Que Tater

Hubby and I happened upon Jim's Barb-ie-q Shack in Wisconsin Rapids one day when out on an adventure and we ate the best ribs we've ever gotten from a restaurant! We also had the Q Tater which I had to duplicate so we could eat this at home.

1 Idaho Baker Potato per person
Butter
Sour cream
S&P
Cubed or shredded meat~You can use what you like, beef roast, pork roast or shoulder or even ham or chorizo.
Your favorite BBQ sauce-We use Sweet Baby Ray's.
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese (if you shred cheese from a chunk it will melt better than pre-packaged shredded cheese). You can probably use any cheese you like here.

Split potato lengthwise. With knife make shallow slits and top potato with ingredients as listed above. Pop in the microwave for a minute to melt the cheese.

To reduce fat and calories I am going to try to substitute homemade buttermilk ranch dressing for the butter and sour cream! I hope you enjoy.

Pig Powder

I am all about the Pig! This is a rub that is totally suited for pork. This seasons the meat just perfectly for tamales and tacos. I usually quadruple this recipe so I’m sure to have enough for an 8 or 9 pound pork shoulder roast.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 cl garlic
• 1 tsp tarragon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp whole basil

Directions

Mix all together and rub onto all sides of a pork butt roast and bake at 500 degrees for 20 minutes. Tent with foil. Reduce heat to 275 and cook for 4-5 hours until tender. Cut into chunks and use juice as a dip or shred it up and make carnitas or tamales. Fantastic

Brussels Sprouts and Pasta

A great way to eat sprouts. Really good! I like to add a handful of shredded parmesan cheese just before I dig in.

• 3/4 # fresh brussel sprouts, sliced thinly
• 1/2 # fettucini pasta
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp EVOO
• 3 Tbsp pine nuts

Heat oil and butter on med-hi heat until foam subsides.

Cook pine nuts 2 minutes until golden.

Add sprouts, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Saute 4 minutes.

Cook pasta until al dente, drain and reserve 1/2 cup water.

Put all in a large bowl and mix well. Add to pasta if necessary. Sprinkle pine nuts over the top.

Ultimate Enchilada Bake recipe

 

Ingredients

• 6 skinless chicken breasts
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 6 pasilla or poblano chiles
• 1 (16 ounce) can (or equivalent fresh) tomatillos
• 3 sprigs fresh cilantro
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 24 small corn tortillas
• Lard or shortening for frying
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• Shredded lettuce
• Chopped ripe olives
• Sour cream

•  

 

directions

Poach chicken, keeping water at a bare simmer, until cooked through.
Remove from poaching liquid, cool slightly and remove/discard bones. Shred meat.

Stir onions into cream cheese, then add shredded chicken. Set aside.

Broil the chiles until soft, then puree with the tomatillos and cilantro until smooth.

Add cream, egg, salt and pepper, and continue to puree.

One at a time, dip the tortillas into the chile/tomatillo sauce, then fry in lard to

soften. Place chicken filling on tortilla and roll up. Spread some of the chile/tomatillo sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and lay the rolled/filled enchiladas seam side down in a single layer. Pour remaining sauce over these, top with parmesan and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly.
Top with shredded lettuce and olives.
Serve sour cream in a dish on the side.

Grandpa Sonny's Bread Stuffing

1/2 cup butter

2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 cups sliced celery

1 cup butter

32 slices toasted bread, cubed

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp McCormick poultry seasoning

2 Tbsp chopped parsley

1 egg

1/2 pound chicken livers

Broth from gizzards and livers and enough chicken broth to make 2 cups

 

Cook neck, livers and gizzards in medium saucepan. Add water, some chopped onion and celery leaves and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 hours replacing water as it cooks off. Drain off broth and reserve to cool in fridge. After it cools skim off some of the fat. Refrigerate cooked livers and gizzards.

Toast the bread. I use the broiler of the oven and toast both sides. Tear into pieces and put in large bowl or roasting pan. Let cool and leave uncovered til needed.

Melt 1/2 cup butter in large skillet and sauté onion and celery on med-low heat until tender about 45 minutes. Add 1 cup of butter and allow to melt. Remove from heat and stir in salt, poultry seasoning and stir well. Let cool at room temperature.

Remove meat from neck bone. Place neck meat, gizzards, and almost all the livers in a blender along with the egg and 1/2 cup broth. Process until relatively smooth. Pull out any gristly chunks leftover by the gizzards and toss out. Dice remaining liver.

On the top of the bread pour blender contents, butter and veggies from the skillet and the parsley. Using your hands bring up bread from the bottom to the top to mix thoroughly. Add remaining broth and keep mixing until the bread is no longer hard and it is mixed well. Stuff neck and body cavities and add any leftovers to a bread loaf pan. You can bake this when the turkey is down to 1 hour of cooking time.

Grandpa Sonny was a meat cutter by trade (Chicago Stock Yard) and had access to the best cuts of meat and top of the line seasonings. I recommend using McCormick Poultry Seasoning because the dressing tastes just like Grandpa used to make.

KRISPY KREME DONUTS

Donuts
3 (1/4 ounce / 7g) packages yeast (3/4 oz / 21g total) - I used "Rapid Rise" but traditional is fine too - it just affects the rising times
1/2 cup (120ml) water (105-115F / 40-46C)
2 1/4 cups (530ml) milk, scalded, then cooled
3/4 cup (169g) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup (227g) shortening
7 1/2 cups (940g) all-purpose flour
canola oil for frying

Glaze
1/2 cup (227g) butter
3 cups (375g) powdered sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
6 -9 tablespoons (90-135ml) evaporated milk (can substitute regular milk or water for milder flavor)

Proof your yeast by adding it to the warm water. Mix it up and let it rest.

Scald the milk in your microwave or on top of your stove, and let cool.

Combine yeast, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 3 cups (375g) flour.

Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.

Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

Carefully (not like me), stir in remaining flour until smooth.

Cover and let rise until double, 30-60 minutes, depending on the yeast you used. I went the full 60, and you can see in step 4 what happened! (I would do it again, they were great!)

After the dough has risen, turn dough onto floured surface; roll around lightly to coat with flour.

Gently roll dough 1/2-inch thick with floured rolling pin.

Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Separate donuts and holes, as they take different frying times (but are equally delicious). Save your scraps - they are both great to test your fry time and to snack on while you're making the rest!

Cover and let rise until double, 30-40 minutes.

**If you want to make these donuts for breakfast, let the donuts rise in the refrigerator overnight!***

I like to make up the glaze at this point because it can sit at room temp until the donuts are fried and ready to be dipped.

Melt the butter and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Add milk (or water) until desired consistency is reached.

*** to make chocolate glaze, melt 6 ounces of chocolate along with the butter!***

Use a deep pan to heat the oil. I used a shallow one to be able to take better pictures, but this provides a real fire hazard. So be safe!

Heat your oil to 350F (180C). A thermometer makes this part fool-proof, and you can monitor the heat to make sure it stays in this prime frying range.

I like to use a scrap of donut first to test different frying times.

Even after you take the donut out of the oil, the remaining oil on it is hot enough to continue cooking it!

Carefully place the donuts in the oil. Cook on each side for about one minute. Use chopsticks to flip the donuts and remove them from the oil.

Place donuts on a rack or paper bags or paper towels to drain.

Now is the time to take your donuts into a magical dimension. Dip them in the glaze and set them on a rack to dry. I dipped both sides of my donuts in the glaze (obviously!), but you can just do one if you would like.

These donuts are simply amazing. Once you try them, you're going to want to make them again and again. In fact, I woke up the next morning craving them, and I can assure you, they're still good the second day.

STUFFED RIGATONI

1 package rigatoni -- cooked

***Sauce***

2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 cup minced onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup water (more if needed)
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon whole leaf oregano

***Stuffing***
1 pound sausage
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg

PREPARATION:

Cooked rigatoni should be quite firm so be sure to undercook by 4-5 minutes. The pasta will finish cooking in the oven. Saute onion in olive oil until almost transparent. Add other sauce ingredients; simmer for 30 minutes; remove bay leaf.

Stuff each rigatoni with sausage mixture, using a pastry bag or a zip lock bag. Cut off a corner from the bottom of the bag. Add to casserole dish; pour sauce over rigatoni and bake 30-40 minutes at 350 F.