The Irish Brew and BbQ Burger

Laura rocked a burger out today that would rival any restaurant burger. It was a burger that involved just a seasoning pack, a bottle of beer, and some inventiveness. Just mix onion and garlic soup mix into meat with 1/2 bottle of Guinness and some bread Crumbs. Heat up skillet to medium high. Form the burgers and put them into the searing hot skillet for 6 minutes a side at a 1" thickness to cook to medium/medium well. Top them with bacon, cheddar cheese, and fried onion bits. Cover with BBQ sauce (I put Sweet Baby Rays on mine, but I suggest using my Guinness Sauce that I have listed on my blog). Thing was off the edge of freakish good. One of the best burgers I've personally ever had. Absolutely delicious.

Hawaiian Style Tilapia with Pan Seared Pineapple and Balsamic Reduction

This is a very simple recipe to follow and it's quite quick. Takes about 20-25 minutes and 15 of that is marinade and prep time. Here's the things you will need.

6 Tilapia Fillets
1 can of pineapple tidbits in juice (not syrup)
Teriyaki Sauce
Hot sauce
Honey
Soy Sauce
Balsamic Vinegar
Worcestershire Sauce

Make the marinade first. In a mixing bowl, strain the can of pineapple and a quarter of the tidbits into the bowl with a cup and a half of Teriyaki. Mix together with a fork adding one ingredient at a time. 5 dashes of hot sauce (Louisiana Brand is my favorite because it is sweet and not too hot for this one), 2 tsp honey, 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Mix together vigorously in the bowl or a food processor or blender. If in a blender, only pulse for about 3 seconds. I personally use a stick blender for my sauces and marinades. Personal preference is key here. Pull about 1/2 cup of liquid out of the marinade onto a cup or small container and set aside. Place the Tilapia in the bowl with the remaining marinade and are too soak for ten minutes. Put 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat and allow to get smoky hot.  Place tilapia in pan and cook both sides for about 5 mines and then remove. In same pan add remaining pineapple and sear until browned nicely. Once pineapple is seared. Add liquid you set aside and allow to reduce for 30 seconds. Wake the reduction with 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar and cook for 30 seconds. Spoon the pineapple and reduction over the Tilapia and serve. Taste is sweet and tangy. It goes well with the very mild flavor of tilapia and the fish is very spongy so it soaks a lot of flavor up from the marinade very quickly. This is a quick and easy fish to do and virtually takes less than 30 minutes from beginning to end. Promise you'll love it. Just remember that cooking isn't that hard to do. If you like certain flavors, try adding other things. Even trying other marinades. Yummy Yummy stuff. Taste scale I would put this on a 8/10.

Asian BBQ Marinated Chicken over Roasted Asparagus

Every now and then I stay at home with the little guy and I get to experiment with some new recipes in the kitchen. This is a decently easy recipe to fix and doesn't really take a whole lot of time. I wanted something different and started mixing some stuff together that I knew would tasted good. This is very straightforward and is packed with a ton of flavor. The marinade is quick and is absolutely delicious. Here are the things that you will need: Marinade: 1/2 cup Soy Sauce 1/3 cup Bottled BBQ sauce (I used Stubbs because of its thinner consistency) 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard 2 tbsp Brown Mustard (no they aren't the same) 1 tsp of Sriracha Sauce or Hot Sauce will do. 1 tsp Red Pepper Flake 1 tsp Garlic Powder 1/2 tsp Ginger Components: 1 lb Chicken Tenderloins 1 yellow onion 1 jarred Roasted Red Pepper 1 lb Asparagus 2 tsp Butter Garlic Powder Extra Virgin Olive Oil

You'll need a sheet pan, a large skillet, a small skillet, and a medium size mixing bowl for this recipe. In the mixing bowl mix together the ingredients above for the marinade. Put in the chicken tenderloins and coat them thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate and allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes. While chicken is marinating your going to melt a tsp of butter in the small skillet and add in the diced yellow onion and allow them to cook on medium heat until slightly transparent and add the diced red pepper. allow to cook together on medium low for 10 minutes. Once done with the onion and pepper, set them aside for a bit. Melt another tsp of butter in the large skillet and add the chicken tenderloins and cook thoroughly on medium-high heat, takes about 5-6 minutes per side. Dice the chicken once done and put back into the large skillet then mix in the onion and red pepper. Preheat the oven to 425. Trim 1 inch of asparagus off the bottom of each stem so that the bottom of the stems are green. Spread the spears on the sheet pan and drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle garlic powder generously. Once preheated, place the asparagus in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes. Once done, your going to just place some asparagus on a plate and spoon the chicken, onion, and pepper mix on top of the spears. This is a spectacular dish with a whole lof of flavor. I will definitely be doing this one as a regular because it is very easy to do and is a quick solution.

Smoking Meat in the Oven Part 2

Well I decided to write what I consider as an addendum to my previous blog about a pork butt that I smoked in the oven. Since I had to move back to an apartment, I've had to be rather inventive with the fact that I love to smoke pork. I've come up with many ways to do this and there was always something missing from the flavor. I am a fan of the taste of muted apple in pork. There is just something about it that is both wonderfully sweet and beautiful about it. It's sugary, it adds a needed muted sweetness, it's refreshing, and it takes down the bite of over-smoking the meat or over cooking in an oven. The same idea is evident; cook it low and don't mess with it. Don't poke it, don't open the door to look at it, don't check it's temp for at least 6 hours. Just let it cook and keep it covered to take as much smoke a possible. A far as setting up
an oven smoke device, it's quite easy. Get a cheap aluminum roasting pan and place soaked wood chips in it. Place that on the bottom rung in the oven. Then on the other rack, put the
roast on the actual oven rack and cover it up in foil. Make sure that you rub the roast down and that the fatty side is facing up so that it melts off through the meat to protect moisture. Cooking in an actual oven is different than a grill or a smoker. Set it for about 6-7 hours at 325°F. Like I said earlier, let it sit. I know that you want to mess with it, but don't. Once 6 hours are done, you can uncover it and begin to start basting it and mopping. Jack up the heat to around 425 and baste in a clean pan, fat side down every 10 minutes for an additional 40 minutes to create a bark. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes before cutting or pulling the meat. If you did it right, the meat should be able to fall directly off the shoulder blade. Just dice it, mince it, shred it, do what you will. It might sound like trouble to do this but you will have some of the tastiest pork you will ever want and be able to closely replicate that restaurant bbq taste that you already like. If you would like some ideas for rubs or seasoning ideas, comment and I will add some suggestions. Enjoy your time in the kitchen and remember that cooking isn't a chore, it's an adventure.

Honey Balsamic Peanut Sauce.

Decided to list another sauce recipe today because this one was absolutely wonderful on chicken wings. This is just a classic idea I had from a previous dish that I made with chicken and rice and I loved the flavors so I replicated it into a wing sauce that is very tasty. Here's the things you will need:

1/2 cup Clover or Orange Blossom Honey.
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp Peanut Butter
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp red pepper flake
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions: In a small sauce pot, put the balsamic vinegar, honey, oil, hot sauce and soy and mix thoroughly while heating. Go ahead and add the garlic, red pepper flake, and hot sauce and then once you see no separation left, add the peanut butter. Continue to mix vigorously every minute for at least 20 seconds at a time so the peanut butter melts but doesn't scorch. Once the peanut butter is fully melted, add in the chili powder and cayenne pepper. Reduce heat to low and let it just stay warm until ready to use.

I would recommend this sauce for anything chicken related. It is sweet, salty, fruity, spicy, and will absolutely make your tastebuds flip a couple of times. I'm going to include the picture of the wings that used the sauce on.

Creamy Garlic Cole Slaw.

Here is a simple fix for a side to any bbq or get together. I make dozens of different variations on potato salad and cole slaw because I always like a nice surprise. A lot of people say that they can't make cole slaw because it makes a mess and prep time takes forever. Just use the same thing you see in the supermarket for under two bucks that comes prebagged. It's fresh, its good, its cheap. Just dump the bag of mix in a mixing bowl, add a cup of mayo, 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp of pickle relish, 2 tbsp minced garlic, salt and pepper the mix until you think it tastes right. Stir everything around. You have a delicious cole slaw on your hands. Feel free to write back with some of your recipes. I welcome any feedback you may want to send.

Carolina BBQ Burger

I was thinking of ways the other day to improve on a favorite burger of mine that I enjoyed from my days of working at Rafferty's. Then I thought of one thing I always loved about a Carolina style BBQ sandwich; put some slaw on it. So what you do is fix you're favorite burger, put on some good cheddar cheese, fry up some bacon, and cook a yellow onion in the rendered bacon fat. Top with the onion, bacon, pile on some good creamy cole slaw, and to with some really good BBQ sauce and you're good to go. Making the sauce and slaw from scratch is really simple. I'll put my cole slaw recipe on the blog just in case you want to use it. Just remember that recipes can be altered and experimenting with good flavors is the key to having fun in the kitchen.