Hobo Stew

Hello bloggers!

Here's another good stew. I'm sure you have had something similar to this one. I made up a pot of this stew today and thought I'd share. Hobo or Hamburger Stew is basically a mix of veggies with hamburger. From other recipes I've seen it seems that the veggies are pretty much any thing you have in the cupboard or fridge. For my take on this one I added a pound each of hamburger and ground pork. Not pork sausage but plain ground pork. With rising beef price I found the pork to be much cheaper. The canned tomatoes where chili style diced tomatoes which added a wee bit of a chili flavor which I was hoping for.


Well here we go....


Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (80/20)1 pound ground pork (not sausage)2 medium onions, chopped 2 cloves minced garlic4 cans diced tomatoes (14-1/2oz) undrained1 can sweet corn (14-1/2oz) drained8 medium carrots, thinly sliced4 celery ribs, thinly sliced2 medium potatoes, peeled and cube 2 cups water1/2 cup uncooked med. grain rice1 to 2 tablespoons salt1 to 2 teaspoons black pepper
 Directions
1) In a Dutch oven or large stock pot, cook beef, pork and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and onions are soft. Add the tomatoes, carrots, corn, celery, potatoes, water, rice, garlic, salt and pepper; bring to a boil.
2) Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables and rice are tender. Uncover; simmer 20-30 minutes longer or until thickened.  
3) Invite the family over cause you gotta lot of stew to eat up. LOL

When your done browning the beef and pork and have added the veggies your stew should look something like the picture above. Bring to a boil and cook covered till tender. When all is tender and happy, happy, happy reduce your heat to a low simmer and uncover to thicken the stew. Which means to simmer out the excess moister and your stew will be much thicker. The rice will have cooked and absorbed moister/juices also.
Then the finished stew will look something like this....

 Nice thick stew, with great flavor from the tomatoes, onions, carrots and celery. The beef and pork will be flavorful and tender. Perfect on a cool fall day or a cold winters night! Super simple to make and most likely your will have all the ingredients on hand either in the freezer, fridge, cupboard or pantry.

Well bloggers that's it for today. Thanks for stop`n in and checking out my latest adventure in cook`n!

BBQ Breakfast Sushi

Well Hello Bloggers!
 Sure has been way too long since i have created a new post. The Whyldfire BBQ Crew & I have been so busy over past few months with fairs and festivals... its been forever since i have slowed down and done a little cooking for my family. Postings on social media have been over the top with BBQ recipes so i thought i`d share one that i tried today.
With the literal explosion of bacon recipes everywhere i`m not surprise to have found another one.
So here goes it...

First off we have to make whats called a Bacon Weave.

Lay strips of thick cut bacon on a tray or table, weave every other strip till you have some thing that looks like the above picture. Simple really if you ask your girl friend or in my case my lovely wife Doreen. Face it guys women make this task go real fast and easy... LOL

Next thaw out some Tator Tots... about 20 or so. Or do like i did and defrost in the microwave in a medium sized bowl and mash or break up the Tots. Finely chop a couple of tablespoons of onion & green peppers and add these to the bowl. And add one large egg and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix this concoction all up with a fork.

Next spoon and smooth the Tot mix onto the Bacon Weave evenly... staying away from the edges as shown in the following picture.

Carefully roll up your weave using a spatula or some other such useful kitchen utensil. When you roll it up make sure the end of the weave is on the bottom of the log. This will help hold the weave together while cooking. And you'll end up with something that looks like mine in this next picture.

 I added a handful of shredded cheddar cheese but forgot to snap a picture of this step... sorry. I imagine one can add all different kinds of breakfast like ingredients to this weave. But i thought i`d keep it simple for me and the wife. The egg from the previous step above acts as a binder and the cheese also helps stick this mix together. I cooked this "roll" on my medium sized Big Green Egg and tossed a couple of cups of apple wood chips on the coals for smoke flavor. I set the dampers to maintain 275 degree cooker temp for 2 - 2 1/2 hours or till the bacon was cooked and the internal temp read at least 165 degrees.

I also made a couple three mini rolls with the leftover Bacon and Tot mix. What you`ll end up with is a Jumbo sushi log that will slice and stay together just like the finest Sushi you have seen.

Best thing is....  Its "BBQ"!!!  The smoky bacon, the breakfast flavors of the egg, tator tots and cheese... Awwh man...  its just too good to describe! You have to try it for yourself. I`m sure if you don't have a smoker or grill this can be done in your oven also. Although it wont be as good... give it a try anyway. Who knows it might be better.

  Oh one other thing that goes pretty good with this dish is a big ole cup of some the that there Foo Foo Coffee everyone is drinking these days. My wife made me a mocha-loco-latte something or other. Mmmmm Not bad kinda chocolaty good!
Well folks thanks for checking up on my latest "BBQ Adventure". Till we meet again Happy Q`in to ya!

Whyldfire`s White Chili

Hello Bloggers it`s recipe time!

As you can see i`ve found a Creamy White Chili that i like so i tweaked it a wee bit to my liking. White Chili is well... its "Chili" just different that's all. It has beans, meat, peppers, spices and all love mixed in just like red Chili. Not so different huh? Let me tell y`all its just as good if not better than red chili! 

So enough of this yack`in here`s the ingredients and directions. Lets get to it....

Ingredients:

    1-pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1/2-inch cubes

    1 medium onion, chopped

    1-1/2 tsp garlic powder

    1-tbsp olive oil for frying

    3 cans (15.5 oz each) great northern beans or navy beans, drained

    1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth

    2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies

    1-tsp salt

    1-tsp ground cumin

    1 tsp dried oregano

    1/2-tsp pepper

    1/4-tsp cayenne pepper

    1-cup (8 oz) sour cream

    1/2 cup half and half

    Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Directions:

    1. In a large sauce pan, sauté the chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is done.  Add the beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

    2. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream.

    3. Optional thickening slurry (2 tsp. flour to 2 tbsp water)

    4. Garnish each serving with a big pinch of the cheese.                                                                                                     

                                                             

        

 Now don't that look good!

Well fellow Bloggers thats it for today. Thanks for checking in on me. Remember if you`r gonna eat food, it might as well be taste good! So try this one and look up some other recipes and share them, that`s what its all about.

Turkey & Rice Soup

 As i sat drinking my morning coffee a question came to mind...
Day after Thanksgiving... "what should i do with some of the leftover turkey"?

SOUP of course!

I looked in the fridge i had all the ingredients celery, carrots, onion. My cupboard and pantry is fully stocked with quite a selection of spices, broths, rice, noodles etc...

Here we go lets get started. The ingredients you will need are as follows...

2 tablespoon real butter

1 medium onion, (1 cup), chopped

2 to 3 ribs (1 cup) celery, chopped

2 to 3 medium (1 cup) carrots, chopped

1 teaspoon finely diced fresh garlic

65 ounces chicken broth

2 nice sized bay leaves

2 cups cooked rice* (no instant rice please)

2 cups chopped Turkey (white & dark mix)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

Pinch of celery salt

Salt & Pepper to taste

Before you prep the veggies, start the rice cooking as per instruction on the bag. 
Get to peeling and chopping the veggies, try to chop/dice all ingredients into the same size pieces so they will finish cooking at the same.
Melt butter in 4- to 6-quart saucepan over medium heat until sizzling. Add onion, celery, carrots and garlic; season with salt & pepper; continue cooking 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are softened.

 

When working with raw rice a good rule of thumb is 1 cup raw = 2 cups cooked. Rice doubles when cooked. Be carefull not to burn or over cook the rice. Follow the instructions on the bag & you`ll do just fine. For this recipe good rice cooked well is much better than instant rice.

 


When your rice and veggies are finished add chicken broth, bay leaves & celery salt. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, 10-12 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil and carrots, celery & onion are tender. Stir in cooked rice, turkey and parsley. Cook 5-7 minutes or until heated through. Taste, & re-season with salt and pepper, if needed.

 Now don't that look good & it tastes great too! 

There is some thing comforting about home made soup. And this is a great way to use leftover turkey or chicken. Being the "BBQ Nut" that i am i used Smoked Turkey. The added "kiss of smoke" flavor from the turkey is amazing! You can taste the butter in the veggies, a hint of the bay leaves come to taste as you eat the soup. A down home comfort food for sure! 

Well Bloggers that's it for this one.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my "latest adventure" in cooking!

Whiskey Mapel Glazed Braided Pork Tenderloins

Well Blogger`s...
Today was another nice day here in Nebraska, which i`m afraid is coming to a close. Winter is on it`s way  and i figured i`d better fire up the Big Green Egg smoker before it get`s too cold. I found some tenderloins on sale at my local grocer. After a quick Internet search i decided i`d try my hand at braiding some tenderloins. Looked like a very nice way to present one of my favorite cut`s of meat.

I purchased two nice tenderloins so let`s get to work!

Start by trimming any extra bit`s of fat and silver skin from each loin. I decided to split one loin the long way into two pieces and leave the other whole. On your cutting surface place the loin so as you can slice each piece in three long sections as shown in this picture. Leave an inch uncut to hold the braid together as shown.

Start braiding by placing the left piece over the middle, the right piece in between those two and keep repeating till your at the end of the loin. Secure the ends with a tooth pick so they don't come apart while cooking. Fella`s if you are having trouble figuring this out just ask your wife or girl friend to show you, i`m sure they have braided there own hair. Not that we would need the help but such girl-ish matters are a bit confusing. Hang in there fellas it`s not as hard as it seems besides... it looks real purdy when your done and the ladies will just love the fancy presentation.  

OK... now that we suffered through that difficult task the other whole tenderloin will be easy peasy. Split that loin into three section the same as before and criss cross the three sections into another one of those fancy nancy braids that the ladies love. What you will end up with is some thing like the next picture.
Be sure to grab your bottle of Whyldfire Bar-B-Que All Purpose Original Dry Rub or the next best thing which would be... huh ? cant think of any thing.
Anyway season em up good and place in the fridge covered for a few hours to meld the flavors and let em get... (you guessed it) happy. Remember fella`s... Pork gets real happy when using Whyldfire Bar-B-Que Rub so be careful when removing them from the fridge... they is liable to jump right out at ya when opening the fridge door.

While the loins are marinating... fire up your favorite smoker or grill. When the cooker temp stabilizes at 250 degrees place the tenderloins on the grate for a quick cook of approximately 2 - 2 1/2 hours at that temp. For this cook session i added two nice chunks of Apricot wood for smoke flavor. Check on them at the one hour mark and note your cooker temp, make any adjustments to the dampers if needed to maintain the target cooking temp.
Your finished temp for these loins will be 138-140 degrees. When close to being done "glaze" the loins once or twice with your barbecue sauce. Any more than that and in my opinion its a waste. Barbecue sauce is for serving on the side and dipping your meat in. When one glazes its added for color or presentation. Although it does add flavor... what you want is to add too it not over power the flavor of the meat, dry rub & smoke.

The last barbecue cooking competition my wife & I won she came home with a bottle of Whiskey Maple barbecue sauce so i figured this would be the perfect sauce for such a fancy presentations. Brush on a layer or two of the sauce the last 15-20 minutes of cook time.

When you hit the target temp remove the loins from the smoker and let them rest for 20 minutes or so, tented with foil. The internal temp will rise as it rests to approximately 140-145 internal temp, which is just perfect!
Ain't that just a nice way of presenting one of the most tender and flavorful cuts of pork? For the side dishes i would suggest Mac & Cheese with Seasoned Green Beans and a tall glass of iced tea.

That`s it... Thanks for checking out my latest... "BBQ Adventure".

Barbecued Cheese

Hello Blogger`s!
Came up with a new "must try super easy recipe" for ya all to try. Great for a game time snack, after school or work snack or if your like me a "mid night" snack. The ingredients are only a couple of items that most folks have right in there own fridge and cupboard.

I love Swiss cheese about as much as Mozzarella and be`ins i had Swiss in the fridge and a cupboard full of spices i decided why not make.... Barbecued Cheese. All you need is a block of your favorite cheese, some barbecue dry rub spice mix and a quart zip lock bag. That`s it .... super easy and quite tasty if you have a good dry rub such as Whyldfire Bar-B-Que All Purpose Original Dry Rub (shameless plug), which can be purchased at Lou`s Thrifty Way in Norfolk Ne. (nuther shameless plug). I might add that this seasoning is a sweet mix of BBQ spices specially formulated for all kinds of applications. (yup again)

First off gather up your ingredients.
I used a one pound block of Swiss cheese.
Cut the block into cube sized snack bites.
Place cubes in a quart size zip lock bag.
Shake on the Dry Rub.
Seal the Bag and toss to coat the cheese cubes.

Refrigerate for an hour or so to meld the flavors and let em all get happy!
 

Ain`t that super easy and your family will love it! Make this snack with your kids if you have little one`s. Or next time the grand-kids come over make it with them! Great for the football game or as a holiday treat. One important side note is to use a dry rub that has a sweet BBQ flavor. A savory or spicy rub might be too over powering for this recipe. Unless of course one likes that sort of flavor.

Hey folks that`s it for today.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest.... "BBQ Adventure".

Brisket & Burnt Ends

Hello Bloggers!
It has been a busy summer for Whyldfire Bar-B-Que Catering & Concessions. Fairs, Festivals & Catering has kept us busy...  hardly had any computer time lately. Things are slowing a bit so i thought i`d cook up a brisket and share how i "do it".
First off i decided to fire up my Ugly Drum Smoker because i was cooking brisket, which for this cut of meat i feel that cooking over the coals the way the Drum is set up... just plain makes the best brisket.
I loaded the coal basket with lump charcoal and a few chunks of apricot wood. Fired it up with my trusty weed burner to get it going.
While the drum was coming up to temp. I went inside & took the brisket from the fridge, which was a choice cut of brisket. Trimmed some of the large hunks of the fat cap. I applied a layer of Worcestershire sauce to all sides of the meat. This will act as a "glue" if you will for the seasoning which i will rub into the meat.

Now don't tell no one but here is the secret to great tasting brisket..... season it with Salt, Pepper & Garlic Salt !
That`s it nothing else required! That old saying "some times simple is best" applies to brisket. Although i have had some fine tasting brisket which i`m sure was rubbed with a cupboard full of seasonings. But after years of research, trial & error... simple is best! I use fresh ground Mediterranean sea salt, fresh cracked multicolored peppercorns & a light dusting of garlic salt.

Once this ole hunk of meat was seasoned i went out & checked the temp on the Drum & it was right at 250. Perfect for me. I like to cook in a temperature range of 250-275, not exactly real low temp cooking but fine for this brisket. Cooking tuff cuts of meat at a little bit of a higher temp is just fine. Still cooking at a low temp but just jacked up a bit to cut the long cooking time.

Once the brisket reached 165-170 internal temp i removed the meat from the Drum and separated the point from the flat. Why you ask... Well i want to make some "burnt ends" and wrap the flat in foil. Whats Burnt Ends ? That`s the point section of the brisket removed and cut into one inch square pieces, re-seasoned with a sweet rub and a light glaze of sticky sweet BBQ sauce, placed in a foil pan and back on the smoker to caramelize and get tender. Best thing since sliced bread i tell ya what! Also wrapping the flat in foil makes it super tender and juicy.

Back on the Drum we go for another 2 hours or so. I checked the wrapped flat after an hour & it was at the perfect temp for slicing... 190 degrees. I removed the flat & placed it on a cookie sheet and covered it with a towel to rest and stay warm while the point was finishing up. After another hour i removed the finished Burnt Ends. Sliced the brisket flat & plated it all up with some of them heavenly burnt ends, some smashed tators & sweet corn. Here is the finished product all ready to dig in!

Well that`s about it for this adventure. I could go into a lot more "why`s" and "how comes" but we will save that for a later date. The summer isn't over yet folks... grab the family and cook ya up some BBQ! Spending time with family and friends is what it`s all about! Thanks for stopping by and seeing "whats cooking at home".