Classic Meat Loaf

Tonight it was back to basics for dinner. Time for a real, man meal of meat and potatoes. I try not to get too carried away with new recipes since my husband is a meat and potato man.

Most recipes I have for meat loaf are for 2 - 4 lbs. of ground beef. So I altered a recipe for 1 lb. of ground beef. Just right for two folks, and a little left to pack his lunch.

 Man loaf.

 Dig in.

 

 A first for making fried okra. It's quite tasty.

Classic Meat Loaf

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 Tbsp. cornmeal

1/2 cup cracker crumbs

2/3 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. vinegar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 egg

Topping

1/3 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp mustard

a couple drops of liquid smoke

Mix together with hands and form into a loaf.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Whisk together topping

and spread over top and bake 15 minutes more. 

Let set 10 minutes before cutting.

This helps it to stay together.

Enjoy,

Hope

The Board

Creative title I know. But It all really started with a dirty, ugly, board. I'm always dreaming up new things to create. I think my husband gets weary of my ideas at times. But this time, since it was working with wood, he helped my dream come true.

I sanded a rough walnut board down that we had and a lovely wood grain appeared. Josh helped me put the finish on just in time for my mother-in-law's birthday dinner. There is something fulfilling about carrying out a idea you have in your head.

My idea was to have a long board down the middle of our table with a finished surface so I could put food straight on the board. I wanted the board to create a relaxed atmosphere of fun- with a meal that had lots of components and place them on the board. Then folks could create their food as they talk and eat whatever they wanted to.

A soft taco bar, an idea come true.

Homemade tortillas, go here for the recipe. 

Just roll them out thin and fry them on a griddle instead of in oil.

The calm before the storm...

... and the wind came.

It really was a fun, relaxing evening. We talked about all sorts of things as we grabbed and growled. Awkward doctor visits and such. Not sure how that conversation got started. Too bad the board doesn't have a voice recorder to record all the conversations that will be spoken over it.

Happy birthday to a wonderful mother-in-law.

Hope

Baby Back Ribs

I woke up this morning to a blanket of snow of on the ground. The view from our bedroom window portrayed that the roads must be covered in snow and dangerous. I was proven wrong when I looked out the kitchen window to see that our lane was clear. I scrambled and got ready for work. No day off for me.

I decided to tackle making baby back ribs for dinner and found out that they are very easy to make. Yipee... bring on summer.

 Saute shallots and add brown sugar to caramelize. Add remaining ingredients and you have a delicious BBQ sauce. Baste ribs with sauce and bake until tender, then throw on the grill for 10 minutes.

Baby Back Ribs

1 rack of baby back ribs (about 2.5 lbs.)

BBQ Sauce

1 Tbsp. butter

1 shallot, sliced

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 brandy

1/2 cup A1 thick steak sauce (regular would work fine)

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. stone ground mustard

1/4 tsp. salt

2 pinches of red pepper flakes

In a skillet melt butter, add shallots and saute until soft. Add brown sugar and cook until slightly caramelized. Add brandy and stir until combined. Add steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper flakes.

Cut ribs into two sections. Baste with 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce. Place in a 9" x 13" baking dish, meat side down. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 1 hr and 15 minutes or until fork tender. Turn grill on medium heat and baste ribs with remaining sauce. Grill until crispy and heat through- around 10 minutes. Watch closely, with the thick sauce they will easily burn. If you have sauce left over warm and serve with ribs.

Enjoy,

Hope

Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Tenders

Chicken tenders were on sale at the local grocery store this week- so I whipped up some pan fried chicken tenders. Instead of dredging them in just flour I tossed in a little cornmeal and loved the crunch and flavor it added.

I like different sauces so I created a trio of dipping sauces- stone ground honey mustard, southwest and honey BBQ. 

Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Tenders

12-14 chicken tenders

4 Tbsp. butter

1 cup flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper

Combine flour and cornmeal on a plate. In another bowl whisk together egg and milk. Coat chicken tenders in egg mixture, then dredge in flour mixture.

Coat again in egg mixture and then the flour mixture. This creates a nice 

thick layer of crunch. Melt butter in skillet and add chicken tenders.

Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Fry until golden brown.

Serve with dipping sauces of your choice.

I used my honey BBQ wing recipe for the BBQ sauce.

Stone ground mustard and honey for the honey mustard

and for the southwest I mixed together Mayo, a little

ketchup, a squirt of lemon juice, and a

sprinkle of garlic powder and paprika. 

Enjoy,

Hope

Herb Crusted Rack of Pork

Have you ever stood in the meat aisle at a grocery store and thought a cut of meat looked fun but overwhelming? How do I season it? How do I cook it? Will it be tough?

Yes, I have.

I took the plunge this Valentines and bought a rack of pork. It turned out lovely thanks to my new, digital meat thermometer. 

 It's real simple. Coat with herbs and roast until the temperature reaches 145.

Let pork rest for 5 minutes so the juices can slowly go back into the meat.

Go here for the recipe.

I roasted the pork on 450 for 15 minutes to brown the outside and then

turned it back to 350 until the temperature read 145.

Have you cooked a rack of pork before?

A rack of pork is bone-in, fresh pork loin.

Blessings,

Hope

Pig Meetn'

We had a butchering day with my family yesterday. I vividly remember

butcher day as a child. I always wanted to take off school for butcher day. One day mom asked if I would rather go somewhere to stay or come with them to butchering day. I told her I'd rather come to the 'pig meetn' with them.
For years it was called the 'pig meetn'.

The older I got I did all I could to miss the 'pig meetn'. The strong smell and cutting up raw meat wasn't a real draw for me. What teenager doesn't

have more important things to do, ha. Now that I'm married I decided I'd participate in 'pig meetn' again so I could reap the benefits of fresh sausage, pon hoss and spending a day with the family. I guess that means I'm growing up.

I will step you through the process with photos. But please don't go by this to butcher a pig. I'm green behind the ears at this. I may have missed some important photos.

The pig was slaughtered by a local man and came to us in halves ready to butcher. Start cutting out the parts of the meat you want to keep- roasts, ribs, bacon and such.

Cut the fat off the meat pieces. Put the red meat in one pan and the fat in another. The red meat is used for sausage and the fat is used to make lard.

Trim the bones down as close as you can and throw them in a pot of boiling water too cook down for meat puddin which is made into pon hoss.

Once you pick the meat off the bones you cooked, run the cooked meat through a sausage grinder to make it fine. Brown the meat in the kettle and remove some meat puddin if you like. As a child I remember eating the meat puddin on cooked hominy with apple butter. Then add the broth that was made when you cooked the meat off the bones. Pour in corn meal, salt and pepper. Stir for 30 minutes with automatic paint stirrer. Of course it was new and just used for butchering. Then pour into loaf pans, once set, slice and fry on a hot griddle until crisp on both sides. We grew up putting King Syrup on our pon hoss, my husband puts mustard on his. What do you put on yours?

In another kettle add the fat you cut off the meat and cook it down until the liquid reaches 375 degrees. Then pour it into jars and once it's cooled you have lard. Some folks use a lard press to press more lard out of the cooked fat but we didn't.

The Grandma's reminiscing on how much work it was to butcher back in their day before freezers. They had to can a lot of the meat after they butchered. 

Mom and Dad butchered the day before so Mom was the cook and babysitter.

What a lovely day with family.

 I'm glad I was a part of the 'pig meetn' this year.

Blessings,

Hope

Grilled London Broil

I have always wanted to fix 

London broil but never took the time

to research how to cook it.

Most recipes call to marinate it

for 24 to 6 hours. Well, I can't

think that far ahead... so I tried

a 'quick' version of Emeril Lagasse's

marinated and grilled London broil.

It was delicious.

Thank you Emeril.

Four easy steps. And you have London broil.

Add three easy sides and you have a dinner.

Grilled London Broil

1-2 lb. London broil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup red wine

2 Tbsp. oil

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. Soy sauce

1 tsp. hickory smoke marinate, not hickory smoke

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

3 tsp. pepper, coarsely ground

3 garlic gloves, crushed

1/2 tsp salt

Stab meat all over with a fork so it can marinate quickly.

Place London broil in a gallon zip lock bag.

Whisk together ingredients and pour in bag.

Let set for 30 minutes to an hour.

Or longer if you want to do as Emeril says.

I feel like 24 hours would be over marinated.
But a little longer than 30 minutes would have 
helped break down the meat and tenderize it.

 Grill 5 minutes per side. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Slice diagonally. It will be dark pink- don't freak out

this is what makes it tender. It's how it's supposed to be.

Serve with steak sauce.

Enjoy,

Hope

 

Pulled Pork BBQ

Well, here is the second barbecue
recipe within two weeks. 

Summer must be on my mind.

I was trying to think of a way to

do pulled pork barbecue

 within an hour and found

a recipe online that said you

can cook it on your stove top.

Sometimes when I cook it's good,

but not quite what I had imagined.

Tonight was a night the 

imagination turned out right. 

 I bought a 2.5 lb. pork tenderloin and cut it into 

smaller pieces so it would fit in my kettle.

Mix together rub and sprinkle on all sides.

 Add a quarter inch of olive oil to your kettle and

sear all sides of the pork until browned.

 Then drain oil off of the pork and add...

Beer. Yes, it's beer. Beer is a wonderful way to tenderize meats. 

 Beer tenderizes by penetrating and breaking down fatty and non-fat tissues. 

The alcohol burns off during the cooking process, yielding a flavorful 

taste and rich color to any meat.

 Pour the beer over your pork, at first it will be foamy.

Leave your burner on medium and cover your kettle.

Simmer for 1 hour.

This is what you will find after an hour.

Remove pork from skillet and start...

 ... pulling the pork apart with forks.

Add to your simmering barbecue sauce.

Let simmer a few minutes.

Spoon on a bun and top with some slaw.

It's bound to make someone happy.

Pulled Pork Barbecue

1- 2.5 lb. pork tenderloin

olive oil

Rub

1 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. seasoned salt

1- 24 oz. can of beer

Mix together rub ingredients and sprinkle all over the pork.

Heat a quarter inch of olive oil in a kettle and

sear pork on all sides until brown.

Drain off oil. Pour beer over pork and cook

on medium heat, covered, for one hour.

Meanwhile make the barbecue sauce

in another pan.

Barbecue Sauce

3/4 cup of ketchup

1/3 cup vinegar

1/2 cup water

3 T. brown sugar

2 tsp. dry mustard

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. liquid smoke

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup onion, chopped

Mix together and simmer on low until you are

ready to add the pulled pork.

After the pork is done pull it apart

with two forks and add to the barbecue sauce.

Simmer for a few minutes and serve

on a bun with slaw.

Blessings,

Hope

Barbecue Ribs

I love anything barbecued.

Ribs, chicken and all sorts of things.

This is a rib recipe I have used for

years, and it's so good I don't

try any other rib recipes.

I fixed ribs for Joshua's birthday

one year when we were dating

and have kept the recipe ever since.

Mix together rub ingredients and sprinkle on

all sides of the ribs. Let set 2 hours.

I just had 30 minutes to spare and that worked fine.

After baking 1 hour at 300, drain off grease.

Top with your barbecue sauce and

bake at 350 for 1 hour more.

Savory and delicious.

 Run get your fork and dig in.

Barbecue Ribs

1 large rack of Pork Spare Ribs

Rub

1 Tbsp. salt

2 Tbsp. pepper

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Mix together and rub on all sides of the the ribs.

Let set for 2 hours.

Place ribs in a large roasting pan and add 1 inch of water.

Cover and roast at 300 for 1 hour.

Drain the grease and top with the barbecue sauce

Barbecue Sauce

  

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. liquid smoke

1/4 tsp. red pepper

1 tsp. ground mustard

2 Tbsp. orange juice

Increase oven temperature to 350 and bake another hour.

The ribs should pull apart easily with a fork.

If they do not they need to be roasted longer.

Some ribs are thicker than others.

If you roast two racks of ribs in one

roaster you will need to roast them

1 hour longer on 350 and flip them half way.


Before I've used the large pack of ribs from Costco.
I would recommend them. These were small boneless
ones from IGA. If you get the large pack
of ribs from Costco, you will need to double this
recipe. There are two racks in each pack. 

I usually save a little barbecue sauce

to heat and top the ribs with when they

come out of the oven. 

Enjoy,

Hope 

Honey Roasted Chicken

Today was a wonderful day.

I woke up to a gorgeous blanket

of snow that I was not expecting.

I didn't go to work so my sister, Charity,

walked over to make cinnamon rolls.

She will be here in Virginia for 6 months

and will be staying next door,

in Joshua's parents basement.

Needless to say, I'm super excited.

We already have big plans for our

garden this summer.

 Cheri and Charlie, their adorable puppy.

Charlie kept whimpering and would not 

take a nap. So we came up with a cage.

We puttered around and made some cinnamon rolls.

After baking today I didn't feel too creative

for dinner. I wanted something I could stick

in the oven and sit down for a little.

So I threw together a 9x13 of chicken to roast in the oven.

It was nice and tender.

Roast some potatoes too. Then all you have to do

is cook some peas and cut a salad.

Honey Roasted Chicken

6 chicken thighs

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large garlic clove, crushed

2 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix together sauce ingredients. Lay chicken in a 9x13

pan and pour sauce over it. Let set for 1 hour. 

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Turn chicken 

and bake 20 minutes more.

Sprinkle lightly with salt if you think it needs it.

Enjoy,

Hope

Creamy Italian Chicken & Pasta

I was hungry for something comforting for dinner.

Something with pasta and a cream sauce.

I remembered I had some wheat penne pasta

and that made me feel better about cooking

my comforting dish.

Slice three large chicken breast in half and fry in

a little butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.

Crush a large garlic clove and spread a little on top

of each piece of chicken.

Remove chicken from skillet and slice and handful

of grape tomatoes in half and lay the cut side down.

 Saute tomatoes until a little browned.

Remove from skillet and add to chicken.

Add 1/3 cup of white wine to deglaze the pan.

Simmer until half. Add your cream and milk

and cook until slightly thickened.

 Add chicken and tomatoes back to the skillet

and top with fresh grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

 Serve on a bed of whole wheat penne pasta. Dig in. Be comforted.

Creamy Italian Chicken & Pasta

3 chicken breast, sliced in half

2 Tbsp. butter

1 large garlic clove, crushed

salt and pepper to taste

a handful of grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1/3 cup white wine

1 cup half and half

1 cup milk

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. parsley flakes

fresh grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Slice chicken breast in half. Melt butter in skillet.

Add chicken and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Crush a garlic clove and spread a little on top of

each piece of chicken. Fry until both sides are browned.

Remove chicken from skillet and add grape tomatoes

with the sliced side down. Saute until browned.

Remove from skillet and pour in wine. Simmer

until it reduces to half. Whisk half and half, milk

and cornstarch together. Pour into wine and

simmer until slightly thickened. Return chicken

and tomatoes to the skillet and top with cheese.

Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve over pasta.

Taste your sauce for salt and add as needed.

Enjoy,

Hope

 

Spicy Peach Glazed Chicken

It's January and I am getting the spring

fever... we grilled two times last week.

I had been wanting to create a peach

glazed chicken that wasn't too peachy and sweet.

I have made this recipe twice and we love it.

The peach is there but isn't overwhelming.

Chicken for me and steak for my hubby.

Spicy Peach Glazed Chicken

4 lbs. chicken tenders (can use chicken of your choice)

1 cup peach preserves

1 large garlic clove, crushed

6 Tbsp. olive oil

4 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 cup of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (add seeds too)

2 tsp. vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

Mix together and pour most of it over your chicken.

Leave a little out for basting while grilling.

Stir well to make sure all the chicken is coated. 

Let set for 3-4 hours. While grilling baste on

each side. Grill until done.

p.s. Don't be scared to add the jalapeno pepper, 
it wasn't too hot, if you like hot food add 
a half of another pepper.

Enjoy,

Hope