Category Archives: Main Meals

Straight from the Smoker

Posted on by

It was a beautiful clear day yesterday, so I decided I needed to BBQ some food for the week. I thawed some back ribs I had in the freezer when I woke up, and while that was doing its thing, we headed out to buy some groceries for other items I was planning to smoke.

When we got back, the husband took off on the motorcycle (a rare luxury for him these days), while I fired up the charcoal. I prepped all the food as the fire heated up the coals. I slapped down some pepper cuts, potatoes, chicken breasts, and the ribs to get some colour on the top side before I rolled it over and shoved it over to the indirect side to slow smoke.

While this was happening, I got to enjoy a few hours out on the patio playing on the computer and drinking cold coffee. Ahhh… I was a happy camper. After the food was finished cooking, I brought it all in and get the table ready as the husband was walking in the door. The corn also got smoked but it was the last night I smoked a few mins on each side after microwaving them in their husks for 6 mins to speed everything up.

When the chicken was cool enough to handle, I cut all five breasts differently to target meals for the week. I sliced one and a half breasts into thin slices for the express of making my favourite sanny ever, the Chicken Club. 🙂

The rest of the chicken got cut up into thicker chunks for a Caesar salad for one, and cubes to drop into a pot of hot Butter Chicken sauce tomorrow night for dinner. Yes!

After dinner, I got making up a few meal kits for our lunches the next day. When the corn was fully cold, I dropped a bit of salt over them as well as a small butter pat, so after the corn is heated with the meat, we could roll our corn sections in the salt + butter inside the dish. Worked like a charm.

And the potato in my kit got pierced in a lengthwise line as was as a cross line. I didn’t think it was enough, so I stabbed the rest of the potato top and then used the fork to push it all down to a smushed mash before topping it with some cucumber salad dressing and green onion chops like I did the night before (see above dinner plate).

All in all, I’m liking this bbq weekend stuff. I just wish the weather was more consistently night as opposed to one bbq day every three fricking weeks. Ugh,

Smash Taco Burgers

Posted on by

I watched a few Tik-Tok videos on these little Smash Taco hybrids since it’s all the rage this week, and they looked easy enough. Of course these videos tend to skip a lot of helpful information for the platform format that gets them the most view. Views = impressions, impressions = reach, and reach = virality. And somewhere a long that string is a spot for monetizing the content. But, fear not – I’ve got you covered.

On my journey to make some at home, I quickly discovered the content creators either use extra lean ground meat, resulting in far less grease (but also far less flavour) than my preferred medium ground beef. I don’t understand anyone eating lean and extra lean beef. Why not eat cardboard instead? It would taste about the same IMO.

Anyway, if you made these smash tacos from start to finish without stopping or resting the food, you will end up with a soggy, greasy, unpleasant final product. But, by cooking and then resting the meat on the tortilla, AND wiping out the grease of out your pan, you will notice the meat and tortilla will feel less moist/soggy as you eat it. The other side of the tortilla will them crisp up nicely in the pan better. I burned a few of these tacos in my first test run, but I nailed them in the second test run by keeping the pan clean and at a slightly lower temp in the last stage.

TIP: Season your meat well before you mix it up and divide them into the ~2 oz balls.

TIP: Use a square of parchment over top of the ball when smashing them down with whatever tamping instrument you have on hand all over one side of the tortilla. (I have the tamper that came with my slider pan.) I like to pick up the paper square and move it where I wanted to flatten the meat, and keep doing that until the meat is thin and evenly spread out.

TIP: Put the taco in the bare pan smashed out meat side down. I gave each one about three mins with me pushing them down into the pan for some lovely charred edges.

TIP: Let each taco REST on a wire rack face up for about 3-5 mins while you cook the meat side of any other smash tacos you’re making. REST that damn meat, people!

After you finish cooking the last smash taco on the meat side down, lay the first rested taco one back down into the pan, meat side up. Lay a slice or two of cheese on top at this point, drop the heat a bit, and cover it. Trust me.

It only needs about 1-2 mins to get gooey. Rest the smash tacos back on the wire rack for another 3-5 mins as you top them all with things like pickle slices, special sauce, caramelized onions, lettuce, etc. Whatever you like.

Resist the urge to fold them too early to serve them. The liquids will leak out of the corners instead of redistributing themselves in the meat, the cheese, the toppings, and tortilla. Patience will reward you when you wait to dig in.

I didn’t wait long enough, and there was grease and special sauce left on my plate, whereas the husband’s was made first and rested longer, and well, his plate was practically spotless when we finished eating.

 

Smash BigMac Quesadilla & Seasoned Fries

Posted on by

We were going to smoke some ribs on the BBQ but time got away from us today and it’s about to rain, so switch of plans for dinner tonight.

I have been thinking about these small tortilla smash burger tacos, but I only have one large tortilla left, so I’m planning to make a quesadilla version for two. I bought some medium ground beef that I’ll season with S&P, garlic powder, and mince some onion into the mix.

Here is the classic Big Mac sauce I’ll be using. I’m renaming it for this meal idea.

Smash Mac Sauce:
1 C Hellman’s Mayo (I have no idea why this makes it taste better but it does)
2 Tbsp: Vlasic’s Relish / White Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
1 Tea: Regular Paprika / Garlic Powder / Onion Powder

Tuna Burgers

Posted on by

I’m slowly weening myself, and by extension the husband, off of red meat. We tend to eat a lot of red meats all year, but in the summer, we tend to go bonkers smoking every thing we can get our hands on. I haven’t figured out what this summer will look like for us yet, but if Mother Nature has her way, she’s not into giving us many long weekend bbq/smoking sessions. 🙁

Sidebar: Doesn’t this Smoke warning look like a suggestion to smoke some bacon??

Anyway, I found this online recipe for Tuna Burgers, and having noted I have two cans of tuna collecting dust (not really) in my pantry just this morning, I instantly knew what to make for dinner tonight. I love tuna melts and tuna burgers. This recipe wasn’t far off of what I would have dreamt up had I had enough mental clarity to do so. I had a long day at work, so I needed a recipe geared towards the living dead tonight. 🙂

The burgers turned out nicely, too. I used some herbs from my garden in the patties as well as in the burger sauce, so that worked out nicely for me. I have to keep using them so they keep growing back and all that jazz.

Speaking of herbs, I am growing a small bunch of Strawberry Mint to use in simple syrups and to mottle down for faux mojitos. Fojitos?

I clipped a bunch the other day and whipped it over the fence for my neighbours who love to make summer drinks for their endless parade of visitors in their backyard. I really should have added a few rocks to the bag because it only just got over the fence, and then landed behind their bbq grill. LOL I quickly texted her and she grabbed it after they came back from walking the dog.

Like the other herbs, the more I harvest, the more it regrows. I should have a lot by this time in July. Woot.

Rice Bowl Upcycling

Posted on by

So, the other day I made this lovely quasi Tex-Mex rice bowl for our Taco Tuesday dinner. The next night I still had so many materials leftover, plus all of the other ingredients I forgot to prep and add (salsa, cheese, deep fried onions), so I made another better version to make the true taco rice bowl I envisioned all week.

Both looked great, but the second one worked better because it had some moisture and heat the first attempt didn’t. Oh, and I found a squeeze bottle of some cheesy chipotle sauce I bought specifically for this taco meal and had forgot all about, the following Friday in my pantry. D-oh!

So, what was in my taco bowls?

Rice
Lettuce shredded up
Ground Chorizo Meat
Pinto Beans
Homemade Pico de Gallo
Sour Cream
Cilantro Leaves
Lime Juice squeezes
Cheese shredded up
Deep Fried Onions

That’s just a list of what I had on hand prepped to use in them. Your list might be different, and that’s ok. Cooked chicken shred or cooked ground beef also works, as does pickled onions and pickled jalapenos. You can use some Mexican cheese if you have it, as well as some broken up tortilla chips if you like.

Go crazy, or keep it pared down to five items. It’s your bowl, your way.

Fried Rice Breakfast

Posted on by

Yesterday was my day off. On my days off, I like to linger in front of the open fridge looking at items I have in there that may be on the verge of turning. And I like to turn some or all of these items into a completely new meal. I hate food waste.

Yesterday’s upcycled meal was a fried rice breakfast dish. I used up the last of the cooked rice, and some of the bits and bob veg I had in the crisper drawer (a bit of yellow onion, a bit of a carrot, some celery chops). This was the holy trinity that would be the base for my dish. I threw it in the frying pan with bacon fat and got it going.

I found a container with egg whites in the back from the last time I separated yolks to make the husband a lovely pasta carbonara. I added whisked in another egg and dumped the rice in to combine it all.

When the veg mix was softened enough, I added the rice-egg mixture and moved it all around in the pan, picking up the veggies as I fried up the egg to a solid state. That was long enough for the cold rice to heat all the way through.

I added a splash of soy sauce and a dribble of fish sauce, rolled it around, and then scooped it into a bowl. I also sprinkled sesame seeds on top for good measure. So good.

Garlic ‘Pasketti & Balls Bread

Posted on by

My husband’s loves this spin on a childhood fave food. It consists of a hollowed out bread loaf that’s been brushed with garlic butter, topped with cheese and spaghetti & meatballs. I put more cheese on top and bake it for 10 mins at 350*F. I let it cook for 10 mins, pulled it to rest 10 mins, and then cut it into slices to serve.

Garlic ‘Pasketti & Balls Bread:
1″ Bundle of Spaghetti
Pasta Sauce, of choice
Frozen Meatballs, of choice
Half Bread Loaf, cut lengthwise and middle mostly hollowed out
Garlic Butter
1/2 C Marble Cheese, either slices or grated, or both
1/4 C Parmesan Cheese, grated

Serves two.

Hollow out the bread and brush the cavity with the garlic butter. Lay down half the marble cheese and top it with half of the parm cheese. Roll the cooked pasta in the pot with the hot sauce and balls. (I cut the meatballs in half to make eating them easier.)

Carefully lay the spaghetti & balls over the cheeses and top with more meatballs. Push it down as you add more to condense it and really get that hot sauce melting the cheese to trap the spaghetti in place. Top with the last of the cheeses, and bake on a sheet pan.

It’s a real challenge to eat this without losing any of the balls or strands of the spaghetti, but that only makes it more fun to eat on some random night when you need something fast to make and filling to consume.

Sunday Dinner – Meatloaf & Beans

Posted on by

Made a late simple dinner tonight. I cooked a lovely meatloaf in the air fryer. And as that rested, I cooked some green beans with canned mushrooms, and fried onions as the side. I have made many different meatloaves over the years, but this one is up there with my favourite ground turkey meatloaf that I keep craving.

Here’s what I put in mine:

Jalapeno Meatloaf:
1+ lbs Ground Beef
1/4 sm Yellow Onion, grated finely
1/4 Bell Pepper, any on hand, fine diced
1/2 med Jalapeno, seeded and fine diced
Cracks of Pepper
Pinch of Salt
3 tbsp Everyday Seasoning Rub
1/2 C Panko
1/2 C Dry Breadcrumbs

Everyday Seasoning Rub:
1 1/2 tbsp: Garlic / Onion Powders
1 tbsp: Salt / Paprika
2 tea: Black Pepper / Mustard Powder

(Despite only needing a bit of the rub mix for the meatloaf, the above will net you enough to fill a small mason jar. You can use it with any kind of food group.)

Mix all of the meatloaf ingredients in a mixing bowl by hand. Place fistfuls of meat into a greased pan, and press the meat into the corners first. Add the rest to the middle and spread it all out evenly across the surface.

Place the pan into the air fryer (or on a sheet tray) to cook at 375*F for about 18-20 mins. Pull the loaf when it temps at 158-160* and let the residual heat finish cook the meat. Let it rest on a cutting board in the pan for about 15 mins as you work on the green beans.

Green Beans:
1 tbsp regular Olive Oil
S&P, to taste
1/2 can Mushrooms (for cooking speed), drained
1+ tbsp Dried Onions

Clean out the mixing bowl with soap, and drip dry it. Run your green beans under cool water to rinse off any dirt. Drain them and dump them in the bowl. Assemble the other ingredients over the beans. Roll everything around nicely. With tongs, move the mixture to the air fryer basket (or dump it onto a sheet tray to cook them in the oven, or in a skillet to pan fry). Cook the beans at the same temp as the meat for about 5+ mins.

They are done when you can hold one bean with the tongs and bend it over in a soft V shape. Plate it all and decide if you want any sauce to top the meat with or not. Enjoy.

Sicilian Sheet Tray Pizza

Posted on by

I like making pizza at home. We like a nice crispy crust, and one way to guarantee getting one every time outside of having a professional pizza oven is to use a sheet tray and regular olive oil. It’s how the Sicilians nonnas do it.

One your large sheet tray, pour out about 2 tbsp of olive oil. You can use your fingers to layer the whole tray in the oil, or you can use a brush. Don’t forget to brush oil up along the sides so the pizza doesn’t stick to it. Watch this clip to see how it’s done.

Drop your room temp ball of pizza dough on the sheet and use your oiled fingers to start pressing and stretching the dough outwards all over the surface. When you think the bottom has enough oil on it, flip the whole dough over to oil the second side. Keep stretching the dough out to the corners from the middle and the dough edge.

When the dough starts contracting back into the middle, stop. Let the dough rest 30 mins. After that first rest, repeat the stretching into the corners. Again, when it starts contracting, stop. Rest it another 30 mins. This may need one or two more stretch & rests before you can start topping the pizza.

I bake mine at 450*F for as long as it takes for me to smell it cooking in the oven and for the cheese to melt in the middle. Pull it out, rest it 10-15 mins, and then use your longest burger flipping spatula to lift the crust off of the sheet to a cutting board. And this should what you see when you sneak a peek at the crust.

Enjoy!

 

Mac & Pizza Casserole

Posted on by

Sometimes I get tired of pizza because I’m not in the mood to chew a baked crust. And sometimes I also want Mac & Cheese at the same time as pizza. Enter the casserole version!

I mixed up my normal pizza topper ingredients I like (pepperoni chopped up, any veg I have kicking around, loads of grated mozza + marble cheddar plus a bit of parm cheeses), a bunch of cooked elbow pasta, the white mac & cheese sauce I always make (or close enough), and any spices I want (I stuck with the classic Italian blend).

This got baked covered at 375* for about 30 mins to get it hot enough to melt the cheese properly.