Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Charlie's birthday dinner- a day early





Cassie had the day off so she made dinner today.  She made a pork loin roast with blue cheese grits and an arugula salad.  For dessert she made pineapple upside down cake.

I made the bread.  It is a biscuit dough in a loaf pan with layers of ham and cheese.  We also had tomatoes, peaches and green beans that I got at the Farmers Market yesterday.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Ribeyes, baked potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce.

We had ribeye steaks on the grill last night with baked potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce.

I started to pick out 3 flatirons but put them back when I saw I could get 3 ribeyes for the same price. 
 I used Tatonka Dust on the steaks this time. It was pretty good. It has dry powdered soy sauce and 
dry powdered worcestershire sauce in it.

http://www.owensbbq.com/testimonials.html

The cheese sauce was invented on the spot with stuff I had on hand.  It was approximately 
1/3 C. each half and half, cubed Velveeta and shredded mozzarella seasoned with 
about 1/8 tsp of nutmeg, dry mustard and paprika.
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Saturday, July 20, 2013

Country style BBQ ribs in the oven



Oven-Roasted Country-Style Ribs
By Linda's Kitchen on July 25, 2005   Prep Time: 30 mins   Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
  • Servings: 4-6
About This Recipe
"These are spicy sweet and very tender!"
Ingredients
    • 3 -4 lbs country-style pork ribs or 3 -4 lbs boneless sirloin pork chops
    • 1/2 cup sugar
    • 1/2 cup catsup
    • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
    • 1/4 cup water
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
    • red pepper flakes, to taste
Directions
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Place ribs or chops in roasting pan.
  3. In 2 quart saucepan combine remaining ingredients.
  4. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full boil (5 to 8 minutes).
  5. Pour over ribs or chops turning to coat all sides.
  6. Bake, turning every 20 to 30 minutes, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until meat is fork tender.
  7. Serve with cooking sauce.


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Pulled Pork




Pork was injected with apple juice, coated with a spicy rub and smoked until it registers 190º.  Baked beans and corn  grilled on the cob, then cut off, seasoned with honey, milk, salt and butter.

BBQ Pork Butt

Injection marinade

1/3 C. apple juice
1/3 C. white grape juice
1/4 C. sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt

Inject every inch, let set overnight.

Pork Butt Dry rub

4 tsp. seasoned salt
2 tsp. dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. cumin
pinch ground ginger

Place in smoker and smoke @ 250º to 225º until done to 190º. Smoke for 2 hours, paint with apple juice, wrap in foil and continue cooking until done.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Steak and oven baked fries

I wanted to try a couple recipes plus made a tossed salad and Cassie made a pasta salad.

The grocery store had a sale for rib eye steaks @ $5.00 each and I tried the smokey bacon spice rub on it.  We could not really taste much difference and the fries were OK, not great in my opinion but anyway, that is what we had.

Crybaby @ cooking friends June 2013

Recently our instant meat thermometer bit the dust so I bought Brian a Thermapen -- he deserves it, as he grills and smokes stuff all the time. By the way, he loves it! I bought a bright green one so we can see it easily in the kitchen drawer, which is always a mess of stuff! 

Anyway, a card advertising a cookbook named "The Great Meat Cookbook" came with the Thermapen. I didn't get it but it had this recipe for a type of rub to put on a steak and it sounds great. We always have a couple of small jars of bacon grease in the fridge so that's no problem. See what you think:

Smokey Bacon Spice Paste
Recipe from The Great Meat Cookbook sold on Thermapen website

3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon finely chopped chipotle chile in adobo
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 
2 Tablespoons melted bacon fat

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well. Smear over 2 large steaks or 4 smaller steaks. Place in a nonreactive dish, cover with plastic wrap and marinate for 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

P.S. I just read reviews of this book on Amazon and they were all great. Bought it and will post more when it arrives.



Weekend Chef: Hand-cut fries with spicy Sriracha ketchup


By Steve Wilson
DFW.com
Posted 6:15pm on Friday, Jun. 28, 2013
Lots of burger talk is going down as we prepare for the 2013 DFW.com Burger Battle. But before the battle begins, I want to give a shout-out to the fries. You know, the humble side dish served with almost every burger. I mean, how often do you say no when asked, “Do you want fries with that?” I thought not.
And now we are starting to see “spicy” and “fancy” ketchups as selling points for just the fries at one of the major chains, taking center stage away from the actual burgers. So maybe it is the fries that are actually driving burger sales? Or is it that fries have very high profit margins and it's actually the burgers that are there to sell the fries? Whoa!
So back to the spicy ketchup, I decided to give it a try (along with a burger) and I was shocked at how mild the ketchup was when I tried it. I was so disappointed that I decided I was going to fix up my own batch of fries with a very spicy “sriracha” ketchup.
At first I thought I would make my ketchup from scratch like some of the high-end burger joints, but it turns out the more I looked into it that it was really looking like more trouble than what it was worth. Of course, with homemade ketchup you could use real sugar instead of corn syrup, but you can also buy ready-made ketchup made with real sugar. So I decided to save a days work and buy some Simple Heinz Tomato Ketchup (made with real sugar) and doctor it up with some Sriracha sauce. I added 1 tablespoon of Sriracha sauce to 1 cup of ketchup, stirred and gave it a taste, than went ahead and added a second tablespoon. I also let it set in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to let the flavors meld.
To make the fries I decided to make both russet and sweet potato fries, hand cut and baked on my grill (you can also use an oven). Soaking the fries in vinegar water and coating them with a little cornstarch makes them nice and crispy when baked.

Sriracha ketchup

Ingredients
  • 1 cup ketchup (I used Simple Heinz Tomato Ketchup)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha sauce (I used Huy Fong Foods rooster sauce)


Mixing Directions
  1. Stir 1 tablespoon of sriracha sauce into 1 cup of ketchup and taste. Season to taste by adding more ketchup for milder, or more sriracha for hotter. I ended up using 2 tablespoons of sriracha for 1 cup ketchup.
  2. Let set in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to let the flavors meld before serving.



Hand-cut baked fries (sweet & russet)

Ingredients
  • 1 large russet potato cut into long strips
  • 1 large sweet potato peeled and cut into long strips
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons distilled or white wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • Baking sheets and parchment paper
  • Salt and pepper to taste


Cooking Directions

  1. Soak potato strips (fries) in a large bowl of warm water mixed with 2 tablespoons of vinegar for 30 minutes.
  2. Remove fries from water and dry them with paper towels. Empty large bowl of the vinegar water and dry bowl with paper towels. Add fries back to the bowl with the oil, cornstarch, paprika and salt and mix together until all the fries are evenly coated.
  3. Preheat oven or grill to 425ºF
  4. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly distribute the fries on the parchment paper, making sure none of the fries are touching. Then place in preheated oven or grill. Bake fries for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the fries once on the parchment paper. Let cool, then taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Serve with sriracha ketchup.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

boneless, skinless fried chicken and strawberry shortcake

Tyler Florence inspired Fried Chicken

The best fried chicken you will ever make at home without sous vide machine

for the poaching

6 C. chicken broth
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, gently bruised
1 T. lightly crushed black peppercorns
1/2 T. kosher salt
3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

for the breading

1 C. AP flour
12 fresh sage leaves
2 large sprigs fresh rosemary leaves
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 T. chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3 C. panko bread crumbs
1 C. buttermilk
3 eggs, beaten with 1 T. water
1 quart peanut oil

Poach chicken in large saucepan with broth, rosemary, peppercorns and salt.  Bring liquid to bare simmer, add chicken, return to simmer, cover and cook, keeping heat just below simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until meat reaches 165º

Meanwhile prepare breading. Combine flour, sage, rosemary, garlic powder, thyme, dalt and pepper in food processor and process until seasonings are ground and mostly undetectable. Transfer to gallon plastic bag.

Once chicken has finished poaching, transfer to cutting board until cook enough to handle, then pat dry.

One at a time, soak the chicken briefly in buttermilk then remove, shaking off any excess. Place in the bag with the flour mixture to lightly coat.  Remove from bag and dredge through eggs.  Remove, shaking off any excess and put in bag with panko.  Gently shake to coat.  Pat the panko onto the meat.  Set fully breaded chicken thighs on rimmed baking sheet.  Repeat with all thighs. Add more Panko near the end if they start to get soggy. Chicken my be covered with plastic and refrigerated up to a day or fried immediately. 


Preheat oil to 400, set oven to 200. Fry chicken 2 at a time for 10 to 15 seconds, until browned and crisp.  With tongs or slotted spoon transfer to oven to keep warm until all chicken is fried.  Allow oil to return to 400º after removing each batch of chicken.  Serve.


Strawberry Shortcake KC Star June 2013

8 C. strawberries, hulled
6 T. gran. sugar

Shortcakes
2 C. AP flour
2 T. gran. sugar
2 T. packed brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 T. unsalted, cold butter cut into small pieces 
2/3 C half & half,+ extra for brushing
1 egg
Sparkling sugar

Topping
2 C. heavy whipping cream
2-3 T. confectioners' sugar, to taste


For berries, slice, sprinkle 2 with 6 T. gran. sugar. Set aside, stirring occ. 30 min. until juicy.

For the Shortcake:  Preheat oven 425º, place rack in center. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

in large bowl, whisk together flour, 2 T. granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in cold butter.  

In a small bowl, whisk together half & half, egg.  Stir in flour mixture until dough comes together in a sticky mass.  Turn dough out onto  a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until it comes together, about 30 seconds.  Dust the counter with a bit more flour, then pat dough into a rectangle about 1/2-inch thick.  Cut into rounds with a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter, pressing straight down, don't twist until all the way to the bottom.  Twisting can seal the layers, leading to a dense shortcake.  Then place them upside down on a baking sheet (helps ensure the highest rise). OR cut into squares with a knife.  Gather scraps, knead briefly and cut 2 more rounds. Brush with half and half and sprinkle with sparkling sugar.  Bake 12 -14 minutes, until golden brown.  Cool on wire rack.

Assemble: Combine cream with sugar and whip until stiff.  Slice each shortcake in half. spoon portion of strawberries on half, top with dollop of whipped cream and cap with other half of shortcake.  Serve immediately.  Shortcakes my be frozen for later use.  Reheat on baking sheet in 350º oven 10 minutes.