Author: krby4

Baked Mac and Cheese

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This is a fairly easy recipe to make. Savory meatballs are great in subs and with spaghetti.

Ingredients

  • 1lb bacon
  • 1lb macaroni or other noodles (like lumaconi)
  • 1.5lb shredded sharp cheddar
  • .25lb shredded romano or parmesan
  • .5lb shredded pepper jack
  • 1tsp chili powder (optional)
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1tsp black pepper
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs (optional)
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup flour
  • 1-1/2 cup whole milk

Tools

  • 1 large saute pan
  • 1 large casserole dish
  • Stockpot to boil noodles

Method

  • Begin by chopping your bacon up into small pieces, roughly 1/2″ in width
  • Cook your bacon to crispy, drain, and set aside. Reserve the bacon grease
  • Cook noodles 1 minute under recommended time
  • Preheat oven to 350
  • With the bacon grease, turn the pan to medium low and make a roux out of the flour and grease
  • Slowly add in the milk while stirring to create a gravy
  • Add in the spices and stir
  • Add the shredded cheese in batches, roughly a 1/2 cup at a time. Reserve about a cup of cheese to top the casserole dish with
  • Stir in between each batch, letting the gravy mixture come up to temp between each batch. Stir until the cheese in fully encorperated
  • Put the cooked noodles back into the drained pot where you cooked them and pour in the cheese mixture and half of your cooked bacon. Stir well
  • Pour the mac and cheese into the casserole dish, add the remaining bacon, cheese, and bread crumbs
  • Cook covered for 30 minutes at 350
  • Uncover and cook for another 10 minutes, or until the mac and cheese is crispy to your liking
  • Let rest 10 minutes before serving

Meatballs

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This is a fairly easy recipe to make. Savory meatballs are great in subs and with spaghetti.

Ingredients

  • 2lb ground beef
  • 1lb italian sausage
  • 1lb ground pork
  • 1tbsp granulated onion
  • 1tbsp granulated garlic
  • 1tbsp salt
  • 1tbsp black pepper
  • 1tsp oregano
  • 1tsp basil
  • 1tsp celery salt
  • 1tsp red chili flake (optional)
  • 1cup bread crumbs
  • 2 large eggs

Tools

  • Small muffin pans
  • Large stirring bowl
  • Oven

Method

  • Place all of the meat into the large mixing bowl. If you bought italian sausage in wrappings, take it out of the wrappings. Slightly break down the meat
  • Put the dry ingredients (herbs, spices, and bread crumbs) into the bowl and stir a little bit to distribute the ingredients
  • Crack your eggs and add them to the meat
  • Stir in one direction with a spoon for ~5 minutes, or until everything is evenly distributed. It should be relatively easy to see when the pork and beef are mixing, as the color of the meat will start to become a solid color
  • Let rest covered for around 15 minutes while your oven preheats. Room temperature meats can cook a bit more evenly
  • Preheat oven to 375
  • Scoop roughly 2tbsp of meat mixture and form into a ball. Place your meatball in your small muffin pan crevasses until meat is gone
  • Cook at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly crispy on top

*Note: The meat is fairly fatty so you may want to put a baking tray underneath your muffin pan to catch the drippings so you don’t start a fire in your oven. Smokey flavors are not what we are aiming for on these.

Chicken and “Dumplings”

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This is a family recipe from my grandma. I have dumplings in quotes up there because it really is just chicken and noodles, but I can’t bring myself to call it chicken noodle soup.

Ingredients

  • 3lb chicken or one whole chicken
  • 2tbsp salt
  • 1tbsp ground pepper
  • 1tbsp chicken Bullion
  • 1 cup heavy cream

For the Noodles

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 1tbsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • Chicken stock from soup

Tools

  • Large stockpot
  • Cutting Board
  • Knife
  • Tongs
  • 1 large bowl
  • Noodle Maker (Optional)

Method

  • Put the chicken in the pot, cover with water (usually around 4-6 cups). You want to make sure you have excess broth, because the noodles really soak it up when you have leftovers
  • Bring the water to a boil and skim off any impurities. They usually just look like floating white goop.
  • Boil for ~1hour
  • Strain the stock into your large bowl and allow the chicken to cool
  • While the chicken is cooling, start to prepare your noodles. On your large cutting board or in another large bowl, put the dry ingredients in. (4 cups flour, 1tbsp salt, 1tsp baking powder) and form a bowl in the middle of the flour
  • Add the eggs to the center of your bowl of flour and begin beating the eggs and incorporating a little more flour each time. Add chicken stock until all the flour is incorporated.
  • Make sure to flour your cutting board, and roll out the noodles. If you have a noodle maker, just use the thickest setting
  • Cut the noodles into roughly 1/2″ wide and 1″ long strips
  • Shred the chicken with your tongs, and throw the stock and chicken back into the stockpot
  • Bring the stock to a boil, and add the noodles one at a time
  • After all of the noodles are in the soup, cook for another 5 minutes, turn the heat off, and add the cream

BBQ Sauce

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Ingredients

  • 1 15oz can tomato sauce
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 2 tbsp chile powder
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp ground white pepper

Tools

  • One medium saucepan
  • Mason jars to store sauce in

Method

  • Combine all spices with vinegar and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl
  • Heat tomato sauce and tomato paste over medium heat until you start to see bubbles
  • Combine all ingredients and simmer on low for 15-30 minutes

Instant Pot Pulled Pork

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This is a really good and easy pulled pork recipe that is great without sauce and great with it.

Ingredients

  • 4-5lb pork loin
  • 2 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp seasoning salt
  • 1/2 tbsp granulated garlic
  • 1/2 tbsp granulated onion
  • 1/4 tsp celery salt
  • 1 tsp chili flake (optional)
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 tsp red wine vinegar

Tools

  • Instant Pot
  • Cutting Board
  • Knife
  • Tongs
  • Large bowl for marinating

Method

  • Cut the pork loin into roughly 1.5-2 inch cubes
  • Mix together the salt, pepper, seasoning salt, garlic, onion, celery salt, and if using the chili flake
  • Rub this mixture on the pork in your bowl, making sure to cover all of the sides
  • Cover bowl and let marinate 6 hours or overnight
  • Turn instant pot onto sear and sear all of the marinated meat. This doesn’t have to be perfect
  • After searing, put the chicken broth and vinegar in with the meat
  • Turn instant pot onto the “Meat” setting for one hour, let the pressure naturally dissipate
  • After the pressure is gone, shred the meat with your tongs
  • If using bbq sauce, this is when you toss it in with your meat

Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

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We often have way too much mint in our garden and this is one of our favorite ways to use it up.

Ingredients

  • 2-3 cups fresh mint leaves
  • 3 cups heavy cream
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
  • 1 Tsp vegetable oil

Tools

  • One medium stockpot
  • One strainer
  • Ice Cream Maker
  • Large Bowl

Method

  • Over medium, simmer the mint leaves with the cream. As soon as the cream is hot, turn the heat off and let the mint steep in the cream for at least an hour
  • Add the sugar and vanilla while the mixture is still warm
  • Add the milk, if sugar and vanilla are not dissolved, turn heat back on until sugar dissolves completely
  • Muddle the mint leaves in the milk and cream, then strain
  • You can push the mint leaves with a spatula to get the rest of the cream out, or leave that for a less minty ice cream
  • Put the ice cream mixture in the fridge for two hours or overnight
  • Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker. Follow the instructions that came with your ice cream maker
  • While the ice cream is churning, make the melted chocolate. Put 1tsp of vegetable oil in a microwave safe bowl with 4oz of chocolate. Cook at half power in microwave for 30 seconds then stir. Continue to cook in 10 second batches until melted
  • When there is about a minute left on your ice cream, drizzle the chocolate into the ice cream maker in small bits. It will freeze immediately and then chunk itself. Try not to get too big of pieces as they freeze very hard
  • Place in your ice cream containers and let freeze for at least 2 more hours, then enjoy

Baked Chicken Parmesan

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This recipe is fairly easy to follow and delicious. I have never once under or over cooked this recipe, and if you pair it with our Spaghetti Sauce it is bound to come out great.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup fresh shredded parmesan split in half
  • 1-1.5 cups of Italian bread crumbs
  • 1 pound pasta
  • 1 quart Spaghetti Sauce

Tools

  • One large baking sheet or casserole pan
  • One large pot for cooking pasta
  • One large cutting board
  • One meat tenderizing hammer
  • Two bowls for breading your chicken

Method

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise, and then cut those pieces in half horizontally
  • Place some plastic wrap over your cut pieces of meat, and use your meat tenderizer on each piece. You should only have to hit the meat a few times, just make sure each piece is slightly tenderized
  • Beat your eggs in one of the two bowls
  • Place your breadcrumbs and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan in the other bowl, and mix until combined
  • One piece at a time, cover your chicken with egg, then breadcrumbs and move to your baking sheet or casserole pan
  • Bake for 45 minutes at 350
  • While chicken is baking, heat up your spaghetti sauce and start the water for your pasta
  • Prepare pasta according to package directions
  • When the chicken is done, place roughly 2 tbsp spaghetti sauce on each piece of chicken, and a small pinch of parmesan. Or do a lot, this part is really up to you. Make sure to reserve some sauce for the pasta
  • Broil for 4-6 minutes on high. For crunchier cheese, broil longer
  • Use the rest of your spaghetti sauce in your noodles
  • Place either on the noodles or on the side of them

Biscuits

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Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/8 cup (3/4 of a stick) of very cold butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup whole milk

Tools

  • One large bowl
  • One large cutting board
  • One baking sheet
  • Pastry knife

Method

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
  • Chop the butter into 1/2″ or smaller cubes, place in small bowl and put back in fridge or freezer
  • Mix all the dry ingredients into a large bowl
  • Once the butter has been in the fridge or freezer for 5 minutes, put into dry ingredient bowl and use pastry cutter. You don’t need much smaller chunks than 1/4″ pieces, you still want to see the butter in the mixture
  • Add milk and egg, mix until sticky with fork or whisk
  • Mix with hands until combined
  • Move onto floured cutting board or surface, shape to roughly rectangular shape 1″ thick
  • Cut into six equal pieces
  • If you have time, put these pieces on the cutting board and back into the fridge for 5 minutes
  • Bake at 400 for 12-16 minutes, until starting to turn golden brown

Chile Verde

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Ingredients

  • 2 lbs Chicken or Pork Loin or Butt
  • 1.5 lbs tomatillos
  • 2 green bell peppers
  • 2 jalepenos
  • 2 serranos
  • 2 yellow chile peppers
  • 1 large white onion
  • 2 tbsp crushed garlic
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Tools

  • One large dutch oven or instant pot
  • One large stockpot
  • Blender
  • Strainer (optional)

Method

  • An alternative to making this sauce is to make a batch of my Picante Verde and use that
  • Chop your meat into 1″ cubes, season with salt and pepper
  • Brown the meat in your dutch oven or another pan in batches.
  • If you are using the dutch oven, remove one batch and set aside in a bowl, if you are using another pan, put all cooked meat into your dutch oven or instant pot
  • While browning your meat, cut the onion and peppers in half, deseed your peppers, and peel your tomatillos
  • Boil all of your vegetables in the large stockpot until tomatillos are done (about 8 minutes of a rolling boil)
  • Take all of the vegetables and place in blender, add in ~1tbsp of salt as well as the 2 tbsp of crushed garlic to the blender
  • Blend until smooth, this may take a few batches
  • Optionally, strain your sauce mixture to remove seeds. This does not impact flavor as much as appearance and I hardly ever do it
  • Add the sauce to your meat. If using instant pot, put on stew setting for 1.5 hours. If using dutch oven, cook on low for at least 3 hours
  • Serve over rice and our homemade beans, or put in burritos or even over scrambled eggs

Spaghetti Sauce

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Ingredients

  • 2lbs lean ground beef, elk, or venison
  • 6 15oz cans of organic tomato sauce
  • 3 15oz cans of organic diced tomatoes
  • 3 15oz cans of organic italian style stewed tomatoes
  • 2tbsp dried oregano
  • 2tbsp dried basil
  • 1tbsp dried rosemary
  • 1tbsp dried thyme
  • 2tsp ground sage
  • 2tsp celery salt
  • 4tbsp sea salt
  • 1tbsp fresh ground black pepper

Equipment

  • 8 quart or bigger pot with lid
    • OR instant pot

Method

  • Brown the meat with all of the dry ingredients making sure to break the larger chunks into smaller ones. I like chunks of meat around the size of a pea, but the size is up to your preference
  • Dump the cans of sauce, diced tomatoes, and stewed tomatoes into your pot
  • If you are using an instant pot, put the pot in the “Soup” setting for 1 hour and 20 minutes
  • If you are using a large stockpot, stir once an hour and cook on low for 2-4 hours
  • Taste the sauce, if you think it is missing something add more and cook for an additional 20 minutes

Additional Notes

This sauce freezes excellently and can be used for up to 6 months if you freeze it in a properly sealed container.