Chimichurri Sauce

Motivation
This amazing sauce loves to be smeared on meat.  Try it on steaks or pork!

Ingredients
1 bunch Parsley Leaves
1 bunch Cilantro Leaves
6-8 cloves Garlic
1 tsp Dried Oregano
Black Pepper
Cumin
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar

Mise en Place
Rough chop leaves and upper stems.  Everything is going to by blended into a paste so don't worry too much if you get some stem.

Method
Combine everything in a blender and blend until a smooth paste is formed.

Crockpot Pork Shoulder

Motivation
My fiend Liza gave me this super simple recipe that will easily feed a group of people.  It's amazing what pork can do given a little bit of time.

Ingredients
4 lb Pork Shoulder (Boston Butt)
4 Tbsp Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp Black Pepper
3 Tbsp Oil
2 Tbsp Vinegar

Mise en Place
Mix all of the ingredients together in a gallon ziplock bag and smear over the pork shoulder.  Let marinate overnight.

Method
Place in a crockpot on low for 10-12 hours.  Service with chimichurri on tortillas or lettuce leafs.

Spent Grain Bread

Motivation
If you're all-grain brewing you're going to have spent grains left over after the mashing step.  You should take those spent grains and make bread.

This recipe is adapted from here.

Ingredients 
3 cups Flour, plus more for kneading
1 cup Spent Grain
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp honey
1 1/4 cups of warm water (or left over mash/wort)
Mise en Place
Add yeast to warm water/mash/wort (70-80 F) and let it sit for a few minutes to proof it.
Wipe a bit of oil along the inside of the your mixer's bowl to help with dough sticking to the sides.

Method

In a medium sized bowl, combine the water with the yeast, honey, and one cup of flour. Mix thoroughly. Add the salt and another cup of flour, mixing it all in. At this point, you should have a pretty gooey dough. Add the spent grain, followed by the remaining flour, plus any extra needed to keep it from being too sticky to knead.  I use a mixer with a dough hook to do all of this.  

Let mixed knead bread for about 5 minutes.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for an hour.  It should double in size.

Divide the dough into two pieces, forming each into an oblong loaf shape by pulling the ends around and tucking them under the bottom.

Sprinkle a baking sheet with extra flour, and place the loaves on top. Allow to rise for at least 30 minutes more, then slash the tops with a very sharp knife. Bake for around 30-40 minutes at 450F, and if you like, place another pan underneath, filled with water: the steam will help crisp the crust of your bread.

Carrot Soup

Motivation
I made this soup to play around with caramelizing carrots in my pressure cooker.  THIS IS AN AMAZING SOUP.  Seriously if you have the means (pressure cooker and juicer) you should give it a try.  Original recipe found here.  It took us about 5 lbs of carrots to make the carrot juice and diced carrots.

Ingredients
500 g Carrots (quartered and cut into 2 inch strips)
113 g Butter
30 g Water
5 g Salt
2.5 Baking Soda

635 g Carrot Juice
40g Butter

Mise en Place
Peel and juice carrots until you have 635 g of juice.
Peel. quarter and cut remaining carrots into 2 inch strips until you have 500 g of carrots.

Method
Melt 113 g butter in open pressure cooker.  Add water, salt, and  baking soda and mix.  Add diced carrots. Seal pressure cooker.  When pressure cooker reaches pressure cook for 20 minutes.

Depressurize cooker by running water of the lid.  Puree cooked carrots.

Bring carrot juice to a simmer and add to carrot puree.  Puree again.  Taste and season.