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Killer Stuffed Zucchini

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:09:49 -0400

Been thinking about making this dish since my mother-in-law was visiting and she had a recipe. I whipped up my own version. Yummy.

4 medium to large zucchini. Cut in half lengthwise. Scrape out seeds to form a well. Keep the skins on the zucchini.

1 onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, finally chopped
One tomato, chopped
1 tbsp basil
2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
Zucchini insides, about 1 cup, chopped (avoid seeds)
1 to 1.5 lbs turkey sausage
shredded mozzarella cheese
pasta and sauce

Place the 8 zucchini halves on a sheet pan
Salt and pepper the zucchini

Remove the sausage from its casing. Brown turkey sausage, remove from pan into large bowl. Crumble as needed.

Saute onions until soft, then add tomatoes, garlic, basil and oregano. Saute until garlic is soft. Add to bowl with turkey sausage.

When cool, add parm cheese, bread crumbs and egg. Mix well.

Fill zucchini.

Place 1/4 inch of water in pan (around zucchini). Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, or convection bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat your favorite sauce and cook pasta.

Optional: top with shredded mozzarella cheese during last 5 minutes of cooking.

Serve with pasta. Drizzle small amount of the pasta sauce over zuccini.

Killer Crab Salad

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:34:47 -0400

I whipped this up yesterday using stuff in the house and it turned out excellent.

1 Package imitation crab meat. You know the stuff. It was on sale so I bought it to try.
1 or 2 tbls mayo - depends on how running you like it
1 teaspoon (or more) Old Bay Seasoning - depends on how spicy you like it
Juice of 1/2 lime
few shots of hot sauce
chopped celery, about 1/2 a rib

Wash your hands and pick the “crab meat” into shreds. Mix in the above ingredients. Chill.

Serve on a bed of spinach or other favorite greens.

Optional: add a few tomatoes, sliced hard boiled egg or green onions. Tomatoes & eggs need salt, so if you slice them, sprinkle on some salt. I used jalapeno picked hard boiled eggs - sounds gross but it was delicious.

Not optional: drizzle on a good balsamic olive oil dressing. I used a fig & walnut balsamic dressing. Not too much, just drizzle. Add a few croutons and you have a terrific, different, salad.

The One Thing You Should Always Do

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:30:25 -0400

Heat your plates and serving trays.

If you want to make your cooking experience different from just about everyone else’s, simply heat your plates and serving trays before putting food in them. Heat to 250 degrees.

Try making the “Killer Pork Chop Recipe” without serving it on a heated plate. The sauce will get cold before you finishing mopping it up with the bread. Yuck.

The next time you make a steak, serve it on a piping hot plate and you’ll enjoy every bite even more.

Killer Pork Chop

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:16:41 -0400

Stumbled on to this one tonight after digging around for left overs. The onions were left over from hot dogs, the tomatoes were left over from fajitas. Jennifer had left me one pork chop to cook for my dinner.

1 Pork Chop
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
1/4 cup homemade or favorite salsa (not a vinegar salsa). I used Frontera Grill Chipotle Salsa.

Hit a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan, that is larger than your pork chop, over medium high heat. Brown the pork chop on one side.

Flip over the pork chop and add the onions to the pan, around the chop. Cook until the onions start to brown.

Add the tomatoes, around the chop.

Season with salt and pepper (always season tomatoes with salt).

Cover the chop in salsa. This is why a “fresh” / homemade / or gourmet salsa is needed. You would not want to cook with Tostitos Salsa.

Cover and simmer for 10 min.

Uncover and simmer to thicken - about 10 more minutes. Chop is done at 145 to 150 degrees.

Serve with tortillas or bread. Holy smokes this was good.

Killer Wings

Mon, 25 May 2009 20:45:46 -0400

You’ll need a simple marinade:

3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup hot sauce
2 garlic cloves (crush under plastic wrap)
pepper to taste (6 or 7 turns of the mill)
one lemon, sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar or honey

This is enough marinade to soak 3 to 5 pounds of wings - enough to fill a one gallon zip lock bag.

Cut the wings into three pieces ... the tip, the arm and the drum stick. Discard the tip or save for stock. Light a candle and singe each wing to remove hair, feathers and anything gross. This is an important step and is the difference between a great cook and a dipshit.

Marinate for a few hours - at least 2.

Grill the wings until well done. Don’t leave the grill. They cook fast and will smoke like crazy. The skin must be crispy, not soggy. Or, bake on a rack in the oven at 425 for 45 to 55 minutes - nice and long to get them crispy.