So the last recipe was a lot of work for the barbecue sauce. Honestly, store bought would be just as good, if not better, so scrap the cherry barbecue sauce...don't waste the time. It was just ok.
I was watching Paula Deen and she was doing this elaborate maple glazed pork chop and I didn't have time to go to the trouble tonight...it was 6:00pm and we were both hungry, so with that in mind, I came up with this...
I had purchased center cut pork chops with the bone in that were in the fridge ready & waiting to be cooked. I brushed Aunt Jemimah syrup on both sides and grilled them up. I was so amazed at the great taste!!!
I popped a sweet potato in the microwave for 8 minutes, cut it in half, added brown sugar and split it between Dave & I.
Dinner. Done. Delicious.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Grilled Chicken with Cherry Barbecue Sauce
Got this recipe from the food network show, Down Home with the Neelys. I just love that couple!!! They are just so cute and funny together...wish I could come over to their house for a meal ;-) What is better than BBQ sauce on chicken when it is on the grill??? I just love how the sugars in barbecue caramelize and make the chicken taste sweet. Also, using fresh citrus fruit juice kicks up the taste in the sauce from just ok to wOahKay!!! The recipe can be found here: Cherry BBQ Chicken Drumsticks .
Now to follow along...
Step 1: Rub your meat way ahead of time. The longer the rub sits, the more flavor will soak down into the chicken. Combine the rub ingredients as per the Neely's recipe...
The rub line up:
And rub that chicken down good.
If you have skin on your chicken, lift up the skin and get the rub down in there on the meat. I purchased ancho chile powder specially for this recipe (I've actually seen a lot of the food network cooks using it lately, so I figured I would use it for more than just this recipe, but if you don't have it or can't find it in the grocery store, just use regular chili powder.) The chicken needs to sit for at least an hour.
While you wait on the chicken go ahead and begin making the BBQ sauce.
Step 2: Add some olive oil to a pot on medium heat. Once it heats up, add a chopped onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves. (I prefer to hand chop...more on the garlic in a later post).
Cook down the onions until they are very limp and lifeless. No one wants to bite into barbecue sauce!!! While the onions are cooking go ahead and juice 2 oranges and 1/2 of a lemon.
I used a juicer, but you can just cut the fruit in half and squeeze with your hands. I just like using gadgets since typically I buy them on a whim ;-)
Set this aside for step 4.
Step 3: Add ancho chili powder and the tomato paste to the onion/garlic mixture. This is what I am now using thanks to all of the food network cooks using it as well:
They are probably paid to use these products that I've now switched to, so just call me a sucker!!! One of the reasons that I did decide to go ahead and buy the tomato paste in a tube (like tooth paste, get it, lol!) is because why should I open a can of tomato paste just to use 2 tbsp and throw the rest away??? I don't want an open can sitting in my fridge! I'd rather have a tube that has a cap on it in the fridge. So there you have it; the justification that I needed ;-)
Step 4: Once that cooks for a good minute, then add the last of the BBQ sauce ingredients (orange & lemon juice, frozen cherries, water, more salt & pepper).
Let that simmer for 30 minutes on low.
It should look like this...
Step 5: After it is finished simmering, throw it in a blender and puree it. Remember, no one likes to chew their barbecue sauce!!! You could use a food processor or we have the Magic Bullet. The Neely guy used one of those blenders that you just stick right in the pan, called an immersion blender. I thought it was pretty cool, but since I already splurged on the tomato paste, Kosher salt, and ancho chili powder...I decided I could live without this gadget ;( Well, for now.
Step 6: Fire up the grill when ready. Save 1 cup of the barbecue sauce for dipping and use the rest to baste the chicken before & during the grilling process :-)
Serve with your favorite veggies & mashed potatoes...yum-O!
Now to follow along...
Step 1: Rub your meat way ahead of time. The longer the rub sits, the more flavor will soak down into the chicken. Combine the rub ingredients as per the Neely's recipe...
The rub line up:
And rub that chicken down good.
If you have skin on your chicken, lift up the skin and get the rub down in there on the meat. I purchased ancho chile powder specially for this recipe (I've actually seen a lot of the food network cooks using it lately, so I figured I would use it for more than just this recipe, but if you don't have it or can't find it in the grocery store, just use regular chili powder.) The chicken needs to sit for at least an hour.
While you wait on the chicken go ahead and begin making the BBQ sauce.
Step 2: Add some olive oil to a pot on medium heat. Once it heats up, add a chopped onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves. (I prefer to hand chop...more on the garlic in a later post).
Cook down the onions until they are very limp and lifeless. No one wants to bite into barbecue sauce!!! While the onions are cooking go ahead and juice 2 oranges and 1/2 of a lemon.
I used a juicer, but you can just cut the fruit in half and squeeze with your hands. I just like using gadgets since typically I buy them on a whim ;-)
Set this aside for step 4.
Step 3: Add ancho chili powder and the tomato paste to the onion/garlic mixture. This is what I am now using thanks to all of the food network cooks using it as well:
They are probably paid to use these products that I've now switched to, so just call me a sucker!!! One of the reasons that I did decide to go ahead and buy the tomato paste in a tube (like tooth paste, get it, lol!) is because why should I open a can of tomato paste just to use 2 tbsp and throw the rest away??? I don't want an open can sitting in my fridge! I'd rather have a tube that has a cap on it in the fridge. So there you have it; the justification that I needed ;-)
Step 4: Once that cooks for a good minute, then add the last of the BBQ sauce ingredients (orange & lemon juice, frozen cherries, water, more salt & pepper).
Let that simmer for 30 minutes on low.
It should look like this...
Step 5: After it is finished simmering, throw it in a blender and puree it. Remember, no one likes to chew their barbecue sauce!!! You could use a food processor or we have the Magic Bullet. The Neely guy used one of those blenders that you just stick right in the pan, called an immersion blender. I thought it was pretty cool, but since I already splurged on the tomato paste, Kosher salt, and ancho chili powder...I decided I could live without this gadget ;( Well, for now.
Step 6: Fire up the grill when ready. Save 1 cup of the barbecue sauce for dipping and use the rest to baste the chicken before & during the grilling process :-)
Serve with your favorite veggies & mashed potatoes...yum-O!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Family Favorites #2 - No Bake Chocolate Cookies
The first time I tried this recipe I was a very little girl and remember making these with my great grandpa Anglin. As a child, I found something special about dropping them on wax paper and waiting for them to harden up. This recipe makes your kitchen smell like chocolate and peanut butter. Is there any better combination???
The Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup peanut butter
6 Tbsp cocoa (dutch process is best, but Hershey's is fine, too)
Step 1: Get the dry ingredients ready to roll. Measure out the oatmeal, cocoa, and peanut butter and set aside, because as soon as you finish step 2, you will need to add these in quickly.
Step 2: Bring sugar, butter, milk, & vanilla to a boil in a large pot and set the timer to make sure it boils wildly for at least one full minute. I usually have to turn the stove almost all the way up to High! Careful, this mixture climbs up the pot (similar to liquid helium for you chemistry/physics buffs...like in this You Tube video here for you non-chemistry types: Video)...easy to overboil. Be sure to constantly stir, you don't want the sugar to burn.
This is the "wild boil" that I refer to:
Step 3: Turn off the heat. Add the peanut butter first to make sure it has enough heat to melt down...kitchen is smelling really good about now, yum! Add the oats & cocoa...stir.
It should look like this:
Step 4: Lay out wax paper on the counter and drop the cookies by the spoonful. Let them sit for a few hours. You will know when they are done, because you will be able to pick them up without them falling apart. Be sure to try the hot batter...it almost tastes better than the cookies!!!
Quick & easy peasy...great fun to make with kids...can't wait to make these with Addison :-)
Yum-O!
The Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup peanut butter
6 Tbsp cocoa (dutch process is best, but Hershey's is fine, too)
Step 1: Get the dry ingredients ready to roll. Measure out the oatmeal, cocoa, and peanut butter and set aside, because as soon as you finish step 2, you will need to add these in quickly.
Step 2: Bring sugar, butter, milk, & vanilla to a boil in a large pot and set the timer to make sure it boils wildly for at least one full minute. I usually have to turn the stove almost all the way up to High! Careful, this mixture climbs up the pot (similar to liquid helium for you chemistry/physics buffs...like in this You Tube video here for you non-chemistry types: Video)...easy to overboil. Be sure to constantly stir, you don't want the sugar to burn.
This is the "wild boil" that I refer to:
Step 3: Turn off the heat. Add the peanut butter first to make sure it has enough heat to melt down...kitchen is smelling really good about now, yum! Add the oats & cocoa...stir.
It should look like this:
Step 4: Lay out wax paper on the counter and drop the cookies by the spoonful. Let them sit for a few hours. You will know when they are done, because you will be able to pick them up without them falling apart. Be sure to try the hot batter...it almost tastes better than the cookies!!!
Quick & easy peasy...great fun to make with kids...can't wait to make these with Addison :-)
Yum-O!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Quarter Pound "Double" Cheeseburgers
This is a burger recipe from one of my husband's friends, Jeff. The reason that I wanted Dave to make me some of these burgers is because he said that when you bite into them, cheese bursts into your mouth...sounds good to me!!!
Here we go!
Step 1: We used 2.25lb ground beef. Dave says it needs to be 80% lean. The more the fat the better for burgers on the grill...not so good for the heart, though. Add a little burger seasoning to the meat and mix it up by squishing it around with your clean hands.
Step 2: Form your patties. You can use the easy method (your hands) or the more labor intensive method (a spatula). But the idea is to take about 1/4 lb of the beef and divide it in half. Smash both halves down into patties.
They must be larger than the slice of cheese that you are going to use. Pepperjack is pictured here, but my favorite cheese for a burger is always the classic American.
Step 4: Layer the patties and cheese. Put the slice of cheese on top of the bottom patty and grab the top patty and layer it.
Step 5: Pinch around the exterior of the burger to seal the cheese in.
Now they are ready for the grill :-)
Step 6: Throw 'em on the grill. Make sure the grill is nice & hot so you can get those cool grill marks ;-) Adding the cheese increases the moisture content of the burger so they are very juicy. Don't smash your burgers down when you cook them...I know it is tempting, but it squishes the good juices out...you want to keep them in, right? It can also cause the cheese to squirt out at you!!! And I'm not going to say how I know.... So put the spatula down and let 'em rest! Notice on the top rack, we have our buns grilling. We love the bread from the bakery at Walmart of all places ;-) We butter them up and let them toast while the burgers are cooking.
Here is the final product:
Dave topped off the burgers with another slice of cheese right before he took them off. I was going to cut my burger in half and show you what the inside looks like, but I'm going to leave you to try this recipe and see it for yourself ;-)
I like to cut up red onion for the burgers and we are topping them with sauteed mushrooms (another post to come). We are also having rice with broccoli & cheese and cut up green peppers dipped in ranch dressing (my sister's idea).
Happy eating!!!
Here we go!
Step 1: We used 2.25lb ground beef. Dave says it needs to be 80% lean. The more the fat the better for burgers on the grill...not so good for the heart, though. Add a little burger seasoning to the meat and mix it up by squishing it around with your clean hands.
Step 2: Form your patties. You can use the easy method (your hands) or the more labor intensive method (a spatula). But the idea is to take about 1/4 lb of the beef and divide it in half. Smash both halves down into patties.
They must be larger than the slice of cheese that you are going to use. Pepperjack is pictured here, but my favorite cheese for a burger is always the classic American.
Step 4: Layer the patties and cheese. Put the slice of cheese on top of the bottom patty and grab the top patty and layer it.
Step 5: Pinch around the exterior of the burger to seal the cheese in.
Now they are ready for the grill :-)
Step 6: Throw 'em on the grill. Make sure the grill is nice & hot so you can get those cool grill marks ;-) Adding the cheese increases the moisture content of the burger so they are very juicy. Don't smash your burgers down when you cook them...I know it is tempting, but it squishes the good juices out...you want to keep them in, right? It can also cause the cheese to squirt out at you!!! And I'm not going to say how I know.... So put the spatula down and let 'em rest! Notice on the top rack, we have our buns grilling. We love the bread from the bakery at Walmart of all places ;-) We butter them up and let them toast while the burgers are cooking.
Here is the final product:
Dave topped off the burgers with another slice of cheese right before he took them off. I was going to cut my burger in half and show you what the inside looks like, but I'm going to leave you to try this recipe and see it for yourself ;-)
I like to cut up red onion for the burgers and we are topping them with sauteed mushrooms (another post to come). We are also having rice with broccoli & cheese and cut up green peppers dipped in ranch dressing (my sister's idea).
Happy eating!!!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Family Favorites #1 - Stromboli
This is a recipe from my mom that I just loved growing up. There is not a person that I've made Stromboli for that didn't just love it, too :-)
Step 1: Let the frozen white bread dough rise (5-8 hours) (Rhodes brand is what I use). Make sure you spray the underside of the plastic wrap with Pam so that the bread doesn't stick to it. Be sure to cover the bread with plastic wrap very well, because if it gets dry, it will be hard to stretch later. One bread loaf = one Stromboli. I put out enough bread for 3 loaves, which feeds quite a few people!!!
Step 2: While the bread is rising, prep your favorite pizza toppings.
Step 3: Once the dough is fully risen, stretch it out on a pan. Beginner's Hint: don't spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray or the bread won't stretch out... I did this one time and the more I tried to stretch it out, the more it crawled back in. Try not to get holes in the dough like I did...it makes the Stromboli dry out, so patience here is a virtue.
Step 4: Go ahead and get the oven ready now... 350 degree preheat. On one half of the dough, alternate slices of mozzarella and provolone cheese. Beginner Tip: Don't forget to remove the paper in between the slices of cheese--been there, done that. I made a sandwich one day and thought wow, this meat sure is thick and fibery. I was half way through when I realized that there was paper backing on the cheese.
Step 5: Add your toppings sparingly. Too much sausage & pepperoni and it will be greasy. Too many veggies and it will be soggy.
Step 6: Add store bought pizza sauce in a jar...again, not too much or it will be watery.
Step 7: Close up the pizza by picking up the other half of the dough and flopping it over the toppings. Take the lower lip of the Stromboli and pull it up and over the top lip of the pizza and smash it down with your finger. If you have enough patients, you can line up the indentations and make it look pretty. I did not do this ;-) This step is actually pretty easy... Don't worry if you get holes in the Stromboli. It all goes to the same place when you eat it ;-)
Step 8: Finalize the top by poking holes with a fork in the top of the dough. Whisk up an egg and spread it over the top to give it a nice shiny glaze. OK, not too much egg, because you don't want scrambled eggs baked on top of your dough. Finally, add some Parmesan cheese on top. I used shredded, but the powdered stuff works just as well.
Step 9: If you need to transfer the stromboli, inch your hands underneath the loaf slowly until you are holding it like a baby (palms up). The layer of mozzarella & provolone cheese slices should give you a little stability, but be aware that your stromboli is made of fresh dough and can stretch out and rip. I don't think you have to spray nonstick cooking spray, but if you want to avoid a messy baked up pan, you can do that. So that is why you might want to transfer it to a new pan, since you followed the directions earlier and did not spray the pan before stretching out the dough.
Bake it for 30-40 minutes. The crust should be nice and golden brown. Be careful not to underbake it. Nothing is worse than a mouth full of raw bread dough. Now a mouth full of undercooked cookie dough is ok, but not here. Trust me...bake it long enough that you are sure it is done!
Well, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product...I guess I got a little excited when it was cooked, so I dug right in. Live & learn.
I paired this with a fresh salad. It was a spring mix of lettuce, mandarin oranges, mozzarella cheese, walnuts, and red onions. I topped my salad with a dressing made of 2Tbsp red wine vinegar, 2Tbsp honey, 2Tbsp Dijon mustard stirred together. To that, I added 2Tbsp olive oil...whisk it in very slowly so that it will actually mix and not settle out over time.
A-Mazing!!!
Step 1: Let the frozen white bread dough rise (5-8 hours) (Rhodes brand is what I use). Make sure you spray the underside of the plastic wrap with Pam so that the bread doesn't stick to it. Be sure to cover the bread with plastic wrap very well, because if it gets dry, it will be hard to stretch later. One bread loaf = one Stromboli. I put out enough bread for 3 loaves, which feeds quite a few people!!!
Step 2: While the bread is rising, prep your favorite pizza toppings.
Step 3: Once the dough is fully risen, stretch it out on a pan. Beginner's Hint: don't spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray or the bread won't stretch out... I did this one time and the more I tried to stretch it out, the more it crawled back in. Try not to get holes in the dough like I did...it makes the Stromboli dry out, so patience here is a virtue.
Step 4: Go ahead and get the oven ready now... 350 degree preheat. On one half of the dough, alternate slices of mozzarella and provolone cheese. Beginner Tip: Don't forget to remove the paper in between the slices of cheese--been there, done that. I made a sandwich one day and thought wow, this meat sure is thick and fibery. I was half way through when I realized that there was paper backing on the cheese.
Step 5: Add your toppings sparingly. Too much sausage & pepperoni and it will be greasy. Too many veggies and it will be soggy.
Step 6: Add store bought pizza sauce in a jar...again, not too much or it will be watery.
Step 7: Close up the pizza by picking up the other half of the dough and flopping it over the toppings. Take the lower lip of the Stromboli and pull it up and over the top lip of the pizza and smash it down with your finger. If you have enough patients, you can line up the indentations and make it look pretty. I did not do this ;-) This step is actually pretty easy... Don't worry if you get holes in the Stromboli. It all goes to the same place when you eat it ;-)
Step 8: Finalize the top by poking holes with a fork in the top of the dough. Whisk up an egg and spread it over the top to give it a nice shiny glaze. OK, not too much egg, because you don't want scrambled eggs baked on top of your dough. Finally, add some Parmesan cheese on top. I used shredded, but the powdered stuff works just as well.
Step 9: If you need to transfer the stromboli, inch your hands underneath the loaf slowly until you are holding it like a baby (palms up). The layer of mozzarella & provolone cheese slices should give you a little stability, but be aware that your stromboli is made of fresh dough and can stretch out and rip. I don't think you have to spray nonstick cooking spray, but if you want to avoid a messy baked up pan, you can do that. So that is why you might want to transfer it to a new pan, since you followed the directions earlier and did not spray the pan before stretching out the dough.
Bake it for 30-40 minutes. The crust should be nice and golden brown. Be careful not to underbake it. Nothing is worse than a mouth full of raw bread dough. Now a mouth full of undercooked cookie dough is ok, but not here. Trust me...bake it long enough that you are sure it is done!
Well, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product...I guess I got a little excited when it was cooked, so I dug right in. Live & learn.
I paired this with a fresh salad. It was a spring mix of lettuce, mandarin oranges, mozzarella cheese, walnuts, and red onions. I topped my salad with a dressing made of 2Tbsp red wine vinegar, 2Tbsp honey, 2Tbsp Dijon mustard stirred together. To that, I added 2Tbsp olive oil...whisk it in very slowly so that it will actually mix and not settle out over time.
A-Mazing!!!
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