine everything. Add enough orange juice to almost cover everyting. Cool, and let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours.