Up Next Surf and Turf Tacos (over camp fire)

So I've got this company picnic on Saturday.  It's at the local state park which has a nice campground.  I've been commissioned in smoking the BBQ for the picnic Saturday.  It's going to be my biggest smoke ever.  3 Boston Butts, 16 pieces of chicken, and a tiny bit of tofu for the vegans.  The ranger is a friend of mine and I've arranged to be at the picnic shelter far before the sun rises Saturday.  In order to do this I will need to be camping.  Chicken takes no time, but pork butts take at least 8 hours.  But this isn't really about Saturday.  This is about Friday night.  A real bromantic time, with my actual bro, well in law.  Oh the broments we will have making this dish.  I plan to cut some fresh herbs from the garden tomorrow, rosemary, oregano, basil how about thyme too.  It takes a little thyme sometimes friends.  Going to bring out some fresh garlic and just a little bit of salt and olive oil.  That's just the seasoning!  We will also have wild Georgia shrimp, some steak cuts, quartered red potatoes, maybe some onion and jalapeno.  All of this, coming soon over an open camp fire.

Stay hungry my friends.

Here it is, Pork After Dark with Au Gratin Sausage and Potatoes

So this smoked sausage walked into a club and saw this fiiiiiiiine lookin' tenderloin.  He said, "hey girl, let's go to my place and make some delicious love."  Tenderloin was a real lady so she made Smoked Sausage wine and dine her first.  She said, "you better soak me in a nice pineapple juice and herb brine first and get me some nice bacon lingerie."  Smoked Sausage really wanted to seal the deal so he did as he was told.  Well, enough of that.... Here's the details.

You will need:
1 smoked sausage link of your choice
1 pack of bacon
1 regular unseasoned pork tenderloin
24oz of pineapple juice
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh chopped thyme
1/4 cup fresh chopped oregano
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
2 cups sliced red potatoes
1/4 cup of salt
About 2 cups of shredded cheese of your choice
1/2 stick of butter
Flour to thicken the butter roux
Milk to thin the roux
Seasoning salt to taste
Bread Crumbs

Brining the Tenderloin:
In a medium size tuperware container combine the chopped herbs and garlic with 1/4 cup salt and 24oz pineapple juice. Mix it all up to dissolve the salt.  Add the tenderloin and let it sit over night in the refrigerator.

Bacon Weave:
Weave bacon like string weave, large enough to cover your tenderloin.  See below.

 Tenderloin:
After 24 hours remove the tenderloin from the refrigerator.  Slice a hole straight through the middle of the length of the tenderloin.  Push the smoked sausage through the tenderloin and cut off the sausage once it's all the way through.  Now cover the exterior in the bacon weave.  Preheat the oven for 350 and cook until internal temp is 140.  Then broil for 5 minutes to crisp the bacon.  Remove and let sit for a few minutes then slice and serve.

Potatoes:

Start a roux for the mornay sauce.  In a small sauce pan melt a half a stick of butter.  Add flour to thicken to a wet sand consistency.  Thin this out with a little bit of milk at a time constantly stirring with a whisk.  Once smooth and creamy add seasoning salt to your taste and the rest of the smoked sausage diced.  Now add your choice of shredded cheese a little bit a time constantly stirring.  In a medium size baking dish make layers of mornay, potatoes, mornay, then shredded cheese.  Repeat until you run out of your mornay.  Then cover with foil and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  If you put it in the same time as the tenderloin it will be ready at the same time.  After 40 minutes top with a layer of bread crumbs and broil with the tenderloin.  Remove and enjoy.

This was a good one folks.  Even the wife liked it.  Till next time, take care of yourselves, and each other.

Pork After Dark Preview

Up next, we violate a pork loin with a smoked sausage.

Russia again

Well, after some message board/googling I just learned that the Russia hits are likely spam, and the spam is blocked by blogger.  Thanks blogger.

Russia?

So I've been looking at where the hits on this blog come from.  An impressive 10% come from Russia.  So Russian readers, what kind of food do you folks like to eat?  Is there anything special you'd like to see on here?  How are you finding the blog?  How's the weather over there?  Thanks for reading.  Give me an email sometime jeremyscole525@gmail.com

Mexisagna (Lasagna, Mexican style)

First, don't be alarmed by the green hue.  It comes from the cilantro and poblano chilis.  This one really did take me back to middle school Mexican Hot Dish.  Weird how it always followed Taco Tuesdays.  Well, maybe not.  I'm guessing Mexican Hot Dish following Taco Tuesday was just a rebirth of unused taco meat from the day before and soft taco shells and cheese, which is essentially what this is.  So here is what you'll need:

1 20 pack of soft flour tortillas
2 large cloves of fresh garlic
About a half cup of fresh cilantro
2lbs of ground meat (I used turkey this time since we have some non-red-meat-eaters at work) - This was for a Quince De Mayo pot luck at work.
1 chopped onion
3 vine ripe tomatoes (medium size chopped and seeded)
3 chopped poblano peppers or the chili pepper of your choice depending on how hot you want it
4 cups of shredded fiesta blend cheese

Start by browning the meat.  Cook it all the way through.  While this is happening you can chop your produce to go into the food processor.  Once you've got everything chopped put it in your food processor.  Liquefy that glorious business.  This will pretty much turn into a fresh salsa.  Once your meat is browned, strain it.  Return the meat to the pan you cooked it in and add the salsa.  Stir it all well on medium heat for a few minutes.  Now get the baking dish.  I used a large rectangular one.  First spray the pan with cooking spray or your bottom layer will get stuck.  Now make one layer of tortillas, then cheese, then meat, then cheese again, then tortilla again.  Now another layer of cheese, then meat, then cheese, and tortilla for the last time.  You should have a tiny bit of cheese left to sprinkle on top of the casserole for presentation.  Now bake in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes, remove, slice up and enjoy.

See you next time friends.  Another special thanks to the 14% of total readers in Russia, holler a comment or email sometime jeremyscole525@gmail.com

Super Simple 3 Ingredient Crab Salad

The young lady I work with on Mondays always has great taste.  On Mondays we make lunch together.  Today she wanted something with crab.  I didn't get out to do some real crabbing so imitation crab had to do.  So here it is a super simple crab salad sandwich.

You will need:
1 package of crab meat (imitation or real).
1 Poblanno chili pepper (or any kind of pepper if you want it spicy go ahead and fire it up)
1 Cup of mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

Instructions:
Chop the pepper and crab in small pieces, then combine in a bowl all the ingredients and mix well.  Serve on your favorite bread or just eat it the way it is.

Enjoy friends.

Mexican lasagna coming soon

So we are having a Cinco de Mayo themed pot luck next week at the office.  A number of ideas came to mind but one stuck out.  Do any of you remember Mexican Hot Dish from the school cafeteria growing up?  Personally, I can still taste it.  The taco meat, cheese, and soft tortillas just coming together in glorious casserole form, ah delicious.  Not quite sure how it will go down when we put our spin on it.  I can assure you it will sizzle with freshness.

Pan Seared Lamb with Mustard Cream Sauce, Black Eyed Pea Cakes and Southern Style Mustard Greens

My first rodeo with lamb.  Thomas and I cooked this one up.  I used to work at this place in Savannah, GA that had a black eyed pea cake sandwich that was marketed as a homemade veggie burger.  I've been wanting to try to make one myself for a long time now so here it is.  Thomas suggested the sour cream and salsa based off his delicious experience with a black bean rice cake at a Fernandina Beach Florida restaurant.  He also suggested the mustard greens.  All around this was pretty delicious.  Enjoy friends.  Also I'd like to put a nice shout out to the readers in Russia.

Pan Seared Lamb, Black Eyed Pea Cake, and Southern Style Mustard Greens

For the lamb you will need:

-         4 lamb chops

-         Olive oil

-         A rub of equal amounts dry mustard, onion powder, garlic salt, and black pepper.

Directions:

In a large skillet turn on medium heat with a thin layer of olive oil.  Rub one side of the lamb and place the lamb rubbed side down.  Rub the top side now.  Cook to your desired temperature, flip and finish on the other side.  Let rest for a few minutes and then top with the mustard cream sauce.

For the greens you will need:

-         1 bag of fresh mustard greens

-         2lbs of leftover smoked pork

-         Juice of 3 limes

-         ½ cup of salt

Directions:

Wash the greens first.  Then place in a large stock pot with water to submerge, salt, lime juice and smoked meat.  Stew for about an hour.

For the black eyed pea cakes you will need:

-         2 cans of black eyed peas

-         3 cloves fresh chopped garlic

-         ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

-         1tbsp fresh chopped oregano

-         1tbsp fresh chopped thyme

-         ¼ cup fresh chopped basil

-         ½ sweet onion chopped

-         Flour to bind

-         Juice of 2 limes

-         Olive oil

-         Oil for frying

Directions:

Strain the peas and place in large mixing bowl.  Pour the lime juice and herbs in the mixing bowl.  In a small skillet sweat the onion and garlic with a light amount of olive oil.  Then add the onions and garlic to the mixing bowl.  Mash the contents well.  Now add the flour for binding, just enough to bind.  Make some pea cakes (kinda like making hamburger patties).  Makes about 5 cakes.  Heat some cooking oil in a shallow skillet and fry until golden brown.  Top with salsa and sour cream.

 

For sauce and toppings:

Mustard Cream Sauce:

-         1 cup sour cream

-         ¼ cup mayonnaise

-         Horseradish brown mustard to taste

*mix ingredients together and serve on top of lamb

Black eyed pea cake topping:

-         sour cream and salsa