BBQ Sides

Well, what a dreary day!  Cold, windy, and nothing to do but cook.  So that's what I've been doing today.  Put on a boston butt this morning and also have ribs smoking now.  Now to work on the sides.  I have been wanting to make a potato salad that doesn't have mayo, eggs, or pickles.  I don't like regular potato salad.  Also, wanted a new baked bean recipe.  So, I got to work on it today.  Here are the recipes.

Baked Beans

1 gallon Bushes Baked Beans

1 1b bacon, diced

6-8 jalapeno's, diced/seeded

1 lg onion, diced

1/2 cup brown sugar

Saute diced bacon, jalapeno's, and onion until onion is translucent.  Drain fat and mix with beans. 

Bake in oven @ 400.

Red Potato Salad

Red potatoes boiled and diced

1 Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese, room temp.

2 heaping tbsp sour cream

salt/pepper

1 handful Shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 pkg Real Bacon peices

1 tsp Onion powder

1 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp Parsley flakes

2 tsp Dill Weed

3 Green onions

Dice potaotes and boil in salted water until fork tender.  While potatoes are boiling, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, and the rest to the ingredients.  Set aside.  When potatoes are done, drain and let cool.  Lightly toss potatoes and cream cheese mixture.  Refigerate and serve.




Pulled Pork

Celery Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Apple Juice
Boston Butt

The night before rub down butt with seasoning and wrap in suran wrap followed by foil and refrig.  Get smoker heat to 225-250 and place butt in aluminin pan fat cap down and pour in apple juice.  Place in smoker.  Every hour spray with apple juice.  When internal temp reaches 150 cover with foil and continue to smoke until internal temp reaches 195.  This may take up to 10-12 hours.  When its done remove and cover with foil and let rest for 30-45 mins.  Pull with forks.

Salsa

Wow!  It's been awhile.  The holidays can be all consuming.  I've also been working on my family cookbook as birthday presents for my mom and sis.  They are complete!  That was a job.  Here is my favorite homemade salsa recipe.  It's one of my sister's.  ENJOY

2 cans whole tomatoes
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2 green bell peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 1/2 white onions (you can use 1/2 red onion to change the flavor a bit)
2 tbsp minced garlic (to taste)
1/2 jar jalapenos
Salt (be careful, adding Tony's as well)
Pepper
Tony's seasoning (usually just coat the top)
Extra virgin olive oil (probably about 1 tbsp)
Red wine vinegar (probably about 1 tbsp)


Chop whole tomatoes fairly well to make the base. Add the diced tomatoes for texture. Chop and add bell peppers and onions (depends on what texture you want). I always chop jalapenos and garlic together just to blend well. Add remaining ingredients. It is always better after it has sit for a few hours.
When you are done mixing everything, if it tastes too acidic or bland, add a little salt. That tends to bring out more of the flavors.

Bread Pudding 2

Well,  the difference was the bread.  Take your Italian bread and slice it long ways and place in oven while your oven is heating up to 350.  It was yummy.  I'm happy with the recipe now.  If you like banana's foster then add sliced bananas and some banana liquor.  You can also add rasians, toasted coconut, or pecans.  Top with homemade caramel sauce and ice cream.  Just use this recipe as a beginning and add as you want!

Bread Pudding

4 cups toasted Italian bread

5 eggs

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups sugar

1 tsp cinniamon

Toast sliced bread while you mix the rest of the ingredients.  Let bread soak in custard for 10 min before pouring in a greased 9x13 dish.  Bake at 350 uncovered 25 min and covered for 10-15 min until set.  Serve warm over ice cream and topped with caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

4 tbsp flour

1 cup boiling water

dash salt

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp cream

vanilla, to taste

Mix sugar with flour in suacepan; blend well.  Add water and salt.  Stir while cooking for 6-8 min.  If too thick add a little more water.  Remove from heat; stir in butter, cream, and vanilla to taste.

Bread Pudding

Well, I have a new quest.....Bread Pudding.  I had some when we were in Destin.  It was fine.  It had icecream, then bread pudding, topped with whipcream!  Yum Yum.... the pudding was hot so it started melting the ice cream and made a sauce for the pudding.  I tried today with hotdog buns.  I have used hotdog buns to cake donuts.  To me, the hotdog buns are too soft and don't leave the end result with the right texture.  Too gummy.  Right now the cake donut one is my fav so far, but I'm trying french bread next.  I did some research and some say let it get stale and some say don't.  The liquid is pretty simple.  It depends on the amout you want to make.  Say for a 9x9 dish it would be 3eggs, 1cup sugar, 1 cup heavy cream or milk, cinniamon and vanilla.  Mix and pour over bread.  For a 13x9 it would be 5 eggs, 2 cup sugar, 2 cups milk or cream, cinniamon and vanilla.  There seems to be an infinite way to make it from the bread to different toppings.  The one constant is the custard but you can add to this also. So, the quest begins.......

Shrimp & Cream over Pasta

Rob has been wanting crawfish fettucine.  I began to looking for a recipe and came across this one.  Its a recipe of my fav....Emeril.  You can use any style pasta and either shrimp or crawfish.  There isn't any "special" ingredients that you probably wouldn't already have in your pantry.  I adapted it alittle, so I'm giving the one that I used instead of his original.  You can find it at http://www.foodnetwork.com/ and search Crawfish and Cream over Pasta.  Hope you enjoy, we did!

1 lb angel hair pasta

6 tbsp butter

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tsp Essence, recipe follows,

or bought Essence

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne

2 cups heavy creme

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 lb crawfish tails/shrimp

2 tbsp parsley

grated parmesan

Cook pasta to al dente in salted water and set aside.  Leave to finish cooking in the water while you cook your sauce. 

In a large saute pan, melt butter and add onions and cook, stirring, until soft.  Add garlic, Essence, salt, and cayenne, and cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Add cream, lemon juice and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced.  Add crawfish or shrimp and cook, stirring, to heat through and cook shrimp.  Add parsley and thoroughly drained pasta and toss to coat.  Top with cheese. 

Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning

2 1/2 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp salt

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yeild 2/3 cup

Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish Grill

Well, there are 2 appetizers at Bonefish that we love.  They are Tuna Sushimi and Bang Bang Shrimp.  Well, Rob is the one who loves the tuna and we both love the shrimp.  I decided to find out how to make the Bang Bang sauce.  I searched several sites and found where you can buy readymade sauce.  I also found a recipe for it.  So today, I fried shrimp and we tossed them with the sauce.  Mmmmm good.  It was delicious!  I still want to try to make the sauce from scratch to see if it is as good.  Here's the recipe:

1 lb shelled and butterflied shrimp

SR flour

Buttermilk

Creole seasoning

Salt

Bang Bang Sauce*

Heat oil to 350.  Salt shrimp and season flour.  Dredge shrimp in flour, shake off excess, dip in buttermilk, and back into flour.  Fry until light golden brown.  Let drain on paper towels.  Place fried shrimp in a large bowl and toss with Bang Bang Sauce.  Serve immediately!

Tuna Shashimi recipe will come later......(it's good and easy)

*Dinni's Select

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits part 2

Well, I have it!  They have the texture and taste that I want.  I'm happy now that I don't have to keep trying recipes, because you know when you make them then you have to taste them.

2 1/2 cup AP White Lily Flour

1tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup canola oil

wax paper

 

Preheat oven at 475.  Sift together first 3 ingredients.  Stir in milk and oil with a fork til dough leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.  Turn dough out onto lightly floured wax paper.  Knead 4 times and pat out into a 1/2 in thick oval.  Cut with a 2 inch round cutter, reroll scraps as needed.  Place 3/4 in apart on parchemtn lined pan.  Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly brown.  In my oven it takes 8 minutes, may take less or more depending on your oven.