Absent but not forgotten...

 

Just bought a new  home so my weekends have been spent (tailgating) remodeling and doing general improvements.  However, we DID break into the freezer and found four random steaks from Missouri Legacy Beef (free range) that we coated in my Jail Break rub and grilled last weekend.  The rub recipie follows as does my new bookcase #randomrenovationpicture.  Keep On Eggin'.  I promise to return strong soon!

 

 

General 'Confusion'

 

Did you ever start out with your grocery list, or your weekend meal planning and actually never land on anything near what you started out to buy or prepare?  Today was one of those days.  Started out thinking I would Wok up some General Tso's and ended up with General Confusion...a combination of stir fry and General Tso's; very tasty but nothing you'll find in my cookbook. 

 

Iingredients that ended up in this dish

• Chicken tenderloins, chopped (the equivalent of 3 very large breasts)
• 1 Large Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Large Yellow Bell Pepper
• Paul Prudhomme's Pork Seasoning (meant to grab the poultry seasoning)
• 4 Bundles of Udon noodles
• 1 8 Oz. Can Sliced Water Chestnuts
• 1 15 Oz. Can Baby Corn
• 6 Green Onions
• 2 Tablespoons Minced Garlic
• EVOO
• 1 Bottle General Tso's Sauce

 

Directions

1. Chop Chicken into 1 inch pieces (approximately)
2. Cut Peppers into 2 inch sticks
3. Mince Green onions and garlic together (set all those ingredients aside)
4. Boil Water in Emile Henry Wok
5. Drop in Udon noodles for 4 minutes
6. Pour into colander and set aside.
7. Drizzle in some EVOO and cook the chicken, set aside.
8. Next, drizzle in some EVOO and stir fry the veggies to tender crisp
9. Combine chicken and veggies and add G Tso's Sauce, stir until blended well
10. Dump in Udon noodles, stir, remove and serve.

 

 

Porkburgers and Fresh Veggie Stir Fry

Ground Pork burgers with bacon and BBQ sauce, grilled to perfection over Kingsford Charcoal on the Rosle Kettle Grill, then smothered with provolone cheese.

Stir Fry in the Emile Henry Cassoulet.  Slided up one each, red, green and yellow bell pepper.  Add a half large yellow onion, Paul Prudhommes Vegetable Magic and four fresh jalapenos and drizzle in some EVOO and continuously stir with a wood spoon until tender crisp (or your taste).

Officially Reclaimed the Deck Tonight!

After three weekends of total refurbishment, closing on the house and two weekends of interior remodeling; TONIGHT I OFFICIALLY RECLAIMED MY DECK and the return of regular cooking out of doors commences; just in time for football season where we tailgate 8 times this year...Oh Well.

Keeping it simple but SPECIAL tonight it was just Burgers.  Hiding under those ultra fresh HyVee buns are 1/3 Lb. medium to medium rare fresh ground 90-10 Angus beef.  Seasoned with Paul Prudhomme's Seasoned Salt and fresh ground Peppercorn.  Grilled on high heat on the Rosle Kettle Grill using Kingsford Charcoal. 

They are topped off with with a slice of Grilled Yellow Onion, melted Provolone Cheese and sliced Jalapenos, Mustard and Ketchup.  The REAL SECRET HERE is the 400 calories of FRISH's TARTER SAUCE slathered on the bottom bun (imported/smuggled in from Ohio). Oh My...Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower with grated fresh Parmesan cheese and some Country Potato Salad.

 All Gone!.

Simple is still delicious! Stir Fry

Pardon the absence but the deck has been undergoing a 3 week overhaul and rehab and the grills were parked until tonight. 

So tonight it was a "the simpler the better" return to cooking.  IT was also a family affair with the Chicken tenderloins fresh from the freezer (LOL), White Onions from my brother-in-law's garden in Ohio, Green Bell Pepper and Jalapenos from my wife's back  yard raised garden, a sprinkle of Louisiana mixed spice blend and four sandwich slices of Provolone cheese.  Pan fried on the grill. 

Happy July 7th !

Okay, so it took me a couple of days to get around to cooking out...shoot me.  Took a long weekend and decided to NOT cook this weekend, tried a couple new restaurants, cleaned the garage, etc...Tonight's plating was a miss-mosh of traditional holiday flare with 1/4 Lb. Missouri Legacy Beef (free-range) burgers, served up on our new Emile Henry Dinner plates.  The beef was seasoned with a touch of Paul Prudhomme's Meat Magic and Provolone Cheese, the rest is pretty clear, it was from a can or boiled and broiled. 

 

Overall a very satisfying meal made in minutes. Hey, who said it always had to be original recipes and fancy photography, LOL - Have a Very Happy 7th!.

I did use our new Emily Henry Sauce Pot (converted to a bean pot tonight) to heat up the southwest black bean mixture on our Rosle Kettle Grill.

And what is a holiday cookout without Kingsford Charcoal...tried the rest, returned to the best!

 

 

Charcoal and Lump: It's not just for Grilling Burgers on the 4th anymore....

I just spent a couple of days cleaning the garage and it dawned on me that grilling out had at some point in my life literally become an avocation....remember the days of charcoal and lighter fluid, maybe some tongs and a spatula?  This is just my INDOOR accessories, and I just noticed this picture even cuts off the bottom of the cabinet.  I think I am possessed...and if you're out here blogging or following,  I'm thinking that many or most of you are TOO!.  Ain't it great!  Happy Grillin', maybe I'll actually cook and post this weekend.  We ate out on the 4th...sacrilegious I know. 

Keep On Eggin' 

(BTW, this doesn't include my cast iron or all the accessories hanging off my table shelves and grills...or my two door spice cabinet, or the pantry filled with grilling fixin's...I am seriously in need of grill counseling...LOL)

Cherry Blueberry Pie Entry



 

This is my entry for the Emile Henry July 4th Pie Contest...wish me luck!!!

We don’t do a lot of pie around our house but with the addition of our new Emile Henry Pie Dish, I just had to try it out. Now, this dish is designed to be used in the Oven or Microwave, however for this bake it was used in our Big Green Egg on a indirect set up. The results were an amazing pie with a few pictures here for your enjoyment. This pie has a LOT of filling; kind of a Hungry Man style I guess. The edges got just a little dark on this first pass and the bottom crust was perfect and the pie was AMAZING…By the way Good Housekeeping Magazine recommends the Emile Henry pie dish as one of their top pie making tools!

Ingredients

• 1 Pkg. Refrigerated Pie Crusts
• ½ Cup Sugar
• 2 Tbls. Cornstarch
• ¼ Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
• 2 Cans (21 Oz.) Tart Cherry Pie Filling
• 1 ½ Cups Fresh Organic Blueberries
• 1 Egg White
• 1 Tsp. Water
• 1 Tsp. Sugar

Directions

• Preheat the BGE to 425 degrees; with plate setter legs up (indirect).
• Press one pie crust into your Emile Henry Pie Plate.
• In a large bowl mix your sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon.
• Stir in the cherry pie filling and blueberries then spoon into the crust.
• Cover the pie with the second crust and flute the edges. Cut a hole in the center and decorate as you deem appropriate
• Place in Egg (I recommend using a cover for the edges to reduce burning, especially for beginning pie bakers like myself) and bake for 35 minutes (lid down) and check. Depending on your temperature control on the BGE it will be finished in 40-45 minutes on the outside. If it runs a little hot e.g. 450 just check earlier.
• Note to beginners not used to baking pies on the grill: If you can use ceramic feet under your pie pan or go legs down on the plate setter if you find the crust gets dark on the bottom.







 

Simple Supper

Grilling out can be FAST...it doesn't always require endless preparations. Some weeknights I get the hankering to grill out so I just like to toss out the cookbook and the marinades, the shopping and all day food prep/planning and just light it up, cook and eat!

Tonight it was simply two 5-6 Oz. HyVee Amana beef steaks with my JailBreak Rub (here on the blog) served with an assortment of sliced fresh vegetables seasoned with Paul Prudhomme's Vegetable magic.  Prepared on our Rösle Kettle Grill in our new Rösle Grill Basket.  Total cost, under $8.

From 'flame on' to 'forks down'...about 30 minutes. 

Roasted Cabbage (on the Grill)

Crazy delicious side dish/salad that is easy to prepare, inexpensive, requires very few ingredients and about 5 minutes to prepare and it is also healthy. 

Served here with Indigo Potatoes and Tri-Tip Bearnaise Vinaigrette (see post on this blog)

 

Ingredients

• 1 Large (firm) Head of Cabbage
• 6 Tbls. EVOO
• 6 Tbls. Fresh Bacon Bits
• 4 Tbls. Lemon Juice
• 3 Tbls. Worcestershire
• Pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt
• Pinch fresh ground 4-color Peppercorns

Directions

1. Cabbage Quartered (actually cut into 5 or 6 wedges) and placed on foil
2. Whisk ingredients (minus salt and pepper) together in a mixing bowl and drizzle over the cabbage quarters
3. Sprinkle salt and peppercorns over the top then wrap and refrigerate until ready to grill (2-4 hours maximum, do not refrigerate overnight) 
4. Fire up the grill and settle in around 400-425 degrees Grill (lid down) at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes)

Other Options - Top with sliced chicken breasts or serve with tri-tip, tenderloin tips...

 

Tri-Tip w/Béarnaise Vinaigrette Marinade

This recipe is another example of the versatility of the Tri-Tip cut of beef.  Cut into cubes for Kabobs this marinade makes for a surprisingly tasty use of this cut.  Combined with Roasted Indigo Potatoes and some Roasted Cabbage, this was a meal to enjoy.

Ingredients

• 1 Tri-Tip (Free Range) from Missouri Legacy Beef

Béarnaise Vinaigrette Marinade (Can also serve as a salad dressing

• 3 Shallots (minced)
• ¾ Cup White Wine Vinegar
• ¼ Cup Chopped Tarragon
• ¼ Cup Lemon Juice
• 3 Large Garlic Cloves (Minced or sub 1-2 Tbls. Minced Garlic)
• 1 Tbls. Dijon Mustard
• 2 Tsp. Sugar
• 1 ½ Tsp. Salt
• 1 Tsp. Fresh ground peppercorns
• ½ Cup Canola Oil
• ½ Cup EVOO

Directions

1. Cube tri-tip into manageable kabob size pieces (1 ½”-2”) & place in a large freezer bag
2. Whisk together Marinade/Dressing ingredients (minus the oil)
3. Slowly add equal portions of the canola and EVOO and stir until blended.
4. Pour over tri-tip chunks, seal the bag and let marinate for 4 hours minimum in the refrigerator
5. Remove 30 minutes before skewering; Skewer (using the Rosle Grilling Kabob Rack here) and grill over open flame.

Note: If you add potatoes to this cook (as pictured here) you can parboil them first and they will finish at the same time the meat gets to medium rare.

Tagine Chicken Moroccan Style Stew

NEW RECIPE TONIGHT !!!

Moroccan style tagine chicken (Apricot and Cilantro flavored) stew using Alfez sauce and the Emile Henry Flametop Tagine.  Another ONE DISH wonder tonight...and I love simple and single pot cooking for sure.  The tagine is a great vessel for this purpose and we just don't use it enough.  Served up in a EH Roaster.

Ingredients

• 3.5 LARGE Chicken Breasts (free range if available)
• 1 1/2-2 Cups Chicken Broth (low sodium)
• 1 Jar (11.5 Oz.) Alfez Tagine Sauce (available at World Market)
• 3-4 Stalks Celery
• 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper
• 10-12 Small Yellow Potatoes
• 1 Medium Vidalia Onion
• 12-20 Baby Carrots

Directions

1. Fire Up the Big Green Egg (for this recipe I partially par-boiled the veggies because we were in a hurry) and insert plate setter legs up; bring up to 350 degrees F.
2. EVOO in bottom of Tagine
3. Chop Veggies and Chicken into approximately 1" cubes
4. Dump Veggies into Tagine
5. Add Chicken Broth
6. Cover with Chicken chunks and cover Tagine
7. Place on Egg for 30 minutes.  Check chicken, do not add sauce until chicken is 80-90% cooked.
8. When Chicken is to temperature, dump in Sauce and Stir.
9. Return lid on tagine and cook another 15 minutes.
10. Remove and serve from Tagine to plates.

POST DINNER HINT:  Reduce chicken broth to 1 cup and you could go as much as double on the sauce for total perfection...

Coca Cola Cake

You don't have to drive to Mexico to get a full sugar original bottle of Soda (sorry, I mean Coke) for this recipe (the only place it's still bottled); they sell it by the bottle in most large grocery stores. 

We discovered this cake at a local restaurant years ago and they serve it seasonally.  This recipe was posted on FaceBook today and being Memorial Day it struck me that there is really nothing more much more American than grilling out and a ice cold Coca-Cola?  So here is the bake that will be desert with tonights mignon/feta burgers (we'll be serving tea actually so I had to incorporate that cola somewhere...

 

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Coca Cola (real thing, full sugar)
• 1/2 Cup Oil 
• 1 Stick Unsalted Butter
• € 3 Tbls. Cocoa
• € 2 Cups Sugar
• € 2 Cups Flour
• € 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• € 2 Free Range Eggs
• €1/2 Cups Buttermilk
• 1 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 Qt. High End Vanilla Ice Cream (a must...no low fat stuff!)

 

Frosting

• 1 Stick Unsalted Butter
• 3 Tbls. Cocoa
• 6 Tbls. Cream or Milk
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 3 3/4 Cups Confectioner's Sugar

 

Directions (Cake)

1. In a saucepan, mix Coca Cola, oil, butter and cocoa and bring to a boil. 
2. In another bowl, combine the sugar, flour and salt.
3. Pour the boiling Cola mixture over the flour mixture and beat well. 
4. Add the eggs, buttermilk, soda and vanilla and beat well. 
5. Pour mixture into a greased and floured 13 x 9 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees or 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pan. Cool for about 10 minutes before frosting.

 

 

The fork holes are present because I couldn't find the toothpicks!!!  Actually I think my flour is old so I had to increase the cooking time to about 33 minutes...

Directions (Frosting)

1. In a saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa, and milk.
2. Heat until the butter melts.
3. Beat in the remaining ingredients and spread on the cake while it's still warm. Enjoy!Double Chocolate Coca Cola Cake

 

 

 

 

Chicken Kabobs and the Emile Henry Newsletter

GREAT QUICK SUPPER TONIGHT AND A SURPRISE FEATURE IN THE EMILE HENRY NEWSLETTER FEATURING KABOBS AND LITTLE OL' ME. 

 

The Raws

• 2 Large Chicken Breasts (free range),
• 1 Large Red Bell Pepper,
• 1 Whole Fresh Pineapple
• Emile Henry Kabob Tray

Directions

1. Chuck all ingredients into 1-11/2" pieces
2. Stab with dual rail kabobs
3. Light Rosle Kettle Grill (and Kingsford Charcoal) to about 350-400 degrees
4. Place kabobs on rack, rotate 3 times a quarter turn
5. Remove and serve

The Pineapple juice and red pepper makes up for not using any marinade or spice on the chicken!

Received a great surprise in the mail last week.  The May/September edition of the Emile Henry France newsletter-Tastes and Colours in the Kitchen has a half page 'Kebab' feature featuring me and a few comments about cooking kabobs.  Quite an honor to be referred to as "Chef"...a piece of the article follows.

Awe Shucks...

 

Disclaimer: I receive NO compensation from any company or advertising or support for my blog.  Occasionally I do receive requests to review grilling equipment, of which I do, objectively for which I acknowledge at the bottom of my blog.