Chicken Fried Steak Sliders with Country Bacon Gravy

This recipe works great with chopped steak, beef or pork tenderloins and chicken or turkey

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Fried Steak:

• 2 – four oz pieces of chopped steak or pounded out filet tenderloin pieces
• 2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• 2 cups of buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 cups Flour
• ¼ cups of a neutral oil, like peanut, canola or grape seed.
• 1 tablespoon of rendered bacon fat
• 4 slices of chopped crispy thick sliced bacon

For the Bacon Gravy:

• Drippings from the Chicken Fried Steak skillet
• 3 tablespoons Flour
• 1 tablespoons Butter
• 2 tablespoon rendered bacon fat
• 2 cups Milk
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Salt (if necessary)

For the Sliders:

• 8 pieces of Chicken Fried Steak (optional Chicken/Turkey or Pork tenderloin)
• Bacon Gravy
• 8 Potato Rolls (or dinner rolls of your choice)

Preperation:

For the Chicken Fried Steak: Cut the chopped steaks or tendeloin pieces in half. Pound them out to make them thinner (about 1/4 inch thick). Next soak them in buttermilk while you fry the bacon (slow and low) and collect the rendered bacon fat (about 2-3 tablespoons) and allow the bacon to crisp.

For Chicken or turkey breasts: For the Fried Chicken/Turkey: Cut the chicken breasts in half widthwise. Pound them out to thin (about 1/4 inch thick) and cut in half again.

After you are done with the bacon, add the salt and pepper to the flour in a shallow bowl or large plate. Remove the steak (chicken, turkey or pork) from the buttermilk and dredge each piece in the flour, generously coating all sides, pressing the steak into the flour. Repeat with the rest of the pieces. Set the pieces of chicken fried steak on a rack to air dry.

Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and bacon fat. Once up to temp add the chicken fried steak pieces to the skillet, taking care not to crowd. Keep an eye on the side of the chicken fried steak that’s facing down and when it turns a light golden color, turn the pieces over. Then after the other side turns a light golden color, turn them to the other side.

After that side turns a little bit darker, turn the chicken fried steak again. The idea is to not let it cook or brown too fast. If you notice that the drippings in the pan are turning a darker brown color, turn the heat down just a bit. When all sides of the chicken fried steak are a light golden brown (about 7 minutes) turn off the heat, remove them rom the pan, set each piece on a rack or plate, and set aside.

For the Bacon Gravy: Pour out the oil so that just the yummy crunchies are left in the pan. Heat the skillet with the drippings and one tablespoon of rendered bacon fat. Add the butter and let it melt before adding the flour, then stir until the mixture thickens up (about 2 minutes). Next, while stiriing, add the milk, chicken stock and pepper. Continue stirring until the gravy is at the desired consistency (about 5 minutes). Add a few tablespoons of water if you need to thin it out. Season with the salt if necessary.

For the Sliders: Lay the bottom side of each slider roll on the serving plates with the inside of the roll facing up. Ladle some gravy over the roll. Then add a piece of the chicken fried steak, and ladle more gravy over the piece of chicken fried steak. Add the top piece of the slider roll. Serve while warm.

My Quinoa Balls

Ingredients:

• ½ cup cooked butter beans
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup corn meal (coating)
• 1 cup mixed wholegrains ground or flour – (like buckwheat & oatmeal)
• 2 tbs ground flax seeds
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs oilve oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ black pepper
• 1 egg
• Pinch nutmeg
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp molasses

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients (except for the cornmeal) in a bowl mixing thorougly. Mixture should be sticky but manageable.

Form into a little larger than golf sized balls and rolls them in the corn meal to coat. Then place the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350° F for 25- 30 minutes turning over half way through. 

Freeze any left overs

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes Leftover Croquettes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of milk
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of green onion (scallion), chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 4 cups of mashed potatoes
• 1 whole egg, beaten
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 4 cups of panko bread crumbs
• Peanut Oil for fying, enough to fill a skillet 1/2 way

Prepartation:

Use this recipe for left over mashed potatoes. 

Saute minced garlic in olive oil. Allow to cool and add to your bowl of left over mashed potatoes.

Add the milk, salt, pepper, green onion, beaten egg yolks, flour, and the cheese to the bowls with the garlic and mashed potatoes. Cover and chill the potato mixture in the refrigerator for 1/2 an hour.

Remove the potato mixture from the fridge and use an ice cream scoop to shape the potatoes into little cakes. Tossl them lightly in the flour and lay them out on a parchment covered dish.  Place in the freezer for 30-60 minutes.

Remove some from the freezer and dip the cakes into the beaten whole egg, and then dip them in the Panko bread crumbs to give them an even coat.

Working in bathces, fry each croquette in a skillet in shallow oil until golden brown on all sides. Be sure to keep the batches small and don’t cowd the pan with too many croquettes.

Remove them and allow to drain, sprinkling a little bit of salt or seasoned salt on them.  Place on a rack in an oven set to the lowest temperature (-200 degrees) to keep til serving. 

Cajun Blackened Shrimp and Avocado Mango Quinoa

Ingredients:

Quinoa

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 large mango, pitted and diced
• 1 large avocado, pitted and diced
• 2 green onions, diced
• Cilantro or Parsley, a large handful chopped (about ½ cups)
• Freshly squeezed lime juice to taste (no more than 2 tablespoons)
• 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• Sea salt or Cajun blackening seasoning
• Cracked black pepper

Blackened Shrimp

• 1/2 lb, 16/20 shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Cajun blackening seasoning (or you can buy prepared blackening seasoning)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• ½ Stick of butter

Preparation:

For the shrimp, melt the butter and add olive oil to a mixing bowl, allow it to cool down to room.  Pour your Cajun blackening seasoning onto a large plate. Take the shrimp and toss it all into the butter/olive oil mixture.  Then take each shrimp add coat them well with your blackening seasoning.  Arrange the coated shrimp on a parchment covered baking sheet.

Place the coated shrimp into the freezer for 30 minutes or into the fridge for a few hours. This allows the seasoning to set and the butter to harden.  This keeps your shrimp moist while blackening over high heat.

In the meantime, rinse your quinoa under cold water.  Next, add your quinoa, water, chicken stock and pinch of salt to a medium sized pot.  Bring to a boil and then cover with a lid and turn the heat down to a simmer. Continue to simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Bring your cast iron skillet to high heat without any oil. You want to see the pan smoking, cuz it’s so damn hot!  Cook the shrimp on each side for no more than a couple minutes, or until they turn pink.  Shrimp cook very quickly (and continue to cook off heat), so be sure not to overcook.

Mix the quinoa with the remaining ingredients, season with salt or Cajun blackening seasoning and pepper and serve with the shrimp and fresh cilantro or parsley for the garnish

Grilled Oysters with Garlic Basil Butter Sauce

Grilling season is almost over. Tonight will be one of the last BBQ parties we’ll have. The first course to be served will be these grilled oysters with garlic and basil and of course butter..

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 8 dozen oysters

Preparation:

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; season to taste with salt. Keep warm.

Scrub oysters under running water; discard any that are open and do not close within a few seconds.

Grill oysters over high heat of at least 400+ degrees for about 5 minutes, until shells open slightly.

Remove from heat and set the half shells a rack over a baking tray. Pry off top shell, using oven mitts to protect hands from hot shells and liquid. Discard top shell, and loosen meat from bottom shell.

Place on a serving tray, and serve immediately with Basil-Garlic Butter Sauce.

Easy Red Velvet Mini Tres Leche Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 box Betty Crocker Milk Chocolate Cake Mix
• 3  eggs
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extracts
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tube Betty Crocker red food coloring gel
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 ounces evaporated milk
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting

Directions:

In a stand mixer, beat together the Betty Crocker chocolate cake, eggs, butter, vanilla, almond extract, water, and the entire tube of red gel coloring until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees line your muffin tins with aluminum-foil lined cups. This will help support your cupcakes once you drizzle your tres leches into them. Using an ice cream scoop fill each liner with a little more than 1/2 way full in order to bake up into perfect cupcakes.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Then, use a small spoon or scoop and remove a bit of cake from the center of each cupcake. Now pour each of your three leches into this center console. Pour slowly! You want to give time for the cupcake to soak up all of the milks!  Allow to set for about an hour before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

After they have set, spread or pipe a bit of Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting over each cupcake.

The Moistest Thanksgiving Turkey Ever!

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts apple juice
• 1 gallon cold water
• 1 cups brown sugar
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sage
• 2 tablespoons thyme
• 2 tablespoons rosemary
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 4-6 cups of ice
• Oven roasting bags

Directions:

Combine everything, except for the ice, into a large soup pot and bring to a simmer. Stir the mixture to dissolve the salt and allow herbs to season the brine. After about 30 minutes remove from the heat and allow the brine to cool down to room temperature.

In the meantime, remove the neck and giblets, and then thoroughly rinse your turkey inside and out. Pat the turkey dry and wait for the brine to cool.

To prepare the container for brining, place an oven roasting bag in a large stock pot with the opening of the bag over lapping the rim of the pot.  Next, place the turkey in the bag and carefully pour in the brine. Finish by adding enough ice to cover the bird, and then tie with a loose knot.

If you have enough room, place the stock pot into the refrigerator for 12-36 hours.

If you don’t have enough room in your refrigerator, empty out, wash, and sanitize the bottom vegetable/meat drawer of the refrigerator. Afterwards, you need to carefully transfer the bag, to the (cleaned and sanitized) vegetable/meat drawer, in the refrigerator, with the knot facing upward.

*Please note:  It is recommended that you should brine the turkey at least 1 hour for every pound.  Turn the bird half way through the brining period to brine equally. (I say 24 hours minimum!)

To cook the turkey, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine. Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Stuff the cavity with whatever you want, fruit, herbs, stuffing, etc. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil or melted unsalted butter.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F.

A fourteen to sixteen pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Spicy Thai Quinoa Noodles

Ingredients:

• 1 Box Quinoa Spaghetti Style Noodles
• 1 Tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon Huy Fong Garlic Chili Sauce
• 2 teaspoons creamy peanut butter
• ½ cup light sesame oil
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 6 tablespoons light soy
• 4 green onion stalks, chopped
• 2 carrots, shredded
• ½ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• ¾ cup chopped peanuts
• 2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Preparation:

In a sauce pan bring the two oils up to medium heat and add the crushed pepper flakes.  After about 20 minutes, bring a large pot ¾ full of salted water to a boil, for your pasta.

At the 30 minute mark, strain the oils into a bowl and discard the pepper flakes.  Mix in the peanut butter, honey, carrots, light soy sauce and garlic chili sauce and whisk to blend thoroughly and set aside.

Cook your quinoa noodles about a minute less than the instructions recommend.  While your noodles are cooking toast the sesame seeds over low heat. Turn your oven on to 200 degrees to hold the noodles while you finish the dish.

After the noodles have cooked, strain the noodles and toss into the mixture, in your bowl you set aside.   Mix until all the noodles are evenly coated.  Let them sit to absorb the sauce. Place the bowl into a warm oven about 200 degrees, occasionally mixing so all the noodles can absorb the sauce.

Serve by topping each serving with cilantro, green onions, peanuts and a sprinkling of the toasted sesame seeds.

Serve warm or cold. If cold, don’t put the pasta in the oven, place it in the refrigerator over night mixing it occasionally to coat the noodles. Serve with the same garnishes as when serving warm.

Porcini Bechamel Mushroom Pizza with Truffle Oil

Ingredients:

• 4 oz Butter
• ½ Cup Flour
• 2 Cups Milk
• 2 Tbsp Dried Porcini Powder
• 1 Pound of mixed Cremini and Shitaki mushrooms
• 3 Shallots minced (small)
• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ¼ Cup Olive oil
• 2 tablespoons truffle oil
• 2 Tbsp Fresh Thyme
• 19 oz pizza dough (I just buy it from my pizza guys)
• 1 Pound Fresh or shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 6 oz Parmigianino Reggiano

Preparation:

Begin by chopping the mushrooms and mixing with the garlic, shallots, olive oil, red pepper flakes and thyme on a baking pan and roast in a 375 degree oven for 30-45 minutes or until liquid evaporates.  Remove and set aside until you are ready to build the pizza.

In the meantime make the Porcini bechamel by creating a roux. Simply cook the butter and the flour until it smells nutty.  Then whisk in the milk and the porcini powder and cook until it thickens. After the sauce has thickened adjust the salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside for the sauce to cool and thicken further before filling a piping bag.

Let’s make us some pizza. First, roll out dough to make into a 16 inch circle. Spread the mozzarella onto the dough, followed by piping the Porcini bechamel using a pastry bag (or gently spreading with a ladle). Sprinkle, over the béchamel,  the roasted mushroom mixture.  Finally, top the pizza with the Parmigianino Reggiano and bake (preferably on a pizza stone) in the oven as high as it can go for about 6-10 minutes.  Serve with a light drizzle of white truffle oil.

Chocolate Coated Candied Spicy Bacon

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1 tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Black Pepper
• 1 pound apple smoked pork bacon
• 1 lb chocolate or chocolate candy coating
• Flaked sea salt, chopped nuts, or other toppings of your choice

Preparation:

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, slowly cook bacon until bacon is lightly browned on edges but still flexible, turning over once, approximately 5 minutes total per batch. Drain the fat each time. (Remember bacon crisps as it cools, so do not overcook.) Remove cooked bacon from the frying pan and place onto paper towels to soak up excess fat.

After draining fat from the frying pan, reduce heat to low.  Grab a bowl and add all the cooked bacon with the brown sugar, pepper and mustard mixture, tossing with a fork to coat the pieces evenly.  Return the bacon to the frying pan. (NOTE: Sugar melts very slowly and burns easily; reduce heat further if necessary, after the sugar begins to caramelize.)

Remove from heat and transfer onto a wire rack to cool. Keep the pieces separate or they will stick together.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. If you are using chocolate candy coating, simply melting it is fine. If you are using real chocolate, temper the chocolate, so that it remains shiny and hard at room temperature.

Holding a strip of bacon at the top, carefully dip most of it into the melted chocolate. I prefer to keep about an inch of bacon uncovered, so that is easier to eat (and easier for other people to identify what they are eating!) but you can always use a fork to dip the bacon completely in the chocolate if you want it entirely covered up. If you have trouble dipping the bacon; use a spoon to pour the melted chocolate over the bacon until both sides are covered to your liking.

Lay the chocolate-dipped bacon on a tray or plate covered with waxed paper. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the top with flaked sea salt, chopped toasted nuts, or any other toppings you’d like. Repeat until all of the bacon is covered with chocolate.

Refrigerate the tray to set the chocolate, for about 15 minutes. Once set, let the bacon come to room temperature, and it’s ready to eat! Store Candied Spicy Bacon dipped in Chocolate in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.