34 Ingredient BBQ Sauce

Intimating isn't it? 30 plus ingredients in just one sauce. It's a rather complex, spicy, sweet, fulfilling bbq sauce. It's hard to recreate the original flavor because when you're in the middle of cooking and taste testing you think that it needs more of an ingredient. I'm still trying to perfect it but this recipe gets the idea across.

I separate them into dry and wet ingredients and sometimes the dry crosses over to the wet because of the stage at which you add it. Also with this sauce temperature is a big deal because boiling it makes the sauce thicken as well as release flavors and then simmering it makes it meld even better.

Dry:
onion powder
garlic powder
turmeric
celery salt
garlic salt
cumin
brown sugar
salt and pepper
paprika
smoked paprika
sweet paprika
chili powder
white sugar
cayenne pepper
curry powder
chili powder
powdered ginger

Wet:
water
mustard (djion works best)
white vinegar
apple cider vinegar
red wine vinegar
balsmic vinegar
pineapple juice
ketchup
liquid smoke
worschstershire sauce
honey
soy sauce
lemon & lime juice
housin sauce
tomato paste
tomato sauce
ginger (in the tube)

Add all the wet ingredients first (and the sugars), bring to a boil, lower to a simmer. Then add each of the dry ingredients one at a time stirring each time and continue to simmer for at least two hours.

Sorry the picture is blurry. Will update with a newer picture next time I make this recipe.

Beef Pot Roast

So one of my favorite crock pot recipes is pot roast. I have been making this recipe for about a year now and thought it would be nice to share it. I adapted this version from an oven pot roast recipe: Garlic-Herb Crusted Beef Roast.

I still use the same flavor profile, just changed the avenue for which the roast is cooked.

A note on beef roasts:
sirloin roast: shreds
bottom round: slices
round rump roast: used for Italian beef recipes

Ingredients:
1 beef bottom round (around 3-4 pounds)
salt and pepper
garlic powder
dried basil
dried thyme
dried parsley
(seasonings: enough to make a rub out of it)
beef base (about 3 tablespoons)
3-4 cups of water (enough to almost submerge the roast)

Put seasonings all around roast and place fat side down in crock pot. Fill with water and beef base mixed in. 
Set the crock pot on high and cook for about 5 hours. Half way through cut it up and throw it back in the liquid. About 30 minutes to when its done you can add carrots and potatoes if you wish.
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These first set of pictures is from attempt one from January of this year.

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This next set is from the last one I made yesterday:

Springfield, Illinois Horseshoe

I am originally from Springfield, Illinois. The signature dish of Springfield is the famous Horseshoe. What is a Horseshoe you ask? It's a two pieces of bread, hamburger patty, cheese sauce, and fries layered. 
There are lots of different variations of Horseshoes all around town depending on where you are eating. I even heard that our local Steak n Shake diner has their own version of it.

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives did an episode where they featured Charlie Parkers Diner from Springfield, IL and their horseshoes. Diners, Drive-in's and Dives

Here is some history on the Horseshoe:

The original Horseshoe Sandwich was served on a sizzling metal plate (known as the Anvil). Two thick-cut slices of bread were toasted and added to the plate. Then a thick slice of ham, shaped like a horseshoe, was added, to it a Welsh rarebit cheese sauce made of white sharp cheddar, and then just before serving, fresh-made French fries were added as the (nails) in the horseshoe. The secret to this sandwich is the delicious cheese sauce.
Today's sandwiches now offer either a thick fried ham steak or two large hamburger patties, and the cheese sauce is poured over the fries.
The name of the sandwich comes from the shape of the ham with the fries representing the horseshoe nails, and the heated steak platter as the anvil. If you order a Pony Shoe Sandwich, it is the same thing, but a smaller or half a Horseshoe portion (usually one slice of toast).
The "Horseshoe" or variations of it soon became a popular item in many Springfield restaurants. Today, every restaurant and chef serving this sandwich, seems to have his or her own secret cheese sauce recipe.
The sandwich was created in the late 1920s by chef Joe Schweska at a Leland Hotel in Springfield, Illinois located on the corner of Sixth and Capitol (now an office building). The Leland Hotel, the leading hotel of Springfield, was built in 1867, and has housed hundreds of prominent Americans. The structure is five stories high and contained 235 rooms.

  You can find out more here: What's Cooking America 

The secret is in the cheese sauce. You can use any kind of french fries, bread and any kind of meat you wish for the base. 

You layer it as such: 
Bread (usually toasted)
Hamburger on top of bread
French fries (better when homemade)
Cheese sauce (recipe below)  

Top Secret Cheese Sauce: 

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

(or equal parts of each depending on how much you're making)
1 cup milk
Half a container of velveeta cheese (you can use sharp cheddar too)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
black pepper (or to taste) (optional)
secrets: dash of nutmeg, dash of smoked paprika, and some Worcestershire sauce.

Now you'll have a taste of something unique to my hometown! 

Brined & Baked Whole Chicken

I was watching Alton Brown from the foodnetwork bake a whole turkey after he soaked it in brine.
I thought to myself, "This looks easy and it makes sense."
Here is the recipe: Roast Turkey

So I tweaked it for a whole chicken:

Brine:
5 quarts of cold water
1/4 cup table salt
1/2 brown sugar

(add any aromatics you wish)

• 1 red apple, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup water
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 6 leaves sage
• Canola oil

Dissolve and bring to a boil then cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.
Brine the chicken one hour per pound
Bake 350 degrees for 30minutes per pound.

I added compound butter under the skin and on the skin.
Softened butter with salt, pepper and Italian Seasonings.

I would suggest adding potatoes and carrots to help soak out the juices and fats that the chicken releases.

 Toasted bread

 A complete meal:

Strawberry Pie

I made this last year as an experiment. We had leftover strawberries, pie dough, and some gelatin. My husband loves pies.

Ingredients:
1 pie shell, baked
5 cups of fresh strawberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 (3oz) strawberry flavored gelatin (or just use plain gelatin and use pureed strawberries for the flavoring)


In a saucepan, mix together the sugar and corn starch; make sure to blend corn starch in completely. Add boiling water, and cook over medium heat until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mix, and stir until smooth. Let mixture cool to room temperature. Use all the gelatin because it won't set otherwise.
Place strawberries in baked pie shells; position berries with points facing up (or however you like them, look at my pictures). Pour cooled gel mixture over strawberries. I topped mine with more strawberries. 
Refrigerate until set. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
 

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers were one of those meals from my childhood. My mom made it taste great, even though at the time I did not like to eat the pepper, just the filling. This is a simple recipe and takes hardly any preparation at all. You can substitute the peppers for tomatoes if you wish. Ingredients: 1 cup cooked rice 1 pound cooked ground beef tomato sauce Worcestershire sauce garlic powder onion powder Italian Seasoning Diced tomatoes Cheese slices Mix cooked beef, cooked rice, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, seasonings and diced tomatoes together. Add a little or as much of the ingredients you want in this recipe.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked rice
1 pound cooked ground beef
tomato sauce
Worcestershire sauce
garlic powder
onion powder
Italian Seasoning
Diced tomatoes
Cheese slices

Mix cooked beef, cooked rice, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, seasonings and diced tomatoes together. Add a little or as much of the ingredients you want in this recipe.  You can add some chopped up bell pepper to the mixture too and some cheese if you wish.
Add sauce to the top and bake for about 30 minutes.
If you don't want semi-crunchy peppers you can pre-boil or bake them for a few minutes.
During the last few minutes add the cheese to the top and bake until melted.

Gourmet Macaroni & Cheese

Yes, that's right, "Gourmet" Macaroni & Cheese. I made this two years ago when I was pregnant. My husband loves mac and cheese but I don't like the non-cheese flavors of store bought macaroni and cheese.

So instead of listing all the things you need at once, I will group the items together by step:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. 

Grate your cheeses: 4 cups of Jarlsberg and 2 cups of Gouda (you can use cheddar and greyure or whatever combination you wish). reserve some to put on top of the dish for when you stick it in the oven.

You will need: cavatappi or elbow macaroni (or whatever kind you wish to try).

Boil it until just tender. Drain. While it's boiling make the bechamel sauce:

You will need: 4 tablespoons of flour, 4 cups of milk, dash of nutmeg,  dash of kosher salt,  dash of white pepper, 5 tablespoons of butter.

Melt butter over medium low heat until melted, add the flour and stir until smooth. Continuing over the medium heat, cook the mixture until it turns a light, golden sandy color (about six to seven minutes) so that the flour tastes gets cooked out. Heat the milk in a separate pan until right under a boil. Add hot milk to butter mixture one cup at a time and whisking the entire time until smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook ten minutes. Stirring constantly (it will burn and clump up). Then remove from heat, season with salt and nutmeg, and white pepper and add your cheeses. Stir until smooth and cheeses are melted. 

Add the cooked (or semi cooked) macaroni to the bechamel sauce:

You can add meat or vegetables at this point too. I added chicken but if you truly wanted to go gourmet you can add tomatoes to it as well.

Prepare the bread crumbs for one top:

I added Parmesan cheese and some Italian seasonings to it.

Put the macaroni mixture in a dish that has been buttered and floured and then top with the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs.

Bake for about 30 minutes.
If you are worried about the top burning you can add little bits of butter to the top for it to brown and not burn. 

Enjoy your new fancy meal, aimed to please any guy out there!