Tomatillo Green Sauce

Ingredients:

5 tomatillos, peeled and chopped

1/2 a large onion, chopped

3 fairly large jalapenos, diced

2 T. chopped cilantro

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1 1/3 C. chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Saute onions in a tablespoon of oil. Add chicken broth and all other ingredients. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 8-10 minutes. Drain.

Place everything in blender. Pulse until desired consistency.

Notes:

I added an extra jalapeno after. It wasn't hot enough for me. I also added a tiny bit of sour cream to some to make it like restaraunt green sauce.

Red Beans and Rice

With both of my pregnancies I craved Popeye's beans and rice. I got Steve hooked on them and promised to find a similar recipe. I came across this one by Emeril Lagasse.

You will need:
1 pound dried red beans, rinsed and sorted over
3 tablespoons bacon grease
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 pound smoked sausage, split in half lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound smoked ham hocks
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
10 cups chicken stock
4 cups cooked white rice

Directions:
Place the beans in a large bowl or pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Let soak for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and set aside.
In a large pot, heat the bacon grease over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery and bell peppers to the grease in the pot. Season with the salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the bay leaves, parsley, sausage, and ham hocks, and cook, stirring, to brown the sausage and ham hocks, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the beans and stock, stir well, and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and starting to thicken, about 2 hours. (Should the beans become too thick and dry, add more water, about 1/4 cup at a time.)

Remove from the heat and with the back of a heavy spoon, mash about 1/4 of the beans against the side of the pot. Continue to cook until the beans are tender and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves.

Serve over rice.

The broth will be thin. To make them more like Popeye's put them in the fridge overnight and reheat and serve the next day.

Grilled Pork chops and Macaroni Salad

We're always looking for a way to make anything on the grill moist and juicy. Pork especially can be very dry. This recipe takes care of that!! These are the juiciest pork chops I've ever tasted.
Along with it is Macaroni Salad. Never been a fan of it, but Steve loves it so we found a recipe that fit both of our tastes. Yummmm!


Grilled Pork Chops
(taken from Alton Brown's Stuffed Grilled Pork Chops)

4 pork chops
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard powder
2 cups cider vinegar, heated
1 pound ice cubes
In a plastic container put the salt, sugar, peppercorns, and mustard powder. Add the hot vinegar and swirl to dissolve. Let mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes to develop flavor. Add ice cubes and shake to melt most of the ice. Add chops and cover with brine. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove chops from container and rinse. Grill the chops on medium high heat for 6 minutes on each side. Turn each chop 45 degrees after 3 minutes to mark.


Macaroni Salad
(We did not follow this precisely. It was just a guideline and we adjusted to taste)

2 cups dry elbow macaroni, cooked, rinsed, and drained
1/3 cup diced celery
1/4 cup minced red onion, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, drained
1/2 cup prepared mayonnaise
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
In a large bowl combine the macaroni, celery, onion. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, vinegar, sour cream and salt. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Insideout Burgers

I've been dying to try this for a while. I've seen it in several food magazines and on cooking shows but was always a little intimidated and was afraid the insides would ooze out.

I was amazed how they turned out

You need.

Ground meat (I used ground venison)

White American Cheese (or your other favorite cheese)

Jalepeno Slices

Crumbled Bacon

I use a hamburger press which works great for making the right size patties.

First make a ball of meat about 1/4 of a pound and divide it in half. Put plastic wrap in the bottom of the hamburger press. Put one of the balls in and flatten it with the top of the press. top with 2 thin slices of cheese, bacon crumbles and 2-5 cut up jalepeno slices. Put the other ball of meat on top and press flat.

Grill on the pit or you could fry it in a skillet. Serve with your favorite side. I think it should have been accompanied by homemade french fries, but we had to much fun cooking and ran out of time so it was mac-n-cheese!

Stuffed Venison Steaks

You will need:
2 tenderized steaks, I used venison ham steaks
10 pieces of bacon
1 box of cornbread stuffing

Preheat oven to 350 and cook the stuffing according to the box. Let cool.

Spread a thin layer over the entire steak.


Roll up jellyroll style and secure with a toothpick. Take the bacon strips and wrap around using a toothpick to secure each peice. About 5 peices per steak.

Fry the entire roll until bacon is almost done. About 8-10 minutes.

Transfer to baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes.Serve with leftover stuffing. Peas are optional!! I do not like peas but I eat them for Steve :)

Peppercorn Fillet Mignon

We took Alton Brown's recipe: Steak au Poivre and doctored it up a little. I got the recipe idea from my dad.

4 tenderloin steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each and no more than 1 1/2 inches thick

Kosher salt

2 tablespoons whole peppercorns

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 teaspoon olive oil 1/3 cup Cognac

(used Crown Royal because this is what we had)

1 teaspoon 1 cup heavy cream

(used milk, sauce was to thin)

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour prior to cooking. Sprinkle all sides with salt.

Coarsely crush the peppercorns. Spread the peppercorns evenly onto a plate. Press the fillets, on both sides, into the pepper until it coats the surface. Set aside.
In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. As soon as the butter and oil begin to turn golden and smoke, gently place the steaks in the pan. For medium-rare, cook for 4 minutes on each side. Once done, remove the steaks to a plate, tent with foil and set aside. Pour off the excess fat but do not wipe or scrape the pan clean.

Off of the heat, add 1/3 cup Cognac to the pan and carefully ignite the alcohol with a long match or firestick. Gently shake pan until the flames die. Return the pan to medium heat and add the cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 6 minutes.

Add the teaspoon of Cognac and season, to taste, with salt. Add the steaks back to the pan, spoon the sauce over, and serve.