Sloppy Joe

I don't think I have ever had a sloppy joe so although I can confidently say this tasted good, I can not confidently say this was a good sloppy joe. Does that even make sense? Whatever, it's a slow-cooker meal that tastes good so it's golden.

Sloppy Joe

From Everyday Slow Cooker

Serves 6

• 1.5 pounds ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1.5 teaspoons chili powder
• 6 hamburger buns, toasted
• sliced pickles, optional- but not really

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and brown beef, onion, and garlic. Drain and set aside.

Combine the rest of the ingredients (except buns and pickles...obvi) in a slow cooker, then stir in the beef mixture. Cover and cook on low setting for 6 hours or high setting for 3. 

Usually I have a strict DON'T OPEN THAT CROCK POT philosophy but not with this recipe. Feel free to open, stir around, and re-cover. 

Spoon onto buns and garnish with pickles.

Pan Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

Steven and I try. We really do. We try to do the meatless Mondays (which usually get pushed to that Sunday). We gave up meat for lent (then both gained weight because we lived off pasta and quesadillas). Everytime we eat vegetarian, we finish our meal and think "So what else is for dinner".  This was semi-filling, probably better for lunch, but surprisingly delicious for what simple ingredients go in it.  Plus there is a ton of onion which is always a winner in my book.

Pan Grilled Vegetable Sandwich
Adapted from Food Network Favorites
Serves 2 with lots of left over vegetables

• vegetable oil, for brushing
• 1 small zucchini, sliced lengthwise in 1/4 inch slices
• 1 small yellow squash, sliced lengthwise in 1/4 inch slices
• 1 red onion, sliced 1/4 inch slices
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 french baguette
• ricotta cheese
• arugula, washed and dried
• balsamic vinegar

Brush a large grill pan with vegetable oil and heat over medium-high heat. Toss vegetables with garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.

Grill vegetables in batches until nicely colored and soft - between 6 to 12 minutes per batch.

Cut bread into 6 inch pieces. Then cut pieces lengthwise but don't go all the way through (like a hotdog bun). Spread a thick layer of ricotta on the bottom half of the bread and sprinkle with some salt.

Toss arugula with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste. Put the dressed arugula on top of the ricotta then add a ton of grilled vegetables.

Snack Plate Crostini

This is our chef's night off fall back when we are trying to treat ourselves. It can be as cheap or as expensive as you want.  Complete customizable with american singles or gorau glas. You can drink a nice bottle of wine or crack open a miller lite but alcohol is encouraged. It IS chef's night off afterall. 

Tonight we used dried salami, brie, crostinis, grapes, honeycrisp apples, hummas, pita chips, and some raw almonds. We usually try to throw some olives, carrots or celery in there, but meh. Everything is store bought except for the crostinis because it's a rip off and mine is better. Chef's pretty-much-basically night off. 

Crostinis

• french baguette
• olive oil
• italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.  Cut baguette into 1/2 inch thick slices. Brush each slide with olive oil and sprinkle with italian seasoning. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or when crispy and dry. Enjoy with fancy cheese, meats, dips, or spreads.

Turkey and Cheddar Spring Rolls

I ended up with a lot of leftover rice paper from the spring rolls I made. I've been trying to use them up and have come with a lot of fails.  But this, this was good! Too good. DID I INVENT THIS? I looked at the nutrition facts for the wrapping paper and saw zero carbs, zero sugar, and 7 grams of protein. I AM GOING TO BE THE GOD OF LOW-CARB!!!! A nagging thought in mind mentioned rice-paper...rice....carbs. But it wasn't loud enough to stop me from texting all. the. people.

Fortunately, I checked again before making this low-carb claim to the internets. Unfortunately, I ate three before I checked.  But I learned two things: it does have carbs 41 grams for 6 sheets of rice paper and I need some new contacts.

Turkey Cheddar Spring Rolls
Serves however many people you want to make it for

• rice paper
• turkey
• sharp cheddar in slices, cut in half
• lettuce (very important*) I used arugula
• mustard

Let rice paper soak in water for around 30 seconds.  Move the wrap to a clean plate. Add turkey, cheese, mustard, and lettuce to the bottom third of the rice paper. Roll it up to the best of your abilities. 

*lettuce is a must to get a nice round roll. It fills it out.

Shrimp and Grits

Whelp I've never had Shrimp and Grits but these were pretty good. Tasted like a thick and hearty gumbo.  Looks ugly, though.

Shrimp and Grits

Serves 6

• 6 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking grits, uncooked
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 green pepper, chopped finely
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped finely
• 6 green onions, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 pounds uncooked small shrimp, peeled and cleaned
• 1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• 2 10 oz cans diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained

Place broth, salt, and grits in a slower cooker; cover and cook on low setting 6 to 8 hours. Two hours before serving, saute peppers, onions, garlic, and shrimp in butter in a skillet over medium-high heat until the vegetables are tender and shrimp is pink.  Add vegetable mixture, cheeses, tomatoes to slow cooker.  Turn to high setting; cover and cook for 2 more hours. 

Turkey Broccoli Cheddar Panini

It is way to freaking hot outside to eat this sandwich right now. Its still good and perfect for October weather unless you live in Houston where its in the 90s.  And my panini press brought the kitchen up at least two degrees, not the mention the oven for roasting the broccoli.  But the sandwich is good, and would be even better in November or whenever we can get close to weather in the 60s.

Broccoli Cheddar Turkey Panini

Adapted from Shutterbean.com

• 1 head broccoli
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• fancy bread or sandwich bread
• sharp cheddar cheese slices
• roasted turkey breast slices
• mustard

Preheat oven to 380 degrees. Cut the florets off the broccoli head and place on a rimmed baking sheet along with the garlic.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast for  20 minutes, flipping halfway through,  until broccoli is soft and slightly charred. Let the broccoli cool for 5 minutes and then chop.

Heat panini press to high. Assemble sandwich- bread, cheese, broccoli, turkey, a little S&P, cheese bread.  Brush both sides of the sandwich with olive oil. Place sandwich in panini press and press until cheese is melty and the outside bread is crisp.  Serve with a side of mustard for dipping. 

Stove-top popcorn

I can't remember why we switched from microwave popcorn to stovetop. But we probably kept making stove top because it's easier to make a ton. And in this household, more is more. Its also cheaper. That's important.

Stove-Top Popcorn

serves 2 adults who will eat until the bowl is empty

• vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• salt

Use your largest pot with a lid and throw 3 kernels in there. Add vegetable oil until the kernels are half-way submerged. Turn on the stove to medium-high heat and cover with the lid. 

When you hear the 3 kernels pop, pour in the rest of the kernels. Put the lid on at an angle so steam can escape but the kernels can't (most of them anyway).  Occasionally stir by securing the lid fully and shaking the pot, then re-angling the lid. 

Pop until there is about 5 seconds between pops. Then dump the popcorn into a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Eat immediately, handful at a time, don't be shy.

Roasted Dijon Chicken Thighs

This recipe isn't for anyone who is intimidated by their smoke detector. Frying chicken then putting it into a very hot oven would make anyone get out their smoke detector towel to have handy.*  The grease sizzled and popped the entire time these thighs were in the oven. Not for the faint of heart.

Steven said it was one of my best though. And since chicken thighs are cheap this might become a weekly occurance.

*our smoke alarm did NOT go off but ONLY because we installed it wrong, naturally. 

Roasted Dijon Chicken
From I am a food blog
Serves 2

• 4 chicken thighs
• vegetable oil
• 2 small shallots or 1 big one, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon green onions, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F with a rack in the middle.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat until oil is hot.  Brown thighs on one side for 5 minutes until crisp and golden. Turn once and cook for another 2 minutes.

Move the cast iron skillet to the oven for 15 minutes. 

Pull out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a plate and pour out any excess oil.  Add shallots, wine, and broth to the ban and boil on the stove scraping up all the brown bits for about 2 to 3 minutes or until reduced by half.  Add cream and boil for about a minute. If you want the sauce thicker, boil longer.

whisk in mustard, green onions, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve sauce over chicken.

Pulled Pork Breakfast Tacos

We are schedule people. Steven calls at 5:30 on his way home. He walks in at 6:25. Dinner is at 6:30 every night.  Bath time is 7:40. Book time is 8:00. Song time is 8:28 and bedtime is 8:30 for Henry. Then we work or study until around 9:30 and in bed and lightouts by 10. 

The morning's on other hand, do not fulfil my scheduling needs...all due to one variable. When will Henry wake up. 5:55? 7:05? Steven wakes up at 4 to study before going to work, he works out if Henry sleeps late and has the time. But sometimes he'll dash off early in the morning to the gym. Breakfast could be at 6:15 or 7:30 depending on Henry and I just thank God it's not my job.  Steven always makes breakfast for the family.  Even if he has to wake us up to eat it with him. 

Pulled Pork Breakfast Tacos

• Corn tortillas
• Pulled pork
• eggs
• shredded cheese
• salsa

Preheat two skillets to medium-high heat on the stove. Spray one with vegetable oil spray and start heating up corn tortillas one at a time. Flipping when the tortillas starts to puff and apply spray vegetable oil in between tortillas.

While preparing tortillas, heat up pulled pork in a non-stick skillet (or add oil to a regular skillet). Lightly fry pork until hot and crispy. Remove pork from skillet and set aside.

In the skillet used for pork, add oil or butter if there is none but the pork drippings should be plenty. Whisk eggs together in a small bowl and add skillet with pork drippings. Move around until done.

Fill warm tortillas with pulled pork, eggs, shredded cheese, and salsa. Eat up.

Pulled Pork Fried Rice

This is a perfect Monday night meal.  Escape the real world on Sunday to stay at home and roast the pork and cook the rice.  Then on Monday throw all your favorite fried rice ingredients in a wok and turn down the heat because it cooks a lot faster than expected.

The only thing more important than not weighing yourself the next day is the fried egg on top. Over easy. Or what's the point. 

Pulled Pork Fried Rice
From I am a Food Blog

• oil
• 3 eggs
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups pulled pork
• 2 cups day old rice
• 2 cups peas, frozen
• extra soy sauce and sriracha

Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk along with some salt and pepper.  In a wok, heat up a bit of oil over high heat and scramble your eggs until slightly runny (not done- the eggs will cook more will you fry the ingredients together. Remove eggs and set aside.

Add more oil to your hot wok, then add the pulled pork. Fry over medium high heat until cripsy and hot.  Add the day old rice and fry, stir occasionally and break up any clumps until the rice has a crispy edge and is heated through.

Add the eggs and peas into the skillet and fry and mix everything together until the peas are heated through.  Serve with a runny fried egg, sriracha, and hot sauce.

Pulled Pork

Salty and sweet. Crispy and tender. An all day project, but an easy, mindless one.  Use this as an excuse to stay at home all day long instead of facing the world. Stay tuned for what to do it with it once you make it.

Pulled Pork
From I am a Food Blog

• 3 pound boneless pork shoulder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon sugar

Mix the salt and sugar together and rub all over the meat. Place in a covered bowl and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours but no more than 24.

Heat oven to 250 degrees F. Place meat (none of the liquid) in  a roasting pan and put in oven to cook for 6 hours.  Baste with the rendered fat and juices every hour.  My pan was too big to soak up any juices so I just flipped the meat every hour.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes before pulling apart the meat. Steal as many bites as needed.

Avocado-Shrimp Spring Rolls

Warning: only make these on a lazy weekend or if your kid is OBSESSED with Tumble Leaf and will leave you alone for a long period of time. Feel free to join me in screen-time-induced-guilt gorging of spring rolls afterwards.

Youtube how to roll these because obviously I couldn't figure it out. They still taste good, though. I've never been big on presentation.

Avocado-Shrimp Spring Rolls
From Whats Gaby Cooking

• Rice Paper
• 1 cup cooked rice noodles
• 1 large carrot, thinly julienne cut
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• mint
• cilantro
• 2 avocados
• 1 pound baby shrimp, cooked

Soak one spring roll paper at a time for about 30 seconds in a shallow bowl of water.  Once soaked, place on a clean cutting board.  If they aren't completely soft - dip them back in the water

Place fillings on bottom third of the wrapper. A line of shrimp, noodles, carrots, scallions, a leaf of mint and some cilantro and avocado slices.

Wrap the rice paper over the filling then fold the ends in. Continue rolling until you have a tight roll.  You might want to youtube it. It's trickier than it looks. Transfer the finished roll to a clean plate and start again.  Serve immediately with peanut dipping sauce.

Peanut Dipping Sauce

• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon oil

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together.

Next time: Put a little more heart into the sauce- use smooth peanut butter instead of crunchy. And add butter lettuce to roll. And make it a make your own spring roll party! Its easy to make all the ingredients but a pain in the butt to roll them all- so make your guest do them. Also figure out a way to keep them overnight- my too-damp paper towel left them super soggy.

Beef Enchiladas

I have no idea if this is the politically correct way to make enchiladas but they were good to me and I received only praise from half Mexican at the table. "More is more" is my philosophy when it comes to cheese in cooking and life in general, so you know these can't be bad.

Beef Enchiladas
Serves more than 4

• 1 lb ground beef or turkey
• taco seasoning package
• 1 can refried beans
• 15-20 corn tortillas
• 1 large can enchilada sauce (I used green)
• 2 cups shredded cheese (half monterey jack, half cheddar)
• green onions for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Brown ground beef/turkey in a medium skillet of medium heat until no longer pink. Break into large chunks.  

Add taco seasoning and 2/3 cups water. Stir and let simmer until most of the liquid evaporates and mixture is thick and saucy. Add refried beans to the mixture and stir until well combined. Remove from heat.

Spray the inside of a large casserole dish with vegetable oil spray.- like a lot of it.  

Lightly fry corn tortillas over medium-high heat with a little bit of vegetable oil spray. 

Put meat mixture in fried corn tortillas (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup each), roll it up and pack tightly into the casserole dish seam side down.

Once the casserole dish is packed, cover with enchilada sauce (I didn't use the whole can), top with the shredded cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Add the green onions and serve.  We served with the extra enchilada sauce, hot chunky salsa, and sour cream.

Grilled Fish Tacos

Okay so these fish tacos weren't as good as Alton Brown's but they were a hell of a lot easier and you don't have to start days in advance.  These are weeknight material; save Alton's for the weekend. And I busted out my indoor grill for these but outdoor grilling would have been easier (at least on me because then Steven would have cooked them).

Curtido
Adapted from What's Gaby Cooking

• 1/3 head green cabbage, shredded
• 1/3 head red cabbage, shredded
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 1/2 yellow onion, very thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dieed oregano
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Combine vegetables into a large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in separate bowl, stir until the sugar is dissolved, then pour over the cabbage mixture and stir.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Fish Taco
Adapted from What's Gaby Cooking

• 1 pound cod fish
• olive oil
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 lime
• 1 orange
• 8-10 corn tortillas, lightly fried
• Guacamole
• Chunky Salsa,
• Curtido

Preheat indoor or outdoor grill over medium high heat.  

Drizzle cod fish with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Grill the fish on the pre-heated grill for 5 minutes on each side until fully cooked. The fish should flake easily and have a golden brown crust.

Remove the fish from the grill and squeeze fresh lime and orange juice over the fish. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble tacos with fish, guacamole, salsa, and curtido on the lightly fried corn tortilla. Serve immediately.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Rum Glaze

Since it is apparently not fall, it must still be grilling season.  I don't even know how to turn on our outdoor grill but I sure as hell knew I wasn't grilling indoors and sweating my butt off. So I made Steven do it. 

This was really good but I think the credit goes to the grilling and not the glaze.  It wasn't as candied as I hoped it would be.  Next time I'm doubling up on the apricot jam and cooling down my rum glugs.  

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Rum Glaze

From Dinner: A Love Story

• 2 tablespoons apricot jam
• couple of glugs of dark rum
• 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
• 1 pound pork tenderloin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

Heat Jam, rum, rosemary in a small saucepan.  Bring to boil, simmer a few minutes until syrupy and reduced by half (about 4 to 5 minutes). Pour into a bowl and set aside.

Rub the pork tenderloin with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place on preheated grill, turning every few minutes for about ten minutes.  Then, take your glaze and brush it on the meat, coating it as it cooks. Keep coating while cooking for another 5 minutes until brown on all sides and the crust is caramelized.

Remove from grill and let rest for a few minutes before slicing.

Next time: less rum and more apricot jam in the glaze. 

Chicken in Milk

Fall in Houston, Texas- a breezy 88 degrees on this cool-for-us day, so I thought I would cook up this fall meal. This is definitely a winter meal. You use the stove, you use the oven, you open the oven and stick half your body in there.  You are already making chicken so you might as well make mash potatoes. More stove top steam, more heat in the kitchen. Mash potato recipe not included because I'm not good at making them....yet. 

I served on paper plates because our dishwasher is broke and I'm not about to keep my hands in hot water washin' dishes.

Chicken in Milk
Adapted from Jamie Oliver

• 3 pound whole chicken
• salt and pepper
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 stick cinnamon
• 1 handful of fresh sages
• 2 lemon's worth of zest
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 pint milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt a stick of butter in a cast iron dutch oven (or other pot with lid that can go in the over) over the stove.  Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper and fry it in the butter, turning the chicken to make it golden all over.  Remove from heat, remove chicken from pot, and throw away the butter left in the pot.  Don't clean the pot.

Put the chicken back in the pot and add the rest of the ingredients.  Cook in the preheated oven for 1.5 hours with the lid on.  Baste with cooking juice occasionally.

To serve, pour plenty of the juice over the chicken.

French Dip Sandwichs

Not much to say about a super easy slow cooker recipe that tastes amazing. So here it is

French Dip Sandwiches

Makes 12 small rolls

• 3 1/2 - 4 lb boneless beef chuck roast
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cube beef bouillon
• 1 bay leaf
• a couple of grinds of fresh pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dired thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 12 french sandwich rolls, split

Place beef chuck roast in a slow cooker.  Mix the rest of the ingredients (aside from the french rolls obvi) in a bowl and pour over the roast. Add water to the slow cooker until roast is almost covered. Cook on low for 7 hours. Remove roast, reserving broth and discarding bay leaf. Remove the fat from the roast and shred with two forks. Serve in the french rolls and dip in the broth.

Next time: I'm going to throw an onion in there.