Oh, me so hungry!  Me loved it long time.

Always on the search for new ways to use leftovers.  While in a mood for Asian noodles, I crafted a quick meal for one that is reminiscent of my days as a bachelor.  You probably remember how you cooked in college or when you were first out on our own.  It was economy, creative, and not fine cuisine.  Everything suited to your tastes alone.  This was one of those creations.

Leftover pulled pork
Package pork flavored Ramen Noodles
Dehydrated onion flakes (added to Ramen Noodle boil)
Red Pepper flakes (added to Ramen Noodle boil)
Roasted sesame seeds
Sriracha Hot Sauce!!!!

This weekend’s America’s Test Kitchen episode had skillet pot pie (mine is better cause I use pie crusts and not biscuits) and tamale pie. Never made a tamale pie. Never had a tamale pie… until tonight.

• Saute one small onion, diced
• Stir in two tablespoons of chili powder (New Mexico Hot, which isn’t really hot as the name implies)
• Add one pound of ground beef, one can of diced tomatoes, one can of black beans rinsed and drained (wish I had some corn to add)
• Let that simmer until beef is cooked through (its stewing more than browning)
• Remove from heat and add one cup of cheddar cheese
• Cover top with Jiffy corn bread/muffin mix according to the directions on the box.
• Place in 350 oven on second to top rack for 12-14 minutes or until corn bread topping is done

Kids kinda picked at it, but Audrey and I loved it. She’s a black bean fan. A keeper dish and way easier than pot pies. If it would have been just for me, I would have added jalapeños and a stronger chili powder. I could see adding brisket or pulled pork to this, too.

With left over pork from a whole hog cook, I created my own sesame pork stir fry. Place the chunks of cooked pork in a hot skillet with some oil. Once the meat was thoroughly warmed, in went a generous pour of Blues Hog Tennessee Red BBQ sauce. After 2-3 minutes of cooking it down and caramelizing some of the sugars, the stir fry was ready to serve over white rice. A little toasted sesame seed was added for garnish and texture.

A great Monday’s Leftovers recipe.

This is my absolute, most favorite recipe of all the regular dishes that I make. It doesn’t last long although it makes a big pie. You can us any cooked barbecue that you want: chicken, pulled pork, brisket, etc. The next one I make is going to use grilled shrimp. The recipe uses non dairy creamer instead of cream or half and half. You could replace the creamer and chicken broth for real dairy.

1 C chicken broth
2 C BBQ, Cooked
1 small onion, diced
1 C peas, frozen
1 C corn, frozen
1 C carrots, diced & blanched
1/2 C non dairy creamer
2 T Flour
1/4 t thyme
1/4 t summer savory
1/4 t sage
3 T butter
salt & pepper to taste

2 pie crusts

Step 1 - Blanch Carrots - I like to cook the carrots a bit ahead of time so that they cook through by the time the entire dish is done. Simply add to boiling water for about 5-6 minutes. Sweat Onions - While blanching the carrots, add 1 T of butter to a skillet and warm over med-high heat until butter foams. Turn heat down to Med. Add onions. Cook until onions begin to soften and turn translucent. You are not trying to fry the onions. You’ll hear a sizzle, but they should not brown and caramelize. Turn the heat down if they look like they are frying.

Step 2 - Make the Sauce - Remove the onions and carrots and set aside. Add remaining 2 T to skillet and turn up heat to Med-High until the butter completely melts and begins to foam. Turn heat down to Med-Low. Add flour a little at a time and wisk while adding until full incorporated. Continue to wisk and cook for 2-3 minutes as the rue gets a little nutty color. You’ll want to watch the heat through this step. You may need to turn the heat down to low if it is cooking too much. Add the chicken broth, non dairy creamer, and herbs. Turn up heat to Med-High and wisk. Let simmer for 3-4 minutes while continuing to stir. Sauce will thicken. Salt and pepper to taste.

Step 3 - Add ingredients - Turn off heat. Stir in peas, carrots, onions, corn, and meat. Set aside.

Step 4 - Make the Pie - Grease a round 9″ pie plate with butter. Place one pie crust round into the pie plate, add filling, and cover with second pie crust. Crimp the edges of the pie to seal it closed adding to slices for vents on the top of the pie. I like to use a larger serving fork for the crimp instead of a dinner fork because of the larger tines.

Cook in preheated 375 degree oven (or BBQ grill) for 40-50 minutes. If edges are browning faster than the rest of the pie crust, you can use a pie crust shield or make one out of aluminum foil.

Its always great when you can involve the kids in the process. Here my boys are helping grease the pie plate.

Like BBQ, a big bowl of pasta is about as comforting as it comes. Barbeque Ragu combines both comfort foods into one delicious entree. Adding smoked meats to dishes adds another flavor dimension. This one won’t disappoint.

Ragu
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 lb brisket, cubed
1 C sliced mushrooms, fresh
1 can tomato paste
1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 T oregano, dried
1 T basil, dried
Salt & pepper to taste
For the pasta a rigatoni, ziti, or masticolli works much better than a spaghetti. Black and green olives are an optional addition.  If you like it hot like me, add 1-2 T of red pepper flake.

A pressed sandwich is a thing of beauty. The actual italian word for a single grilled sandwich is Panino, but the plural word Panini is more widely used to describe this fantastic and trendy “American” food group. I call this an American food because of how popular it has become since the turn of the new millenium. Panini pans and electric grills have sold by the hundreds of thousands in this country in the last half dozen years. For Valentines Day last year, my wife and I both bought Panini presses for each other. Since she bought an All Clad pan, we kept her’s. That woman knows I love quality cookware.

You don’t need a $200 specialty panini pan to enjoy a grilled sandwich at home. A regular non-stick pan with a bacon press would work. Other alternatives to the bacon press could be another pan with a brick or a brick wrapped in foil. Any BBQ works: sausage, chicken, smoked turkey, brisket, or pulled pork. Even grilled foods like beef tri tip, left over steak, shrimp, eggplant, portabella mushrooms, or an all American hamburger. Cheese is a must… whatever you enjoy, but its fun to mix it up. Sauces can be grilled on the sandwich or served on the side: salsa, marinara, roulade, bbq sauce, aioli, or a stone ground mustard. Don’t just reach for the french role at the market. Get a good crusty bread or a couple. Better yet, make your own. Fresher is better. We like having Panini parties where we have several types of breads, meats, cheeses, sauces and ingredients to choose from. We grill sandwich after sandwich while guests sample each grilled creation. Here are just some of the ideas…

• pastrami & swiss on Jewish rye
• corned beef and cabbage on soda bread
• sausage & sauerkraut with spicy mustard
• grilled shrimp & shrimp with pesto on sourdough
• grilled eggplant or veal cutlet & mozzarella with marinara
• apple smoked pulled pork with bacon, swiss, and bbq sauce

Ready to grill a sandwich yet? Panini presses also double as wonderful bacon pans and grilled cheese makers. Grilled Cheese Tip: Add ANY jelly or jam to the inside of your grilled cheese. You can thank me later.

Never has a side dish ever been worthy to be called an entree unto itself.  We sold dozens of Loaded BBQ Spuds at a barbeque contest last fall.  Our creation was a huge Yukon Gold potato (an Idaho spud, of course) with cheese sauce, pulled pork, chopped brisket, a drizzle of Blues Hog BBQ sauce, and sour cream.  Replacing the potato for tortilla chips and we had a second dish: Loaded BBQ Nachos.

The Loaded BBQ Spud can have virtually anything on it.  The toppings are endless, but two basic ingredients must remain: a potato & bbq meats… well, I guess beans would work for a vegetarian version.  Some ideas for loading your potato:

• sausage
• chicken
• chopped brisket
• pulled pork
• salsa
• marinara
• bbq sauce
• jalapenos / hot peppers
• bacon bits
• onions
• cheese
• butter
• of course… sour cream

Michael wants Pizza for his 3rd birthday. So we did a trial run. Today he made peanut butter cookies with mom and then pizzas with dad. He did so great! Audrey and I were recalling all of our found memories of helping moms and grandmas in the kitchen as kids. Cooking with kids is such a connecting thing.

Did a whole wheat pizza on the gas grill. Then two regular crust pizzas: one on smoker and one on gas grill. Used some left over BBQ sausage as well as peperoni & mushroom. The crust was a simple dough recipe from America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook. Makes 3-4 pizzas depending on size.

4 1/2 C Bread Flour (Suggest Bread Flour instead of AP, but AP would work)
1 3/4 C warm water
Package Instant Yeast
1 1/2 t salt
2 T Olive Oil

Cooked on hot pizza stones on both the grill and smoker. Of course the grill was better since I could get over 500 degrees. Smoker was only running 340 max tonight. Because is was below freezing out.

On New Year’s Day I made a batch of Whatever Chili. The recipe is pretty simple. Put in WHATEVER you can find: brisket, leftover ground beef from last night’s nachos, leftover tamale fixins, an onion, a red bell pepper, diced tomatoes, sugar, chili powder (Cain’s dark, Chipotle, New Mexico Hot), beans, a little of this, a little of that. Stewed for four hours while Michael and I went to Cabela’s. A little hotter than I wanted for the family, but tasted great.