The Beakfast Burger

Just wanted to do something quick and simple on this quick entry into the old recipe blog today. This is truthfully a delight to eat and very easy to do in 30 minutes or less. You just cook up some burgers, top them with some over easy eggs and some crispy bacon and you are good to go. Place the burgers with eggs and bacon on the burgers on some toast, top with some cheese, and throw them into a really hot oven long enough for the cheese to melt and you've got them made. I personally use over easy eggs because once you cut it in half, all the yolk pops out all hot and gooey and blends into the meat....yummy. Use scrambled eggs if you'd like or even sub the bacon with some salsa for a southwestern type burger. I love good breakfast food so I just incorporated some of those things that i like together on a sandwich and chomped down on the wonderful gloriousness that it was.

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Pork Chops in a Blonde Artichoke Gravy

Got some cheap good old thick center cut pork chops at the store and decided to do something new. Just rub in the italian seasoning and creole seasoning blend onto one side of pork chops and sear on rubbed side in medium high heated skillet. Put seasoning on other side and flip to sear spices into the other side. Take out of the oven, place in a casserole dish or roasting pan, and cook in a 350°F oven for 20-30 minutes or until internal temp is 165. While chops are baking you're going to use the same pan and melt in a stick of margarine or butter. To that your going to mix in about 1/2 cup of all purpose flour and begin mixing it into the butter to make a light brown/blonde rue. Add water until the mixture cooking is just a good thick gravy. Add one jar of marinated artichokes and add 4 shakes each of soy sauce and hot sauce. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer gravy for 5-7 minutes. Add in teaspoon of garlic powder and a tablespoon of fresh cracked black pepper to season. Remove Chops from the oven and pour gravy over the top of the chops and throw them back into the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove chops again and serve. I served these with garlic mashed potatoes and skillet cooked blackeye peas. A good dry white wine would compliment this meal well (perhaps a pinot grigio or a chardonnay). If your going the beer route then a good hoppy pale ale or stiff witbier (wheat beer) would be awesome with this recipe.

The Chili Cheese Onionpatty Melt

Here's a little idea that i took from "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." I saw the other night that a guy put thinly sliced onions and pressed them into the burger before flipping them over. My mouth watered just watching this dude, but of course i did something extra with it. I decided to them southern style with chili, cheese, and slick yellow mustard on buttered toasted bread. An absolute delight. Here are the things you need.

1 1/2 lb 80/20 Ground Chuck
8 slices of White Sandwich Bread
Yellow Mustard
1 medium size yellow onion
4 slices of cheese
1 can of hot dog chili sauce

start with cooking the chili. Take 1/2 lb chuck and mix in can of chili sauce to make some good quick chili. I do this from time to time to save some time. Of course you can use my recipe for topping chili or4 you can short cut it and do it my way. Once you combine the beef and chili sauce. mash the meat with a potato masher and get it all broken down and let simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Heat up a skillet on medium heat. Once pan is hot...sprinkle water from fingers into it and if it steams off and sizzles...you're good. Take remaining lb of meat and mix with about a 1/4 cup yellow mustard. Make 4 patties and make them kind of thick. Once you put them into the skillet, mash them down with your spatula. Right before you flip the burgers (approx. 8 minutes). Put thinly sliced onion on top of burgers and mash them into the meat with the spatula until onions become part of the burger. Flip them to the onion side and cook for another 8 minutes. Add cheese and allow to melt a little. brush bread with butter and toast lightly. Key is to put the buttered sides of bread on the inside of the sandwich. Put mustard on both sides of bread. Place burger on one slice, top with chili, and top off sandwich and you're done. Fix these with some oven roasted potatoes or fries and your golden. Enjoy them, i know I did

Marinated Chicken Sandwiches with Portobellos and Garlic Butter Sauce

One of the most favorite things I like to cook with are mushrooms. They go with just about everything and make a pretty tasty sandwich by themselves for a good vegetarian meal. One thing that you're going to have to do is use some good chicken cutlets and pound them out as flat as you can. You then just have to use the marinade you want to use on these...If I'm using Portobello mushrooms I'm going to go with an Italian dressing marinade. So here you go with the things you need. If you want to switch around the marinades a little bit you can always use a Hawaiian marinade with pineapple and soy sauces, Asian with a soy and ginger marinade, or you can do a Carribean style marinade with orange juice, lime, butter, honey, and garlic mixed with teryaki sauce. Enjoy this one...easy fix and will serve many portions.

2lbs Boneless skinless chicken breast.
2 full Portobello Caps (scraped and sliced thin)
1 tsp honey
1 stick of butter
1 tbsp garlic
1/4 cream
2 oz White cooking wine
3oz of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Swiss Cheese
Bread of Your Choice (French tolls are really good with these as well as fresh baguettes).

Take your chicken which should be around 4 breasts and place them between two pieces of plastic wrap and beat them flat with a mallet. Fork the meat and place in a bag with Italian Dressing and marinate them for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Remove from the bag and melt a half stick of butter in a skillet and spread liquid butter equally over the pan. Place chicken in skillet and slowly cook on medium heat and be careful not to burn the meat. Cook both sides of chicken for about 6 minutes per side. While chicken is cooking...melt other half stick of butter in another skillet. Take mushrooms and scrape underside meat out until clean. Cut into thin slices and toss in bowl with olive oil. Place strips in skillet and cook on medium heat. Do not burn the shrooms on this or else you will the overall flavor of the sandwich. Once mushrooms start to get a little dark, mix in the garlic, honey, and splash in the wine once garlic begins to toast. Cut the heat off and immediately splash in the cream and start stirring in the cream into the mix quickly and while removed from heat. This eliminates you curdling the cream. Place cheese on chicken breasts and then put on the bread. Place on the mushrooms. Spoon over that with the leftover sauce and top the sandwiches off. Hope you enjoy these. Its not too heavy and has a great flavor. One good beer to have with these is a good old pale ale...you want some strong hops with go with the chicken but not too bitter to go with the beefiness of the mushrooms. Sierra Nevada would be a good one to drink with this recipe.

Rum and Peanut Sweet Glazed Spare Ribs

Well Well Well...Its blog time again and last night was not a difference. I had some spare ribs in the freezer and wanted to do something a little different with them. I am always trying out different flavor combos and one of the ideas was using dark rum with a little bit of Asian peanut glaze. I combined some ingredients together to make a sweet and spicy sauce and came up with a winner. I oven smoked the ribs as I did with the pork butt that I did with the Cheerwine Sauce. So follow the same idea with the hickory chips or mesquite and placement in the oven. Another way is to take a roasting pan wit a rack in it and flip the rack so that the handles are pointed down and the ribs are sitting in the pan at an angle with the wet chips in the pan underneath. Here are the ingredients you'll need.

1 Rack of Pork Spare Ribs or two racks of Baby Backs or St. Louis Style Ribs

The Rub:
Creole Seasoning
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
White Pepper
Celery Salt
Paprika
BBQ Seasoning
Oregano
Rosemary

The Sauce:
Honey
2 tbsp butter
hot sauce
peanut butter
3 oz of dark or spiced rum
Soy Sauce
2 tbsp garlic
Dijon Mustard

The key to doing these ribs in a timely manner is to use a graduated timing and temp in the oven. I rubbed the ribs using the rub combo I listed above and set in the oven over the smoke chips for 30 minutes on 425 degrees. This gives a fast smoke and high heat will sear spices into the meat. After 30 reduce heat to 325 for an hour and a half and then 250 for an hour. Once meat is on the final 30 minutes, start on the sauce.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan and put in 4-5 dashes of hot sauce, 3 oz of honey, 3 oz of Rum and wisk in the garlic. Let this simmer for 5-6 minutes and add the peanut butter and melt that down. Wisk in and then add Soy, and about 3 tbsp of dijon mustard for spice. Once timer goes off on the ribs, start mopping on the glaze.
Add one smathering and put under the broiler for 3 minutes and continue to add layers of glaze in 1-2 minute increments back and forth and layer the glaze until the stuff is gone. The flavor you get from these will kick you in so many ways that you don't know what flavor you'll have next. Great ribs and great flavor. Enjoy these!!!!

Italian Marinated Steak with White Wine and Garlic Butter Cream Sauce

A favorite here at home is a good, hearty, steak and potato meal. This is no exception. Very easy to cook and a quick 30 minute fix. The marination process is very easy. 2 steaks in a plastic bag with italian salad dressing. Put the steaks on a hot skillet and begin cooking on medium high heat. I happen to like my steak medium rare to medium so add time if you need to. Cook steaks about 4 minutes on each side and remove. In the same pan, add a stick of butter, and melt until slightly brown. Add 1/4 cup of a dry white wine and stop the browning process of the butter. Add about 2 tbsp of minced garlic into mixture and a dash of soy sauce for saltiness. Mix until garlic starts to turn brown and remove from heat. Wait one minute and add 1/2 cup of heavy cream into pan and mix while the sauce is cooling down. Let stand for 2-3 minutes before pouring over steaks. Sauce should be a light beige color. I served this one with home cut oven fries with rosemary and garlic salt. A great beer for this recipe is a good crisp lager (Yeungling, Peroni, or Labatt Blue are some good ones to get).

The Succotash Salsa Sausage Burger

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Hey everyone. I happen to surprise myself sometimes when I'm given some really strange ingredients. I have to credit my wife on this one though. She came up with the thought of mixing southern cuisine with meican ideals. What came out of it was a pretty spicy burger. Its ground pork with just about the whole arsenal of spices and herbs I could throw at it, then topped with a succotash salsa. The flavor was way intense and extremely spicy, but if that is something you like,you will love these things. Here are the ingredients that you will need.

1 lb ground pork
Italian seasoning
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Red pepper flake
onion salt
celery salt
Chili powder
Ground cumin
Kosher salt
Creole seasoning
1 can of succotash
1 can of rotel tomatoes with green chillis

Put pork in a mixing bowl with a mix of all the spices that are listed above, mix with hands, and form into 4 burgers. Place in a preheated oiled skillet and begin browning. While the sausage you just made is cooking your going to mix the can of succotash and rotel tomatoes together on medium heat and make the southern inspired succotash salsa. Once first side of patties are done flip and place on some slices of monterrey jack cheese. After the salsa cooks for about 5 minutes, remove salsa from heat. Place burgers on buns and top with the salsa. Very simple to cook and takes very little time. We had a bag of tortilla chips that we topped with some of the salsa. A really cold Dos Equis is great to wash this one down. Southern and mexican flavors combined with some good beer equals a pretty good meal. And get some extra napkins ready because these burgers have a pretty good kick and your nose and eyes will run. Enjoy!!

The Steak House Turkey Burger

Here is another addition to my recipe wonderment that I'm slowly trying to build. I'm going to call the Steak House Turkey Burger. It is sweet, smoky, and all together tasty. You have lots of choices to do with what you put onto them but I will leave it as I fixed them and you can experiment to do them up the way you like them.

1.3 lbs of Ground Turkey 85/15 Ratio (makes 4 burgers)
Heinz 57 with Worcestershire Sauce
1 packet of Taco Seasoning
Italian Seasoning
Bread Crumbs
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Black Pepper
Minced Garlic
Sliced Mushrooms
Worcestershire Sauce
Steak Sauce
Pepper Jack Cheese
4 Hamburger Rolls

This is a very easy recipe to accomplish and takes actually more prep time than cook time. Just make sure that you cook them through all the way as it is poultry. It will make you very sick if you don't cook them through. Heat up a skillet and drizzle in some Extra Virgin Olive Oil. While that heats you are going to put the meat into a mixing bowl and mix in about 3 tbsp of the Heinz 57 with Worcestershire, taco seasoning, black pepper, Italian Seasoning and a half cup of bread crumbs to tie together. Mix together with hands, form 4 burgers, and you're going to make a spice mixture of garlic powder, black pepper, and paprika. Sprinkle this onto all of the patties and place spiced side down in oiled skillet on medium heat. Heat these on one side and spice the uncooked side while in the pan. Cook on 1st side for 7-8 minutes and flip them to the other side. Cook on second side for 4-5 minutes and put cheese on them. When cheese is slightly melted, remove from heat and let rest. Add 1/4 stick of butter in pan and toss in 1 small package of sliced mushrooms and brown them up. Once slightly browned put in 3 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce, and coat them down. Add 1 tbsp of Garlic into pan and let the garlic brown slightly (should take about a minute). Place a spoonful of mushrooms and garlic on each burger and you just need to build the burger. Place burger on bottom of bun and drizzle on the steak sauce and you are done. This is a great burger to compliment the want on a lighter meal. Turkey doesn't nearly linger on you like red meat so it is much easier to eat and not feel like a glutton for eating it. They go great with potato anything and veggies are easy to link to the flavors. Try pairing this one with an amber lager or other smoky beer to go with these. A good wine would be a Cotes du Rhone or not so dry red. Thanks for reading and enjoy.

BBQ Bacon Cheeseburgers

Here is an idea I got from working at a place that was my income for a long time. Rafferty's gave me a lot of ideas that I took and ran with. Some for the better and some flopped but I can make some mean fried mushrooms and I can make one hell of a bbq bacon burger. Another thing that I learned from many attempts at trying to recreate the magic of this burger and putting a hit spin on it, I realized that there was no way that I could do this right unless I used rendered fat. Yes the sound of the Theramin starts ringing in your ear and you feel ominous in some way. I said rendered fat. The thing that you always thought was taboo and evil and in some ways it is. Using rendered fat and grease will send your taste buds into euphoria and put you on cloud nine. The secret behind the flavor of this burger is use of bacon grease on the onions. As for the burger there is nothing really crazy about it other than the seasoning in and on the meat. I'll list the things you'll need but other than using a hot grill and a frying pan for the onions, there really are no tricks to the building of it.

2 lb of 80/20 ground chuck
1 medium size sweet yellow onion.
8 slices of bacon
BBQ Sauce
Dijon Mustard
Worcestershire Sauce
Italian Bread Crumbs
1 Large Egg
4 slices of Smoked Cheddar Cheese
Hot Sauce
Salt
Black Pepper
Celery Salt
Garlic Powder
White Pepper
Italian Seasoning
White Pepper
Creole Seasoning

Put Meat in a bowl with a 1/2 cup of Worcestershire Sauce, 3 tbsp of Dijon Mustard, 4 dashes of hot sauce, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, and 1 large egg. Mix this together with your hands. If you don't like getting messy you can wear gloves. When you mix everything together, you're going to make 4 rather large 1/2 pound burgers. Place burgers on a plate and your going to mix the other spices left above into a small baggie. 2 tbsp of italian seasoning and creole seasoning and tsp portions of everything else. Mix seasoning vigorously in baggie and cover burgers in plate with 1/2 of spice mixture. Place burgers on the grill seasoning side down for 7-8 minutes and cover other side of meat with the other half of seasoning rub mix while the other side cooks. Flip the meat and cook for another 5 minutes the burgers are going to basically be done. Remove from the heat for a little bit and the burgers will continue to cook as the juices in the meat will settle back and back into the burgers. Do not squeeze the burgers at all, and I mean ever before eating. Don't press them on the grill and do not ever squeeze them. You also only ever want to flip them once. Now for the other thing. Frying the bacon and onion. You want to fry up the bacon until crispy and remove it and throw in the sliced onion into the rendered grease. Don't think about it, just do it. Fry the onions until they become slightly transparent and are pliable. Place the burgers on a cookie sheet, put 2 slices of bacon on each, split the onions between them, put 1 tbsp of bbq sauce on each burger and then put on the slice of cheese. Place in oven on broil long enough to melt the cheese and then remove. Toast 4 egg buns or sesame rolls and put a little bit of bbq sauce on them as well and place the burgers on the buns. What you have is a work of pure art. These things will make a sane person want to smack someone in the face. They are just that good.

Oven Smoked Pork Butt in a Cheerwine infused BBQ Sauce

Ok...First of all, don't be alarmed by the sound of this because you all know what sweet and sour sauce tastes like. It is sweet and sour sauce with a spicy kick. Now that you feel a little at ease about this then lets talk about some food. I watch The Food Network religiously and something that I've seen a lot of is smoking meat in an oven. Yes smoking meat indoors is possible and it works great. Living life in an apartment again has gotten me back to using some really weird tactics to cooking stuff that I love. I can't just go out onto the porch anymore and smoke meat like I used to. So I got a cheap pan from the dollar store, put some wet wood chips in there, and placed the pan one level down from the butt in the oven. Rather simple and it worked out very well. I got the idea of using Cheerwine from the advent of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts coming out with their Cheerwine cream filled doughnuts. I said to myself, self, I'm gonna make some bbq sauce with some Cheerwine in it. So I used my normal base except for using a little spicier mustard and red wine vinegar instead of the apple cider vinegar. First I'll tell you how to make the sauce then I'll describe the smoking technique. Here are the things you need.

Ketchup
Dijon Mustard
Worcestershire Sauce
Red Wine Vinegar
Cheerwine
White Sugar
Kosher Salt
White Pepper
Garlic Powder
Cayenne Pepper

1 3lb Boston Butt Pork Roast
Cracked Black Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Creole Seasoning
3 cups of wood chips (I like Mesquite but Hickory is always good to use)
6 cups of water
1 cheap dollar store aluminum roasting or lasagna pan.

First you're going to set your roast in to smoke in the oven. First things first. In the pan you're going to put your 3 cups of wood chips into the pan and soak in the 6 cups of water for about 20 minutes. While the chips are soaking go ahead and rub the meat with the combo of Italian Seasoning, fresh cracked black pepper, and creole seasoning. Set the racks of the oven so that the top rack can fit the roast in the middle of the oven and the bottom rack will be on the bottom so that the chips can sit about 6 inches below the roast. Preheat to 325 degrees. Drain the water after the chips have soaked put into the oven and then put the roast over the pan so that the fat may drip onto the meat.You'll want to put the fat side up so that the fat can drip down through the meat and keep it moist while smoking and the direct smoke can begin forming a bark on the outside of the pork butt. Smoke the roast in the oven for 2 hours and then reduce the heat to 275 for 2 hours.

Now it is time for the sauce. If you are using soda you will use very little sugar as the soda is a sugary substance. Start by putting a small saucepan over medium low heat and adding in about 2 cups of ketchup, 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard, and 1/4 cup each of Worcestershire sauce, and red wine vinegar. Start wisking and bringing the heat up gradually. Go ahead and add a cup of Cheerwine or other cherry soda and continue wisking. Add teaspoons at a time of sugar to thicken slightly as this sauce is going to be a sort of mopping sauce. Very good with flavor but sticky enough to stick to meat. Once the mixture is simmering and you can see some bubbling add the spices (kosher salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and white pepper). Mix in the spices and let simmer for another 30 minutes or so and you will turn off the heat and set the sauce aside.

Once meat is done you will want to take the roast out with two forks and place in a dish or pan. Let it set and continue to cook during rest for about 10-15 minutes and then you want to start tearing the meat apart. It will fall apart and fall off of the blade of the bone in the meat and be like regular pulled pork. Pour the sauce over the meat and mix and toss all of the roast in the sauce. Serve with some of your favorite sides. I had baked potatoes and my spicy baked beans with mine which the beans are on the blog. Hope you enjoy it if you try it out.

Stewed Pork with Cranapple Lambic BBQ Sauce.

Think for a moment and believe that you can make some crazy good food with what you have in your fridge. Yesterday I had more of the Country Style spare ribs because they are always going on bogo, some decently good red ale which I reviewed on my other blog, some more ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, various spices, and some Cranapple Juice. Then I just started to experiment. Here are the things that I used...feel free to mess around with it as you see fit.

6 Country Style Spare Ribs
2 1/2 cups of Cranapple Juice
2 12oz bottles of Ale
1/2 cup of Vinegar (Balsamic and Apple Cider are good for this one)
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup Horseradish Mustard
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup Apple Sauce
2 tbsp Honey
2 dashes of lemon juice
2 dashes of Hot Sauce
BBQ seasoning
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Black Pepper
Kosher Salt

The first thing that I think about when I'm going to stew meat with a sauce is that I will stew it in a brine that consists of some of the same flavors that the sauce is going to have so that the sauce and the meat marry with some major flavor punch. This recipe will blow your mind. I like for my taste buds to do some crazy tumble runs when I cook so I like to build some very rich flavor profiles. Don't follow this too closely. Like I said, experimentation is something that you will want to do in the kitchen. I like to fix meals early in the day and let them cook over time so I'm not standing in the kitchen for an hour making a good meal. The prep time for this takes maybe 10 minutes. Then 30 minutes before you plan to eat...you get the side dishes ready unless you make instant sides. I made oven fries and steamed asparagus. Choose what you want to do.

Directions:
Use 2 cups of Cranapple Juice first off and mix in some black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, 2 dashes of hot sauce, 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 dash of lemon juice and start to heat over a stove for about 5 minutes on low heat. Preheat the oven to 250 and line your cooking pot with the pork strips. Add sugar and stir into the hot liquid until disolved and mix in 1/4 cup of horseradish mustard, and 1 tbsp of honey. Make sure it is all dissolved and pour the very thin liquid over the top of the strips. Pour 1 1/2 bottles of beer on top of the brine and ribs, put a top of the pot, and put into the oven. Set aside the remaining half of bottle of beer for your sauce. Your going to stew the meat in the oven for about 5 hours. The idea with this is to cook the meat low and slow and it will be very tender and fall apart when you get it out of the oven. Around 30 minutes before you eat, your going to mix your sauce. In a pot on Medium high heat your going to mix the ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, vinegar, apple sauce and spices that I put into the list together and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of cranapple juice and the other half of beer into the thick sauce and let it simmer for another 10 minutes and reduce on medium heat until the sauce is of medium viscosity. Remove from heat and let the sauce marry down. Pour sauce into a squeeze bottle and put onto pork once plated. Once you remove the pork from the brine, it will tear apart. There's no need for a knife just use two forks to break it apart. This stuff is great. Just make sure you bring your appetite and maybe a bib because like any good dish it is a little messy.

Roasted Pork in an Asian Fused Mustard Peanut Sauce

Once again, I was just perusing what we had in the fridge and the cupboard and came up with an idea that was nothing short of amazing. If you haven't ever bought country style spare ribs at the grocery store, they go on BOGO quite often and yield a lot of meat. You have to cook these low and slow, but the flavor is definitely there. This sauce I made is just me mixing some stuff together and it ended up being so good. It is rich in flavor with a big salty hit of soy on the front with a peanut flavor that kicks you pretty well on the back. The mustard just links the two hits together in a delightful spicy bridge with a sweet hint of honey going through it. Here are the things you will need for this delicious treat.

8 Country Style Pork Spare Ribs
Greek Seasoning (use for the meat rub)
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce
Whole Grain Mustard
Honey
Peanut Butter
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Paprika
Italian Seasoning

Your going to heat the oven to 325 for this recipe. Sprinkle the Greek seasoning on the meat and rub into the ribs. Wash your hands really well and then you'll need to place the ribs in a glass casserole dish. In a mixing bowl, mix about 1/2 cup of Whole Grain Mustard, 10 dashes of soy sauce, 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp of honey, 1 heaping spoonful of peanut butter, 1 tbsp each of garlic and onion powder, 1 tsp of black pepper, 1 tsp of paprika, and 1 tbsp of Italian Seasoning (this contains oregano, basil, coriander, thyme, parsley, and rosemary if you don't have the italian seasoning blend). Mix vigorously with a wisk and pour all of the sauce except for 1/4 cup over the pork (place the rest to the side, you will use it later). Place in preheated oven for 2 hours. After an hour and a half, turn the ribs over and allow the other side of the ribs to roast in the sauce for 30 minutes. What this last step does is allows the side that was once drowned in the sauce to sear in the sauce and allows the roasted side to rest in the flavor again for a little while. Remove from the oven and let the meat set off to the side for about 10-15 minutes which allows the pork to finish cooking in its own fat and will let the juices inside the meat settle a little bit. You'll want to slice the meat into small chunks and then you will use about 1/4 cup of the sauce that is leftover to toss the pork around in. Serve the Pork with some potatoes or rice, and some corn and you are good to go. Hope you'll enjoy this one.

Roasted Potatoes

Here's my roasted potato recipe...quite easy thing to do for any meal. It only takes 25-30 minutes and uses very simple ingredients. Here's what you'll need.

3 regular Russet Potatoes. (cut into wedges)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Creole Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Sea Salt
Italian Seasoning

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees and place potato wedges on sheet pan. Drizzle wedges with olive oil and sprinkle some of all ingredients on them and put them into the oven once preheated. Bake on 325 for 15 minutes and then turn up the heat for another 15 minutes to 425. The lower heat will cook the potatoes mostly through and the rise in temperature will finish cooking them and crisp them up nicely. You don't want to peel the potatoes because the peels actually contain the only real nutrients in the potato. Just wash them well before cutting them into wedges. You can drizzle these with a little malted vinegar or eat them chili and cheese or you can do like Canadians and cover them with gravy. I know that the last idea sounds very sickening but trust me, it is truly a tasteful delight. Whatever you do with these I promise you will enjoy them.

Topping Chili

Growing up in the south has definitely made me grow up loving hot dogs. One of the things that makes a true southern hot dog great is chili. I like a little more of a tang in mine but one thing is constant...I want it to kick me in the taste buds. This recipe is something that I make with or without beans and I can pretty much make it in any size vessel. For hot dogs or burgers I like to make it in small amounts. I'll make it easy and use a pound of meat in this one so that I don't confuse anyone. Here are the things you'll need. I don't measure a thing in this so this won't be exact. Just eyeball it and experiment.

1 lb Ground Chuck (fat=flavor)
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
8oz canned diced tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
ketchup
yellow mustard
hot sauce
soy sauce
chili pepper
ground cumin
black pepper
onion powder
garlic powder

Start by dropping the meat into the saucepan and mash it down with a potato masher to really break up the meat. You don't want any clumps. About halfway through the browning process, your going to drop in the finely diced onion, and garlic and mix it into the meat. Add the diced tomato. Go ahead and add about 1/4 cup of ketchup and 1/4 cup mustard 2-3 dashes of hot sauce. You want to taste the pepper out of the hot sauce and not make it overly spicy. Add a couple of dashes of soy for some saltiness and add the chili powder and cumin. Be copious with the chili powder and use about a tsp and a half of cumin. Mix in the black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Don't use too much because you already added the onion and garlic to the chili earlier. Let simmer for about 20 minutes on medium heat. When you come back to it, add in the tomato paste to thicken it a little and crank the heat up to medium high for 10 minutes or so to allow the liquid to steam off a little. Your going to have to stay with this because you don't want this to burn, so stir it around every minute or so. Reduce the heat to low on the stove to keep warm. For a dryer chili, your just going to strain it through a wire strainer and not a colander. The meat should have been broken down so much that it will go through a colander. Just top off your favorite dog or burger and you'll have something that will surely smack your mouth somethin' good.

Smoky Garlic and White Wine Chuck Roast

Here is yet another roast to add to the many that I do. I was thinking of some really great flavors and I had a good chuck roast sitting in the freezer. I just thawed it out and made a gem of a roast. On a difficulty level I place it right around a 6 out of 10 and is quite easy until the end. Prep doesn't take long and a good side dish is just some oven roasted potato wedges which is another one of easy set and forget things and I'll add that one to the blog soon. Here's the things that you'll need for the roast.

3 lb Chuck Roast
1 stick of Margarine or Butter
2 oz Dry White Wine
Worcestershire Sauce
Hot Sauce
2 tbsp minced garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
White Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Black Pepper
Creole Seasoning
Rosemary
1/2 cup flower

Sprinkle spices and rosemary on one side of the roast and put spice side down into olive oil lined large skillet on medium heat. Sprinkle more spices and rosemary on the other side of beef and flip over. Grill on both sides for about 3 minutes until spices and rosemary are completely seared in. Remove the roast and put into casserole dish for roasting. Preheat the oven to 325. While the oven is heating, you're going to make the smoky garlic butter sauce. Melt the stick of butter in same skillet you just seared the meat in and scrape pan with a wooden spoon until all of the little bits of spice and rosemary are mixed back in with the butter. Pour in the wine and stir briskly to deglace the pan further and then add around 5 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce and 2-3 good dashes of Hot Sauce. Add the minced garlic and allow to cook for about 2 minutes. Pour this mixture back onto the beef, sit the skillet to the side (you'll want to use it again later), cover with foil, and place into the oven for 3 hours. Once 3 hours is up, you will want to pull the roast out of the oven, take off the foil, and let the meat rest and let the juices set back into the meat for about 10 minutes. After around 10 minutes, spoon some of the Au Jus in the bottom of the casserole dish back onto the meat and set the meat in a serving bowl or a dish. In the same pan you used earlier, pour the Au Jus in the dish back into the skillet and mix in the flour and mix into a rue. Add 2 cups of water gradually and continue to stir to make a good, gravy. Put a couple of hunks of meat onto a plate, spoon some gravy over the meat and you are done and ready to show down. This is possibly one of the richer tasting roasts I've made in a long time and it is definitely a party to the taste buds. Hope you all like it!!!

Apfelkraut and Sausage

This is something that I saw on TV and had to share. Of course I mixed it up a little bit from the original recipe. Very simple and another one of those recipes that you can just throw into a crock pot and let it cook all day or all night if you want to do it that way. One thing is that it is a mix of two regions of cuisine that I hold dearly to my heart. German and American fusion is something that I have found as a great way to make some wonderfully joyous food. I know that it doesn't sound like it is that healthy but it really isn't that bad with the proper ingredients. You can sub chicken sausage instead of pork or beef. Many chicken sausages are decently priced and aren't bad for you at all. I like to mix kielbasa and bratwurst in mine but that is me. You can even do the italian version with subbing the cabbage with peppers, onions, and tomato. Eat it on a sandwich roll or on a plate. This is easy and doesn't involve any real work at all. Here are the things you'll need.

2 Granny Smith Apples (cored and quartered)
4 lager beers (I use Killian's in mine. Something like Yeungling or Budweiser will work also)
1 lb Kielbasa (cut into inch long pieces along bias)
4 Bratwurst links (raw sausage...not cooked)
1 32 oz bottle Apple Juice
1 head Cabbage or 2 bags of shredded cabbage
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar (the acidity will cook out don't worry...you just want the bite)
2 tbsp Mustard Seed (brown mustard seed if you can find it)

First things first. You're going to cook the bratwurst in 2 of the beers. Just put the two beers in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil with some salt. Once boiling, add the bratwurst and cook for 20 minutes. While waiting for the brats to cook. Go ahead and set the mix in the crock pot. Dump shredded cabbage into pot and then add the apples, apple juice, remaining two beers, vinegar, mustard seed and kielbasa in the pot and set on high. Once Brats are done, cut them into inch long pieces just like the kielbasa and discard beer that you cooked those in. You don't want to cross contaminate them. Throw in a little bit of minced garlic or a couple of shakes of hot sauce if you want to. Totally optional. Cook on high for about 3-4 hours then turn on low until you're ready to eat. If you just want to leave it all night then cook on low for 7-8 hours. You get the same result. What comes out of this is a very deep, rich, and sweet kraut with sausage that is just bursting with flavor. Like I said earlier, feel free to experiment with this as its not an exact recipe and it can be changed to suit your pallet and taste. One thing that is constant with German food is that the seasoning is very simple and involves very little spice. You mix it with American thought with seasoning food and it can be even better. I just enjoy the simpleness of German cuisine. Its often cooked with wine, beer, or other fruity and earthy flavors. It lends itself to its simple nature but has a very complex flavor profile when done correctly. I'll add some more of these recipes along with mixes with German/Low Country/Cajun/Creole fused ideas that I have come up with. Some great side dishes to go with this recipe are corn, apple dumplings, fried potatoes, or perhaps some good old potato salad.

Bananas Foster

Here is my Bananas Foster recipe...fast and easy fix to fix your sweet tooth or just to soothe your urge for a good desert. Here are the things that you will need.

4 Shortbread Biscuits
2 Ripe Bananas
1/2 Stick Butter/Margarine
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 oz Dark Rum
1 1/2 oz Banana Liquor
Vanilla Ice Cream

Start by melting the butter in a skillet and cut the bananas up into small slices. Once butter is melted, add the bananas and start browning the banana slices. Add the brown sugar and prepare the biscuits and ice cream. Once the sugar is melted in and liquid in the pan is slightly darkened, add the banana liquor and then the Dark Rum. With a match, light the mixture in the pan and let the mixture flambe until the flames disappear. This will be when the alcohol is burned off and the natural sugars from the rum and liquor are left. Spoon some of the mixture straight out of the pan while it is hot onto the ice cream and biscuit and serve.
This is also very good with strawberries instead of the bananas and you can keep the banana liquor or substitute it with strawberry schnapps. Hope everyone enjoys this one.

Black Ale Pork Roast

This is something I've tried before with regular Lager but I decided to use a dark ale instead. My advice is to start this either at night and cook it while you are sleeping or early in the morning and cook it all day. Very quick for prep but it takes a while to cook.

1.)1 Boston Butt Pork Roast
2 )12oz bottles of Black Ale (New Belgium Brewery's 1554 is the one I used. It is strong enough to give a good flavor and still retains some sweetness)
3.)1 large white onion
4.)4 cloves of Garlic
5.)1 package of sliced White Button Mushrooms
6.)1 pint of Beef Stock
7.) 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce

Jarred's Pork Rub
1.) White Pepper
2.) Black Pepper
3.) Cayenne Pepper
4.) Cracked Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
5.) Cumen
6.) Italian Seasoning
7.) Garlic Powder
8.) Onion Salt
9.) Rosemary
10.) Paprika (smoked if you have it)
11.) Celery Salt

Ok this is easier than it looks like. It takes 20-25 minutes of prep time and 6-7 hours of cook time. Don't get scared at the amount of stuff needed for this. Mix the rub first in a sandwich bag or small finger bowl. No real amounts of stuff in this rub but I just eyeball everything so I don't waste time measuring everything out. The flavors are what matters. Apply the meat rub all over the pork roast and rub it in with your fingers and hands vigorously. Wash hands and line the vessel of whatever you are cooking with in olive oil and heat to medium on stove top. Preheat oven to 250. With tongs or hands (no forks) put roast in pot on the stove top and singe the roast to sear in all the herbs and spices into the meat. My suggestion, cut onion while on first side, when done with onion its time to turn it over. You are just searing so don't worry about cooking through at this time. Make sure that all sides and edges are seared and remove the roast momentarily. Deglace the pot with a splash of beer and scrape all the spicy goodies off the pan and add the roast back in. Throw in the onion, mushroom, and sliced garlic cloves. Pour in the rest of the beer the Worcestershire sauce and beef stock put the lid on and pop it in the oven. Let it cook for 6-7 hours and when you open the lid after it is done, let it rest, and the meat will just pull off the bone. Put on sandwiches with some bbq sauce and you have a meal with lots of leftovers.

People have asked me why I insist on using alcohol to cook. I use it because it tastes good. It has a lot of flavor and makes things yummy. I use rum, brandy, whiskey, wine, beer, and many other things in many of my recipes and sauces. One of my favorite deserts is Bananas Foster which I'll post later. Delicious and definitely tasty and uses rum. I will continue to use these things in my recipes and if you would like me to put alternatives because of personal or religious reasons (the alcohol is all cooked out just leaving the flavor behind so religion shouldn't be a breaker), let me know.

BBQ Chicken Salad

A take on traditional traditional salad with mayo, add some bbq sauce or use some leftover chicken.
I like to even use a roasted chicken from a grocery store.

Use 3/1 parts of chicken to mayo. Gives it a good strong flavor. You can also add a little ranch dressing in and that helps some flavor into it.

3 cups of chopped or pulled chicken
1 cup mayo
1 large onion
2 stalks of Celery
1/2 cup of pecans
1/4 cup bbq sauce
3 dashes Lemon Juice

Mix all ingredients in food processor and keep on until all ingredients are blended.

Time 10 minutes.

Serves 8 sandwich portions

Spicy BBQ Baked Beans

One of my favorite sides to go with BBQ are my Spicy BBQ baked beans. It starts with making your own sauce which I will discuss how to make and then adding it to some canned beans with onion and cheese. These are a good compliment to any BBQ'd meat whether it be pork, chicken, beef, sausage, or turkey. These are the things you will need.

1 1/2 cups Ketchup
1/4 cup Brown Mustard
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp Hot Sauce
2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
pinch of Ground Clove
pinch Allspice

2 Cans of Pork and Beans
1 Can of Chili Beans
1 Cup of shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
1 Cup of shredded Cheddar
1 Small Onion

Turn on a small sauce pot over medium low heat and add ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire, hot sauce (reduce to make less spicy: I use Louisiana Brand because of the flavor without being overly spicy), vinegars. Mix with a spoon until all of the thinner liquids mix into a brownish red mixture. Allow to heat up and then add the honey and brown sugar. Let the brown sugar melt in and then add the spices. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes on low heat.

In a small casserole dish add drained cans of beans and mix together. Pour in half of the sauce from sauce pan set the other half to the side (I like to save some of my sauces in plastic bottles for later use for the bbq I am cooking). Dice Onion very fine and add to the beans and bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes and then remove. Let cool slightly after mixing and raise oven to 425 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Mix the shredded cheese to make 2 cups of shredded cheese. Remove beans from oven and instantly add 1/2 amount of cheese and mix into very hot beans and melt completely. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and it's done.

While it isn't the fastest thing to make, you will thank me later for the flavor of these things. Unbelievable taste is something I strive to deliver to my taste buds while doing it cheaply. I've tried this recipe with shallots and sweet onions and also made a very good mix. You can even use bottled BBQ sauce if you want. I just prefer the tang of the one I described above.

My take on Country Fried Steak

Here is my take on a good old home cookin' classic. Any suggestions, post em.

6 slices of Cubed Steak
1 Cups Water
1 Cup all purpose flour
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 tbsp Old Bay
Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Garlic Powder
1/2 Large Sweet Onion

Easy does it on this one. Heat oil in skillet to medium high heat and make sure it is hot when you drop the steak. Dredge the steak heavily on both sides in Flour, pepper, salt, and garlic powder mixture. Drop into oil and fry both sides until golden brown on both sides. Remove the steak onto a paper towel lined plate. Chop the half onion into slices about eighth inch thick pieces and break up. Add onion to grease in pan and cook the onions through. Once the onions are beginning to be transparent, add the remaining flour that you dredged in to the mix and mix and stir into a rue. Stir constantly until deep brown and add water slowly. Add water until medium thickness is reached and add some more salt and pepper. Add Steak back to gravy and cook on both sides of steak for 2 minutes to get the gravy cooked into the steak. You're done. I like to make some mashed potatoes to go with the gravy and some form of green vegetable. Rice also works if you want that instead of potatoes.

A submission by Jason Gilbert. I've tried it and it definitely is worth the time and effort.

Here is a London Broil or Beef Roast stewed in Guinness. Flavor on this will make you want to smack your loved ones in their mouths. I tried a bit of it that was made with a Chuck Roast instead. You might want to use the chuck because of the fat content of the meat. It makes the meat much more flavorful.

London Broil Stewed in GUINNESS
1 2-pound piece of London broil, cut at least 1 inch thick
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 strip breakfast bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 plump clove garlic, peeled and cut lengthwise into small spikes
1 bay leaf
1 large onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup stout or dark ale
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. 2. To prevent the meat from curling, trim off and discard the integument that surrounds it. Pat the meat dry with paper towels and sprinkle it all over with half the salt and pepper. Dredge with the cornstarch, patting it well into the meat. Pierce the beef through in half a dozen places. Press the thyme leaves into the bacon pieces and force a piece of bacon and a garlic spike into each of the holes in the meat.
Lightly oil a heavy-bottomed braising pan. Place the bay leaf in the center of the pan and the meat on top of it. Pile the onion slices on top of the meat. . Mix the stout, honey, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce and pour over the onions. Sprinkle on the rest of the salt and pepper.
Cover the mound of meat and onions with a sheet of waxed paper. Seal the pot with two thicknesses of foil and press the lid down firmly . Put the pot in the oven and bake, undisturbed, for 3 hours. Serve the beef hot, with the thin sauce poured over it. Carve it at the table.
Author's Note:
The natural sauce from the beef will be full-bodied but thin. I sometimes "finish" it by adding 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce and a thickening of 3 tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons of cold water. When the sauce has cooked and thickened sufficiently, salt it to taste and pour it over the meat.

Yield: 4-5 servings

Easy Red Beans and Rice

One thing I like to do for quick and easy meal is Red Beans and Rice. This is my mom's recipe and I grew up eating this stuff and it was always one of my favorites. Very easy to do and just all around good stuff. Here's your list:

1 package of smoked sausage
2 cans of light red kidney beans
1 stick of lightly salted butter
1/2 cup of Flour
3 cups of cooked rice
garlic powder
cayenne pepper
oregano
basil
salt
black pepper

Dice up the smoked sausage or Kielbasa and brown in a stock pot. Once browned after about 4 minutes stirring regularly, remove the sausage to the side and keep the drippings in the pot. Melt the stick of butter in the pot and then add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. Yes a wooden spoon. Stir and cook the rue that you just created until it turns a light brown color and then add 2 cups of water. Add 2 more cups of water once mixture thickens again and then add another cup once that thickens until the mixture cooks in and will the spoon with a slow drip. Add the sausage back in and the 2 cans of beans, juice and all. Add the spices and herbs and add 3 dashes of hot sauce and reduce heat to medium low for 10 minutes. Add in the rice, mix in, and you're ready for dinner. This should take approximately 30 minutes from start to finish including the rice. Enjoy it.

The Infamous Butter Burgers.,

While I would like to say that this venture will be a healthy one...it definitely isn't and I'm going to tell you to not eat these things regularly because it will eventually and most likely cause you some major health issues. However, the taste of these things is nothing short of freaking awesome. Yeah, I said butter burgers. "What is a butter burger?" "It sounds disgusting," and "I want one but I'm scared of what it might do to me." These are statements that I got about this one but even this is something that I've never seen Paula Dean accomplish, but it would make her absolutely blush. Here are the things that you need.

2lb of Ground Chuck
11/2 sticks of salted pure Butter
1 block of sharp cheddar cheese
8 slices of bacon
4 seeded buns or hamburger rolls
1 egg
Worcestershire Sauce
bread crumbs
bbq seasoning
garlic powder
dry mustard
smoked paprika
Black pepper
white pepper
1 cheap pie pan.
Ok, Mix all the wet ingredients and bread crumbs as a binder together and throw in the egg yolk and all and mix into the meat. Make 8 equal size burgers and make them extremely thin. Take the 1/2 stick of butter and dice it into small cubes. On top of 4 of the burgers, spread the butter cubes on them and put the other burgers on top of the buttered topped burgers. Pinch them closed so that the butter is encased into 4 burgers. Mix seasonings together and sprinkle all sides of burgers with seasoning mix. Lay burgers down in a medium high heated skillet and cook on both sides of burgers for 1 minute on each side until spices are seared in. Remove from heat momentarily. Take another 1/2 stick of butter and melt it in pan. Add burgers back in and reduce heat to medium and heat burgers about 5-6 minutes per side for medium and add 2 minutes per side for more done. Now the next part is a little tricky. Melt the remaining 1/2 stick of butter in the microwave. Put 2 slices of precooked bacon on each burger and thinly sliced cheddar cheese on each and poor half of melted butter on top of burgers and put the pie pan on top of them to steam the burgers for 1 minute or until cheese is melted. Spread remaining melted butter on buns. Take the burgers out. and steam the buns in the same pan face down then remove the buns. Put on your favorite toppings and chow down on something that will make you wanna do harm to someone. I know that this is nasty sounding, but don't knock it till you try it. We've tried these with mushrooms and grilled onions. Bacon and bbq sauce and many ways. Just try them sparingly. It is definitely something we don't do often. If you want to try a version without making them. You can get what is called the buttery cheddar burger at any Steak and Shake restaurant. They are good but not as good as home made.

New potato salad recipe that is truly wicked.

I was messing around one night and was going to do my normal potato salad and didn't have all the stuff at home so I just took what I had and experimented a little. What came out of this idea was nothing short of something that would make your tongue do back flips. Here are the things you'll need.

3 Large Idaho Russet Potatoes (diced)
4 slices of thick cut bacon (optional)
1/2 a Jar of Marinated Fire Roasted Red Peppers
3 tablespoons of minced Garlic
1 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup of whole grain Mustard
3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Hot Sauce
1 tbsp Fresh Ground Pepper
2 tsp Coarse Sea Salt

Boil diced potatoes until fork tender in salt water. While potatoes are cooking your going to build the goodness that goes into this ridiculous potato salad. The bacon isn't necessary but it gives the salad a really good kick of smoke flavor that is another addition to the already complex flavor profile that this salad has. Your going to pre-slice the bacon and chop it up really fine. I suggest Wright Brand Bacon but any super smoky bacon is good. Fry up the bacon bits until crispy and remove it from the pan. Drain off excess grease and use the remaining coating in the pan for the peppers and garlic. Chop the marinated peppers really fine and put them into the pan on medium heat until completely cooked through and slightly seared. 2 minutes before you take the peppers off add the garlic and toast it with the peppers. Remove the mixture into a small bowl or something that will just hold the contents for a little while. Once the potatoes are fork tender drain and put them in mixing bowl and place them in the freezer for 10 minutes to shock the temperature down. Mix in the bacon, pepper and garlic mix, mayo, mustard, Worcestershire, Hot Sauce, Salt, and Pepper into the potatoes and mix until all potatoes are coated in mixture. Cool until dinner time and serve cold.