A Cooking Baker

Food on a stick isn't just for the fair! I was just paging through a few magazines, trying to thin out the pile, and I found a great list of ingredients to combine for kebabs.  Kebabs are fab for parties - you can have big platters of ingredients, and people can put together their own combinations.  I love that this particular list of ingredients includes foods that are either already cooked or don't need to be, so you don't need to worry about cross-contamination like you might with raw chicken or beef.  If you want to go that route, marinate the chunks of meat in advance, and then have a hand-washing station for guests once they've skewered their meats.  Here's a list to get your started - just pick a variety of ingredients you'd like to try, put out a pile of skewers, a mister with some evoo, some salt & pepper, and have some fun! slices of baguette fresh mozzarella balls cubed Halloumi cheese (it's kind of like Feta, and it's good for grilling)

I love beef barbacoa.   The best I've ever had was from Cocina DeLeon in Brookfield, which is now closed.  I was inspired to experiment on my own, and I've combined about five different recipes from the Internet with some of my own tweaks (yes, I used a spreadsheet to compare ingredients).  The results were met with very positive responses, so much so, that I had no photos. [Update: added a new photo!  Also, make a double batch of the marinade, and freeze 1/2 so it's super easy to make next time.] Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa 2-3 lb. chuck roast 1 medium white onion, diced 3/4 c. chicken stock 4-6 avocado leaves (hojas de aguacate)* 3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice (juice of 2) 1/2 c. cider vinegar 4 chipotle chiles and a little adobo sauce from the can 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped (remove big pieces of stem) 4 garlic cloves, minced 1-1/2 tsp. salt 1-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper 2 tbsp. ground cumin 2-1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano Put