Fried Garlic Pork Tenderloin

If you like garlic, you'll love this recipe. The pork is coated in a garlic mixture and then fried.

The Details:

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in skillet. Mix together 1/4 cup garlic, 1 teaspoon parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Rub well into 2 pork tenderloin chops. Fry until done, about 7 minutes on each side, or to 170 degrees internal temperature. Drain on paper towels.

Quick and easy. You can vary the amount of garlic used to taste.

Happy Cooking!

Mike's Burgers

So, one of my posts featured Mike's Beef Tips, and they were called that because I tailored them to my husband's liking. Mike himself actually is the one who makes these burgers. Well, he at least mixes them up. And might put the on the grill. I usually end up flipping them and taking them off. But I'll still give my hubby the credit. *big smile*

The Details:

1 lb ground hamburger meat

1/4 to 1/2 cup Dale's sauce

2 Tablespoons garlic powder

2 Tablespoon creole seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Place meat in bowl. Add Dale's sauce and seasonings. Mix well. Form 4 to 6 patties. Grill over medium heat, cooking each side approximately 7 minutes.

How much Dale's sauce you use depends on how strong you want the taste. And all the measurements are just estimates, because nothing ever actually gets measured. A lot of our recipes seem to be that way.

Happy Cooking!

Merry Christmas

Remember today the true reason we are celebrating.

Merry Christmas.

 "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11 

Beef, Mac, and Cheese Casserole

I like to call this my 'Cheater's Lasagna.' What? I'm all about convenience! Don't judge me!!

Anyway, it's basically the same thing, but with elbow noodles and not so many different cheeses.

The Details:

2 cups elbow noodles, cooked

1 lb ground beef

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce

Seasonings to taste

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown ground beef in large skillet. Add cheddar cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and seasonings to beef. Simmer for 15 minutes. Combine with elbow noodles and spread into 9'x13' pan. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes.

For my seasonings, I used garlic, parsley, and oregano, but you can use whatever you prefer.

And another really nice thing about this recipe is you can refrigerate or freeze it and simply warm it back up in the oven. Make it ahead of time or save the leftovers for later!

Happy Cooking!

Barbecued Country Style Ribblets

Ok, so 'ribblets' might not be a real word, but it sounds good! I think it describes these small, barbecued, pieces of pork ribs quite well. And makes them sound cute.

The Details:

Cut county style pork rib meat off the bone and into bite sized pieces. Place folded aluminum foil or aluminum pan on hot grill. Place meat on foil and coat in favorite barbecue sauce. Turn meat after a few minutes, and coat with barbecue sauce again. Continue turning, using basting/pastry brush to reapply barbecue sauce each time, until cooked through.

Quick and easy. Could be served as the main dish, or as an appetizer. The day I made these I was needing something more to serve with the rest of the food I was cooking, but needed something smaller than the ribs. So I cut the meat up and threw it on the grill!

Happy Cooking!

Cornbread

Ok, so I left this one in a little bit longer than intended, but it still looks pretty good! And please not, this recipe is for unsweetened cornbread. If you add sugar, I will come to your house and feed you raw liver. *evil smile* But I know no one would ever do that.

The Details:

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1cup flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 beaten egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place 10" cast iron skillet in oven with 1 tablespoon of oil. Combine corn meal, flour, baking powder, and salt in large mixing bowl. Add milk, egg, and oil, also adding heated oil from skillet. Mix until mostly smooth. Poor into heated skillet, and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Overturn onto plate and slice.

If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can use a greased square pan, but I can guarantee it will turn out right. Ok, so I don't really guarantee any of my dishes will turn out right, but I have at least tried the others. But I'm sure either way would turn out fine.

Happy Cooking!

Cloverleaf Rolls, Take Two

I made some cloverleaf rolls here, but this time I used a different recipe. As you can see in the picture, I made both regular rolls, and the cloverleaf, using the same dough.

The Details:

2 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons yeast

2 eggs

7 cups flour

melted butter

Combine milk, sugar, butter, and salt in saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Cool to 115 degrees. Dissolve yeast in mixture and wait until foamy. Beat eggs and stir into yeast mixture. Combine with flour. Knead on floured surface for about 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease top, and cover. Let rise until doubled and punch down. Repeat two more times. Divide dough into 24 equal pieces. Divide each of those into three pieces. Roll into balls and place three pieces into each hole in two muffin tins. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.

To make regular rolls, simple cut dough into 24 pieces and form a tight ball. Let rise and bake!

Happy Cooking!

Pecan Pie

My first time baking a pecan pie, and I used this recipe. For the crust I used this recipe. The only thing I had to change was it needed to cook a little longer. I ended up cooking it about 75 minutes. I also cooked it ahead of time and then froze it. Just popped it in the oven for about 20 minutes and it was ready to go!!

Don't it look good?

Happy Cooking!

Baked Mac and Cheese

I think this is one of my more popular dishes, or at least it is requested every time I give people an option as to what they want. Some have even told me they would be happy with just this, so it must not be too bad. The cracker topping gives it a crunch.

The Details:

4 cups milk

1 lb (4 cups) shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups elbow noodles, cooked

1 sleeve round butter crackers, crushed

1/2 cup melted butter

Combine milk, cheese, butter, flour, and salt in pot over medium high heat until butter and cheese is melted. Continue cooking until mixture starts to thicken. Add cooked noodles and place in 13'x9' pan. Mix together crushed crackers and melted butter and sprinkle over top. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

I've found that if you started the cheese and milk mixture and then start the noodles boiling, the cheese mix should be about done when the noodles are. I dump the crackers in a plastic storage bag and use a rolling pin to make sure they're good and crushed. And you might not need to use the full 1/2 cup of melted butter in the crackers. Just add enough to moisten the cracker crumbs, not to make them soggy.

Happy Cooking!

Collard Greens

Ok, so they don't look that appetizing, and I personally don't care for them, but I cooked 'em and by golly I'm gonna tell you how I did it!

The Details:

Wash fresh collard greens and strip from central stalk. Cut greens and place in pot. Cover with water and bring to boil. Add bacon or bacon grease for flavor. Simmer for several hours until greens are tender.

You can add ham hocks, or other chunks of pork, instead of the bacon, but I didn't have any this time. I made these for a friend and he said they were pretty good for my first time, so I'm happy with them.

And for those of you who still have no idea what collard greens are, it's a southern thang so don't worry about it.

Happy Cooking!