Tag Archives: Butter

My country cube steak with saw mill gravy for a crowd


I’ll let you in on a secret. I love red meat. Being a guy one could easily know that but I love bison cube steak when I can find it for a true country breakfest.

Mix together flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Dredge the Cube steak in the flour mix on both sides and set aside until all the yummy cube steaks are covered in flour. In a large camp fire skillet, add oil, garlic, and onions. When onions are clear remove from pan along with garlic. Add butter into pan and allow to melt. Once melted add in cube steaks. Watch them carefully, when the sides get a golden hay like color flip them and give them 1 more minute before removing from the pan. Turn off heat and remove grease by pouring through a fine mesh screen over a funnel into a mason jar.  This filters out the solid particles from the grease. Set this remaining grease aside in the mason jar. It will keep in the fridge for upto a week.

Take 9 tablespoons of this grease, 9 tablespoons of flour, 3 cups of half and half, and 1 pound crumbled breakfest sausage. Sift the flour into this remaining grease in the same pan you fried the cube steak. Stir it until it gets brown, I like a straw brown color. Pour in the half and half slowly while stirring constantly. Add in crumbled breakfest sausage, and stir until it’s thickened. At this point I add black pepper, about 3 tablespoons.  The breakfest sausage can be anything. Jimmy dean is good, or what ever you happen to have.

Serve with a side of mashed potatoes.

To the dads, grilled mac and cheese


Well father’s day is upon us. With this in mind I thought of a simple yet delicious recipe that dads would love. I’m thinking  grilled mac and cheese with chorizo, fire roasted onions, chiles and corn, maybe some left over on some grilled bread for a great sandwich!
Father’s day grilled mac and cheese

Coarse salt (kosher or sea)
2 cups (about 8 ounces) elbow macaroni
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 ears sweet corn, shucked
1 medium red onion, peeled and quartered
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus 2 tablespoons butter
Freshly ground black pepper
6 to 8 New Mexican green chiles or Anaheim or California peppers, or
2 to 4 poblano peppers
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups half-and-half, light cream, or milk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated smoked cheese, preferably smoked Cheddar, smoked pepperjack, or equal amounts of both
1/4 to 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs (preferably homemade)
6 ounces crumbled spanish chorizo

A cast iron skillet, aluminum foil roasting pan or drip pan, or grill-proof baking dish (about 9 by 12 inches), sprayed or brushed with oil; 2 cups wood chips or chunks (preferably hickory); soaked for 1 hour in mock burbon/water to cover (1 cup water to 1 tablespoon vanilla makes 1 cup mock burbon), then drained

Bring 8 quarts of lightly salted water to a rapid boil in a large pot over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook until al dente, about 7 to 8 minutes. Drain the macaroni in a large colander, rinse with cold water until cool, and drain again. Toss the macaroni with the oil to prevent sticking.

Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.

When ready to cook, lightly brush the corn and onion with half of the melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Place chorizo in a small metal pan and brown after putting the corn and onion on the hot grate and grill until nicely browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side (8 to 12 minutes in all) for the corn, and 3 to 4 minutes per side (9 to 12 minutes in all) for the onion, turning with tongs as needed. Add the chiles and peppers to the hot grate and grill until the skins are charred, 3 to 5 minutes per side (6 to 10 minutes in all) for the New Mexican chiles, or 3 to 5 minutes per side (12 to 20 minutes in all) for the poblano peppers, and 4 to 6 minutes per side (16 to 24 minutes in all) for the bell peppers. Transfer the corn, chorizo and onion to a cutting board and let cool.

Transfer the grilled chiles and bell peppers to a baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Let the peppers cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes (the steam trapped by the plastic wrap helps loosen the skin from the peppers). Scrape the skin off the cooled peppers, then core and seed them.

Cut the corn kernels off the cobs using lengthwise strokes of a sharp butcher knife. Thinly slice the onion quarters crosswise. Cut the chiles and peppers into 1/4-inch dice.

Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and cook until soft but not brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the corn kernels and grilled onion, chorizo, chiles, and bell peppers. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the half-and-half and increase the heat to high. Let the mixture boil for 3 minutes, stirring well; it should thicken. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the mustard and cooked macaroni, followed by the cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste; the mixture should be highly seasoned. Spoon the macaroni and cheese into the cast iron skillet or oiled aluminum foil pan. Sprinkle the top of the macaroni with the bread crumbs and drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter over the bread crumbs.

Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium-high. If using a gas grill, place all of the wood chips in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch and run the grill on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium-high. If using a charcoal grill, preheat it to medium-high, then toss all of the wood chips or chunks, if desired, on the coals.

When ready to cook, place the macaroni and cheese in the center of the hot grate, away from the heat, and cover the grill. Cook the macaroni and cheese until the sauce is bubbly and the top is crusty and brown, 40 minutes to 1 hour. Serve with dad’s favorite beer, a grilled meat that he likes, and some grilled potatoes with gravy. What better way to say we love you dad then a whole meal made on the grill for him?

Maybe slap some on some nice toasted garlic bread for a sandwich.

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Chocolate bundt Easter eggs


In the spirit of Easter, I tend to bake stuff. This year I’m going to try to bake cakes into my eggs. So here we go.

Here’s some technical stuff. Volume of an egg

 

I’m using large eggs which is 3 tablespoons and I wanna prevent filling them more then 2/3 rd’s full. So 2 tablespoons of batter per egg. 12 cups worth of batter is 192 tablespoons divided by 2 divided by 12 is 8 cartons of eggs. Yes that’s a lot of eggs. The egg whites and yolks of these eggs will not go to waste. I myself scramble then up regularly, so 8 cartons will last me about a week.

 

First we need to prep the eggs. I do this with a needle poking a hole in both ends, and blowing the egg white and yolk out of the shell into a bowl. I then soak the egg shells in a solution of 1 part vinegar 2 parts water. Leave these over night. The next day let them drain and dry for a day. Once dry the fun begins. You want to remove carefully from one end of the egg some more of the shell. You want it to be big enough to insert your #1 standard decorating tip for a pastry bag. To seal the other end of the egg, I add in 1/2 teaspoon of powdered sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil. This mixes in the egg and seals the end, Sometimes it doesn’t seal that’s ok. Now we make the batter.

 

2 cups chocolate porter or stout beer
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder (non-dutched)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups plain whole yogurt
3/4 cup pure maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350F, with a rack in the center.

In a saucepan simmer the beer down to 1 cup. Remove from heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Stir in the cocoa powder, mixing until smooth, then set aside to cool, stirring occasionally to let off heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, yogurt, and maple syrup. Whisk well, until nicely blended and uniform in appearance. Gradually add the (cooled) stout mixture, stirring all the while. Stir until well blended. Add the flour mixture, folding until just blended, using as few strokes as possible.

Transfer the batter to the eggs by injecting through the pastry bag do not fill more then 2/3rds otherwise the egg will break and bake for 30 minutes-40 minutes at the most. Remove eggs from the oven and let cool. I often bring them in the egg cartons to dinner.

There is no salmonella risk as the temprature gets hot enough to kill off the salmonella bacterium. It is also possible to dye the egg shells before filling them after blowing the egg white and yolk out. It’s fun to peel the eggs only to find that it’s got cake in it! What fun for kids and adults alike? You can do this with any dough you can squeeze through your pastry bag. Could possibly do it with a cookie dough if you can get it to a batter like consistancy.

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Amish style potato salad


Well I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much. Life has been getting into the way. I’ve also been sleeping really odd hours. So going to try to bang out a few recipes a week now rather then every day till things become normal.

 

2 beaten egg
1 cup honey
2 tbsp. corn flour
1 cup water
1 cup apple vinegar
4 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Combine in the order given, stirring after each addition. Boil until thick. Cool before adding to the potatoes to make Amish potato salad.

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Grilled salmon with lemon mint butter


I love lemon, I love mint, and I love butter on my grilled salmon. It’s just lovely.

 

  • 6 (6-oz) pieces center-cut salmon fillet (about 1 inch thick) with skin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lime zest
  • 6 tablespoons lemon mint butter (recipe below)

Lemon mint butter

  • 1 1/2 teaspons lemon juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon mint diced
  • 6 tablespoons butter

To make lemon mint butter, slowly melt butter add mint and lemon juice and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Shut off heat and keep warm.

Prepare grill for cooking over medium-hot charcoal (moderate heat for gas).

Season salmon all over with salt and pepper, then grill, flesh sides down, on lightly oiled grill rack (covered only if using gas grill) 4 minutes. Check for grill marks, then turn fillets over and grill indirect heat (covered only if using gas grill) until just cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes more. Once done remove from grill leaving skin behind, sprinkle with lemon mint butter and your ready to enjoy.

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my secret grilled lobsters


The mint makes them really good. Do not tell anyone! It’s our secret
Salt, to taste
8 live lobsters, each 1 1/2 to 2 lb
4 sticks unsalted butter
24 garlic cloves, minced
4 lemons cut into 1/4th slices
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
12 Tbs. minced fresh mint and parsley

 

Bring a large pot three-fourths full of salted water to a boil over high heat. Have ready a bowl of ice water large enough to fit the lobsters.

On a cutting board, use the point of a knife to cut an incision through each lobster head shell about 1 inch from the eyes, pushing down hard through the shell to instantly kill the lobster (yes it’s painless). Immediately plunge the lobsters into the pot and cook for 2 minutes, then transfer to the ice water. When the lobsters are cool enough to handle, split them in half lengthwise. Remove the intestinal vein from the tails, the grain sacs from the heads and any green tomalley from the bodies; reserve any black egg sacs in a small bowl. (You can stuff the head if you’d like with broccoli and cheese after.)

Pour 1/4 cup boiling water over the egg sacs and, using a fork, gently break the membrane to release the roe; it will turn bright red in the hot water. Strain through a sieve and let dry on a paper towel.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the garlic. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the mint and parsley and 2 Tbs. of the reserved lobster eggs. Keep the garlic-mint butter warm.

Prepare a medium-hot fire in a grill. Brush and oil the grill grate.

Brush the cut side of each lobster half with some of the garlic-mint butter. Place the lobsters, cut side down, on the grill. Cover and grill until the flesh is opaque and firm to the touch, 5 to 6 minutes. Grill the lemon slices over the hottest part of the fire until lightly charred, 1 to 2 minutes per side.

Brush the grilled lobsters with the remaining garlic-mint butter and transfer to a platter. Garnish with the grilled lemon slices and serve immediately.

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homemade caramel apple pop tarts


I’m a fiend for pop tarts. I love them like there is no tomarrow. My favorite caramel apple pop tarts. What can I say I’m a kid at heart!

Pastry
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon salt
2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pats
2 large egg
4 tablespoons milk

2 additional large egg (to brush on pastry)
caramel apple Filling
3/4 cup caramel
3/4 cup apple sauce
2 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoon cold water
To make caramel apple filling: Mix the apple sauce with the cornstarch/water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat,mix in caramel and set aside to cool. Use to fill the pastry tarts.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter with your fingers, until pea-sized lumps of butter are still visible, and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. Whisk the first egg and milk together and stir them into the dough, mixing just until everything comes together, kneading briefly on a well-floured counter if necessary.

Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a smooth rectangle, about pop tart size. You can roll this out immediately or wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

If your dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften and become workable, about 15 to 30 minutes in a warm kitchen. Place one piece on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it about 1/8″ thick, large enough that you can trim into 18 pop tart sized rectangles.

Beat the additional egg and brush it over the entire surface of the first dough. This will be the “inside” of the tart; the egg is to help glue the lid on. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each rectangle, keeping a bare 1/2-inch perimeter around it. Place a second rectangle of dough atop the first, using your fingertips to press firmly around the pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides. Press the tines of a fork all around the edge of the rectangle. Repeat with remaining tarts.

Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork; you want to make sure steam can escape, or the tarts will become pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Refrigerate the tarts (they don’t need to be covered) for 30 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 350°F.

Sprinkle the dough trimmings with cinnamon-sugar; these have nothing to do with your pop tarts, as my lover says, it’s a shame to not give treats to the chef. While the tarts are chilling, bake these trimmings for 13 to 15 minutes, till they’re golden brown.

Remove the tarts form the fridge, and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Cool in pan on rack.

You should have 9 pairs of pop tarts ready to eat filled with a nice yummy caramel apple filling.

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Another grilled cheese my way


This is my BAHA GRILLED CHEESE….yes baha grilled cheese.

 

I do this with something special. Guanciale that I just switch out the italian herbs and spices for mexican herbs and spices. I call it guanciale de mexico.

So to begin, we will need.
8 slices guanciale de mexico
8 slices sour dough bread
4 tablespoon butter, room temperature
2 cup jack and cheddar cheese, shredded
8 tablespoons guacamole, room temperature
4 tablespoon tortilla chips, crushed (nacho is my favorite, but you can use the flavored ones too taco, burger etc)

Cook the guanciale until crispy and set aside on paper towels to drain.

Butter one side of each slice of bread, sprinkle half of the cheese onto the unbuttered side of one slice of bread followed by the guacamole, tortilla chips, guanciale the remaining cheese and finally top with the remaining slice of bread with the buttered side up.

Grill over medium heat until golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 2-3 minutes per side.

You get heat from the guanciale de mexico, that sweetish flavor from the guacamole, the kick of the chips plus there flavor, and the sour of the bread and all that cheesy goodness.

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Brady’s hail mary sandwich


Ok…your not going to like this, but I know us guys will absolutely go crazy. This is my Brady’s hail mary sandwich. We start with pull apart, beer cheese and mustard bread….YES you heard me right…beer…cheese….and mustard bread…Onto this we add bacon, ham, more cheese, lettuce, tomatoe, mayo, and of course….mushrooms and onions that have been sauteed with a bit of red wine vinegar. So here’s the sandwich bread.

Bread
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 2/3 beer guinness draught
5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2/3 cup rye flour (use additional all purpose flour as sub)
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 packages instant yeast
2 teaspoon table salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Filling
6 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoon spicy dijon mustard
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 Dash of srarchia
2 teaspoon mustard powder
2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon table salt
some black pepper
3 cups shredded sharp cheddar

In a small saucepan, heat the butter and 1/2 cup of beer, just until the butter has melted. Remove from heat and add the remaining 2/3 cup beer. Set aside to cool down slightly. You want the mixture warm (110 to 116 degrees), but not steaming hot.

Stir together 4 cups of the all-purpose flour, sugar, yeast and table salt. With the mixer on low, pour in the butter-beer mixture, mixing only until the flour is moistened. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. The batter will look lumpy, but will become smooth in a moment. Add the remaining 1 cup all-purpose flour and all of the rye flour, mixing until just combined. Replace paddle with a dough hook and let the machine knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes on low.

Oil a large bowl and transfer dough to it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside for 50 to 60 minutes, until doubled.

I love to do this ahead by also resting the dough in the fridge overnight — wrapped tightly with plastic. The next day, let it rest at room temperature for an hour before rolling out.

In the same small saucepan you used for the butter and beer, melt the 6 tablespoons butter. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard, Worcestershire and hot sauce until smooth. Set aside.

In the bottom of a medium bowl, stir together mustard powder, paprika, table salt and some ground black pepper. Add shredded cheddar and toss until grated strands are evenly coated with spices. I like to keep this in the fridge until needed so it doesn’t get soft and clumpy, making it harder to sprinkle over the dough.

Either coat a 9-by-5 loaf pan lightly with oil or a nonstick spray and set aside.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured counter and roll the dough into a 40-by-24-inch rectangle, making sure it doesn’t stick to the counter by lifting sections and re-flouring the counter as needed. Brush the butter-mustard-Worcestershire mixture evenly over the whole surface, right up to the edges. Cut the dough crosswise into 5 strips; each should be 12-by-4 inches. Sprinkle the first one evenly with a heaping 1/4 cup of the grated cheese. Gently place another strip on top of it, coat it with another heaping 1/4 cup of cheese, and repeat with remaining strips until they are stacked 5-high and all of the cheese is used.

With your very sharpest serrated knife, gently and I mean gently! The lightest sawing motions the weight of the blade will allow! — cut your stack into 6 to 7 2-inch segments (each stacked segment should be 4-by-2 inches).

Arrange stacks of dough down the length of your prepared loaf pan as if filling a card catalog drawer. I make this easier by standing my loaf pan up on its short end to make the next part easier. If, when you finish filing all of your dough stacks, you ended up with less than needed for the dough “cards” to reach the end of the pan, when you return the pan to rest flat on the counter again, just shimmy it a little so the dough centers. It will all even out in the final rise/oven. If you ended up with toomany dough cards, before you add the last stack, simply press gently on the dough already filed to make room for it.

Loosely cover the pan with more plastic wrap and set it aside to rise again for 30 to 45 more minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake loaf for 25 to 35 minutes, until puffed and brown. Transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool for 5 minutes before flipping it out onto a serving plate/cutting board. Serve warm with cold beer.

Loaf pulls apart the best when it is hot or warm. If it has cooled beyond the point that the layers wish to easily separate, simply serve it in thin slices.

Now slice up your ham, cook your bacon, add bacon, ham, more cheese, lettuce, tomatoe, mayo, and of course….mushrooms and onions that have been sauteed with a bit of red wine vinegar. Put together and your golden for the next game with your friends.

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Blackened crawfish, spinach and andouille cream


Blackened crawfish on spinach and mashed sweet potatoes and andouille cream….to me just..the flavor of crawfish, the spinach contrasted with the sweet potatoes and a nice andouille cream…mmm makes me drool, so here’s how I do it.
1 pound sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon oil
1 andouille sausage, diced
2 tablespoons onion, diced
2 tablespoons celery, diced
2 tablespoons bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
1/4 cup white wine or broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon creole seasoning
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound crawfish
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons creole seasoning
1 tablespoon butter
1 bunch spinach, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons parsley

Now I’m not sure about everyone else. I love my potatoes baked rather then boiled.  So to begin we must bake the sweet potatoes in a preheated 400F oven for an hour. They should be fork tender. Then we scoop out them yummy insides and mash with butter and cinnamon and then set it aside. About half way through cooking the potato we need to get the oil in a pan over medium high heat going, and then saute the sausage for 3 minutes, the onion, celery, pepper, for 2 minutes, and the garlic and thyme for half a minute. Then pour wine into the pan…this deglazes the pan. Then we add the cream and creole seaoning and simmer this for about 5 minutes it’ll reduce in half. Then we add in more butter and remove from heat. Then we toss crawfish tails in oil and creole seasoning till well coated. Then melt more butter in another pan over medium high heat, and then saute the crawfish for 1-3 minutes and then set aside.  Then we must blanch the spinach. To do this, bring a pot of water to a boil, then drop the spinach into the pot once it’s boiling for 2-3 minutes, then drain them and run ice cold water over them. This way you get the nice green color still in it. Then divide sweet potatoes amongst 4 plates, add spinach, then the crawfish, drizzle with the andouille cream, and sprinkle on some fresh parsley…mmmm starving now.