7-Up Biscuits

  Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Bisquick
• 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
• 1/2 Cup 7-Up (or Sierra Mist)
• 1/4 Cup Melted butter (1/2 Stick)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Cut the sour cream into the bisquick with a fork. Make sure all of the wet stuff gets coated with dry stuff.
3. Add 1/2 Cup 7-Up and mix. Dough will be very soft... just above a batter
4. Put 1/2 Cup Bisquick on the counter and flip the dough out onto it. Knead it a little bit and pat it out until it's about 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch thick.
5. Grab a glass, empty can, or biscuit cutter and punch some biscuits out.
6. Toss 1/4 cup of melted butter in the bottom of a 9x9 pan and then toss the biscuits on top.
7. Cook until awesome.


These are amazingly easy biscuits, and they're nice and moist. I prefer these to the biscuits in a can hands down.... Smother them in some sausage gravy, and you've got an awesome breakfast.

Moroccan Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

Aioli Mayo:

1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for brushing
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 garlic clove, pressed
 

Burgers:

2 pounds ground dark-meat turkey 

Salt & pepper to taste

Onion Powder

thick red onion slices
1 large bell pepper

2 TSP Brown Sugar
Cheese
Bread

 

 

Preparation:

 For the Sauce: Mix all of the stuff together, whisk it... then toss it in the fridge.

Burgers: Mix the meat with some salt and pepper and whatever spices you like in your burger... for me, that was some salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and a bit of onion powder. Also, mix in 2 TBSP of the Aioli Mayo.
Now, pound out the burgers. FYI, 2lbs of meat = 4 burgers...  Run your onions and peppers onto some skewers.

Fire up the grill and get it up to about 325-350 degrees. Since turkey tends to not have a lot of fat in it, you may want to spray down your grill surface with some olive oil. Toss the burgers on and let them go for about 5 minutes on each side, or whatever it takes for them to be done. At the same time, toss your veggies on the grill. The peppers just need to soften up and get a little bit of char on the skin. The onion is going to want to dry out as it cooks... so, you might just want to keep a bit of water handy and just keep it moist.... when it's got a nice little bit of char, toss 1 TSP of brown sugar on the top of each red onion, and maybe a little more water.... you're looking to caramelize the onions/brown sugar just a bit... also, it'll help to take away that bite of the red onion.

We made these burgers for memorial day. They were pretty tasty, but a little heavy on the cumin for my tastes. But, I'm not the biggest fan of cumin. Also, I thought the Aioli mayo was a little too smoky, but that might have just been our Kroger brand smoked paprika... 

Thai Satay Chicken

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:
1-3/4 to 2 pounds Chicken Breast, Cut into chunks
1 to 2 Lemongrass Stalks (about 5 inches each) minced
4 cloves Fresh Garlic, minced
1/3 cup Coconut Milk
1/4 cup Freshly Squeeze Lime Juice (feel free to add a teaspoon of zest for more of a lime kick!)
2 tablespoons Honey
2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
2 tablespoons (warm) Unrefined Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon Low-Sodium Tamari (or 2 TBSP Soy Sauce)
1 teaspoon Chili Paste (Sambal Oelek)
Wooden Skewers (soaked for at least 30 minutes) or metal skewers. (honestly, if you grill a lot, you should have metal skewers.)

Instructions:
Cut up the chicken. Mix everything together (minus the bamboo skewers, genius). Drop the chicken into the liquid, and let it soak for a few hours... or overnight....

Then, pull it out, toss it on skewers, and throw it on the grill until it's awesome. When it's awesome, it's done. 

FOR THE PEANUT SAUCE:

3 tablespoons Creamy Peanut Butter

1/4 cup Coconut Milk

1 tablespoon Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

1 tablespoon Honey

2 teaspoons Fish Sauce

1 teaspoon Chili paste Sambal Oelek

2 small Garlic Cloves, minced

1 Green Onion, minced

1 tablespoon chopped Fresh Cilantro

Instructions:
Mix it all together. - Done.


So... You've got the chicken done on the grill, sauce mixed up... cook some rice, and you've got a meal. ... Virginia makes me eat vegetables, so we had ours with Asparagus.


Verdict : Since we have another Satay Chicken wayyyyyyy back on the blog... I've got to compare.

This... isn't as good. The peanut sauce on the other stuff is better, and I like the ginger/garlic/cocoa awesomeness of our regular kind better. However, our original recipe posted on the blog had us cooking the chicken in the oven. The grill makes all the difference in the world. Satay Chicken is meant to be made on a grill, and nothing else really cuts it. 

Cornbread.

I don't like cornbread. At least, I thought I didn't. Always so dry and gritty. Turns out, I don't like other people's cornbread. But, my cornbread is awesome.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 3 cup bread flour
• 1⅓ cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 4 Tablespoons honey
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/2 cups milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. (Baking spray)

In a large mixing bowl, stir the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Pour in the vegetable oil, melted butter, honey, beaten eggs, and milk, and stir just until moistened.

Pour the batter into the greased baking dish and bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. 

Check for doneness in the center with a toothpick or with a skewer like I do.

This stuff is very light and moist. Not gritty. And it's sweet... almost cake-like.

You should make it. It requires no special skills or equipment. I didn't even bring out the mixer to make it... It takes 10-15 minutes of prep, and then cooking time. 

Now, while you're writing this down, I'm going to go smother a piece of it with turkey chili.

Ummm… pork with mashed sweet potatoes and stuffing waffle… yeah.

 

So… stick with me here…. there’s a lot going on.

Pork:

Ingredients
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt
1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix the top 6 ingredients together.

Rub down the pork on all sides with the spice rub.

Drizzle your oil into a pan and add your garlic. Then, brown your pork on all sides… it takes about 5-8 minutes per side.

After it’s browned, toss it in the oven for about 20 minutes… or until it’s done.

 

Sweet Potatoes:

Preheat the oven to 400

Grab some sweet potatoes.

Peel them and chop them into cubes…

Roast in the oven until soft…check with a fork.

Mash them up, add some butter, maybe some brown sugar or cinnamon.. whatever floats your boat.

 

Apples:

Cut up some apples into slices.

Toss them in a pan with a splash of white vinegar , coat them with honey, two shakes of cinnamon, shake of cloves, shake of nutmeg….. if they’re not sweet enough, add some brown sugar… add a handful of raisins and cook until everything is happy and at the correct level of done-ness.

 

Finally… the stuffing waffle.

So… grab a box of your favorite stuffing. Make it according to the recipe on the box… usually water, butter/oil/margarine….

The instructions on my box of stuffing said to boil water and margarine… add stuffing, remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

I did the first couple of steps, but pulled the stuffing out when it hit 3 minutes and spooned it into the waffle maker… Stack it high in the waffle maker, as it won’t expand like waffle batter, so you’ve got to make up for that with initial height….

Let it cook in the waffle machine for 5-7 minutes… you might have to flip your waffle maker over to make it easier to remove the stuffing waffle in one piece.

 

And there you go… that’s everything…

And the verdict is….. Awesome… it’s not the most photographic thing.. it’s kinda monochromatic.. it could have used something green… or maybe red… some cranberry sauce would have done it…

But… now that I have the stuffing waffle in the arsenal… I’m planning on a Thanksgiving waffle.. with some cut turkey breast on top with maybe some cranberry syrup, or just good ol gravy….

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 extra large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
2/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 pound finely grated carrots
1 cup toasted chopped pecans
1 cup golden raisins
1 batch Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

The traditional method is to prepare two 9-inch cake pans by lightly coating with baking spray. However... pour the batter into whatever you want. I made two trays of cupcakes, a loaf pan, and a 4" round Pyrex.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl.  Set aside.

Mix the eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, brown sugar, vanilla, and pineapple together in a large bowl.   Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.   Stir in the carrots, pecans and raisins just until evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake on the center rack for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Obviously, if you're making cupcakes, or loaf pans, or whatever, cooking times will vary.

Cool cakes in their pans for at least 30 minutes before attempting to remove them.  Then, removed from the pans and peel off the parchment paper.  Continue to cool the cakes completely before frosting.

To assemble the cake, place the bottom layer on a cardboard round or other flat surface and put on a cake turntable. Scoop about 1 1/2 cups of the cream cheese icing onto the top of the bottom cake layer.  Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the surface.  Carefully place the second layer on top.  Scoop another 1 1/2 cups or so of the frosting on the top of the cake and spread evenly, easing the frosting down the sides.  Spread the icing around the sides of the cake, adding more as needed.  Lift the cake off the turn table and place on a cake stand or platter and chill a bit to firm up the frosting before slicing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

16 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange extract
3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar to taste

Directions:

Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  Add extracts and beat just until incorporated.  Beat in sugar, one cup at a time, until frosting has the flavor and consistency you want.  You may not need to add all of the sugar.

 

 

 

Here's my take... the cake was good. I didn't really stick to the measurements exactly.... I dumped some raisins in... and ran some carrots through the food processor until it looked like a good amount... and dumped out what appeared to be a cup of nuts from a 2-1/2 cup bag...  So.... it was very fruity and awesome... but kind of like a fruitcake. But, texture was good, it was moist and wonderful, with just the right amount of chewy crust.

 

The icing... could have done with about half of the orange extract.... It was very orange-y.  Also... this makes a ton of icing... so... I don't know what else we're going to put it on, but I'm sure we'll find something.

White Turkey Chili

This afternoon, for some reason, Virginia decided to make up some white chili.

Ingredients :

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 stalks celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 3 medium poblano peppers (about 4 ounces each), seeded and white ribs removed, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more to taste
• 1 pound ground white meat turkey
• 2 (15.5-ounce) cans white beans such as cannelini, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can hominy, drained and rinsed
• Salt
• 1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Lime wedges

 

Directions :

Heat the oil in large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, celery, poblanos, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, coriander and cayenne and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink about 2 minutes. Add the white beans, broth and oregano. Cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes.

Add the hominy and salt and more cayenne pepper, to taste, and continue cooking, partially covered, 10 minutes longer. Ladle into individual bowls and top each serving with 1 tablespoon of yogurt and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cilantro. Garnish with a lime wedge.

 

Notes:

Well, Virginia isn't typing this.... so.. you get my thoughts.

It was tasty enough, but a little bland. Also, for me, ground turkey always has a weird texture. Not that happy, wonderful texture of good ol beef. It could use a shot of hot sauce for me... or maybe something like green onions... something a little crunchy... or maybe just crackers.

Jerk Catfish and Spicy Coleslaw.

So, we're going to change things up a little bit here. Normally, every blog post is a lot of prep shots, and the method is spread around throughout all of that business.

Well, today, Virginia and I found a cooking "channel" on our Roku player and decided to watch that for a little bit. A few minutes later, we're watching a video of a woman in her late 50's - early 60's in a bikini. She's in her kitchen, explaining how to make frozen grapes. ***Spoiler alert *** You take some grapes, and freeze them... But for some reason, this video was 15 minutes long. This Social Security beneficiary in the bikini is telling us about why frozen grapes are great, how she like to take them out to friends at the pool, exercises she does at the pool, how she likes "black" grape more than green ones... and meanwhile, I'm sitting here, with my jaw dropped, wondering why anyone would tell me this much about grapes, when the method really is "take grapes off of the stem; put in freezer".

With that in mind, we'll have a little witty banter every once in a while, but I think the last thing you need is another picture of slicing garlic, or cooking bacon. So, the new format will be more focused, easier to follow, and I'll be assuming that you've been in a kitchen before.

Without further ado, Jerk Catfish and Spicy Coleslaw.

Coleslaw (make at least a couple hours in advance)

• 3 cups cabbage-and-carrot coleslaw mix
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped habanero or serrano pepper

 Mix all of the above together. Put it in the fridge.

 

Jerk Seasoning:

• 2 TBSP dried minced onion
• 2-1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp black pepper 
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

Mix all of the above together, set aside for now.

 

Catfish:

You need 1 catfish filet for each person you want to feed. 

 

Put a pan on medium heat, put a little olive oil in the pan.

Drag the catfish through some of the jerk seasoning.

Cook for 3-ish minutes per side, or until done.

 Serve with coleslaw.

       

 

 And boom goes the dynamite.

 

Here's the verdict. It's tasty. But, it's also got a damn fine kick to it. If you're not one for the spicy food, cut the cayenne pepper  in half.. or swap out the habanero in the slaw for a serrano, or a jalapeno, or scotch bonnet, or whatever your level of spiciness can handle.

 

Virginia thought that a green apple would have gone well in the coleslaw as well. 

 

I was a big fan of it as is, but I was honestly surprised that Virginia plowed through it like she did.

 

As a side note, I made a double batch of the coleslaw. It was tasty on the fish, but later this week, the plan is: Spicy Coleslaw, 1/3 pound burger, white cheddar, toasted kaiser roll, maybe a splash of BBQ sauce.... I think the slaw will be just amazing on a burger.