Category: MISC

TAILGATING TIME 2.0

IT’S OFFICIAL – FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE!  Game #1 was great.  The Packers are off to a rip roaring start and look like they are still in Superbowl form.  Go Packers. Now for the food part.
We have decided to make a change this year in the way Tailgating Time will work. Instead of a new linky for each week we will be using the same linky to keep all the great recipes in one place. This will provide easy access to the recipes and create one big awesome recipe index collection. There is no limit to how many you add – of course we hope you will add a new recipe each and every week! Tailgating Time will generally be posted each week on Sundays at noon.

It doesn’t matter if you are a football fan or not, great party food is always a good thing. Bring over your grilled goods, chips and dips, appetizers, chili and chowders, cocktails, or any recipes that would be great for the football party buffet!

If any of you would like to host along with us you can click –> get the InLinkz code to add the linky to your blog too. You can post it once in awhile or every week during football season, that’s up to you. The only thing we ask is that you leave a comment here to let us know you are co-hosting, and that you visit and comment on as many of the participants as you can. 

We are opening the linky today to get things rolling. I can’t wait to see what you will bring to the party. Let the games begin. Whoo-hoo!

COMFORT STEW

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1 1/2 pounds select stew meat
2 (10 ounce) cans French onion soup
1 (10 ounce) can cream of onion soup
1 (10 ounce) can cream of celery soup
1 (16 ounce) package frozen stew vegetables, thawed
  • Place stew meat in sprayed slow cooker.
  • Add soups as listed and spread evenly over meat.
  • DO NOT STIR. Turn slow cooker to HIGH and cook just long enough for ingredients to get hot.
  • Change heat setting to LOW, cover and cook for 7 to 8 hours.
  • Serves 4 to 6.
Happy Eating…


Fire Day Friday: Grilled Thai Style Green Beans

I love preparing green beans on the grill.  Honestly, it’s my favorite way to enjoy them.  But, I don’t usually get too creative with them when preparing them….So when I saw Mary at One Perfect Bite post her recipe for Thai Style Green Beans, I knew I was going to have to work on jazzing my grilled green beans up.

This is a simple little dish that can be made in the oven or on the stove, but really…. you just gotta try them on the grill.  You may never want them another way again.  Serve these along side my Vietnamese Spiced Pork Chops and Sweet Chili Sauce and you have got yourself a fantastic summer meal!
Grilled Thai Style Green Beans
Adapted from One Perfect Bite

Printable Recipe 
Ingredients:
1/4-1/2 pound green beans
1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon hoisin
1 teaspoon creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat grill to 375 degrees F.  Place the green beans in a large bowl.  Mix together all remaining ingredients until well combined.  Pour over green beans and toss to coat.

Fold a 36×18-inch piece of heavy foil in half to make an 18-inch square.  Spray square with non-stick cooking spray.  Place green beans in the middle of the foil and bring together two opposite edges of foil; seal with a double fold.  Fold remaining edges together and enclose beans, leaving space for steam to build up.  Place packet on preheated grill and grill for 15-20 minutes, flipping packet over once.  Carefully remove from grill and foil packet.  Enjoy!

GREEN TABASCO CHICKEN

GREEN TABASCO CHICKEN
2 pounds chicken tenders
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 orange halved
1 teaspoon Penzey’s California crushed jalapenos
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Green Jalapeño Tabasco Sauce
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup melted butter
1-1/2 chicken broth

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Juice 1/2 of orange.
  • Section other half of orange.
  • In a small sauce pan whisk together the orange juice and green Tabasco sauce.
  • Add the butter, garlic and chicken broth.
  • Simmer 10-15 minutes until well blended and slightly reduced.
  • Spray a baking pan with pure.
  • Toss together the chicken and green onions.  Arrange in baking dish. Add orange sections.
  • Pour sauce over top.
  • Bake 30 minutes.  Serve with Parmesan Potatoes and tortillas.

GREEN TABASCO CHICKEN

GREEN TABASCO CHICKEN
2 pounds chicken tenders
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 orange halved
1 teaspoon Penzey’s California crushed jalapenos
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Green Jalapeño Tabasco Sauce
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup melted butter
1-1/2 chicken broth

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Juice 1/2 of orange.
  • Section other half of orange.
  • In a small sauce pan whisk together the orange juice and green Tabasco sauce.
  • Add the butter, garlic and chicken broth.
  • Simmer 10-15 minutes until well blended and slightly reduced.
  • Spray a baking pan with pure.
  • Toss together the chicken and green onions.  Arrange in baking dish. Add orange sections.
  • Pour sauce over top.
  • Bake 30 minutes.  Serve with Parmesan Potatoes and tortillas.

CANTALOUPE CAKE

Cantaloupe Cake   
By Bizzy from Bizzy Bakes

What do you do when you have leftover blueberries and  cantaloupe?  My answer would be, make a fruit salad.  That sounded like a wonderful idea so I did a search for cantaloupe recipes.  Why, I did not search for a cantaloupe fruit salad is beyond me. Cantaloupe recipes brought all kinds of interesting combinations for a variety of different presentations.

The minute, I saw cantaloupe cake, I knew what I was doing.  I am sure, this leaves you, scratching your head.  Is it just me, or have you heard or eaten a cantaloupe baked good?  If not, it is time to try something new. 

Cantaloupe Cake  (adapted from CD  Kitchen)
Serves/Makes: 10     
Ingredients:
1/2 cup oil
11/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup fresh cantaloupe, cut into large chunks 
1 cup blueberries
  • In food processor, blend cantaloupe until partially smooth with small chunks.
  • Combine oil, sugar, cantaloupe and eggs, beat until smooth. Add flour, cinnamon and baking soda, mix until smooth. Fold in blueberries.
  • Spread mixture into a greased 9×13 inch pan. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.Lower heat to 325 F and bake 10 more minutes. Cool completely.

BANANA BLUEBERRY CRUNCH

I usually make everything from scratch, but this recipe is too good to mess with much. I have reduced the fat a bit and altered the ingredients to meet my family’s likes, but other than that this recipe is fantastic as is. The key is to remember to layer exactly as listed! It is great in a pinch since most ingredients are always in the cupboard or freezer. The original recipe called for the butter before the nuts and coconut, but I changed that. By putting it last, the nuts and coconut toast up fantastically.

BANANA BLUEBERRY CRUNCH
1 large can crushed pineapple, undrained
2-3 cups frozen blueberries
1-3 ripe banana(s), sliced thin
1 cup sugar
1 box yellow cake mix, dry
1/2-1 cup minced walnuts
1/2-1 cup flaked coconut
1 1/2 -2 sticks butter, melted

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Layer exactly as listed in even layers
  • Bake 45-60 minutes until it tests done


IT’S TAILGATING TIME AGAIN!

This week on Thursday, September 8th, NFL football season officially begins. You know what that means don’t you? Yes, it’s time for the second annual season of Tailgating Time!
It doesn’t matter if you are a football fan or not, great party food is always a good thing. Bring over your grilled goods, chips and dips, appetizers, chili and chowders, cocktails, or any recipes that would be great for the football party buffet!
We have decided to make a change this year in the way Tailgating Time will work. Instead of a new linky for each week we will be using the same linky to keep all the great recipes in one place. This will provide easy access to the recipes and create one big awesome recipe index collection. There is no limit to how many you add – of course we hope you will add a new recipe each and every week! Tailgating Time will generally be posted each week on Sundays at noon.

If any of you would like to host along with us you can click –> get the InLinkz code to add the linky to your blog too. You can post it once in awhile or every week during football season, that’s up to you. The only thing we ask is that you leave a comment here to let us know you are co-hosting, and that you visit and comment on as many of the participants as you can. 

We are opening the linky today to get things rolling. I can’t wait to see what you will bring to the party. Let the games begin. Whoo-hoo!

CHICKEN “FRIED RICE”

Chicken “Fried Rice”
1-1/2 pounds chicken breast, diced
Stir fry vegetables
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cups bulgur wheat
4 cups water
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (to taste)
Here’s what you’ll need:
 
Disregard the soy sauce, sesame seed oil, rice wine vinegar.  I was going to use it to make a sauce but I could never get it to taste right so I just went with teriyaki.

Cook bulgur wheat according to directions.  It is a 2:1 ratio so I used 4 cups of water and 2 cups of bulgur.  I minced 3-4 cloves of garlic and sliced up 1/2 of an onion.

Dice up the chicken into bite-sized cubes.
Put the bulgur on to boil and let it boil for 10-15 minutes.
Saute the onions and garlic in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in either a wok or a hot skillet.
Add the chicken.
Once most of the water has cooked out of the wheat, pour it over into the pan with chicken, onions, and garlic.  Move all of it over to one side and crack the egg.  Scramble it up and mix it in with the rest of the mixture.
Add the vegetables.  If you use canned, make sure to drain.  I used frozen.  After letting the veggies cook for a couple of minutes, I poured about 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce and mix it together.

I really wanted to have the wheat crisp up like a fried rice so I pushed it all down into the skillet and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.  I then scooped it all around and pressed it all down again and let it cook for another 3-4 minutes.  This really gave the wheat some crispiness.

This is what you’ll end up with:
This dish was so good and so healthy.  If you dont’ know anything about bulgur wheat and you are trying to eat more healthfully, I encourage you to do some research on it.  I love it.

I am really glad that I pushed the wheat down into the skillet to really let it crisp up.  It gave it the crispiness of Chinese fried rice and even Kanin really liked it.  He ate 3 helpings!!

BTW, the broccoli was great with the earthiness of the wheat.  I should have just added a whole bag of broccoli but I also added peas, carrots, and corn.
This pan was full if it gives you any indication of how much everyone liked it. 
Hope you enjoy!
April

Fire Day Friday: Slow Smoked Spare Ribs

Normally I try to keep my Fire Day Friday posts to short grilling recipes but since it is Labor Day Weekend, I want to post how I like to smoke pork spare ribs. The process is written for 1 rack of ribs, multiply as needed. 
Slow Smoked Spare Ribs
1 rack pork spare ribs trimmed St. Louis style and membrane removed from back
1 Tablespoon peanut oil
2 teaspoon black pepper, coarse ground
¼ cup BBQ dry rub
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 “long squirt” Squeeze Parkay (See instructions)
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
2 Tablespoons honey
1.5 teaspoons BBQ dry rub
Rub rib on both sides with the oil. Sprinkle both sides with black pepper. Sprinkle both sides evenly with BBQ rub. [Rub note: There are a lot of good BBQ dry rubs available on the market now. If you can’t find one or want to make your own, try the dry rub from this recipe from Chris Lilly on Grilling.com.]
The St Louis style trim gives you even portions and quicker cooking.
Build an indirect fire in your grill at 250f. If you are using a charcoal smoker or grill, mix several fist sized chunks of wood in with the coal. If you are using a gas grill here are some options for you from Grill Master, John Dawson of Patio Daddio.
I like hickory wood for flavor and cherry wood for coloring the meat.
Smoke the ribs bone side down in a covered grill for 3 hours, replenishing coals and wood as needed to maintain the temperature. 
Remove the ribs from the smoker/grill. Fold a 3 foot piece of foil in half. Place half the brown sugar and Tiger Sauce on the foil. Squirt one “rib length” squirt of the Parkay on top. Place the rib meat side down on top. 
 
Place the rest of the brown sugar, Tiger Sauce, and another squirt of the Parkay on top. Parkay sounds weird I know. But a LOT of the pros on the competition BBQ circuit use this trick.
Wrap the foil tightly around the rib rack and seal tightly. Place back on the grill/smoker for another hour.
Remove the ribs from the grill. CAREFULLY open the foil with tongs and oven mitts. Take the ribs out of the foil but keep the juice.
Whisk together the BBQ sauce, honey, and BBQ rub. Add 2 Tablespoons of the juice from the foil pack and whisk into the glaze.
Glaze both sides of the rack of ribs and return to the grill for another hour. The ribs are done when they bend easily like this but don’t fall apart.
If you want “fall off the bone” ribs (which are technically overdone), leave them in the foil for an extra 30 minutes during the foiled portion.
Slice and serve with the leftover BBQ glaze. 
I hope you all fire up your grills and enjoy this holiday weekend!