Big Mike's Cheesy Garlic Bread

I got tired of the pre-made garlic bread in foil, so I decided to try making my own cheesy garlic bread. I checked out some recipes online and settled on these ingredients. It turned out even better than I thought.

Ingredients
1 fresh Italian loaf, horizontally cut in half
1 stick butter, melted
6 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 cups shredded cheese (Parmesan, provolone, and Mozzarella blend)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place both sides of the Italian loaf on a cookie sheet with the crust side down and the cut side up.
3. In a small bowl, combine butter and garlic and spread evenly on baguette halves.
4. Bake bread for 15 minutes and remove from oven. Change the oven setting to high broil.
5. Evenly sprinkle cheese over the halves of bread, sprinkle parsley over cheese and stick the cookie sheet back in the oven. Broil for 1 minute or until cheese has completed melted and shows a few golden bubble marks.
6. Remove from oven, slice bread in diagonal pieces and serve.

Store remaining slices of bread in the freezer in a ziplock bag to use in the future. 

Rachel's Sausage, Pepper and Onion One-Pot

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

This one is on the menu for March. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Ingredients
2 pounds Italian hot and/or sweet sausages
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed
1 red chile pepper, thinly sliced
2 cubanelle peppers, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
2 large red or yellow onions, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes
A generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
A loaf ciabatta bread*
Cook's Note: Wrap the bread in plastic or freeze if not using within 24 hours

Directions
1. Place the sausages in a high-sided skillet or Dutch oven and add 1-inch water and 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat a bit and allow the water to boil away. The sausages will gently cook through in the water, and then the oil will crisp the casings up to a deep brown. Remove the sausages to a plate.

2. Heat extra-virgin olive oil, a couple of turn of the pan, in the same skillet over medium-high heat, stir in fennel seed and chile pepper, then add in the peppers, onions, and garlic as you slice them, season with salt and pepper and cook 15 minutes to soften. Stir in the tomato paste 1 minute, then wine for 1 minute more. Add the chicken stock and canned tomatoes. Finish with parsley.

3. Slice the sausages on an angle and add to the pot. Cover, cool completely, and store for a make-head meal. Reheat, covered, over moderate heat or in moderate oven.

4. Crisp up chunks of bread in a warm oven just before serving for mopping up your plate!

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/sausage-pepper-and-onion-one-pot-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Big Mike's Texas Chili

Chili is the ideal one pot dish. You can make everything in one pot, serve it from one pot, store it in one pot and when you are done - clean one pot. What's not to like about that?

For this recipe, I've added some new twists to my standard chili recipe, particularly, adding some new peppers into the ingredients list.

Ingredients
2 Pablano peppers roasted, peeled and deseeded
1 red bell pepper roasted, peeled and deseeded
2 oz. chipotle peppers in adobo sauce - diced small
1 medium onion
1 lb. ground sirloin
1 40 oz. can Bush's chili hot beans
2 14.5 oz. cans stewed tomatoes (I like the ones seasoned with Jalapenos, garlic and cumin)
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
1 8 oz. can tomato paste
1 tbs. salt
1 tbs. black pepper
4-5 tbs. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
2 tbs. dried cilantro
4 oz. frozen corn

Directions
(Do this prep work ahead of cooking the chili. It's fun, easy and worth every extra minute.)
Preheat broiler to high
1. Place Pablano peppers and a halved red bell pepper on a cookie sheet (I like to use no stick aluminum foil), and place on the highest rack of the oven under broiler flames. Broil for about 10 minutes on each side, or until the Pablanos are black and bubbly looking. The red pepper will be blackened a lot too. Don't worry we like this!

2. Place the peppers in a bowl and cover tightly with shrink wrap to steam them. Set aside and let cool until they are cool enough to handle. When they are cool enough to touch, unwrap them and peel the loose papery skin off them by gently pulling on the membrane. It should come off very easily. Take out the seeds and chop into 3/4 inch pieces. Save in a bowl for later.

3. As long as you are chopping peppers, you can also take out your chipotle peppers and chop them up fine also. Save in a small bowl for later.

Two hours before serving:
4. Splash some olive oil in the bottom of a hot Dutch oven. Brown ground sirloin until about half done. Season liberally with salt and pepper.

5. Add onion, cilantro, red pepper, and a dash of chili pepper. Cook until onions are tender and meat is completely browned.

6. Everybody in the pool! Add chili hot beans, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, roasted peppers, chipotle peppers and remaining chili powder. Simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour, stirring frequently.

One hour before serving:
7. Add frozen corn and reduce heat to low. Continue cooking on low and stirring occasionally.

8. Remove from heat and let cool slightly before serving.

Enjoy with buttered corn muffins or a hardy crusty bread for sopping. It's even better the second day, so plan on a leftover party.

The Smoky Meatloaf Experiment

Inspired by an episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Made" on Food Network, I decided to try making my next meatloaf a "smoky" one, based on some ingredients in the TV recipe. The main secret ingredient was going to be barbecued potato chips in place of bread crumbs. It also has some smoky heat to it from the chipotle peppers in adobo.

Now that we've had the first loaf, my impression is this: It turned out about as good as I thought, maybe even better than I expected, but you know what? My regular meatloaf is so good I doubt I will try doing this again. Bottom line: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If you're looking for something different and want to try it, there is nothing wrong with this recipe. Next time I make 'Big Mike's Classic Meatloaf', I'll post the recipe here for that.

Ingredients
2/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 ounces chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped fine
6 ounces barbecue potato chips
3 cloves garlic
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground sirloin
1 pound ground pork
2 large eggs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the ketchup, tomato paste and chipotle peppers in a large mixing bowl. Remove 1/3 cup of the mixture and set aside.

3. Crush the potato chips in a freezer baggie until they are a coarse breadcrumb consistency. Transfer the potato chips to the bowl with the ketchup mixture.

4. Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch cast-iron pan set over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion mixture, sage and salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables soften and begin to brown slightly, approximately 5 minutes. Add the mixture to the mixing bowl with the potato chip mixture and stir to combine and cool the vegetables slightly.

5. Add the ground sirloin, pork and eggs and use your hands to thoroughly combine.

6. Form into 2 small 1lb. loaf pans. Bake at 350 for one hour. At about 45 minutes brush the remaining wet sauce on the top of the loaves and return to baking.

7. Remove and let rest at least ten minutes before slicing and serving.

Serve with mashed potatoes and peas or greens.

The original inspiration is a much more complicated recipe available here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/smoked-party-meatloaf-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Amy's Midwestern Fried Chicken and Gravy

From Amy Thielen (food network)

Pan fried and then finished in the oven.
Plus a bonus gravy recipe. Gravy is really 10% recipe, 90% love.

Ingredients
One 4- to 4 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 10 pieces
1 cup buttermilk
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
7 cloves garlic, smashed
1 1/2 cups plus 5 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup finely ground butter crackers, such as Ritz or Club (about 1 sleeve)
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
About 2 cups lard or canola oil, for frying
1 small bunch fresh sage
2 1/2 cups chicken stock, low-sodium store-bought or homemade
Mashed potatoes, for serving

Directions
1. Put the chicken pieces in a large bowl, and add the buttermilk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, the thyme, and 4 of the garlic cloves. Marinate for at least 1 hour at room temperature or, refrigerated, overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and set a baking sheet fitted with a rack on the middle shelf.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the chicken coating: Combine the 1 1/2 cups flour, the ground crackers, 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and the paprika in a large bowl. One at a time, take the chicken pieces from the buttermilk and dunk them in the flour dredge, pressing hard to make the coating adhere to every spot. Set aside on a plate.
4. In a large, high-sided cast-iron pan, add lard or oil to a depth of 1/2 inch. Heat over medium-high heat until a droplet of water sprinkled on the surface sizzles loudly.
5. Give the chicken pieces a fresh roll in the flour mixture if they've absorbed it, and add as many pieces of the dark meat (thighs, wings, and drumsticks) as will fit comfortably in the pan. Fry, turning as needed, until all sides turn dark golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the cooked chicken to the baking sheet in the oven. Continue frying the rest, saving the white breast meat until last, and being careful not to burn the residue forming at the bottom the pan; that's your gravy base. When it is browned, add the chicken to the baking sheet. (Ideally the dark meat should bake in the oven for about 20 minutes and the light meat for about 10 minutes, until cooked through.)
6. Pour off most of the fat in the pan, leaving 2 tablespoons of oil and the brown sludge at the bottom of the pan. (But if any of it looks burnt, discard that as well, because that is the base of your gravy.) Let the pan cool down for a minute. Then add the remaining 3 garlic cloves and the sage, and fry for 1 minute. Add the remaining 5 teaspoons flour and cook, stirring, until the mixture is smooth and light brown, about 2 minutes. Add the stock and whisk until smooth. Cook the gravy over low heat until it thickens softly, about 5 minutes.
7. Season the gravy with salt and pepper to taste, remove the garlic and sage, and pour it into a spouted pitcher to pass behind the hot chicken and the mashed potatoes.

Amy's Swiss Chard with Honey Roasted Garlic

From Amy Thielen (food network)

This is the perfect side dish for Amy's fried chicken, gravy and mashed potatoes.

Ingredients
2 heads garlic
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 bunches (almost 2 pounds) Swiss chard, stripped of stems and cut into 1-inch pieces (10 cups)
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut the top 1/2 inch off each head of garlic, exposing the cloves. Set the garlic in the center of a square of heavy aluminum foil. Pour 1 teaspoon of the honey and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil over the garlic, replace the tops, and fold up the sides of the foil to make a package, crimping the top tight. Bake until very tender and golden, 40 to 45 minutes.
3. Transfer the baked garlic to a bowl, including all the juices in the foil pouch. When cool enough to handle, remove the garlic heads and carefully pop out the garlic cloves by pushing up from the bottom; try to keep the cloves intact. Add the remaining teaspoon honey and tablespoon olive oil and gently stir to combine.
4. Heat a very wide skillet over medium heat, and add the butter and pine nuts. When they begin to sizzle and turn golden brown, add half of the Swiss chard. Cook, stirring, until the greens wilt, a minute or two. Add the remaining chard. Once all of the chard is wilted, season with salt and pepper, and cook until most of the liquid has simmered off, another 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Add the honey-roasted garlic to the chard, mix very gently to combine, and serve.

Big Mike's Vegetable Beef Stew

This recipe is the result of about ten years of experimentation. I think we've got something special now.

Ingredients

extra virgin olive oil

1.25 lbs. stew beef

1 cup red wine

3 cloves garlic chopped fine

3 tbs butter

1 medium yellow onion diced

3 carrots peeled and sliced

4 celery stems large dice

1 Idaho potate diced

2 tbs AP flour

1.5 - 2 cups beef stock

2 tbs ground sage

2 tsp dill

3 bay leaves

1/2 cup mushrooms
large can of whole tomatoes

1/2 cup frozen corn

Directions

1. Lightly coat skillet with olive oil, bring to high heat.

2. Seer beef and brown on all sides to trap juice and create flavor leavings in pan. Use tongs and/or a spatula to manipulate meat.

3. Remove beef to glass bowl. Deglaze pan with red wine. Reduce by 1/3 or 1/2. Scrape up all the delicious goodness for the broth. Pour the red wine and scrapings over the beef as a marinade.

4. Peel and fine chop 4 garlic cloves and add to the beef and marinade.

5. Heat butter in skillet, add onion, carrots, celery and potato. Cook to slightly tender crisp. Add flour, mix in, continue to cook for a few minutes.

6. Add beef to mixture and add beef stock to just cover meat and vegetables.

7. Add sage, dill mushrooms, tomatoes and frozen corn.

8. Bring to a boil and then let cool slightly. If you want thicker sauce add Wondra blended in water to thicken.

9. The broth will have a red wine note. Salt and pepper to taste at serving.  

Linda's Pork Chops and Apples

Courtesy Linda Henden

Simple and delicious. I've made this several times and gotten rave reviews.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
6 boneless, center-cut pork chops
4 med. (6 small) apples, peeled, cored, & sliced
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
Salt to taste

Directions
1. Heat butter or margarine in skillet.
2. Brown pork shops on both sides.
3. Place in baking dish (with juice from skillet).
4. Add salt.  Top with apples.
5. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples.
6. COVER and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
7. Move pork chops to top of apples and bake another ½ hour, uncovered.

Rachel's Smoky Chicken and Cider

From Rachel Ray on food network

Ingredients
1/2 lb. chopped bacon
whole chicken cut up
salt and pepper
2 medium yellow onions
4 carrots sliced on an angle
2 bay leaves
2 tbs chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 cups cloudy apple cider
2-3 tbs AP flour
1 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup dark amber maple syrup
1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes
2 Golden delicious apples sliced with skin on

Directions
1. Cook bacon in light oiled skillet over medium high heat to done. Remove from skillet, leave drippings.
2. Salt and pepper chicken on one side, place in skillet season side down. Season top side of chicken. Cook to golden brown and crunchy.
3. Remove chicken from skillet to cool.
4. Add onions, carrots, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper to skillet. Cook to tender crisp.
5. Add 2 tbs. flour to veggies to help make sauce. Mix it in and let it cook.
6. Add cider vinegar (back off, or you'll clear your sinuses!)
7. Add apple cider, maple syrup and chicken stock. Bring to a bubble.
8. Cut up potatoes and apples and add to the stew mixture.
9. Add bacon to the top, and top off skillet with browned chicken.
10. Cover and cook until apples and potato are done and sauce begins to thicken, 15-25 minutes.
11. Remove from heat, place chicken on serving plate, remove bay leaves, spoon mixture all around chicken for good presentation.

You can make this in advance and save for a few days. When ready to eat, bring the skillet to a bubbling boil then serve.

Big Mike's Chicken Pot Pies

Who doesn't love chicken pot pies? After years of experimenting this recipe is simply awesome.

Big Mike's Chicken Pot Pies

Ingredients
5 chicken thighs, cooked, skinned, deboned and chopped
1 large potato, peeled and chopped into 3/4" cubes, slightly boiled
1/2 yellow onion chopped small
3 celery stalks chopped small
3 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
2/3 cup frozen peas
2/3 cup frozen corn
teaspoon (or more) ground sage
salt
cracked black pepper
2-3 tbs flour
1 1/2 cups lo-sodium chicken broth
1/2 stick butter
1 egg
ready made pie crusts

Directions 
Pre-heat oven to 365 degrees.
1. Cook chicken thighs covered on medium heat in a splash of canola oil. Season with salt, pepper and ground sage lightly, especially on the underside away from the skin. Remove from pan and let cool.
2. Heat chicken broth in small sauce pan. Deglaze chicken pan with a tbs. chicken broth. Add 1/2 stick of butter, carrots, onion and celery. Cook gently over medium heat.
3. Partially boil potatoes in another sauce pan. Don't let them get soft or they break up in the mixture.
4. Add flour to veggies slowly and cook until combined and browned. Add chicken broth slowly mixing continuously. Season with sage and S&P.
5. Skin, debone, shred and chop chicken.
6. Add potatoes and chicken to mixture, cook slowly over medium low heat.
7. Add frozen veggies, remove from heat, let mixture cool.
8. Line baking dishes with pre-made crust. Use lid as template to trim top crust. Load dishes with mixture, cover with top crust. Fold edges of bottom crust over top crust edges. Flute edges and press with fork to finish.
9. Make egg wash with a splash of water. Brush egg wash over top crust. Slit top crust to vent.
10. Cook at 365 for 35-40 minutes.
11. Remove and let cool, if you can.

CAUTION: CONTENTS WILL BE HOT!

Sausage and Apple Quiche

This is the best thing I've ever made. I saw this recipe in an expensive cookbook twenty years ago and had to have it, so I bought the book.

Ingredients
1 (9”) pastry shell
(I use the pre-made frozen ones, mostly thawed out at prep time.)
1/2lb. spicy pork sausage (I like the savory sage, I think it’s Bob Evans)
½ cup chopped onion
¾ cup peeled shredded green apples (lotsa work, but worth the effort)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 ½ cups half and half
¼ teaspoon salt
ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.
1. Crumble sausage into large skillet; add onion. Cook over medium heat until meat is browed and onion is tender. Spoon off and discard pan drippings.
2. Add apple, lemon juice, sugar, and red pepper. Cook on medium-high, stirring constantly, 4 minutes or until apple is just tender and all liquid is evaporated. Let cool. (If you get impatient, the hot stuff melts the piecrust. Wait…have a Mimosa or something)
3. Spoon sausage mixture into pastry shell; top with cheese. Whisk eggs, half and half, salt, and a dash of black pepper in medium bowl. Pour over sausage mixture. (Go slow and let it settle down in the mixture, displacing the air pockets.)
4. Bake 35-45 minutes or until filling is puffed and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it stand 10 minutes, if you can, before cutting.

Makes 6 servings if you have company, 4 if it’s just the two of you!
I usually make two since the frozen pie crusts come in pairs. Then you have breakfast for days.

Big Mike's Toastinis

These toastinis can be used as an appetizer, a side dish in an Italian meal, or as late night snack.

Ingredients

4 pc. Fresh baked sliced Italian bread

1/2 cup shredded colby jack cheese

8 thin slices organic tomato

1 tbs butter

garlic salt

grated Parmesan cheese

oregano

cracked black pepper

Directions - pre-heat broiler

1. Lightly toast bread in toaster.

2. Lightly butter each slice.

3. Sprinkle garlic salt on each piece.

4. Sprinkle shredded cheese on toast to cover.

5. Add 2 pieces of tomatoes to each slice of toast.

6. Sprinkle with black pepper and oregano and coat with layer of Permesan cheese..

7. Broil close to flame until cheese melts or something catches on fire.

8. Dowse flames and eat immediately.

Big Mike's Savory Celery and Chicken Soup

Ingredients

2 tbs butter
6 celery stalks rinsed and chopped
(include several of the tender inside stalks with leaves)
3 carrots peeled and sliced
1 yellow onion chopped
2 skinless chicken breasts
2 celery stalks (green outside stalks only)
4 scallions finely chopped
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 tbs. ground sage
1/4 tsp. dill
1/2 tbs. Frankenmuth chicken seasoning
salt to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 365 degrees.
2. Slice chicken into 1/2" wide strips and place in a glass baking dish.
3. Season with half the cracked black pepper, sage, garlic salt and chicken seasoning.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Melt butter in pan over medium heat.
6. Add onion, then carrots, then celery and cook until tender and browned.
7. Add chicken stock and cook for 5 minutes.
8. Pour mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until there are no large chunks left.
9. Pour into soup pot and add water and remaining seasonings. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
10. Remove chicken from oven and let cool. Chop into 1/2" cubes and add to soup.
11. Split remaining two celery stalks down the middle and chop into small pieces. Add scallions and celery to soup.
12. Cook on medium heat for another 15 minutes.
13. Add salt to taste.

NOTE: This recipe creates a spicy peppery soup. You may want to back down on the pepper to start and add as needed at the end.