TATER TOT Casserole

 Good Morning and Happy Saturday

So this is one of my favorite morning meals, I suppose because it has Tater Tots in it. This is always a crowd pleaser, and best of all it heats up so well the next day if you have some left over!

The first step in this dish is to decide what you want as your filler.  In this dish that is posted, I used cut up Asparagus, diced ham, bacon and onion.  The best part is YOU can choose anything you wish.

HOW TO MAKE:

1.  Whisk up 5 eggs with a bit of milk.  To this mixture add Salt and Pepper to taste, and if you wish add some seasonings like Thyme, Basil, etc.

2.  Saute your filling mixture of whatever you like.  (non-stick pan!)  If you want to use what I did...simply sauté the above.  When you have cooked this for about 5 minutes, add a couple handfuls of Tater Tots.  Distribute everything evenly in the pan, then mix in your egg mixture.  Immediately mix in a bit of shredded cheese, stir a bit, then sprinkle more cheese on the top

3.  Once the cheese is on, Bake in the sauté pan at 350 until the mixture is set.  This usually takes about 20 minutes.

4.  Remove from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes.  Using a spatula, slide onto a plate as you see above.  Slice and serve!

Additions:  Here are some things I like to top it with when serving.

a.  Sour Cream
b.  Salsa
c.  Chives

Enjoy this.....it's YUMMY!

Eat Well
Kevin

Pork Loin Roast with Garlic and Cranberry Compote

Happy New Year

So to get started in 2015, I thought I'd put up a recipe I did a few weeks ago that turned out pretty well.  What I cooked was the end piece of a complete Pork Loin I purchased and cut into chops.  The ends taper down and make a fantastic roast if you don't over cook them.  For this recipe I marinated the roast in an Italian dressing and froze it after being sealed with my food saver.  This was a super method for getting the marinade in the meat and provided nice additional flavor.  After thawing, I heavily salted and peppered the entire roast. I then seared off the meat, getting good color on it, and finished it in the oven with many garlic cloves that had been tossed in olive oil.  I used an external thermomiter and brought the internal temperature to 150 degrees.

I served this with a cranberry compote I made using fresh cranberries, sugar, some lime juice and a touch of cinnamon.  A quick sauce of asparagus, red onion and red bell peppers were also invited to the party.  I'm pleased with the way this came out and would most definitely make it agin.

Tofu Bake

As most of my readers know, I was vegan for many years, and this was one of my favorite comfort food dishes I invented about 7 years ago.  Meat lover or not...this is simply good food that's pretty good for you.  It's a great dish to keep in your arsenal if you need to provide a dish for your veggy / vegan friends.

INGREDIENTS:

1 BLOCK OF EXTRA FIRM TOFU CUBED
2 CUPS OF BROCCOLI FLORETS
1-1.5 CUPS OF MUSHROOMS QUARTERED
1-1.5 CUPS OF QUARTERED SMALL RED POTATOES

Ingredients

1 CUP OF ASPARAGUS CHOPPED
3 TABLESPOONS OF PEANUT BUTTER
3 TABLESPOONS OF TAHINI
1 TABLESPOON OF KOREAN CHILI PASTE
1 TABLESPOON OF CHILI PASTE / SRIRACHA
1 TABLESPOON OF SESAME OIL
3 TABLESPOONS OF SOY SAUCE OR BRAGGS
WATER TO THIN AS DESIRED

First step is to chop all your ingredients.  What I listed as my veggies is what I like, but feel free to change it up and add or subtract what you like.  When using potatoes as I do, it's important to cook it longer so the potatoes get done!

Mix in a large bowl

In a large bowl add the peanut butter, tahini, Korean chili paste, sriracha, sesame oil soys sauce and some water.  You want a consistency that is somewhat like the thickness of a good paint.  Once this is mixed, toss in all your prepared veggies and toss to coat everything in the sauce.

Pour entire mixture into a baking dish and cover with foil.  Bake at a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.  Remove foil and cook for a while longer until you see a bit of color on the top of the bake.

Serve this over brown rice with a nice glass of white wine....it's YUMMY.

Camping Grub

 Who says you can't eat well when you are camping!  This past weekend several of us descended on Fredericksburg, TX to enjoy a weekend away from the hustle and bustle.  We decided to fix a Caprese salad and pork tenderloin in a caper cream sauce.

Caprese Salad:

Such a great salad to have in the summer!

Slice Tomatoes
Slice Mozzarella around the same thickness as tomatoes
Chiffonade a few leaves of basil

Dressing:

4 Tablespoons of Balsamic
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground mustard
Pinch of salt
While whisking, drizzle in olive oil.  Add enough oil to slightly thicken.

Drizzle dressing over the salad, sprinkle the basil and serve!

The Pork Tenderloin is a tried and true recipe of mine.  This version we grilled the tenderloins to 155 degrees and served it with a caper cream sauce....it was a crowd pleaser!

Asian Style Ribs

ASIAN STYLE RIBS:

I found a frozen rack of ribs in my freezer, left over from some giant meat fest I did earlier this year.  I've been wanting to play around with ribs done in the oven, and decided on something Asian inspired.  After looking through several recipes, I got the general idea of what I wanted to do.

1.  Line a baking sheet with foil (really reduces clean-up later.)

2.  On another piece of heavy duty foil, place your ribs, either whole rack or cut in half as you see in the pic.  Liberally salt and pepper them, then seal them up in foil.  Before you close it up, add about 1/4 cup of water so there is moisture in the foil pack.  Seal, place the pouch on the covered baking sheet and put in a 300 degree oven for two hours.

3.  Glaze:  I basically used equal parts of:  Honey, Hoisin, soy and rice wine vinegar.  To that I added 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger and 1/2 teaspoon on chili flakes.  More if you like it hotter.

4.  Open up the foil pack of ribs, exposing them completely.  Leave the pouch on the lined baking sheet and brush with the initial coating of your glaze.  Put the ribs back in the oven UNCOVERED  for another hour, re-basting every 15 minutes.

These ribs were so tender, and the glaze was just perfect.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Eat Well!

Kevin

Easter Turkey - Injected and Smoked

I suppose you could call Sunday's turkey a bit of an experiment, only because I've not injected a turkey before, nor have I smoked an entire bird.  I will say, the results were quite tasty, and i'd do it again in a heartbeat.  An acquaintance of mine suggested trying Tony Chachere's injectable marinades, he thought they were pretty tasty and produced a moist flavorful bird.  So let's give credit where credit is due...here is the link for Tony Chachere's marinades:

Here's what I did:

1.  Rinse and pat dry a turkey.  I don't recommend going over 12-13 lbs for smoking, it will simply take too long.

2.  Using the injector, inject marinade in several spots in the breast meat, legs and thighs.  You will notice how the meat of the bird puffs up with the injection liquid.

3.  I used a BBQ rub over the entire bird, then let it sit for about an hour.  during that time, I got the smoker up to temp...around 225-250 degrees.  I used Apple Wood for this recipe.  I think it's a milder smoke and usually is my go to wood for poultry.

4.  My bird smoked for around 7 hours to get the deepest part of the breast meat up between 165-170.  I took it off and let it rest for about an hour while we made the other goodies to go along with the bird.

NOTES:  I think the bird came out very well.  The meat was amazingly tender and juicy with tons of flavor.  I think next time I will make my own marinade and try different flavor profiles.  The injection syringe is something that you can use over and over again, but for goodness sake, put it in a safe spot...the point is super sharp!    I recommend this method, it's fun and produced a great end product!

Eat Well!

Stuffed Pork Loin Chop

Inspired by my trip to the Farmers Market this week, I decided to make dinner for my folks Sunday evening.  Along with the greens that I posted in the previous entry, I also served Kohlrabi sautéed in garlic and olive oil and a tomato and mozzarrela salad with garlic oil, balsamic and saffron salt.  Stuffed chops are super easy, and can be assembled ahead of time to keep kitchen mess at a minimum.  This recipe requires brining the pork which is listed in a previous entry.

http://kevsculinarycreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/to-brine-or-not-to-brine.html

Stuffed Pork Loin Chop:

1.  Brine the pork as listed above.
2.  Make a mixture of diced ham and shredded cheese.  Use whatever cheese you like...no rules here.

3.  Make a pouch in the chop.  This is done by using a paring knife to carefully cut a cavity in the chop.  Then pack as much of the mixture in the cavity you just created.   See Pic

 






4.  Seal or close the pouch with a toothpick...just remember to remove the toothpick before you serve it!

At this point you can cover the chops, put them in the fridge and keep them ready for when you want to prepare them.  

Preparation:  

Salt and Pepper your chops.  In a pan, heat up a mixture of butter and olive oil and sear one side of the chops to a nice color.  Flip the chops and finish in a 400 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes.  You don't want to overcook these.  When done, let them rest and plate.  I served mine with a dark balsamic vinegar drizzled over it...it was fantastic.  The darkness of the balsamic almost makes the chop looked burnt...but trust...it wasn't!  

Be creative with your stuffings...I've used all kinds of cheese, spicy sausages, and even traditional surfing mixtures.  

Enjoy, and Eat Well!