Enough for 2 people…

• 2 shallots (or 1 onion), cut finely
• 2 cloves of garlic pressed
• 1 can of bean (red kidney, pinto, …), rinsed
• some lard (e.g. from making carnitas!), or melted butter (1/4 cup?)
• cumin
• smoked paprika
• regular paprika
• salt and pepper

Fry the shallots for ~5min in some oil on medium. Then add the garlic for 30s, and then the beans. Stir in the spices. Fry for another 5-10min on medium. Taste to make sure seasoning is good.

Can add a little bit of broth if desired (to make it a little more liquid when mashing).

Remove from heat and mash. Mix in melted lard (or butter) to get good consistency.

• 1/2 red cabbage, shredded
• 2/3 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 apples, diced
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp red currant jelly

Cover cabbage with sugar, salt, vinegar and let rest for ~10 min.

Heat up some butter and fry apples and onions until apples start to brown, 5-10min, on medium.

Add the cabbage, 1 cup of water, bring to a boil, then turn heat to very low and let it cook with the lid on for at least 2 hours.

After ~ 2hours, check how much liquid there is, remove lid if necessary, there should be no liquid at the end and everything should be very soft. About 3 hours total cooking.

• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut in two
• chorizo sausage, cut into chunks
• 12 big shrimps (tail on but easy to peel)
• 1 kg of mussels
• 4 calamari, sliced into rings

• 1 red pepper finely chopped
• 3 tomatoes, small diced (ideally, not canned, not huge tomatoes)
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed (separate into 2 and 3 cloves)
• 3 tomatoes
• 1.5 cups (? enough..) frozen peas
• 1 Lemon, sliced into wedges.

• 1.5L of chicken broth with 2 pinches of saffron
• 2 cups of arborio (or bomba) rice
• 2 generous tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp paprika

Step 0:

Prep all the ingredients (e.g. finely chopping, cutting meat, seafood…), if they are all ready to go, then it’s actually straightforward (although plan 1:30 – 2 hours, prep included)

Step 1:

Combine some olive oil, 2 tsp smoked paprika, 2 crushed
garlic cloves, and marinate the chicken for 10min in that mixture

Step 2:Make broth with saffron (1.5L of chicken broth with 2 pinches saffron), keep warm, just below boiling.

Step 3:

Once the chicken is marinated, heat small amount of olive oil in the paella pan, cook the chicken on medium high, about 15min. Once cooked (165F), reserve chicken on a dish.

Step 4:

Fry the chorizo for about 4min total on medium hight (flip after 2-3min) in the paella pan, then remove and keep with the chicken. By now, there is some grease in the pan…

Step 5:

Place the 3 diced tomatoes (small dice), 1 finely diced red onion, 1 finely diced pepper, 3 crushed garlic cloves in the paella pan and fry for about 3-4min on medium high.

Step 6:

Add rice and fry for 1-2 min

Step 7:

Add all of the broth (1.5l) into the pan, 1 pinch of saffron, 2tsp paprika. Bring to boil, and simmer just below boiling for 15min.

Step 8:

Add frozen peas and calamari first, and stir them in uniformly. Add the mussels (stick them into the rice, about 1/2 or more of the 1kg of mussels), add the shrimp (push them into the rice uniformly). Cook for an additional 15min.

Step 9:

Steam the rest of the mussels (about 5min on steam)

Step 10:

Remove the steamed mussels from shells. Sprinkle over the rice. Add the chicken and chorizo back onto the rice. Cook 5 min.

Serve with the lemon wedges laid on top.

Mix the following and coat the shrimps:

• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• ~1 tbsp oil (enough to coat the shrimps)
• juice from half a lime

Fry the shrimps and the liquid in a hot frying pan, about 3min per side. All the liquid will be gone leaving a crust. The pan needs to be hot to evaporate the liquid quickly and not overcook the shrimps.

To make a simple mayonnaise sauce:

• ~ 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1-2 tsp hot sauce
• ~ 1tsp garlic powder
• ~1 tsp smoked paprika
• some crushed garlic (~1 clove)
• zest from a lime

Serve on taco shell with some coleslaw, fresh cilantro, fresh squeezed limes.

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil
• ~1 tbsp sesame seeds
• crushed red pepper (or fresh)
• scallion
• ahi tuna (yellowfin)

Dice tuna, mix sauce ingredients, and let sit for at least 2 hours in the fridge.

• 1/2 venison loin (aka backstrap) for 3-4 people (about 1kg), the whole loin is about 2kg for a deer.
• Remove all fat and silver skin from loin, it’s painful but worth it
• Tie the loin with butcher string to make it have a round cross-section (to make it less flat, so that it doesn’t over cook inside)
• Preheat oven to 400F
• Heat up a stick pan (not non-stick) that can go into the oven, medium high
• Add a large piece of butter into the pan
• Fry each side of the loin for 2minutes, until nice and brown, add butter as needed
• Coat all sides with the melted butter
• Roast for about 12-15 minutes until temperature is 135F (check after 8min, roll loin around in the butter)
• Place on cutting board, cover with foil, let rest at least 10 min, then slice diagonally.

To make a sauce, one can just deglaze with some red wine/broth/both and then add cream . Or a sweet balsamic reduction:

• Fry some shallots in the oil leftover in the skillet, deglaze with sweet balsamic, and then with some more liquid (e.g. stock, liquid from re-hydrating mushrooms, broth, etc). Reduce by about half, reserve.
• Add some cream, and reduce.
• Add salt and pepper.

• Start boiling water
• 500g of bacon/pancetta and fry in a large pan (time it so that it’s done at the same time the pasta is al dente, get rid of excess fat if needed)
• Cook spaghetti al dente, reserve 1 cup of starch water
• Beat 4 eggs, and mix in 1 cup of grated parmesan, pepper (+1 tsp garlic powder if not using real garlic)
• Add 1 clove of garlic to bacon just before adding the pasta, fry for 1 min
• Toss the spaghetti in the fat with the bacon for 2min
• Remove pan from heat (wait ~2 minutes) and add in parmesan egg mixture, stirring well, and being careful that the eggs don’t cook.
• If needed add some of the starch water to the mix to make the sauce thinner

• Pre-heat oven to 400F
• Heat heavy skillet to medium high, with a little bit of oil.
• Sear each side of pork chop for 2min (starting with fat side)
• When searing on the last side, just place in the oven for ~8min
• Remove from oven when temperature is ~145F
• Remove chop from skillet, cover and let stand 10min
• Can make a gravy from the pan (fry shallots, deglaze with wine/balsamic/etc, add roux or cream to thicken)

Make a rub and cover a ~2kg pork shoulder roast and leave over night:

• smoked paprika
• pepper
• cumin
• onion powder
• brown sugar

After marinating over night:

• Place ~ 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/4 cup water, some soy sauce in bottom of slow cooker, then the roast (fat side up)
• Cook on high for 6 hours or more
• Remove juices, separate the fat out (and use fat for refried beans!)
• Shred with two forks, add back in some of the juice.
• Place on a baking sheet lined with foil, and broil for 5-10min to make carnitas.