JBug's Kitchen Antics

BBQ Turkey on a Bun

Late night dinners are a whole different ball game around here. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time eating a heavy meal then going to bed and expecting to sleep. Of course sleep is rather fleeting around here this week anyway with the Maxer doing his seizure dance, but if I were going to catch some zzz's, I'd be hard pressed to do it after a heavy meal. 

 
Last night's dinner sure wasn't rocket science but it filled the void, was quick to make and filling but not the stuff kind of filling and rather tasty too. This sandwich is simply shredded leftover turkey, moistened with chicken stock and slathered in barbecue sauce on a grilled bun. That's it, that's all - except for the red onion, red cabbage slaw of course.

No mayo in this one - just the sharp bite of red wine vinegar and a 2 hour room temperature marination  and the crispy relish was ready as a true crowning glory on our sandwiches. Accompanied by some cold crisp crudites and sweet potato chips, we were sufficiently suffcified. 

In case you're wondering what's happening with the kitchen renovations, the new granite was installed  with a couple of hitches that need to be resolved which may mean the third time we go through this exercise. Believe me, it's not that I'm fussy ...just the guy that cut the granite must have been into the tequila because it's out almost a half inch on one side meaning there's a big enough gap between the granite and the wall that our backsplash tile isn't likely to cover.

The plumber has also been and gone. We've a new sink with actual running water in the kitchen, except the water is also running UNDER the sink so of course the plumber will have to come back to fix it and to pick up the faucet wrench he left behind. Oh, speaking of faucets, the faucet is too tall so we can't open the plantation shutters or the window for that matter so it's safe to say our string of bad luck is still rolling along. When I picked the darn thing I took that into account but apparently when they supply measurements, they only include the distance to the top of the faucet, not including the handle.

If you think that's all, you'd be wrong. Our precious wine fridge that has the dual duty of curing pancetta and storing wine was built into the island - in fact, the island was designed around the darn thing. The only problem is the fridge doesn't like its new location, even though the manual says it can be used as a built in or stand alone refrigerator. Needless to say, we now need to purchase a new wine cooler or find something else to do with the huge gap in the island. 

Oh and update on Max, he still doing the shaky dance - 14 and counting since Sunday night and we're working hard to get them under control but failing miserably. He's had enough valium to sink a battleship and if he's not careful his Momma will be stealing some ... I might have thought about it before now if it weren't for the fact they're suppositories. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Do I hear anyone laughing?

I can honestly say if I didn't know any better, one would think there's a curse on us. On a positive note - I love our new kitchen especially the cabinets and really love the pot drawers we added to replace cupboard doors. They're absolutely amazing and make the kitchen much more efficient!

BBQ Turkey Sandwiches (adapted from Bon Appetit)

Slaw:

1 small red onion, cut into very thin slices

1 cup shredded red cabbage

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Combine ingredients in a small bowl and store at room temperature for a minimum 2 hours, then chill until serving.

 

Sandwiches:

4 panini rolls

Butter

1 pound cooked turkey

1 cup barbecue sauce ( I used honey flavored)

1/4 cup white wine or low sodium chicken stock

Tear or cut turkey into small shreds and place in a sauté pan along with barbecue sauce and wine. Heat slowly to a simmer, stirring often. Cut Panini rolls in half and butter well. Toast buttered side down on a hot grill. To serve arrange a generous amount of turkey mixture on grilled bun and top with slaw mixture. Makes 4 servings.

A year ago - Bacon and Blue Mac and Cheese 

Renovation Update and Corned Beef Panini

Making dinner was about the farthest thing from my mind last night and typing actually hurts today so this is going to be short. I spent most of yesterday filling holes in what will be our new backsplash because when the worker bees took out the old single layer of Mexican tile it made a big mess.

The tile had been installed with mortor rather than grout so you can just imagine what the state of the wall is and although the first layer of drywall patch screen and mud has gone on, it was at the expense of my fingertips which are all open cuts. Don't ask how but it happened. Now if the mud would just turn white instead of the wet "pink" it still is, I could sand the first layer and get the second one on, but it looks like that will have to wait for another day.

Just so you know I also fabricated new counter tops out of cardboard and black vinyl and they don't look bad. At least it makes the kitchen semi workable now although it is still easier to do most of the cooking outside.

As for dinner last night - thank goodness I had the foresight to cook an extra corned beef brisket for St. Paddy's Day, because I raided the freezer so we could enjoy panini sandwiches with a touch of sauerkraut, mustard and swiss cheese last night along with a green salad.

As for today, I'll be sitting down planning our menus for next week and trying to figure out what the heck to make for Easter Sunday that doesn't require a boat load of dishes, pots or bowls. Wish me luck! Ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

A year ago -  Lettuce Wraps with Spiced Pork

Two year's ago - Bourbon Orange Glazed Ham

Are You Wondering What To Do With Leftover Corned Beef?

It's been a few days since St. Patrick's Day and if you're anything like I am, you've been wondering what on earth to do with that piece of corned beef hiding in the depths of your refrigerator.

We solved part of our problem with last night's dinner and enjoyed what has become an annual tradition around here - Reuben Sandwiches. I have a pet peeve with the things when the inside's cold and the cheese hasn't melted either, so this time I drained and rinsed the sauerkraut then warmed it slightly in the microwave before putting it on the sandwich. I also sliced the corned beef and warmed it as well before constructing the sandwich with Thousand Island dressing, provolone and swiss cheese. Buttered on each side then placed on a medium hot griddle, the rye bread toasted nicely on one side then I flipped 'em over, placed a sheet pan on top along with a cast iron skillet to weight it down and the result was nicely melted cheese and appropriately warm innards. MMM 

I've plans for the rest of the corned beef too. We'll be enjoying another breakfast like the one Big Guy made for us on the weekend. There's absolutely nothing that starts a Sunday morning off quite like corned beef hash on a crispy potato cake, topped with poached eggs. In fact, I may not wait until Sunday and have it tonight for dinner, since Big Guy won't be home. I love breakfast for dinner but he's not so hot on it.

Oh, how about making some Cornish Pasties with some of that gold? Just substitute corned beef for the pork in this recipe , eliminate the half cup of gravy and add a little wine or beer to moisten the filling. Believe me, it will be delicous. 

Of course if that doesn't turn your crank, you could always make a lovely quiche like pie using hash brown potatoes for the crust like we did here with this one. Just substitute corned beef for the chicken and leave out the green chiles and you'll have a fabulous new creation to enjoy. 

Failing that, dice some leftover corned beef up and throw pieces into a batch of cheesey buttermilk scones. Open a can of soup to go with them or make something like the Winter Vegetable Chowder we had the other night or our Roasted Tomato Soup and you'll have a meal fit for a king. 

Just for heaven's sake, don't let it go to waste. It's just too darned delicious, don't ya' think?

Fried Fish Sandwiches

Dinners around here on Wednesday nights are way past the usual time because the Big Guy's got a late class this semester. It means that dinner and bedtime are but a short hour apart so by necessity we need something lighter.  I suppose given enough time I could convince myself this monster double barrel fish sandwich was lighter, but who the heck would I be kidding. It was sure good though. 

It's funny how many different methods there are for coating and frying fish but I've got to tell you I'm not sure I'll ever find a better coating than this one. A mixture of flour, cornmeal and baking powder mixed with egg and beer, jazzed up with some Cajun spices and deep fried about covers it, and boy does it ever! Light, crisp, flavorful with extra moist flaky cod on the inside - what can I say.

Piled on top of a soft potato sandwich bun along with some slaw, sliced tomato and tartar sauce, it was the first time in my life I've ever seen the Big Guy eat a sandwich like this with a fork. Ya' think I might have gone overboard?

Fried Fish Sandwich (from JBug’s Kitchen inspired by myrecipes.com)

1 pound fish fillets (I used cod)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 cup beer

Hamburger buns

Tartar sauce

Packaged Slaw mix

Tomato slices

Place vegetable oil into heavy pot to a depth of approximately 1-1/2 inches and heat over medium high to 375 degrees. Meanwhile cut fish fillets into 3 inch pieces, wash and dry well with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, salt and baking powder until light and well combined. Whisk in egg and beer and mix until smooth. Dip seasoned fish into batter and fry in batches in hot oil without crowding pan for 4 minutes total or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to drain and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining fish. Place fish onto warmed buns along with tartar sauce, slaw and sliced tomato. Makes 4 servings.

 A year ago - German Potato Pancakes

Two year's ago - Chicken with Mint

Meatballs - One Recipe, Two Delicious Meals

Whether cooking for a casual party or dinner for family and friends, there's hardly a better crowd pleaser than Italian meatballs and these polpette adapted from Nick Stellino's Mediterranean Flavors cookbook are in a class of their own. 

Loaded with tons of romano cheese, they have an element of surprise not just with a little sugar but with cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg too, along with the usual garlic and Italian parsley. While Nick makes his version with a combination of veal, pork and beef, veal is darn near impossible to come by in these parts so I included only beef and pork. No matter - I can't imagine they could possibly be any better than they are. Instead of browning them on top of the stove and having to hover over them, I popped the little balls onto a sheet pan and put them in the oven for 25 minutes. Cooled and packaged into two lots, the first bag went into little meatball sliders that were included in our Super Bowl Sunday feast.

Simply nestled into soft rolls that I whipped up and baked in the new silicone muffin pans my honey gave me for my birthday this year, they came out a perfect size mini-bun to nestle a meatball into. Rather than cut the rolls in half and having to deal with a meatball on the lamb, I simply hollowed out some of the bread from the top and filled the hole with marinara sauce, grated parmesan, and a warmed meatball before topping the mini sandwich with grated mozzarella cheese. A few minutes under the broiler and we were dining fine.

Last night's dinner made use of the second bag of meatballs and the rest of the marinara, Trader Joe's I might add. Hey I'm not above using a good brand of ready made and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Nestled into a bowl of al dente' pasta, it made for a perfectly quick and absolutely delicious weeknight dinner.  I'm just wishing I'd doubled the meatball recipe so I could have more hiding in the freezer for nights I don't feel like doing much in the kitchen because a I can think of another couple of ways to use them to satisfy the hungry masses - like a rich and creamy meatball and bechamel lasagne or a hot bowl of meatball soup. Bliss, pure bliss.

Nick Stellino's Meatballs (adapted from Nick Stellino’s Mediterranean Flavors)

1/2 cup milk

4 large cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup dried Italian flavored bread crumbs

2 eggs

2 cups grated Romano cheese

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Add

1 pound ground pork

1 pound lean ground beef

Mix gently with your hands until all ingredients are incorporated. Using a quarter cup scoop, shape into balls. Place on sheet pan lined with parchment and bake at 400 for 25 minutes. (Makes approximately 18 meatballs.)

A year ago - Country Spice Pudding Cake  Two year's ago - Figgy O'Fiber Muffins

 

Old School Style Pigs n' Blankets

We took a day off yesterday and hit a favorite place for breakfast followed by hours cruising the lots looking at some very luxury RV's including a whole bunch of Fifth Wheels. Hey - it's fun spending money you don't have and dreaming about the future, isn't it.

As a result when we finally got home we were both tired, thirsty and the cook felt extremely uninspired in the dinner department. The Big Guy absolutely loves hot dogs and since I had a solitary can of crescent rolls hiding in the refrigerator and some hot dogs in the freezer it seemed like a good idea to combine the two and come up with something we could call dinner.

The result were these cheater pigs in blankets that the Big Guy said used to be one of his favorite grade school cafeteria lunches. Unfortunately the grade school I went to was significantly lower class because we didn't have a cafeteria and had to bring our lunches, although I admit a lot of the time the bag held a "tube steak" in another form - bologna sandwiches.

We had our "dogs" along with a quick homemade macaroni salad chock a block full of celery, sweet onion, carrots, cubed cheese, relish, hot sauce, mayo and a touch of sour cream. Sorry, I didn't measure a thing so I can only tell you what went into the darn thing. It was all good - especially the little cheese filled, cornmeal coated crescent dogs. When you're stuck on trying to decide what's for dinner after you've had a big, big breakfast and a long tiring day give these a try. I guarantee they'll fill the gap and bring back some memories too.

School Style Pigs n Blankets aka Crescent Dogs (inspired by Pillsbury.com)

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls

4 jumbo wieners

2 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into thin strips

1 tablespoon cornmeal

Preheat oven to 375. Cut wieners to within approximately a quarter inch of each end and stuff with strips of cheddar cheese. Unroll crescent rolls and press triangles together to form 4 rectangles. Using a sharp knife, cut quarter inch wide slits in the center of each rectangle on the short side, leaving all 4 edges intact. Place a cheese stuffed wiener against the long edge of the rectangle and roll dough around it, sealing the edge. Place wiener seam side down and cheese side up on un-greased baking sheet. Repeat for other 3 hot dogs. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with mustard.

A year ago - Red Wine and Port Sauce

 

 

Roast Beef Sandwiches with Grilled Onions and Gorgonzola

This is the second in the leftover roast beef series and we're not tired of it yet, although the Big Guy sliced up the rest of it yesterday for various other purposes and stuck it in the freezer. He kept out enough for these lovely sandwiches, as well as a repeat in the next day or so. Lucky us!

He cut the slices so perfectly thin they only have one side, piled them all together and put them inside some soft buns, grilled on the inside. Topped with some of the horseradish sauce that was the star of our Christmas dinner, the sandwiches were finished with golden brown grilled onions, ripe juicy halved mini-plum tomatoes and slices of creamy gorgonzola cheese. If these are leftovers, bring 'em on!

As for today - the Big Guy's working his way through his honey do list and yesterday, did some remodeling in the laundry room, moving cabinets and installing shelving. It looks fabulous, functional and I love it. Today he's re grouting the master bedroom shower and then retiring to the garage to work on the bow he made. As for me, I've a mountain and I do mean a mountain of ironing to do. Woe is me!

A year ago - Lamb Stew with Trinidad Curry

Cran-Nut Chicken Bundles

We're absolutely crazy about the savory hand pies (pasties) cooked up in JBug's Kitchen over the last little while but since we're all about every day deliciousness, I wanted to come up with a quick solution for those of us that are somewhat pastry challenged.While I've had nothing but good luck with pastry lately I'm not about to get smug over my success because we all know success in the kitchen can be a fleeting thing at times.

Inspired by a recipe on the Pillsbury web site, I chopped and braised a couple of chicken thighs in butter and vermouth and when cooled, folded the cluck into some cream cheese mixed with slivered almonds, dried cranberries and a touch of rosemary. Spooned into rectangles formed by sticking some crescent rolls together, I pinched up the corners into the center then sealed the edges, brushed the bundles with butter, dusted them with panko crumbs and the pan of goodies hit the oven for 25 minutes while I made a small salad. Ya, salad - haven't seen one of those coming from our kitchen in a while have ya.

Don't ask me why it took so long to try this, because I'm pretty happy with the results from that fat little dimply "Dough Boy".  While nothing can replace the flavor or texture of a great pastry, this is a good alternative.

Meanwhile, there's some bundles left in the refrigerator waiting for you know who when he gets home ...if he ever does that is. His flights were cancelled yesterday due to fog and he had to spend another night in Fargo. Talk about a let down! Now, guess where it's foggy like crazy at the moment? Yup - it had better darn well clear up cause I'm kinda' done with this solitary existence. I know I've got the fur kids but I don't get much of a reaction from them unless I say "walk, car ride or cookie".

Chicken Bundles with Cranberry and Almond (Inspired by Pillsbury.com)

 2 small skinless boneless chicken thighs

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup vermouth

Salt, pepper

1 teaspoon dried onion flakes

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon butter, softened

2 tablespoons half and half

2 tablespoons finely chopped sweet onion

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1/4 teaspoon salt

Coarse ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1/4 cup panko crumbs

Heat sauté pan over medium high heat and add butter. Chop chicken into half inch pieces and add to hot sauté pan. Cook until chicken is no longer pink – 2 or 3 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and dried onion flakes. Add vermouth, stir well to incorporate, then cover and simmer chicken for 8 to 10 minutes, until wine has evaporated and chicken is cooked. Remove to a plate and cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, beat together cream cheese, butter, and half and half until smooth. Fold in onion, cranberries, almonds, salt, pepper, rosemary and cooled chicken.

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Separate crescent dough into 4 rectangles, sealing perforations well. Scoop a half cup of chicken filling into center of dough and pull corners together joining in center. Pinch edges to seal well. Place on prepared baking sheet, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with panko crumbs. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 4.

A year ago - Shrimp and Scallop Stew with Chorizo

Beef and Roasted Pepper Panini Sandwiches

Remember the tri tip roast we cooked up recently? Being the frugal soul that I am, I divided and froze the leftovers in zip bags with some grand ideas for its future. Good thing I'm such a planner.

We celebrated Pink Mountain Friday last night with a couple of knock out sandwiches. Fresh panini rolls slathered with mayo and horseradish, topped with thinly sliced and slivered medium rare tri-tip, roasted red and yellow peppers, pickled jalapeno slices and an assortment of cheeses including bits of fontina, sharp cheddar, Italian 4 cheese blend, fresh mozzarella and a smidge of gorgonzola. 

Slathered with butter and cooked till crisp in a hot panini grill, not only was it a great way to use up some tri-tip leftovers, it did short work of all the bits and pieces that collected in the cheese drawer over the past week or so. Rather brilliant, don't ya' think!

Sorry there's no recipe because we just threw them all together. Does it give you some ideas?

Bacon and Blue Cheese Burgers

Beef rules in this house, at least according to you know who but because I grew up on a beef/dairy farm, it holds limited appeal to me; however, if I must indulge I prefer a burger over a steak any day of the week. The burger we had last night is liable to convince you that I may be right. 

Lean ground beef mixed with some whipping cream to keep it moist along with dried onion flakes, a smidge of garlic, worcestershire and a few dried panko crumbs then pattified and grilled until perfectly crunchy on the outside and tender inside are joined on the bun by crisp bacon, perfectly ripe red tomato and the kicker - a blue cheese sauce. The sauce is fashioned from equal parts sour cream and mayo, along with dry mustard, garlic powder, a little worcestershire, a  hint of red wine vinegar and 4 ounces of crumbled Gorgonzola. It's creamy, drippy, cheesy and, single or double - the burger's the bomb!

Oh, we had our burgers with some potato and parsnip latkes but I'll have to tell you about them another time. I really don't want to steal the burger's thunder.

Bacon and Blue Cheese Burgers (Adapted from Canadian Living Rush Hour Cookbook)

Sauce:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Worcestershire

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon each salt and coarse ground black pepper

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

4 ounces crumbled blue cheese (I used Gorgonzola)

Combine ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and chill a minimum of 1 hour to blend flavors.

Burgers:

1 pound lean ground beef

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/3 cup panko crumbs

2 tablespoons dried onion flakes

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

In a large bowl combine ingredients together. Form into 4  or 5 patties, depending on desired thickness. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 

Fresh burger buns

Sliced tomato

Bacon cooked until crisp

Heat grill and cook burgers for approximately 4 minutes on one side. Turn and cook for another 2 minutes, or until desired doneness. Grill buns if desired until warm. To serve, spoon sauce onto bun. Add burger and garnish with bacon and tomato. Top with additional sauce as desired.

A year ago - Chunky Autumn Chili

The Ultimate Patty Melt

Friday's around here are ultra casual including but not limited to our culinary endeavors. What can be better than celebrating the end of another work week than with an ooey gooey cheesy messy to eat patty melt sandwich.

Last night's version was truly one of those "seat of your pants" creations including lean beef mixed with a little steak sauce, dried onions and lots of pepper then grilled on our fancy new shiny red grill. A Maui sweet onion mixed with a yellow onion sauteed in butter to a rich golden brown and jazzed up with some marsala wine topped the beef patty, along with slices of muenster cheese all on some glorious rye bread loaded with caraway seeds and browned till crispy in butter on the flat top grill.

Our sandwiches kept company on the plate along side some "schmucked" potatoes - little red taters roasted in a very hot oven till really soft on the inside and crisp outside, then flattened and returned to the oven to crisp up, topped with coarse salt and fresh rosemary. They were yummy.

I've no recipe to give to you since I measured not one thing so I'll have to leave the re-creation of last night's dinner up to you and your imagination. Happy October 1 everyone!

A year ago - Food Processor French Bread

Shredded Pork BBQ Sandwiches on Home Made Buns with Apple Cabbage Slaw

What do you do with 3.6 pounds of leftover Dr. Pepper shredded pork? Why, you make barbecue sandwiches, naturally. Our only problem is that we didn't have any hamburger buns and I'd already spent my weekly budget so hitting the grocery store was out of the question. You see, I'm rather disciplined in that respect; ok, call it anal, but how do you think we manage to take a month's vacation every summer? That's right - we save for it a dollar at a time!

Thankfully the pantry gods were shining on us because we had all the bread makin's so between the two of us, the Big Guy and yours truly whipped 'em up in no time flat. Things rise pretty quickly when your room temperature's approaching the 80 degree mark. Just sayin'.

Next time you've a minute and are so inclined, whip up a batch of these gorgeous buns. They're soft and squishy on the inside and crunchy on the outside, kinda' sweet, a little salty too and just darn near perfect specimens. I caution you though:

1. The dough is extremely soft so be careful how you form them. We shaped them into perfect rounds which then became perfect squares except for the single bun that I cooked in a round ramekin. It could be that my dough was too sticky, so you may need to add more flour;
2. Be sure you've got lots of fresh butter waiting for you when the buns come out of the oven. They're incredible dipped in the stuff and eaten while still hot. Of course I didn't do that and if you believe me, I've some swamp land in Tucson to sell you.
3. Be ready with a baseball bat to guard your work if you happen to be making these and roasting some Hatch green chiles at the same time. We could have had a stampede!

By the way, our pulled pork sandwiches included some of the Big Guy's secret barbecue sauce (sorry, he's not sharing), along with the cabbage apple slaw with maple walnut dressing from the other night.  What more can I say except here's the recipe for that too - finally.  It's delicious!

Hamburger Buns (adapted from Gourmet via Epicurious.com)

2 cups whole milk

1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 F)

2 packages active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

6 cups flour, divided (I used 3 cups bread flour and 3 cups all-purpose)

1 large egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash

Coarse sea salt

Heat milk in a small saucepan until bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat and cool to 105 F. Meanwhile, stir together warm water and sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle in yeast, mix lightly with a fork and allow to stand until foamy. About 5 minutes.

In the large bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, add bloomed yeast, butter, sugar, eggs, milk and salt. Mix to combine then slowly add 4 cups of flour. Beat at medium speed for 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl. Change attachment to dough hook and with motor running add additional 2 cups of flour. Beat for 5 minutes. Dough will be very sticky, but if it doesn’t leave the sides of the bowl clean, add more flour a tablespoon at a time. Transfer to a large buttered bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft free place and let rise until doubled. Note – the recipe said 2-1/2 hours; however, mine only took 1 hour.

Butter 2 baking sheets. Punch down dough and form into 16 balls (I weighed mine and they were between 92 and 94 grams each). Arrange on baking sheets, flatten slightly, cover and let rise in a draught free spot until they’re doubled (again, mine took 50 minutes, but the recipe said 1-1/2 to 2 hours, so it depends on the temperature of your room). Preheat oven to 375. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 14 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on top and they sound hollow when tapped. Cool on wire racks. Download Hamburger Buns

Cabbage Apple Slaw with Maple Walnut Dressing (an original from JBug’s Kitchen)

1/2 a small cabbage, thinly sliced

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and julienned

1/2 cup grated carrot

1/4 cup sweet onion, finely diced

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1/4 cup real maple syrup

1 tablespoon apple jack brandy

1/4 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts

Salt and pepper to taste

Walnut halves for garnish

In a large bowl, toss together cabbage, apple, carrots and sweet onion. In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise and sour cream. Whisk until well combined. Whisk in vinegar, maple syrup and apple brandy until smooth. Fold in toasted walnuts. Combine dressing with vegetables. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as required. Cover and chill until serving. Garnish with walnut halves. 

 

Hot Turchicken Sandwich and a Lesson

Bet you're all wondering exactly what a hot turchicken sandwich is but before we get to that we need to talk about the lesson.

As you all know we call the start of the weekend Pink Mountain Fridays and dinner is usually something of the munchie, casual hand held variety accompanied by a libation of gargatuan proportion. Trouble is this week we managed to enjoy a fair number of Pink Mountain evenings - some weeks are just like that don't you agree.

This week happened to mark the end of the summer break for the Big Guy as classes start on Monday; we also lived through a monsoon storm that darn near ripped the roof off our house and closed one of the main roads to our neck of the woods for 2 full days; the large metropolis to the north of us endured yet another Haboob the third one in a little over a month and the likes of which is more common in the Sahara than in the Arizona desert, and; it was just that kind of a week where any old excuse will do.

What I'm getting at is that I really just wanted to open a bag of chips and call it dinner; however, you know who wouldn't have been very happy with that so I raided the freezer instead. What did I find?

Left over turkey stock from Thanksgiving, chicken tenders from a cheap chicken purchase a few weeks ago, a half bag of frozen cranberries and a loaf of Texas toast. Half an hour later, dinner was ready - an open faced hot chicken sandwich with turkey gravy, cranberry sauce and Stove Top stuffin' thanks to the pantry.

So what's the lesson you ask? Check out the freezer before you decide there's nothing in the house to eat and do not under any circumstances try to eat an open faced sandwich smothered in thick rich gravy without a knife and fork. It get's pretty darn messy.

A year ago - Ahi Tuna Tacos

Chili Dog Perfection

A picture is definitely worth a thousand words so I'm going to keep this post short and sweet.Every once in a while I'm reminded that J'Bug's Kitchen Antics is all about every day food for every day people and it's obvious this menu choice is far from gourmet. I make no apologies and hold my head high. Don't you think it takes a lot of intestinal fortitude (balls) to post chili dogs on a blog in the first place?

You see, every so often I try to cook for my audience of one and he's more into chicken gizzards and clam strips than he is a prissy smoked salmon tart. If you want to know the truth, he looked forward to last night's dinner all week.

I'd never had a chili dog in my whole long life before I married the Big Guy and although I may be wrong, I think they're more of an American institution than a Canadian one. I needed some help in coming up with a recipe so I looked to the studmuffin at Foodnetwork (Tyler Florence) for the goods. What you see is his version. The chili itself is about as different as one can get in comparison to the spiced up tex/mex version we're used to around these parts. This one's got more sweet than heat and while I wouldn't want a bowl of it, I have to admit it went well with the dogs.

As you can see from this photo of the Big Guy's plate, he was extremely happy with the results. By the way, I apologize for the blur but it was all I could do to snap a shot before he grabbed his plate out from under the tripod.

Chili for Chili Dogs (adapted from Tyler Florence at Foodnetwork.com)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

2-1/2 cups ketchup

2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard

Heat large sauté pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and when shimmering add onion and garlic. Sauté, stirring occasionally until onion is softened. Add ground beef, breaking it up with a fork as it cooks. When the meat is nicely browned (about 10 minutes), add chili powder and red pepper flakes. Cook another minute, stirring constantly, then add ketchup and yellow mustard. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a slow simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until very thick. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as required.

 4 good quality hot dogs

4 hot dog rolls

Chopped red onion, chopped jalapeno peppers

Grated cheddar cheese

To complete sandwich, cook hot dogs on grill until well heated through. Warm buns until toasty. Top buns with grilled hot dogs, add chili and garnish with onions, peppers and cheese. Download Chili for Chili Dogs

A year ago - Mediterranean Style Stuffed Peppers

Drowned Beef Sandwiches

Sandwiches are a perfect solution to dinner on a hot humid August night. This particular version is a cross between a French (Beef) Dip, barbecue beef sandwich and a Philly cheesesteak. Also known as a torta ahogada, according to wiki, it "is a typical dish from the Mexican state of Jalisco, particularly in the city of Guadalajara." What it proves is that there's a lot more to Mexican food than just tacos, burritos and Taco Bell. 

From the effervescent Ingrid Hoffman of Foodnetwork fame, this version's backbone is a sauce made from Rotel tomatoes along with tomato sauce, cilantro and spicy chipotle chiles in adobo. Added to deli beef slices along with onion, garlic and jalapenos and garnished with mashed avocado on a toasted panini roll, every mouthful is a spicy solute to that vast country of culinary treasures south of the border.

We had our sandwiches with some oven fries and cool fresh watermelon balls. It was really delicious and we'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

Drowned Beef Sandwich (adapted from Ingrid Hoffman, Foodnetwork.com)

Dipping Sauce:

1 10 ounce can Rotel tomatoes with diced green chiles

1 14 ounce can tomato sauce

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

3 chipotle chiles in adobo, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons adobo sauce

1 lime, juiced

1 10 ounce can beef consommé, undiluted

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine Rotel tomatoes, tomato sauce, cilantro, chipotles, adobo and lime juice in a large saucepan. Heat to boiling, then lower heat to a strong simmer and cook until sauce has reduced and thickened (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat and add consommé. Using an immersion blender, carefully puree until sauce is smooth. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as required. Be careful with the salt because the consommé is quite intense. Set aside to keep warm.

Meat:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 jalapenos, minced (leave in seeds and veins if you want extra heat)

1 cup dipping sauce above

1 pound deli sliced roast beef

1 avocado, pitted, peeled and mashed

Grated mozzarella or jack cheese (optional)

4 soft rolls, halved, buttered and grilled until toasted

Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. When shimmering add onion and cook until onion softens. Add garlic and jalapenos and sauté, stirring often, until onion begins to turn golden brown. Add dipping sauce and sliced roast beef, tossing lightly to incorporate sauce into the beef. Heat through. To assemble sandwiches, butter one half of toasted roll with avocado. Add grated cheese to the other half of the roll and top with beef, onion mixture. Serve sandwich with dipping sauce on the side. Makes 4 large sandwiches. Download Drowned Beef Sandwich

A year ago - Rosti Potatoes

Two years ago - Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower

 

Minty Lamb Patty Pita Pockets

I'm leading you down the garden path with this one or at least to the herb garden which in most cases should be absolutely booming by now. Unfortunately ours is dying off at a rather alarming rate from all the heat and in the case of the rosemary too much watering, but thankfully the basil's going ballistic which is OK with me.

Some of it went into last night's lamb patties, along with mint, cilantro, minced sweet onion and a touch of yogurt. What resulted, with kudos to Rachel Ray, is an incredibly flavorful, lower calorie version of a perfect summer burger, spiced up further with some mango chutney and garnished with more sweet onion, cucumber and the rest of the mache from the other night.

We had our pita pockets along with some crudite' just so we could polish our halos and brag a bit. Believe me it was shortlived because I also made a rather brag worthy dessert, but I'll tell you about that one later.

By the way, if you're watching your carbs, load your lamb patties into some crisp lettuce leaves to make a wrap. Believe me it'll be delicious and you won't feel deprived - not one bit!

Minty Lamb Patty Pita Pockets (adapted from RachelRay.com)

1 handful each cilantro, basil and mint

1 pound lean ground lamb

1/2 cup minced sweet onion

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon steak grill seasoning

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons sour cream

Pita bread

Mango chutney

Lettuce, sweet onion, cucumber slices

Place cilantro, basil and mint in a food processor and pulse until well chopped. Add to ground lamb along with onion, cumin, steak seasoning, garlic powder, pepper, salt, yogurt and sour cream. Divide and form into 8 small thin patties.

Spray large heavy skillet or flat top grill with cooking spray. Heat to very hot. Add lamb patties and cook for 4 minutes total or until no longer pink inside, flipping half way through. Heat pitas. Cut tops off the bread and fill with patties. Garnish with lettuce, sweet onion, cucumber and mango chutney. Serves 4. Download Minty Lamb Patty Pita Pockets

A year ago - Buffalo Chicken Chili

A Six Sided Burger

A 6 sided burger - I bet you're askin' yourself "how they do that?". If you're at all like us, you like a lot of meat in your burger so usually you make one that's really thick, right? Well, not this time.

Last night's burger was just the opposite - made up of 3 really thin beef patties and grilled on the flat top, each burger had 6 sides of caramelized goodness when they hit that soft squishy grilled bun. Loaded with caramelized onion, ooey gooey yummy melted gruyere cheese, some chopped up crispy bacon pieces from our most recent bacon makin' exercise, believe me the fixin's were all good. The final topper...ice cold tomato slices and some of the avocado cream we enjoyed on our fish tacos the other night.

It was amazing. Not only did the thin burger patties cook a lot faster than a thick one does, the flavor was simply incredible with the crusty finish on the outside and juicy moist interior.  To be honest, it  reminded me of the old fashioned diner style burgers from the days before everything had to be super sized.  Says a lot for the premise that everything old is new again, doesn't it.

Next time you're cookin' a burger, try doing it this way and see what I mean, OK. Oh, by the way, I'm sure you could grill the burgers on the barby instead of using a flat top, but the Big Guy cooked 'em outside on his big flat top grill along side the onions and bacon so the flavors could kind of run together and believe you me, it was a joy to behold. To save calories, we had our burgers with a nice fresh salad instead of french fries and onion rings. Yes, I agree - it was rather like having a diet beverage on top of a mountain of calories to appease the conscience. In other words, it was pointless, totally pointless, but we enjoyed every bite none-the-less.

Six Sided Burgers  

1 pound lean ground beef

4 slices bacon, diced

1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced

Montreal Grill Seasoning

Course ground black pepper

Slices of gruyere cheese

2 large burger buns (we used foccacia rolls)

Sliced tomatoes

Avocado Cream (see recipe below)

Divide lean ground beef into 6 identical sized pieces and press into flat, very thin bun sized discs each approximately 1/8 inch in thickness. Season each disc well on both sides with grill seasoning and pepper. On flat top grill or in a large pan, cook bacon until crisp. Set aside. Grill onions using leftover bacon fat until onions are soft and caramelized.

Meanwhile place meat patties on very hot grill and cook for 2 minutes per side until caramelized on each side. Place slices of gruyere cheese on 4 of the 6 patties and cover with a lid to melt cheese quickly.

Grill buns until golden then build burgers, layering onions and bacon between each patty. Top with sliced tomatoes and garnish with avocado cream. Makes 2 large burgers.

Avocado Cream (adapted from John Conley, Salsa Brava Cochina)

1 cup sour cream

Juice of 2 limes

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 avocado, pit and skin removed

Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Store covered in an airtight container in refrigerator.  

Makin' Bacon 2 - Canadian Bacon for an incredible sandwich

As promised, here's the second installment in the Makin' Bacon series - and believe you me, it's a lot easier to do than you think. What Americans call Canadian Bacon and my fellow countrymen call "back" bacon, this version is dry cured rather than brine cured before smoking. It differs from Peameal bacon, a specialty from the province of my birth (Ontario) in that it is smoked after curing, whereas peameal is not. We'll cover that one in a later edition - I promise!

Canadian bacon is simply a large piece of pork loin, tied then rolled in a mixture of Morton Tender Quick, brown sugar, coarse ground pepper, dried sage and thyme, encased in a zip bag and left to cure in the bottom of the refrigerator for a week. It was on ignore for most of the time.

After the cure time, we soaked it in water to remove some of the excess salt, then smoked it in our Big Chief using applewood chips for 6 hours. Of course the longer the smokin' time, the more pronounced the flavor. See Episode 1 for more detailed pictures and instructions.

After our bacon cooled the Big Guy sliced it using our new handy dandy meat slicer that we just couldn't do without. I mean if you're gonna' be makin' your own bacon by the pound(s) as we've been doing, a meat slicer's certainly the way to go! Wrapped and frozen into individual packages, we had our first taste last night in a bacon sandwich.

Done on the flattop, our bacon sandwich included grilled onions, tomatoes for the Big Guy (I had mine without) and a touch of mayo on a grilled bun. It was in one word INCREDIBLE and well worth the effort to make your own bacon. It is super lean and full of amazing flavor - not at all like the "cardboard" version you see in your neighborhood supermarket. We've packaged the remainder in individual servings and it's hiding in the freezer for when you all come visit. It'll be fabulous in egg's benedict, in a pasta carbonara, on a pizza or as a flavoring agent in almost anything at all. I guarantee it's not going to last long. LOL

So, I bet you're wondering if we're done yet, aren't ya. Uhh, the answer would be an absolute unequivocal NO! You wouldn't believe what we've got on the go now but I'm not gonna' let the secret outa' the bag for at least another week, so you'd best stay tuned!

Canadian Bacon Adapted from mortonsalt.com

1 boneless pork loin (approximately 5 pounds)

1 tablespoon Morton Tender Quick per pound of meat

1 teaspoon brown sugar per pound of meat

1 Tablespoon coarse ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried sage, crumbled

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Combine Tender Quick, brown sugar, black pepper, sage and thyme in a small container. Set aside.  Remove fat and silver skin from pork loin. Tie with string so that loin holds its shape. Rub prepared sugar/spice mixture onto all sides of loin. Place in large zip top plastic bag and remove as much air as possible from the bag as you zip it shut. Place in the refrigerator and to cure for 4 to 6 days. After curing period, remove from bag and soak loin in cold water for 1 hour, changing water after 30 minutes. Remove from water and pat dry. Refrigerate uncovered for 1 hour to dry slightly before smoking.  Smoke until internal temperature reaches 140 – longer if you want a more pronounced smoke flavor.

To prepare - cut into 1/8 inch thick slices. Preheat greased skillet or flat top over medium heat and cook bacon until browned on both sides - about 5 minutes. Download Canadian Bacon

 

Friday Night Special Stromboli

Picture this. Soft fresh mozzarella cheese and provolone melting through marinara moistened hot Italian sausage, sauteed onions, roasted red peppers and sundried tomatoes all wrapped up nice and tight in a crunchy on the outside and soft fluffy on the inside dough with every bite made better with a sliver of fresh basil right from the herb garden. The flavors explode in your mouth and the cheese drips down your chin. The first piece goes down so fast you've hardly tasted it but the second one, oh my ...and as for the third...well...It's a race to the finish!

That's what we had for our Friday night special last night, along with a bottle of Willamette Valley Pinot - it was blissful. Best thing is, we somehow managed to leave a third of it for lunch later today. Aren't we special!

Friday Night Special Stromboli (a JBug’s Kitchen original)

Crust:

1 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast

2-1/2 cups bread flour, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

In bowl of food processor with metal blade, combine 1-1/2 cups flour with warm water and yeast. Blitz to mix well. Add 1 more cup of flour, olive oil and salt. Mix until dough forms into one ball and rides on top of the metal blade – about 20 seconds. If dough is very sticky add more flour and mix again; however the dough should be very soft. Remove to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour). After dough has risen, remove to a floured piece of parchment paper, cover with cloth and let rest for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes has passed, roll dough out to approximately 14 x 17 inches.  Spread the following filling in the middle, on the long side.

 1 pound hot Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled and well drained

1/2 cup marinara sauce

1 large onion, sautéed until soft and golden

2 roasted red peppers, sliced

1/3 cup oil packed sun dried tomatoes, drained

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese sliced

4 ounces sliced provolone

Sprinkle of freshly ground pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, dried basil

Coarse ground sea salt

Using parchment to assist, fold in ends of stromboli, then sides to have dough meat in the middle. Pinch well to close. Move parchment paper onto large sheet pan and sprinkle stromboli with course salt. Bake in preheated 375 oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Drain any excess liquid from pan and remove Stromboli to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Bacon Blue Burger with Bourbon Onions and Cornmeal Fried Onion Rings

That's a mouthful of a title isn't it, as if the picture's not enough. We were watching Guy Fieri over the weekend and saw this one on Diner's Driveins and Dives and thus were inspired. A burger made of 80/20 ground beef, grilled on the flattop and loaded with gooey melted creamy blue cheese, then topped with bacon, crisp onion rings filled with caramelized onions cooked in bourbon (Gentleman Jack if you want to be specific) and a little maple syrup along with some sauteed mushrooms...well, pardon me if I wouldn't like to do it all again right this second, but it seems a little excessive at 6 in the morning. Quite honestly it was a little excessive at 6 last night too.

Sorry I have no recipes to share with you today, just a mouthwatering picture and the memories of pure bliss. I mean, what's better'n a burger. Right?

By the way, the onion rings were about the best I've ever made - sweet onions cut into quarter inch rounds, soaked in a mixture of milk, egg, salt and hot sauce then coated in flour with a scouch of cornmeal. Fried for a minute per side in a half inch of vegetable oil, they were crisp, tender, and exceedingly light. I promise to make 'em again soon so I can measure everything out and share the secret with ya.

Corned Beef Sandwich

OK so there's lots of things to do with leftover corned beef, but the first thing on our list is always a good old fashioned corned beef sandwich aka Reuben. Other than great scotch eggs, Nana's Irish Pub in Newport Oregon has the most incredible corned beef sandwiches so working from memory the big guy used it as an inspiration last night when he built his version.

Rather than sauerkraut, the sandwich is loaded with some of the braised cabbage from our St. Pat's Day dinner, and while it would have been great just warmed up the big guy caramelized it a tad on the flat top grill before he loaded it between the slices of rye. Topped with swiss cheese, homemade sweet mustard and of course corned beef then grilled to a crisp finish, it was about the best darn corned beef sandwich he's ever made. Course I say that every year!

Stay tuned because over the next couple of days we'll be giving you a few more ideas of what to do with that hunk of leftover gold. Happy Saturday y'all. We're off to breakfast at Lupita's followed by a little grocery shopping then home to clean up the mess in our back yard. What's on your agenda today?

Sloppy Joe Stuffed Sandwiches

Wednesday nights are a little different around here because the big guy teaches a late class so dinner needs to be something that will hold well and/or be ready when he gets home because there's not much time between eatin' and sleepin'. Course last night, or should I say this morning, there was even less time for sleepin' since the Maxer took it upon himself to do his watusi seizure dance starting at 2:30 so this post may be a tad discombobulated. Just sayin'.

I decided to spend the better part of yesterday afternoon making these stuffed sandwiches and quite honestly I'm a bit of an idiot. The big guy requested sloppy joes for dinner so I thought I'd go one up on him and do something different. After all, variety is the spice of life.

I used a bread recipe not unlike the one I use for English muffins to make a soft dough that seemed to take forever to rise and while it was doing the skyward lift, albeit slowly, I whipped up a filling with the necessary sweet/sour ketchupy sloppy joe flavors.

Check out the picture essay here from Mags' at The Other Side of Fifty and it'll give you a perfect example as to the process involved. She calls her little beauties "kolaches" and you can bet your boots I'll be trying her recipes next. Shoulda' would'a coulda' didn't this time. Darn.

By the way, they're a great thing to make on a cold rainy windy spring afternoon because they smell awful good when you're prepping and would be fabulous along with a cup of homemade soup. Unfortunately, we didn't have a cold, windy rainy afternoon and that could be why I was moderately disappointed with my results, not that they weren't good mind you. I just wondered if they were worth all the effort. We had them with some of Busch's Grillin' Beans of the Bourbon flavored variety which is a whole other story. Darn those are good beans and I for one will not be making scratch beans for a while when I can just hit my local grocer and buy Busch's.

So now we're down to the crux of the issue - I just didn't feel like cookin'. Now, aren't you glad we finally got around to a conclusion. Gotta' run. Here's the recipe I used - make it your own, if you're so inclined. OK?

Stuffed Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

Buns:

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 teaspoon sugar

1-1/2 cups buttermilk (room temperature)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

18 ounces (by weight) bread flour

Combine warm water and sugar. Sprinkle yeast on top and stir lightly with a fork. Set aside to proof for 10 minutes. Meanwhile in the bowl of a stand mixer with regular beater bar, combine buttermilk, vegetable oil, sugar and salt. Add proofed yeast and mix well to combine. Add half the flour and beat on low speed for 3 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Switch to dough hook, add remaining flour and mix of medium low speed for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove bowl from stand, cover and place in a warm place to rise to double in bulk (approximately 1 to 1-1/2 hours).

Turn dough out onto a well floured bowl and gently deflate. Dough will be very soft. Roll into an 18 inch cylinder and cut into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 6 inch circle. Place 1/4 cup of filling into center and collect dough edges, sealing well. Place seam side down on parchment lined baking sheets, leaving 3 inches between each sandwich. Repeat process until there are 12 sandwiches. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes in a warm place.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 400. Brush sandwiches with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) and sprinkle with coarse salt or dried onions. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.  (May be frozen and reheated).

Filling:

1-1/4 pounds extra lean ground beef

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped (optional)

Cooking spray

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeno peppers

1 cup grated pepper jack or cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Over medium high heat cook onion, red pepper and garlic until soft. Add ground beef and crumble with a fork to break up meat. Cook until meat is browned and juices have been absorbed. Add ketchup, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce and pickled jalapeno peppers and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, add pepper jack cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Set aside to cool. Download Stuffed Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches, but that's not all

Sometimes we find things in rather unexpected places. Point in fact, our local Lee Lee's Supermarket is a goldmine for both the obscure as well as some of the more common items we need to fill our pantries, freezers and tummys.

Not only are Asian markets the best place to go for reasonably priced condiments, noodles, and vegetables needed for ethnic recipes, but lately we've found some items in their freezers that have been the inspiration for many of our more ordinary meals too. For example, last night's dinner came about because of this lovely parcel of pre-sliced rib eye. No, your eyes do not deceive you - that is $3.58 a pound for rib eye!

Because it was packaged and already frozen, I needed to come up with a couple of menus that would make use of all of the entire package over a couple of days, so last night we enjoyed some Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. While they call for top round in many recipes, one of the issues seems to be the ability to slice the meat thin enough and we certainly had no problem there, plus who wouldn't choose rib eye over top round any day of the week? With sauteed peppers and onions on a toasted bun all slathered in melted American cheese, it was amazing and took the big guy all of 15 minutes to put together, while I sat and got sloshed on 1 beer..ok, 1-1/2. Cheap date aren't I?

The sandwiches are amazing! I know we've had 'em here before, but good things are always worth repeating, so hit the link and it'll take you to our previous version.

As for the rest of the package - well, ya' just better all tune in tomorrow and see what other magic's coming out of JBug's Kitchen.... Yikes, I hope I didn't jinx it, and don't forget, the next time you've a few pennies in your pocket and some time on your hands, for heaven's sake check out your local ethnic markets. You'll be surprised what you can find.

Croque-Madame

I'm convinced there's no such thing as a bad sandwich, but there sure are some that are better than others. Leave it to the French to come up with this one because it blows any other grilled ham and cheese right smack out'a the water.

I've been meaning to make it again for some time and while we've also enjoyed the Monsieur version, in this case the feminine far outdoes the masculine which is as it should be. I mean aren't we also the ones that can do more than one thing at a time AND know how to ask for directions? Boy, am I gonna' be in trouble for that one. LOL

This sandwich starts with a cheesy white sauce slathered on soft bread slices, followed by Dijon mustard, shaved ham, and grated swiss. By the way, I used Madrigal which is France's version of Swiss. Grilled until golden in a touch of butter, topped with more white sauce and finished under the broiler, it's crowned with a fried egg with a soft runny yolk. It's the ultimate knife and forker..a superlative dinner for one along with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Life is good!

Croque Madame (adapted from Gourmet)

2-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1-1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup whole milk

dash salt & pepper

dash freshly grated nutmeg

2/3 cup grated Swiss cheese (I used Madrigal)

 

4 slices firm sandwich bread

1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 pound thinly sliced ham

2 large eggs

Sauce – melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk in flour and cook whisking for 3 minutes. Whisk in milk, bring to a boil stirring constantly. Cook for 5 minutes over low heat stirring every now and then. Turn heat off. Add cheese and stir until melted. Set aside.

Heat a non stick skillet over medium heat. Spread mustard over 2 bread slices, top with ham, then grated cheese. Spread 1-1/2 Tablespoons of sauce over last slice of cheese and invert to make sandwich. Brown in 1 tablespoons of butter in a hot skillet. Remove to baking pan and add 1/3 cup sauce on top of each sandwich. Place under broiler to brown. When sauce is bubbling and golden transfer pan to bottom of the oven and turn off broiler. Reheat skillet and quickly cook 2 eggs leaving the yolks quite runny. Top each sandwich with an egg. Serve with knife, fork and salad on the side!

Makes 2 sandwiches.  Download Croque Madame

Turkey and Brie Panini with a kick

Sometimes the business of living gets in the way of putting dinner on the table, you know what I mean?  Such was the case last night although for sure it ended up tasting like I'd fussed. Picture this...oh you don't have to. You're looking at it.

A lovely soft bun loaded with smoked turkey and rich, luscious triple cream brie then slathered in red pepper jelly. Given a brush with melted butter and grilled on a Mario panini press, dinner was ready in a flash and devoured by two very hungry souls. It was wonderful and proves one very important thing. Sometimes it is all about the ingredients and less about the preparation, and that my friends is pretty hard on this hobby cook because I'm usually ALL about the fuss.

The mesquite smoked turkey had just the right hint of smokiness...the bread was perfectly fresh and wonderful...the red pepper jelly had just the right kick...and the brie...well the brie was absolutely amazing. I used Le Delice de Bourgogne imported from France via Trader Joe's and it is amazing! A touch expensive and worth every single solitary centime.

All of them could stand perfectly on their own, but combined in a sandwich - perfect bliss. Course the creamy, veggie laden macaroni salad helped too.

Enough said. Go make the darn panini. You won't be sorry. Trust me.

Turkey & Brie Panini with Red Pepper Jelly (adapted from Southern Living)

5 ounces triple cream Brie

12 ounces thinly sliced smoked turkey

4 tablespoons red pepper jelly

2 soft focaccia rolls

1 tablespoon melted butter

Trim rind off brie and discard. Cut Brie into quarter inch thick slices. Place brie slices evening on bottom half of roll, and cover with layer of smoked turkey. Spread red pepper jelly on top half and place jelly side down onto turkey. Brush sandwiches with melted butter. Cook sandwiches in hot panini press until golden brown and oozing! Serves 2 Download Turkey and Brie Panini with Red Pepper Jelly

Hint - Use a sharp wet knife to cut soft cheese and the slices will slide right off the knife! Also, save the brie rind and add it to a cream sauce for great flavor. It's also fabulous on a pizza!

 

Greek Burger with a minty garlicky cucumber sauce

We took delivery of a lamb we'd ordered from the University of Arizona's Meats Lab on Friday and to be honest I was a little worried. You see I'm pretty darn fussy when it comes to my lamb - it needs to be on the lean side because I find the taste of the fat can be too overpowering. I also much prefer home grown lamb over imported because,in my opinion, the flavor profile is better. After all, they are what they eat aren't they?

Well, I need not have worried my pea brain over it because we tried some yesterday and it is quite simply sublime!

Mixed with bread crumbs, onion, garlic, fresh mint, a touch of oregano and a smidge of lemon juice, the patties cooked quickly in our trusty cast iron pan and topped a bed of mixed greens, sliced tomato and sweet onion on a piece of flatbread. Dressed with a creamy yogurt cucumber sauce (tzatziki), it went down the hatch darned easy. Only after we'd finished eating these glorious little morsels did I remember that I'd forgotten to put the feta cheese on the table. Darn! Guess we'll just have to do it all again PDQ!  Download Greek Burger with Tzatziki

If you're not much into lamb, you could certainly use ground chicken or turkey and it would taste wonderful. As for us, we'll be chowing down on some great bahhhhh ...about 57 pounds of it over the next little while. Lucky us, eh?

Greek Burger with Tzatziki (adapted from epicurious.com))

1/3 cup soft bread crumbs

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 cup dried panko crumbs

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

Small handful fresh mint

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 pound lean ground lamb

Salt & coarse ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups mixed greens

2 tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 sweet onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup feta cheese (optional)

Mediterranean flat bread or pita, warmed

Combine soft bread crumbs and milk in a bowl and set aside. In bowl of food processor place onion, garlic, mint, oregano and lemon juice. Pulse until finely chopped. Add to softened breadcrumbs in bowl along with ground lamb. Add dried panko, season with salt and coarse ground black pepper. Mix together lightly until combined. Using a quarter cup measure, form into balls then flatten into small patties. Set aside in refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up. Heat heavy pan with olive oil until oil is shimmering. Add patties and cook quickly for 2 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other, being careful not to crowd the pan. Remove and keep warm until all patties are cooked. Serve on flat bread along with mixed greens, tomatoes, onion and feta cheese. Garnish with tzatziki.  

Tzatziki

2/3 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon chopped mint

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 cup peeled, seeded finely chopped cucumber

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle over lamb burgers.  Serves 4.

Hint - for a lower carb version, serve without the flatbread.

Stromboli with Meatballs

Yesterday was a busy day getting the big guy ready to blow this popstand for 5 days, and of course we had to work in a two hour power nap in the afternoon so consequently dinner took a back burner. Given a choice between PBJ sandwiches or using some of the meatballs left over from the other night, we chose the latter and made a stromboli.

We've shared this particular form of hand pie aka pizza with you before and as I'm sure you're aware, the choice of fillings is only limited by your imagination. This one held caramalized onions, mushrooms, a touch of ricotta cheese and tons of mozzarella, all piled on top of giant meaty orbs and wrapped up in a crispy pizza crust. Along side a tossed salad, it was a perfect Saturday night supper.

Here's some other examples of the stromboli we've made before along with links directly to the recipe. If you haven't tried making one of these, you don't know what you're missing.

  Pepperoni, Ham, Salami & Roasted Peppers

 
Mexican Version - Chorizo, Poblano Peppers, Ro-Tel Tomatoes

By the way, an easy way to put the stromboli together is to roll the dough out on top of a piece of parchment, load the stromboli up with goodies and then use the parchment to assist in rolling it all up. Seal the edges and flip your stromboli over seam side down onto a baking sheet again using the parchment, then slit the top and bake it up.

It's simple to make and delicious!

Sockeye Salmon Club Sandwich

There are some things that deserve repeating and since the last time I made this Salmon Club Sandwich the big guy was away in New Jersey visiting Sophia, I thought it deserved a second showing. The bonus is that I didn't even have to make it - the big guy did.

Loaded with gorgeous grilled wild sockeye salmon on a soft  panini roll slathered with basil pesto mayonnaise and topped with bacon, tomatoes, and butter lettuce, it was a mouth watering explosion of flavor. The only thing he forgot was paper thin slivers of sweet onion, but hey - no matter. He grilled one of our meyer lemons to serve on the side and it was amazing. Do you have any idea what a little heat and caramelization does to a lemon. Oh baby!

Visit my previous post here and take a gander at the recipes if you wish. Something tells me we'll be enjoying this one again - it certainly gives a whole new meaning to the old standard club sandwich.

By the way, speaking of our darling Sophia - I'm not sure if I've told you all this before, but she will be riding in the Mongol Derby in August 2011. Did I just hear a collective "so what the heck is that"? Well picture a mere whisp of a lady - all 100 pounds of her, riding wild Mongolian ponies across 630 miles aka 1,000 kms of desolate land in Mongolia's version of the pony express. Oh, if your closest contact with this country is Mongolian Barbecue, then to clue you in Mongolia is a sparsley populated country tucked in between Russia to the north and China on its other three sides.  The Derby is the longest horse race in the world over truly wild, wonderful and barren country, during most of which she'll be riding all by her lonesome.

Now my first reaction when I heard about Sophia's latest adventure was to call her Mother, Father and Husband and ask them to forbid it. I mean were she my daughter I'd be a frantic mess with the thought of this whole thing, but alas the big guy and I are only related to this brave adventurous woman by a connection of the heart. Sophia's one of the first of the big guy's students that I got to know, love and cook for from time to time, and I'll tell you if I'd had a daughter, I would have wanted her to be just like Sophia. Sweet, kind, and generous to a fault, with tremendous integrity, intelligence and a truly adventurous spirit, she's the whole package. Smart as a whip, sharp as a tack - she's no wuss, meaning she doesn't suffer fools, at least none that I know. How I ask you can one hold someone like that back by saying "oh no don't go"?  She's been working hard to make her dream come true and had several newspaper articles written about her, and even a interview by NBC.

Check out Sophia's blog here and follow along as she prepares for this incredible adventure!

Chorizo Potato Tacos with Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

Wow - can you believe it's the first day of November? We were talking over coffee this morning and comparing calendars. As we looked at the next couple of months in two week increments, ie  2 weeks until Veteran's Day, then 2 weeks till Thanksgiving, then 2 weeks until finals week at U of A, 2 weeks until Christmas and so on, it seems that before we know it, we'll be heading back up I-5 for Oregon.

I know - it won't happen that quickly, but it sure is true that time goes a lot faster as you get older!

Not knowing what our Halloween evening would bring, we decided on a quick and simple dinner last night that could survive interruptions. Loaded up with spicy chorizo and crispy fried potatoes, these tacos fit the requirments to a "T". Enhanced by all the "withs" including some fresh tomatillo salsa that took all of 3 minutes to whip up, and rounded out with guacamole, grated cheese and a fresh mango salsa just for something different, it was dinner in a jiffy on a warm autumn night. Best of all, leftovers will be great on a salad or with eggs for breakfast later in the week. Bonus!

 

Chorizo Potato Tacos with Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

(Adapted from Rick Bayless, Mexico One Plate at a Time)

3 medium sized red skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound Mexican chorizo sausage (I used pork)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Corn tortillas

Diced sweet onion

Grated cheese

Assorted Salsas

Guacamole

Heat large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add vegetable oil and heat until shimmering. Add potatoes and cook without stirring for 4 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Toss potatoes and continue to cook for additional 5 or 6 minutes until potatoes are browned on all sides and cooked through. Remove to bowl and set aside. Add onions to pan and cook for 2 minutes or until just starting to get soft. Add chorizo. Cook crumbling until cooked through (about 10 minutes). Return potatoes to pan and cook for additional 2 to 3 minutes. Serve on corn tortillas with assorted condiments.

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

8 ounces (about 5 or 6) tomatillos, husked and rinsed

2 serrano chiles

1 jalapeno

1/4 cup cold water

Dash salt

1/4 cup chopped sweet onion

Roughly chop tomatillos and chiles. Place in bowl of food processor and pulse, adding water as required to make a coarse puree. Taste for seasoning and add salt as required. Move to a serving dish and fold in chopped sweet onion.

Turkey Burgers with Smoky Cheese Mayonnaise

Bland. Boring and bland. That's what I've got to say about the turkey burgers we had last night, even though by all appearances they looked like they'd be full of flavor. Just goes to show that appearances can be deceiving.

Let's start with the ground turkey. Quite honestly it was more like mystery meat because it didn't taste one bit like turkey - or like anything for that matter. Loaded with Dijon mustard, Italian breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, you'd think it would have some flavor wouldn't you? Well you'd be wrong.

Visually it didn't look bad at all. Grilled turkey burger topped with avocado, tomato and bacon on a toasty bun, it made my mouth was water. Oh, then there's the cheesy sauce made of mayonnaise, pepper jack cheese and barbecue sauce. I love sauces so expectations were high. Very high. Too high I guess.

The burger was moist, the pepper bacon crisp and yummy, the avocado perfectly ripe and the vine ripened tomato had plenty of punch. The smoky cheesy mayo was rather wonderful, but the burger itself was pure unadulterated milque toast. I'll post the recipe here like I usually do so you can all scope it out, but pray tell - what do you put on your turkey burgers to spice 'em up? I may in the very, very distant future decide to take another stab at it.

Turkey Burgers with Smoky Cheese Mayo (from Canadian Living Magazine)

1 egg

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup dry Italian spiced bread crumbs

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1 pound lean ground turkey

4 hamburger buns

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and thinly sliced

1 tomato, sliced

2 slices of bacon, cut in half and cooked until crisp

In a medium sized bowl, combine egg, mustard parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Mix in ground turkey. Shape into 4 patties, cover and chill until ready to cook. Heat grill pan over medium heat and cook burgers for 10 minutes, turning once.  Remove to plate and keep warm. Heat hamburger buns on grill until warm. Assemble burgers with smoky cheese mayo on the bottom layer of the bun. Top with burger, then with bacon, tomato and avocado. Serves 4 

Smoky Cheese Mayo

1/4 cup light mayonnaise

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

1/2 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese

Combine ingredients together until well mixed.   Download Turkey Burgers with Smoky Cheese Mayo

Hint - for lower carbs, ditch the bun and serve the turkey burger on a tossed green salad!

Sloppy Bombay Joes

We can thank Aarti Sequeira for this fabulous recipe. Unless you've been in Tuktoyaktuk or some such exotic place, you'll likely know that Aarti's the newest Food Network Star and believe you me if this sloppy joe recipe's any example of what the future holds, she's going to be a heck of a star!

Loaded with ground bird, chicken in my case and flavored with subtle Indian spices, it is proof that you certainly don't need Manwich to make this meal. The edition of pistachios for crunch and sundried cranberries instead of raisins because I ran out of the darn things, gives this tasty dish an element of surprising sweetness. The Indian spices are very subtle at least to us, and of course I had to add more heat in the form of jalapeno and extra ginger.

We had our Bombay Joe's on Mediterranean flatbread instead of hamburger buns which made them exceedingly sloppy to eat but finger licking good for sure. There's only one problem - I'll be scrubbing the stains out of our shirt fronts for the next week so if you're really really smart be sure to wear a plastic bib or alternatively fight for elbow room standing up at the sink.

Sloppy Bombay Joes

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 tablespoons minced ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped seeds and all

1 heaping teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 – 15 ounce can tomato sauce

1 cup water

In a medium sauté pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add garlic, ginger and jalapeno and cook for 30 seconds, until aromatic. Add garam masala and paprika and cook, stirring another 30 seconds. Add tomato sauce and water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered until sauce has thickened. About 15 minutes.

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup shelled pistachios

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 teaspoon cumin seed

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 pound ground chicken

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/4 cup heavy cream

Salt to taste

Fresh cilantro as garnish

Flatbread, Naan or hamburger buns

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add pistachios and cranberries and sauté for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from pan and set aside. Add remaining tablespoon of oil and cumin seed. Sauté until cumin seed stops spitting (10 seconds or so), then add onion and cook until onion is soft. Add ground chicken, stirring to crumble well and cook until chicken is no longer pink. Add prepared sauce (above), bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until thick.  Just before serving add reserved pistachios and cranberries, honey and cream. Taste for seasoning and add salt as required. Garnish with cilantro.