Grilled Shrimp and Spanish Rice

Apr 12 2014

It is nice to get outside finally and get some work done. I vacuumed up some leaves Mother Nature keeps dropping at my back door every windy day. I started my war with the birds too, trying to seal up all the roosting spots under my covered deck. Our son had to work so his wife and the grandson were coming for supper at 6:00.

I had some wild caught gulf shrimp thawed for grilling on my Weber Q100. My sides were Zatarain’s Spanish rice done in my rice cooker, mini veggie spring rolls done in the oven, and some kale done on the stove top. The kale was some pre-packed w/bacon butter you could nuke or do stove top. The only hard part was to get it all done at once.

I marinated the shrimp in some red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic flakes and Penzey’s Cajun seasoning for about 45 minutes. I did them on my grill grates and over cooked a little. Tasted good though and I had some Mae Ploy’s sweet chili sauce to dip the spring rolls in. I love that stuff, sweet with some kick.

This is an easy meal to cook and tasty if you don’t overdo the shrimp! I liked the sautéed kale but could not taste any bacon!

Shrimp ready to grill

On the grill

Ready to serve

My supper

Sandman's Chorizo and Pinto Beans

Apr 10 2014

I went through Sandman’s, a friend and fellow LTBBQ member, carryout to replenish my beer supply. He said wait I have a sample for you, some of my chorizo. He handed me a plastic bag with a link of the chorizo and said it just came off the smoker not long ago. I didn’t see what a nice red color it had until I got out in the sun. He said he had used African meats recipe and used his pineapple vinegar in it.

When I got home I sliced a piece off and tasted it. Just about the best chorizo I ever ate! It was almost too hot for me but it was heat with flavor and you got the pineapple vinegar taste. I ate another bite then thought I got to save the rest for supper; just enough to make me something.

We had planned on eating my leftover chicken casserole; I had another can of pinto beans and the half can of fire roasted tomatoes left to use. Chorizo is great with beans so I would eat beans again.

I sautéed some chopped onions and garlic in a little olive oil then added the sliced chorizo and cooked awhile. I then poured in the can of drained pinto beans and tomatoes with juice. I would have liked some diced green chilies or green peppers too but was all out.

This looks almost like my last post but the chorizo beans was the star of this supper. The beans were great; with the chorizo they didn’t need any other seasoning for me. That was a super supper!

Link to chorizo recipe

The chorizo

Ingredients

Onions, garlic and chorizo getting happy

Ready to serve

My supper

Smoked Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Apr 09 2014

Last night I was watching the cooking channel and saw Trisha Yearwood make a chicken tortilla casserole. That girl can sing and cook! That would be my supper for tonight.

This am I went and got some chicken and what I needed for the casserole. I got a whole cut up chicken and got it in brine for about 2 hours then rinsed and dried and in the fridge an hour to dry some. I smoked it on my Traeger at 225 deg. grill level a half hour then went to about 340 deg. to finish. It took just under an hour to finish.

After it had cooled I pulled the meat from the breasts and thigh back pieces. That looked like plenty of meat for the casserole. I made up the chicken gravy and then it went in the mix with the green peppers, onions, garlic, sour cream and chicken broth and I just used 2 cups of the broth.

I made up the 3 layers of corn tortillas, chicken, cheese and sauce in a large casserole dish. You might note in her recipe it called for ½ cup shredded cheddar for each layer; that must have been a type error since it calls for 3 cups in the recipe ingredients. I used one cup for each layer. I baked it for about 40 minutes at 350 deg.

I followed Trisha’s recipe for cheater beans to serve too. I would have liked to use the bacon and bacon grease but our veggie daughter was stopping after work to eat so I just used olive oil. I sautéed some chopped onions and garlic, a can of pinto beans, about a half can of diced fire roasted tomatoes with some of the juice and a half 4 oz. can chopped green chilies.  I meant to add some cumin but forgot.

I served it all with some jarred salsa and tortilla strips on the side. We all liked it; the daughter in law ate two helpings of the casserole and some beans. This is a dish I will be making again!

Link to Chicken Recipe

Chicken on the smoker

Shredded chicken

Two layers in

Ready to serve

Beans are ready

My supper

Bacon and Rib Sandwich

Apr 06 2014

We made a trip over to see my 92 yr. old Mother today. We took her a cooler full of food , leftovers from my cooking. Most of it was vacuum sealed and frozen. She was doing well.

I had some of my butchers good thick cut bacon that needed used. I had leftover Greek ribs and potatosalata from last night’s supper. My wife just wanted a bacon sandwich but I wanted a bacon and rib sandwich.

I did the bacon on my Traeger; a pellet smoker is about the best way to fix bacon as far as I am concerned. It cooks nice and even and you can stop it right where you like your bacon, limp or crisp.

I turned mine once but you really don’t need to turn it. I like mine pretty crisp. I did it at about 290 deg. average at grill level and took an hour.

I had some Kaiser rolls to use up. They are a little thick so I just slice a thin cut out of the middle. I toasted them with a little olive oil. I cut the meat from two ribs and heated it up. It went on a bun coated with some mustard, then some bacon and a little lettuce.  The only thing that would have been better was a slice of tomato from the garden. I won’t ruin a sandwich with the hot house stuff we get here in the winter.

We had some of the leftover potatosalata and I had a pickled egg with mine. A bacon and rib sandwich just may be the ultimate; tasted great!!!

Bacon on the Traeger

Done crispy

Some rib meat added

My Supper

Greek Style Ribs and Potatosalata

Apr 05 2014

I was hungry for some ribs. I wanted BB’s but all my butcher had not frozen were spares so I went with them. I wanted some a little different so went with some Greek style. If I don’t do standard BBQ ribs these are my favorite.

My butcher had this rack trimmed out a little better than most of the time so all I did was cut the flap meat off. It would be a treat for the cook, dusted with Tatonka dust to see how I like it on ribs. I pulled the membrane and got it seasoned and plastic wrapped for about 4 hours in the fridge before smoking.

After lunch I boiled the potatoes for the potatosalata; and I used Cat Coras, from Foodnet, recipe. The potatoes were Ruby Sensations from Canada and turned out great. They have red skins but the flesh is more yellow than most red potatoes. I changed her recipe some; I used Penzey’s Greek salad seasoning, a Peru sweet onions instead of red, and added some lemon zest. After mixing all up I tasted and added some oregano.

I then par boiled some green beans for 3 minutes and then cooled with cold water. At supper time I coated them with a little flour and fried them in butter, olive oil and added some dried shallots, salt and pepper. They were in about 20 minutes on med. heat.

The ribs I did at 180 deg. for 1 hour; then I went to 225 deg. grill level. I checked them 3 hours in and went to 350 deg. grill level for the last 1 hour. I had some pretzel bread sticks I heated up to go along with the meal.

Ribs were good and tender. The wife thought the ribs were extra good. I loved the Tatonka dust on the flap meat; I gave my wife a bite and she said it was good. My next rib cook will be with Tatonka dust.

Link to Potatosalat Recipe

Link to Rib Recipe

Ribs

Seasoned flapmeat

Onions for the salad

Potatosalata ready for the fridge

Ribs 3 hours in

Ready to cut and serve

My supper

Baked Cod over Wild Mushroom Rice

Apr 03 2014

Last night we ate a little on the fat side, double brat burgers and butter on corn on the cob. Tonight I did something more on the healthy side, baked cod and wild mushroom rice with a side salad.

My salad was classic Romaine mix with some crumbled Feta with tomatoes and basil topped with Italian dressing.

I had some dried wild forest mix mushrooms and some porcini mushroom powder for the rice. I reconstituted the dried mushrooms in some hot water for about 2 hours. I chopped them up and then added a half cup of the soaking water to a 2 cup measuring beaker, added a heaping teaspoon of the mushroom powder and filled to 1 ¾ cups with chicken broth. I added the chopped mushrooms in and this would go in my rice cooker with a cup of rice and a pat of butter. I like using the rice cooker since it goes to warm hold when the rice is done and I can have it hot when ready to serve.

The cod was a nice filet of wild caught Atlantic from Krogers. I used a recipe from Rachel Ray but changed ingredients some and the process. Two hours before cook time I cut up the filet in serving size pieces. I put them in a baking dish and drizzled on some lemon juice, covered and in the fridge.

I had my salads made and a cup of Panko bread crumbs browned some in a skillet with a little butter and olive oil. I turned the rice cooker on and preheated the oven to 400 deg. This was at 5:15 and we would eat at 6:00.

I took the fish from the fridge and removed from the baking dish, wiped out the excess juice and a little olive oil on the bottom. The cod went back in and topped with Hawaiian red sea salt, dried garlic flakes, dried parsley and a little ground pepper. I then spread the Panko bread crumbs over and baked for 15 minutes.

I served the cod over the mushroom rice and all tasted great, it did need some more salt. The cod was just right, mild and flaky. I will be using this method for fish again. The soaking with lemon juice helps remove fishy taste and gives a good flavor along with the other seasoning.

For the rice

Mushrooms reconstituted

Cod filet

Toasted Panko crumbs

Olive oil and seasoning added

Ready to serve

My supper

My late night snack last night was some Limburger cheese on flip side pretzel crackers with some black raspberry jam. Delicious!

Brat Burgers and Corn on the Cob

Apr 02 2014

A lot in warmer climates have been posting corn on the cob photos on LTBBQ forum. One of my favorite food and they had my mouth watering for some. I am spoiled from having fresh picked corn during the summer. A produce farm near here sets up a stand just two blocks from me every summer and picks the corn fresh daily. Corn on the cob is best if fixed the day it’s picked. I have to wait until about mid-June for the good corn and the season lasts just over a month.

I don’t care for the frozen corn on the cob at all and the early corn shipped into the groceries here is not too good. I found though if I found some that looked good and steamed it instead of boiling it is a lot better. I found some at Krogers that looked good so I stopped at my butchers and got 4 of his fresh brats to have with it.

I took the meat out of the casings and made 4 brat patties, seasoned with a little Tatonka dust on each side. I had the corn in the steamer and did the brat patties on my grill grates. I had my Traeger at 370 deg. grill level and did the patties 10 minutes on each side. I then sprinkled some shredded triple cheddar on two of the patties and then topped with the other two and some Kaiser buns on top to heat up a couple of minutes.

Man that tasted great, a double brat burger with cheese and mustard and corn on the cob. I had seasoned the corn with some Penzey’s sandwich sprinkle and in corn dishes with some good butter to serve.

The corn ready to steam

Brat patties seasoned

Brat patties w/cheese and buns getting warmed

My supper