Spice Rub - latest version

This is a new version of my standard spice rub. I use it mostly on a slow cooked pork shoulder.
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup pulverized brown sugar (powdered in blender)
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger

preheat oven to 200 degrees
9 lb pork shoulder (bone in)  rinsed


Cover pork with spice mixture and rub into all crevices, massaging the meat with spice and love :)

Place shoulder fat side up on on raised rack of pan (I use a 1/2 sheet pan with rack). Cook in oven for minimum 7 hours ( I usually do 9 hours). Let rest 1 hour.

Carve or shred meat.

Serve with bbq sauce and cole slaw.

Valentines Dinner 2010

For Valentine's Day 2010 I have decided to makes salt crusted baked potatoes and slow braised pork cubes in a maple mustard sauce.

I combined stone ground honey mustard with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, warm water, salt, pepper, garlic salt, cumin, and celery seed in a blender. Next I browned the cubed pork with a little salt and pepper added the braising liquid, lowered the temperature and covered. 45 minutes later I removed the meat and brought the liquid up to a boil to reduce.









Shown here served with steamed broccoli and roasted onions.

Location:Clifton, CO

Nacho libre

6 year luchador



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Location:Clifton

Food: an essay

What is food? Essentially it is fuel. Sustenance is required to function but flavor makes the function worth it! The idea that you can be a chemist and an artist and a provider all at the same time is exhilerating and daunting at the same time.

Everyone has ideas and certain people have the ability to transform those ideas into masterpieces that not only sustain us but the also feed our souls.

I imagine that every person has that magical food that brings them to a place or time in thier lives. Is it grandma's chicken casserole or dad's once a month breakfast for dinner that reminds you a of happier time? Maybe it brings a sadness of missing a person or an adventure that was glorious. I think about my Nanny's cream corn and fried chicken that she would make every time we would drive across the country to visit relatives in Alabama. Memories like Dad adding beer to his meatloaf or Grandma always making peanut butter chocolate icing for my birthday cake.

Food can be associated with good and bad memories, when I miss my late sister I think about how she would put ketchup on her cornflakes (she was four years old). It is a bittersweet memory, but still sweet.

Maybe we can share those experiences through this blog, maybe I am just a nut obsessed with food, but, I know I am not alone. There are more of you, than would like to admit, that have a weakness. So maybe we band together to enjoy life and food and each other.



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Mexican pizza

I first encountered this recipe when I was working at Papa Kelsey and Fred's during my college days. I hope you enjoy! Trace

Mexican pizza
1 pizza dough*
1 can refried beans
1 pound hamburger
2 cups Mexican blend/fiesta blend
1/2 cup mozzarella
taco seasoning
tomato sauce
Optional items chopped olives, chopped onion, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, chopped tomatoes...

Bake or buy a pizza dough. Press out into a 18 inch round bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Brown hamburger meat, chopped into fine pieces. Add taco seasoning and tomato sauce per directions.

Take cooled crust. Spread refried beans to the edge top with fiesta cheese mix, add taco meat spread evenly across the crust. Add any optional items that you would like onions, olives, jalapenos etc. sprinkle with half cup of mozzarella bake at 400 degrees until cheese is bubbly approximately 12-15 minutes.

Serve with sides like sour cream, quacamole, extra tomatoes, olives, onions, peppers, salsa

Enjoy

*I buy my raw pizza dough from a local pizza restaurant. Cheap and easy.

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Upside Down Cheesburger Pizza

Quick and easy very delicious.

Upside down cheeseburger pizza

1 lb ground beef
14 oz spaghetti sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese divided
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flower
optional
onions, peppers, mushrooms, bacon

Tools:

Oven proof skillet
Spatula
Strainer

prep time: 10 minutes oven time: 20 minutes


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brown hamburger and drain. add 14 oz spaghetti sauce and 1/2 cup cheese. Simmer 3 minutes.

Mix egg, milk, flour and remaining cheese to make batter (very runny) spoon over meat evenly.

Bake 20 minutes, enjoy.

Honey mustard braised pork chops

Honey Mustard Braised Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes and Carrots

This was an experiment that turned out great. I was home with the boys while mom was off playing with her friends. The boys were going to need dinner and I had time so I tried to see what I could do to add flavor to our menu.

Ingredients:

3 boneless loin pork chops

Dijon mustard

Honey

Balsamic vinegar

Warm water

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 lbs Potatoes

½ lb baby carrots

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ butter

Boil 6 quarts of salted water. Chop potatoes into medium cubes add to water with carrots. Continue boiling until tender. Drain. Add mayonnaise and beat until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat olive oil in 12 inch skillet, salt and pepper chops, brown chops for 2-3 minutes per side. Lower heat to low and add honey mustard sauce.

Cover pan and let simmer for 25-30 minutes until chops are fork tender.

Honey mustard sauce:

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

1/3 cup honey

2 tbls balsamic vinegar

1 cup warm water

This is an estimate for the recipe, please adjust to taste.

Mix ingredients together, mixture should be thin enough to come half way up chops.

Last minute Chili

One cold winter day you decide you want chili but you decide at the
last minute. What do you do? Give my quick delicous recipe a try.

Chili
1 pound ground beef
1 pound spicy breakfast sausage
two cans bushes mild chili beans
One can refried beans
one can diced tomatoes w/ green chiles
4 tablespoons bacon bits

Crumble and brown sausage and hamburger until no pink is visible add
refried beans.
Stir to combine adding two cans of beans one can of
tomatoes and the bacon bits bring to a boil and then reduce heat to
simmer.

Serve with diced onions, grated cheese, and sour cream.

My recipe for the economy...

The economy sucks, and with that great vacuum money and joy tends to wane. Luckily saving money on food can help with both. This is a depression era dish that my wonderful Grandma Hillman used to make. It is called 'Crumbs' I am sure it was thrown together with whatever was on had at the time, can you imagine living in a time where everyone was struggling to make it work and doing whatever they had to do to get by??? oh wait maybe you can imagine.

The recipe originally did not include any type of meat, and it included a fried egg on top whever they were available. My recipe does not include the egg on top but it does include a tasty and versatile protien source.

Feel free to adjust to your liking and then let me know what you did..

With due respect to my Grandmother Melba Grace Hillman, here is my version of her depression era dish.


Pork and Crumbs

4 large potatoes cubed
1 large onion diced
1 lb pork loin cubed
¼ cup olive oil
2 eggs
1 cup flour divided
salt and pepper to taste


Heat oil in a large deep skillet

In a zip top bag mix ¼ cup of the flour and salt/pepper (as you like) add cubed pork loin, shake to coat.
Add pork to hot skillet carefully even brown all meat, remove from oil.
Add cubed potatoes to oil and brown evenly.

Mix remainder of flour with two eggs and beat to a thin pancake consistency.
Add pork back to potatoes and toss with egg mixture to coat.
Fry until crispy, serve with white kidney beans.

One Pot Pork Wonder

One pot pork wonder

1 lb pork ribs, loins, chops (boneless)
1 med onion sliced
3-4 med potatoes washed and sliced
½ cup butter or margarine divided
½ cup sour cream
2 cups of water or broth
Oil
Salt and Pepper


Heat large pot with 2 tbsp of oil
Brown pork on all sides
Add sliced onions and potatoes on top, pour in water/broth and ½ of the butter. Cover pot and lower heat to medium.

Let cook slowly for approx 20 minutes check the potatoes to see if they are done. If they have cooked to your satisfaction add the rest of the butter to the mixture. There should be enough broth to spoon off about ½ cup into a separate dish, add the sour cream to the broth and stir to incorporate. Add the mixture back into the pot, and stir to coat. Season to taste (even good with a little Tabasco)

Serves 4-5 people and the little ones do not even notice the onions.

Recipe - Adult dessert

Ok,

I had the craving for a strawberry banana salad, like I used to get when my Grandparents would take me to Furr's Cafeteria. So I picked up the berries and the nanners, and added a 1/8 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp of vanilla. My kids went nuts over it.

I go to thinking, hmmmm.. I have some Vanilla Rum.. so I made the same recipes and added a splash of vanilla rum and a pinch of salt. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this "adult" treat. Next time I will add some crushed mint.

Recipe:
Strawberry & Banana Salad

1/2 lb of Ripe Strawberry sliced
2 med bananas sliced
1/8 cup sugar (or sweetener)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Adult version: replace vanilla with vanilla rum, and add a pinch of salt.

spoon into a champagne glass and enjoy!

Trace

Some say I have an overactive imagination. I firmly deny this. Half the time the things I bring up are not my ideas - they are the ideas of my imaginary friends

Recipe - Baby Spinach and Apple Salad

Baby Spinach and Apple Salad

2 cups Baby spinach
1 medium apple (I prefer red delicious) cored and sliced thin
Your choice of vegetables:
Radishes - sliced thin
Zucchini or Yellow Squash - julienned
Red onions - sliced thin
Jicama – sliced thin

Or any combination of vegetables.

Dressing:
2 tblsp Raspberry or Strawberry jam
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup Canola or Olive Oil

Whisk jam and vinegar together, add oil to mixture. Whisk dressing to emulsify, serve on the side of the salad.

Also makes a great dip for the kids to dip their spinach leaves in.

Recipe - Vidalia Pork Chops w/ Baked Potato Salad

Try this and let me know what you think? Trace

Vidalia Pork Chops w/ Baked Potato Salad

Pork Chops:

4-6 ¼ lb pork chops

½ cup Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette Dressing

Salt & Pepper

Potato Salad:

4-6 medium potatoes baked or boiled, cooled

Dill pickle relish

Diced onions

½ cup mayo

½ cup Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette Dressing

1 cup shredded cheese

Bacon Bits (optional)

Salt & Pepper

¼ cup water

Making the potato salad:

I prefer to bake the potatoes in the microwave in a stoneware fluted pan (from Pampered Chef) I pierce them several times and stand them up in the fluted pan and put them in the microwave for about 15 minutes (depending on the microwave). Once the potatoes have cooled, cube them.

Placed cubed potatoes in large bowl and add relish, onions, bacon bits and cheese.. Mix mayo and onion dressing with water and a pinch of salt and pepper. Taste to make sure it has good flavor. Pour dressing over potatoes, mix thoroughly.

This is an excellent potato salad as a side dish.

Making the pork chops:

Place chops in a shallow dish. Salt and pepper each side. Cover chops with onion dressing on both sides.

Place pork chops in stoneware baking dish, and put in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Take chops out of the oven, and cover with the potato salad. Place back into oven for additional 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool about 15 minutes, serve with a salad.

Trace