Jamaican Rice and Beans

I BBQ'd some jerk chicken legs on Monday so I  wanted rice and beans to go with it. I don't know how Janaican this is or whatever but it's my interpretation based on variations that I've seen.

Ingredients
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
olive oil
2 cups rice (I used a Texmati mix)
3 cups chicken stock
1 cubanelle pepper, diced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cinamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
salt & pepper

Directions

1. Sauté the onions and garlic.
   
2. Add the stock and bring to a boil.
   
3. Add the rice, cover and cook on low for 15 minutes. (It probably could have used 20 minutes)
4. Add everything else, mix carefully and heat through.

It was really good but it probably could have used some fresh thyme and green onions thrown in right before serving.

Beef Stew in the Slow Cooker

OK so it's been a while since I've posted anything here. Sue me. It's not like anyone knows about this blog anyway. I got a slow cooker for Christmas and I love it. I've only used it a couple of times but I'm trying to use it more and more. The first thing I made in it was black bean chili. I made it from a mix that I bought from Chilly Chiles. Not exactly my own recipe so I won't bother posting it here. It was good but even after soaking the beans overnight and cooking the chili on low for 11 hours, the beans were still a bit too hard. They were quite edible but I would have liked them to be softer.

Anyway, this post isn't about beans. I made a pot of beef stew for our last day out at the ice shack 2 weekends ago. It turned out really well and was quite delicious if I do say so myself. It was a couple of weeks ago so I'll do my best to remember what I did. The quantities are close enough but probably not exact.

Ingredients
3 lbs stew beef
flour
salt & pepper
oil
1/2 bottle red wine (I used a part bottle of Cab-Sauv that I had in the fridge)
2 large onions, halved
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (big chunks)
6 medium carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
8 small potatoes, quartered
1 can plum tomatoes, roughly chopped (I do it right in the can with a pair of scissors)
1 large box beef stock
1 bottle of beer (I used Creemore Pilsner)
water ??? (I may have used a bit just to top up the liquid level)
2-3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tsp smoked paprika
salt & pepper

Directions

1. Coat the beef in a generous layer of seasoned flour.
   
2. Brown the beef in batches so you don't overcrowd the pan. I sprinkled some extra flour in with the last batch of meat just to make sure the gravy would thicken just a little bit. Add it all to the slow cooker.
   
3. Sauté the onions and garlic in the same pan and deglaze with the wine. Add this to the slow cooker.
4. Add everything else to the slow cooker and give it a mix.
5. Cook on low for 9 hours.

I transfered it to a big pot and brought it out to the ice shack. I re-heated it on the propane stove and we had it for lupper. I got a bunch of lunches out it too. Probably could have used a bit more salt, or maybe something fresh thrown in at the end.