Jason's Ranch Mushroom Pork (Crock Pot)

Jason's Ranch Mushroom Pork (Crock Pot)

Ingredients:

3 lbs of pork (I used country style ribs, boneless chops and another single packed chop I have, any pork will do but for this one I wouldn't advise pork steaks just because of the grease)

1 packet of dry ranch dressing mix
1 can golden mushroom soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 large onions sliced
16 ounces of white fresh mushrooms sliced.

Directions:

This one is simple, simple, simple, simple, simple... well you get the point

Using a whisk mix the three soups and the "dry" ranch dressing mix in a bowl.

Put half of the onions and mushrooms in the bottom of the crock pot. 

Put half of your pork in on top of that and pour half of the soup mix combo on top of that, then put the rest of the pork in, top with more shrooms and onions and the rest of the soup mix. 

Cook on low for 7-9 hours.

Serve this over mashed taters! yes I said taters not potatoes! and then throw some french onion chips on top of it! Mom's Green beans and dad's fantastic buttermilk biscuits with lots of butter on them.

Ok here's the recipe' for mom's green beans, it's simple as well, 2 cans Krogers brand "Extra green, green beans" Add 1/2tsp. sugar, 1 Tbsp. of olive and cook on high till they start to sizzle and then toss till they're good and caramelized. 


Dad's biscuits. Ok this one is hard to explain, just look at the pictures but I'll get you close. Put 2 Tbsps. of oil, whatever you prefer, I normally use vegetable for these, but used olive this last time, anyways put the oil in a "Cast Iron Skillet" that has been "Seasoned". If it's new and not seasoned then put it in the oven with 2 Tbsp.s of oil on 500 degrees for 30 minutes. Let it cool for at least 2 hours then wipe it out with a paper towel and "NEVER" wash it again! For the best results use Dairymaid or another good brand of buttermilk. You'll want to put 3 2/3 cups of "Martha White Self Rising Flour" , I can't emphasize this enough. You have to use this flour. Add "approximately" 1 cup of buttermilk and 1 cup of water. You have to get the consistency right. Using a ladle put 3 dollops around edges and the remainder in the middle of the oiled pan. Then as the oil rises around the edges take a teaspoon and drizzle the excess oil over the top. Put the pan of biscuits in a 500 degree oven for 25 minutes or until nice and browned on top and then flip onto a plate. Make sure not to burn yourself! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! I had smoke rolling off my hand through the oven mitt the other night so be careful and once you get it out throw that pan in storage in the bottom of your oven so it doesn't burn anyone else. 

Now, the main recipe if easy and delicious, the biscuits aren't that hard after fifty attempts and the green beans just don't burn Always use Move Over Butter for the biscuits and ENJOY some good old fashioned cooking!

Eggplant Parmesan and Garlic and herb focaccia bread

Fabio's Eggplant Parmesan and One hour garlic/herb butter and Parmesan focaccia bread.

Neither of these recipes are mine.

The bread credit goes to this person http://www.crunchycreamysweet.com/2013/02/25/one-hour-skillet-focaccia/

The eggplant Parmesan is all the GREAT Chef Fabio's http://screen.yahoo.com/easy-eggplant-parmesan-070000454.html

I added 1/2tsp. of garlic powder to the butter for the bread and I used Newman's Own Marinara in the Eggplant Parmesan , those are the only two differences between my version and the original recipe's.

ENJOY!

Jason/Chef Fabio's Eggplant Parmesan

Coming tomorrow!

Ok I can't take credit for this it's actually Chef Fabio's Eggplant Parmesan. I do not make my own marinara for this (I might some day soon though). In the meantime you can check out the man behind this incredible dish!

I love this guys personality, his cooking, tips, tricks... well I just love this guy!

For a sneak peak click below.


http://screen.yahoo.com/easy-eggplant-parmesan-070000454.html

Jason's Vegetable Beef Soup (Crock Pot)

Jason's Vegetable Beef Soup (Crock Pot)

It's been a lazy couple of days with really no cooking to speak of but Thursday I did make a crock pot full of Vegetable beef soup so here's how I done it.

This is a very simple recipe and you can use chicken, beef, turkey, venison cut any way! *note* If you use ground any of the meats I mentioned brown it with onion, celery, garlic and peppers before adding to get the best result.

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs. Beef, chicken, turkey, venison or whatever meat you want.
2 can's 14.5oz diced tomato's
1 can vegetable broth (15oz)
1 can beef broth (15oz)
1 can tomato soup
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1 Tbsp. dried celery flakes
1 Tbsp. dried Parsley flakes
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. onion salt
1/4 tsp. rosemary
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 bay leaves
Whatever vegetables you want to put in it. I used cole slaw blend, vegetable soup frozen blend, celery, onion, potato and canned mushrooms. To be hones fresh cabbage chunks would have been better than the cole slaw mix in this. It's a lazy man's recipe!

Directions:

I put the broth and all the seasonings in the crock pot and stirred first, then threw everything else in and cooked it on high for 6-8 hours. As you've noticed I didn't even defrost the roast.  I did pull the roast out halfway through cooking and cut it up into small chunks.  I also removed most of the fat from it.

Remove the bay leaves, serve and ENJOY!

Jason's Bean Burrito

Jason's Bean Burrito's


As I mentioned earlier I set off today with the goal of having a Taco Bell bean burrito for lunch. Problem being that I just had the van towed away as it has a broken radiator. So my mind went to work and with the help of the leftover soup beans from yesterdays supper at hand I made my own!

Ingredients:

Re-fried beans:

Roughly 28oz of cooked beans (I used my leftovers from the crock pot so they already had celery, garlic, onion, parsley and bacon grease in them so there was no need to season them).
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Red Sauce: This is very close to the Taco Bell red sauce used on their burrito's.

1 14oz. can of chicken broth
1 15oz. can of tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. minced onion (I used dried)
1/2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion salt
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. smoked Spanish paprika
1/4 tsp. sugar
1Tbsp. olive oil
 
Finishing Ingredients:

Some chopped fresh onion
Mexican cheese blend
flour tortillas

Directions for beans:

Add the olive oil and beans to a frying pan. Using a fork, potato masher or the spatula (which is what I used) smash the beans up and heat over medium-high heat until nice and bubbly.

Directions for sauce:

Add all the sauce ingredients and whisk together. Heat over medium heat till bubbly. Reduce heat, cover and simmer about 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove cover and continue simmering 15-30 minutes longer or until reduced to your desired consistency.

Put 2-3 spoons fool of re-fried beans in the middle of a tortilla and top with fresh chopped onion, red sauce and cheese. Roll the burrito and microwave for 30 seconds or until cheese is melted.

Serve and ENJOY!

Jason's Turkey Sloppy Joe's (Crock Pot)

Final day of "Leftover turkey recipes"!
Thank the Lord the turkey is gone!

Turkey Sloppy Joe's (crock pot)

Ingredients:

2lbs cubed, sliced or shredded leftover turkey
2tbsps. olive oil
2 medium onions diced
6 cloves of garlic pressed and diced
4 cups tomato sauce
1 cup ketchup
2tbsps. Dijon mustard
4tbsps. brown sugar
2tbsps. apple cider vinegar
2tbsps. Worcestershire sauce
2tsps. chili powder
2tsps. salt

Spray the crock pot with non-stick cooking spray and place turkey in the bottom. In a large bowl whisk together all the other ingredients. Pour the sauce over the turkey and cook on low for 6-10 hours stirring every 1-2 hours.

Toast the buns in a pan or a toaster and serve with mayonnaise, lettuce and sharp cheddar cheese if desired.

ENJOY!

Jason's Turkey and Sweet Potato Noodle Casserole (Crock Pot)

Day two of turkey leftover recipes.

Turkey and sweet potato noodle casserole (crock pot)

Ingredients:

2 cups of cubed (1in. cubes) fresh sweet potatoes
2 cups cubed leftover turkey
1 cup frozen peas
1 8oz package sliced mushrooms (portobello are the best but if you're like me buy whatever is on sale or reduced for quick sale)
1 medium onion diced
1 stalk of celery diced
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1tbsp. lemon pepper seasoning

2/3 cup sour cream
8oz. dry wide or extra wide egg noodles

Spray the crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Add sweet potatoes, turkey, peas, mushrooms, onion and celery to the crock pot. In a separate bowl *whisk* together the broth, both cans of soup and the lemon pepper seasoning. Pour the mixture over the meat and vegetables and cook on low for 5-7 hours or until the sweet potatoes are tender.

Cook the egg noodles Al-dente (don't cook them fully or they'll be doughy) and drain. Add the sour cream to the crock pot mixture and mix thoroughly. Add the noodles and mix into mixture. Re-cover and let cook for 20-30 minutes.

I served this with shredded sharp cheddar cheese melted on top but it's really good without the cheese as well.

ENJOY!

Jason's Blue Crab Cakes

Jason's Blue Crab Cakes

These are just awesome and not hard to make.

Ingredients

16 ounce can of Great Blue brand lump crab meat (I buy at Poole's Meat Market here in Wabash).

2 medium eggs
1/2 cup regular mayonnaise
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1 tbsp. dried parsley flaskes
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tbsp.'s unsalted butter
8-10 saltine crackers - finely crumbled

In a medium-large mixing bowl add the eggs and whisk till fluffy, add the mayo, Old Bay, parsley, garlic powder, lemon pepper, djon mustard and Worcestershire to the eggs and whisk till smooth and well blended.

The trick to the second part is "folding" the crab into the slurry mixture you've just created a bit at a time "without" breaking the crab lumps up any more than you have to. Adding about 20 percent of the crab at a time seemed to work for me and most of the lumps stayed intact for me.

Place plastic wrap (or some kind of cover) over the crab cake mix and refrigerate for at least an hour before cooking.

Cooking:

pre-heat the oven to broil and place the oven rack on the second slot down from the top. Spray non-stick cooking spray on a baking sheet and form 9-10 patties out of the crab cake mix being careful not to squish them any more than you have to. Once you have the patties laid out on the sheet add a small dollop of butter to the top of each crab cake.

Broil on high for 12 minutes checking occasionally to make sure they don't burn. Remove the crab cakes from the oven and move the oven rack to the top. Replace the crab cakes to the "top" rack and broil for 3 more minutes or until golden brown.

Serve and ENJOY!

Jason's Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Cube Steaks

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Cube Steaks

We let the kids pick one meal they want every month or so and Zane decided he wanted "anything" bacon wrapped! Yeah healthy I know, lol.

Ingredients:

4-8 cube steaks
1lb of bacon
1 small tub of onion and chive cream cheese
fresh or dried basil
fresh or dried parsley
garlic powder
black pepper

First problem I ran into was that I couldn't find my grilling rack for the oven so I had to get creative with some tin foil and a baking pan. The grease from this dish definitely needed to drain while it was cooking.

Preheat oven to 375degrees.

on a separate plate place one piece of the cube steak and spread with a layer of cream cheese.
Sprinkle with black pepper, garlic, basil and parsley.

 Roll up as pictured below.

Wrap 1-2 slices of bacon around the rolled up steak and secure with a toothpick on each end (I put them all the way through and they held just fine).

After all of them are rolled, wrapped and placed on the grilling rack, or makeshift grease draining pan in my case, place in the oven on the center rack and bake for 30-40 minutes or until bacon is nice and golden brown.

Serve and Enjoy!

I served with peas/corn and Pasta con Verdura with spinach and mushrooms (the pasta came from Casa in Ft. Wayne, I didn't make this part

Jason's Knock off Taco Bell bean burrito

Today for lunch I'm going to try to use some of my leftover pinto soup beans to make my own Taco Bell bean burrito including making my own Taco Bell knock off Red sauce! We'll see how it turns out!

Jason's Pork Loin Roast w/Apples and Butternut Squash (Crock Pot)

Pork Loin Roast w/Apples and Butternut Squash

This isn't the prettiest dish that I make but it is absolutely bursting with flavor! The squash, apples, onions and combination of spices blends so well with the pork that you'll be on a flavor roller coaster ride!

Ingredients:

2 to 3 lbs. of pork loin roast
2 cups peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash
2 large apples quartered, cored and sliced (no need to peel)
1 large onion quartered and sliced
1/2 cup water
2-4 tbsp.'s olive oil

Rub Ingredients:

1tsp. Nutmeg
1tsp. Garlic powder
1tbsp. Dried parsley
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. Garlic
1/2 cup Cranberry Juice
1/2 cup Applesauce
1/2 cup Brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
2tbsp.'s Honey Mustard (I was out so I used Honey Mustard salad dressing)
2tbsp.'s Soy sauce

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients for the rub together and rub the meat down with mixture till well coated. In a medium-large frying pan add the olive oil and heat over medium heat till olive oil just begins to smoke. Add the seasoned pork loin and braise for 3-5 minutes on all four sided or until well braised and seasoning is embedded into the meat (see picture).

In a medium to large bowl add the onions, apples and squash and hand toss till blended. 

Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray and add the onions, apples and squash. Pour 1/2 cup of water over the mixture and then place the braised pork loin on top of the layer.

In the same bowl you mixed the onions, apples and squash add the cramberry juice, applesauce, brown sugar, cinnamon, honey mustard, soy sauce and garlic and whisk till well blended. Pour the mixture over the braised pork roast, cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve and ENJOY!

I served this with a 90 second vegetable rice that I got from Kroger's.... It was a clearance item...... now I know why! It was awful, lol. Oh well live and learn, I was tired and hungry so I ate the rice anyways. The roast was incredible so it offset the cheap rice side dish.