Grilled Peaches, Onion & Bacon Salad

Jul 29 2017

I posted this under healthy because it is healthy and the bacon just makes it tastier! You can make it as healthy as you want by using less or no bacon, I think it would still taste good.

I used some spring mix salad and baby spinach in place of arugula, I can never buy arugula around here. The peaches were Ohio peaches and I grilled a slice of onion for me, the wife didn’t want any.

I grilled a pound of bacon up early on my Traeger and used 6 slices in my salad. For the dressing I just used 1/3 cup of oil, I don’t care for a lot of oil in my salads. I used Feta cheese instead of goat since I had some on hand and it tastes a lot like goat cheese. I grilled the onion on my Weber Spirit for 4 min. per side and the peaches for 1 min. on the cut side. I could have had more char so next time will do for 2 minutes.

Tasted great and I think all the flavors went well together. Sorry about my photos, one was not very good and didn’t take very many of the process.

Click Here for printable recipe

Ingredients

 

Grilled peaches & onions

Salad mixed

My supper

Grandma's Style Pizza

Jul 27 2017

I don’t make my own pizzas often since I can get them from Sandman’s carry out. The best in town and ready in 20 minutes, just 2 minutes away! When I came across this recipe at Serious Eats I had to give it a try.

It’s made on a sheet pan and one thing different was he used 6 oz. of riced potato to make a thinner crust. When I re-read the instructions I had missed that if you mixed the dough by hand you were supposed to let it rise overnight.

I did get it mixed and let it rise for 3 hours to try and get it done for supper. My toppings were the sauce, Parmesan, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. I used San Marzano tomatoes for the sauce and they really make a difference.

I let the dough on the sheet pan for 2 hours then spread out, added a little of the sauce and Parmesan and par-baked in a 550 deg. oven for 5 minutes.

I then added sliced mozzarella, Parmesan, fresh basil leaves and most of the sauce. I baked it at 550 deg. and it was done in 10 minutes. I let set about 5 minutes then sliced for the wife and me. Our son had stopped in so I gave him some to take home.

I didn’t get many pics of the process but below is the link to the recipe. It has a lot of good reading and photos. Pizza was delicious.

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/01/the-pizza-lab-no-roll-no-stretch-sicilian-style-square-pizza-at-home.html

Ingredients except for Parmesan

Par-baked ready for final bake

Resting

Sliced ready to eat!

"Old Folks" Sausage Sandwich & Cottage Cheese Salad

Jul 24 2017

I wasn’t going to post this but Purnell’s “Old Folks” sausage is worth mentioning! It’s made from whole hog including hams and tenderloin. I haven’t had any for a while and almost forgot how good it is. I had a pound tube and made 3 patties.

I was looking forward to having the leftover corn on the cob from last night but my wife left it in the Instant Pot. I thought she had put it in the fridge but when I looked for it she said I didn’t have any corn. I didn’t know you had any left! Here it was still in the pot!

In place of the corn I made a cottage cheese salad we like real well. It’s about equal amounts of cottage cheese, coarse chopped Vidalia onions and chopped tomatoes.

I did the sausage patties on my Weber Spirit gas grill for 7 minutes per side and then added the provolone cheese to two patties and toasted the Asiago Ciabata buns for a minute.

I had Maille mustard and a slice of onion on mine and the wife had her usual mustard and dill pickles. I was full in spite of not having corn!

The sausage patties

After flipping on the Weber

Cheese & buns added

Ready to dress and serve

My supper

Strip Steaks, Corn on the Cob & Tomatoes

Jul 23 2017

Besides summer garden tomatoes some fresh picked corn from Suter’s Red Barn is a treat to look forward to every summer. Steaming the corn is my favorite way to cook it.

I had two nice strip steaks from Kah Meats, my local butcher. I found that one of the steaks would have been plenty to split with the wife. I wanted to try Jack Stacks steak seasoning. Since it is a little salty I omitted the dry salt cure I usually do on steaks. I added the seasoning and then in the fridge 3 ½ hours.

I sliced one of the Tennessee tomatoes to have and there was some of my potato salad left, I steamed the corn in my Instant Pot for 5 minutes and left it on warm hold until the steaks were done.

I did the steaks in my Traeger at 250 deg. Grill level until 118 deg. IT and then finished on my Weber Spirit at 400 deg. For 3 minutes per side. I let them set for about 5 minutes before serving while I got the corn ready and sides on the plates.

My wife had butter, salt and Parmesan cheese on her corn, I had butter and some Trader Joe’s chili lime seasoning.

We both only ate about half our steaks so have to start buying only one steak for us to split. All tasted great steaks could have been a little rarer but were tender and juicy. I had a second ear of corn and had Jack Stacks all-purpose seasoning on it. I liked both seasonings!

Seasoned steaks

Corn ready to steam

Steaks on the Traeger

Steaks on the Weber

Resting

My corn

My supper

Juicy & tender

Grilled Pork Steaks, Fried Hash Browns and Applesauce

Jul 20 2017

I don’t do pork steaks very often, preferring bone in chops better. Most of the time the steaks are grilled until browned and then braised for up to 3 hours. I read a new method where they were grilled hot and fast. He was using ¾ inch thick steaks, mine were just ½ inch so I reduced the times some.

I heated my Weber Spirit to 400 deg. med. Heat. I had the steaks coated with Jack Stacks meat and poultry rub after dry brining in the fridge for an hour. They were in the fridge for 1 ½ hours after seasoning. I did them for 6 minutes per side then sauced with Kah’s BBQ sauce and did them another 3 minutes per side.

In the mean time my wife was browning up some Or Ida hash browns and we had applesauce for a side too. Fried potatoes and applesauce are our favorite sides for pork chops.

The pork steaks were nice and brown and had juice on top. I let them rest about 5 minutes before eating. It all tasted great, a good flavor and not too tough, a new way to do pork steaks for me. I did like the Jack Stack’s rub.

The steaks

Seasoned

On the grill

BBQ sauce added

Hash browns

Steaks resting

My supper

Some New Spices

Jul 19 2017

I just got a package from amazon, 3 jars of Jack Stacks seasonings, Trader Joe's Chili Lime seasoning and some HP sauce.

The HP sauce is a favorite in England and called a brown sauce, tasting it, it is sweet and sour. It's a little like AI only sweet and sour.

I used to use Coulula's chili lime seasoning for chicken but can no longer find it so wanted to try some of the Trader Joe's.

I have a recipe for Jack Stacks wings and the son and I agree the best I ever made so wanted to try their seasoning rubs. A taste test they have great flavor but might be too salty for me. I will try to update this as I use them all.

Jul 20 2017

I had leftover chicken and corn to make tacos. That would be perfect for trying Trader Joe's Chili lime seasoning. I heated up the chicken with a little Maxene chili powder and heated the corn.

I heated up some soft flour tortillas and made one for me with the chicken, corn, chili lime seasoning and shredded taco cheese. The chili lime was good! My wife had one without the chili lime and had salsa and sour cream with hers.

We both had seconds and the wife tried the chili lime and liked it. I had some sour cream on my second one. I think the chili lime will be great for chicken.

Jul 20 2017

I had a brat and some corn for my lunch today. I tried the HP sauce on the brat. I liked it better than I though I would. I think it would be good on sandwiches too.

Cheese Brats and Leftovers

ul 19 2017

Brats are fairly quick to cook for an easy meal. I like simmer them in beer for 10 to 15 minutes first. Then I usually throw them on my pellet smoker set at 250 deg. They will be done in 45 minutes to an hour, above 160 deg. I like them this way if we are just eating them on a plate, for sandwiches I like them browned up on my gas grill. I got the brats from my butcher who makes 17 different fresh brats.

For sides I had some Greek salad leftover and some corn I had cut off the cob. I fried the corn in a skillet with some butter and a little half and half cream.

The brats were done on my Traeger and were all above 160 deg. in 45 minutes. I had some of my Eli's BBQ sauce for my brat my wife had sauerkraut with hers. All tasted great and it was good to have some good corn cut from fresh local corn.

  The cheese brats

Brats are done

Frying the corn

Brats are ready to serve

My salad

My supper