Holy busy - ness

So the last few days (when I say days, I mean the last several weeks) I have been gearing up for a big event at my work. Pretty much that means I spend a crap ton of time working. John has been working non-stop too. Aren't we just such a fun couple :)

Oh yeah, events...There are just about a million details that go into events, but that’s really what I like about my job. It is challenging and keeps me busy. On the other hand, it sure doesn’t leave a lot of time for blogging. Now that this event is over, I should be able to get back into the swing of things…well, until my next event, which is April 18^th. That one should be pretty awesome and will feature the founder of Skullcandy, Rick Alden. Oh yes, I just dropped a name. BUT hey, that is the beauty of what I do. I get to meet a ton of cool people with awesome success stories. If you don’t know what Skullcandy is, maybe you should crawl out from under that rock you have been living under ;)

Anyway…back to blogging.

Of course since it has been such nice weather, we have been bbq’ing a lot! One thing I love to bbq is brats - you know, bratwurst?! No, I don’t make my own, because I am definitely not that ambitious, but I do have a pretty good technique for cooking them.

As you can see, these suckers are topped with peppers and onions. Yum! It gives them added flavor and makes them that much more tasty!

• Brats (whatever kind you want, traditional chicken, etc.)
• A few cans of beer (you can use some sort of stock or apple juice if you prefer)
• Chopped up peppers and onions - throw in a jalapeno if you want!
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Crusty rolls or hot dog buns for serving
• Brown or grainy mustard for serving

Combine all ingredients (excpet mustard and buns) in a pot and bring to a boil.  Simmer on medium for 30-40 minutes. Remove the brats from the pot. Throw on a bbq grill for a few minutes to brown the outside (the inside will be cooked). Serve on a roll - top with the peppers, onions, and lots of mustard!

This is a very simple meal, but packs in a lot of flavor. I can’t wait for summer, so I can eat some grilled corn with these yummy brats.

Frying Turkey

I love deep fried turkey...who am I kidding, I love anything fried! Yes, there is that fat girl trying to escape again :) I will just push her deep down inside. I think it is because I grew up on fried food. Fried chicken, homemade french fries, fried okra (ooohhhh one  of my all time faves), etc. My mom even fried our corn tortillas when we made tacos. Yep...lots of fried foods.

Every Thanksgiving, John's work gives him a turkey. It is a very nice gesture on their part, but it has taken us until now to actually eat said turkey. And we thought, why not fry it? Yep, no good excuse not to.

A few years ago we tried our first fried turkey and let me just say I really don't want turkey any other way (although my mom does make a FREAKING GREAT turkey - so, I think I will take that back). Fried turkey is super moist though...and the skin is oh so crispy. Mmm crispy skin (say that in your best Homer Simpson voice). To make our deep fried turkey even more bomb.com, I always brine it for a few days too. I think it adds extra moisture and when it comes to turkey, extra moist is always good.

Look how fun! Frying turkeys...frying turkeys...frying turkeys is fun to do!

Yes, I realize I am a nerd and am proud of it :)

Brine
Basically, you take equal parts sugar and salt and dissolve in water (1 cup of each works well - I use brown sugar, not white sugar). After you have done that, throw in your favorite fresh herbs - rosemary, thyme, sage, garlic, etc. Put your turkey in this happy little bath and let it soak (refrigerate of course). You can also use lemons and oranges in the mix too...just squeeze a couple into the mixture, throw in the peels too and you are set. Let this whole thing brine for 24-48 hours. Here is the brine recipe I typically use:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 2 oranges (cut in 1/8ths)
• 2 lemons (cut in 1/4ths)
• Bunch rosemary, sage, and thyme
• Fresh cracked peppercorns
• Water - you need enough so your turkey is fully submerged and covered - 2+ gallons

After your turkey has been in the brine for 1 to 2 full days, rinse it off and pat dry. Season with your favorite dry rub. If you are frying your turkey, you should let it drain for an hour and shove some paper towels in the cavity to soak up the extra moisture. Then, after it has drained, make sure you season it up. If you don't let it drain, you will have a disaster with your turkey fryer. Yes, you would be the person on the news who lit their house and their neighbors house on fire. I don't think you want that.

For frying, get your oil up to temp (350 degrees). Lower your turkey in very slowly, and cook for 3 to 3.5 minutes per pound. Take it out and let it rest for 15 minutes-ish. Carve it up and enjoy.

I bet you are craving some turkey now! Well, I am still - good thing I have lots of leftovers.

Making Jerky

I have been told that I eat like a dude. And you know? I probably do. I love meat, huge steaks, bar food, and sunflower seeds. I don’t have a problem picking up a big slab of ribs or chicken wings and eating them to the bone. I mean, all those things are just fantastic!

In the spirit of man/dude food, I decided to make some beef jerky this weekend. AND boy does my house smell awesome! Jerky is seriously my favorite snack and is one of my favorite foods. I eat it for breakfast on a regular basis – yes, breakfast – and always have some on hand for snacking. Oh and John loves jerky too – LOVES it!

I have never made jerky before, but seriously how hard can it be? Well, as I found out it is not hard at all. You just have to be patient, which is really hard when your whole house smells like jerky! YUM!

Look how fantastic it looks!

I used three different rubs – two were dry rubs and one was a wet rub. The dry rubs were a pre-packaged brand that I picked up at the butcher – one original flavor and one sweet and spicy. The wet rub recipe is as follows (for 1.5 to 2 pounds of meat):

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons Worcestershire
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon red chili flake
• A dash of your favorite hot sauce
• A ton of pepper – or to taste

Mix all ingredients together and dump over beef. Marinate in a Ziploc bag for at least 24 hours.

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Lay your strips of beef out on the baking sheet. Season with more pepper. Bake fore 8-10 hours.

Here are just a few tips I learned about making jerky:

• I used top round roast. The butcher said any round roast works well - make sure to trim the fat.
• Cut your meat about ¼” thick. The butcher said any thinner and your jerky would be crispy.
• The dry rub pieces took 5 hours versus 8-10 for the wet rub or marinated pieces. Just be patient...it is worth it!

Well, now I am off to enjoy my jerky. I just can’t stand to smell it any longer without sneaking a piece (as if I haven't already)!! :)

Spring is DEFINITELY in the Air!

And it makes me really want to grill/BBQ/whatever you want to call it…ALL of the time!

Last time we were at Costco, we got a package of pork tenderloin roasts. These little roasts are awesome. They always turn out juicy and tender, which sometimes is not the case with pork.

I usually cook these perfectly packaged roasts in the crockpot to make pulled pork or in the oven to make your traditional pork roast. I have watched a few cooking shows lately that show how to grill/BBQ your pork roast. SO…I thought I better give it a try.

Mmm! Delicious! To make this even better, I used a chipotle/bacon sea salt to season it. Yes, you heard that right - Chipotle/Bacon sea salt. My friend Monica saw this little gem of a seasoning when she was travelling in Canada and immediately thought of me. Boy am I glad because it is glorious! Yes, it is that good. It seriously made the pork roast taste like it was wrapped in some sort of smoked bacon! Holy freaking YUM!

Now, this is as easy as it gets!

• 2-3 pound pork tenderloin roast
• Olive oil
• Your favorite seasonin

Season your pork roast with your favorite seasoning (salt and pepper, season salt, garlic salt, if you are lucky enough to have it Chipotle/Bacon sea salt, etc.) Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and rub in. Cover and allow to sit in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Heat your BBQ grill to medium. Place your pork roast in the center and close the lid. Cook for 15-20 minutes  turning over every 3 minutes. Make sure the center is at about 145 degrees when you remove from the grill. Allow to rest for ten minutes before cutting.

I served this with a nice light summery pasta of angel hair noodles, carrots, zuichinni, squash, onion, garlic, and asparagus. Ooooh it was good! I am so looking forward to BBQing again and again and again and again now that it is warming up.

St. Paddy's - just a little behind :)

Wow! Our blog sure has been neglected lately. We have just been so busy, that I haven’t had time to update. Hopefully we’ll get on top of things and I’ll start posting regularly again.

This weekend, like the rest of America, we celebrated St. Paddy’s day. John and I love St. Paddy’s day because we both love corned beef.  Sooo, St. Paddy’s day seems to be as good a day as any to have corned beef. Plus, that means that you can have corned beef hash the next morning for leftovers :)

As you can see, I served my corned beef with homemade Irish cheddar and garlic bread (holy cow it was awesome - I used the method found here), smashed potatoes with Irish cheddar, roasted cabbage with a balsamic glaze, and roasted carrots. I tried to do something a little bit different than your boiled corned beef, cabbage and potatoes and I think it turned out well.

Corned Beef

• 3-4 pound POINT cut corned beef (POINT is the only way to go)
• 1 Guinness beer
• 2-4 cups beef broth
• 1 onion sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic (leave whole and smash just a little bit to release the aroma)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse your corned beef under cold water. Pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Place cut up onion and garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place corned beef and seasoning packet on top of that. Cover with beer and broth. Turn to high and let cook 1.5 hours. Turn to low and let cook for 8-10 hours more. Serve with your favorite Irish sides.

 

Um yes, this recipe is amazing…most tender corned beef EVER! And like I said earlier, in the morning you can have corned beef hash with all your leftovers. Doesn’t it look so good!

Oh and it is easy too. I sautéed my leftover potatoes with onions (yellow and green) and a jalapeno. Then I added in the corned beef. Topped with some cheese and an egg. Of course, you can add in peppers or whatever tickles your fancy if you like.

Well, now that it is Wednesday, I hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Funeral Potatoes - minus the canned soup

I was watching the Food Network and the Neely’s show came on. Let me just tell you, I usually dislike that show (they are so nauseatingly cheesy), but I was intrigued by one item on the menu so I continued to watch. Well sort of - it was just long enough to see them make this hash brown casserole, which looked pretty dang amazing…AND as an added bonus, it didn’t use any sort of canned cream of something soup.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I grew up eating canned cream of something soups, but I have recently decided I do not like them. I guess not too recent - It has been a few years. Don’t worry - I am not getting all weird - I still eat my fair share of Doritos and other delicious processed foods - just not canned soups :)

Back to the funeral potatoes (by the way, is that a Utah term?)…seems like it is.

In true Hailee fashion, I started with the original recipe and modified. Here is what I came up with:

Funeral Potatoes

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4-5 slices of bacon - diced and cooked to a crisp
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar
• 15 ounces package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (they only had 30 ounce packages at my grocery store - I just used half)
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the butter and olive oil to a large skillet. Once foaming and melted, add the onions and sauté until tender. Stir in the flour and some salt and pepper and cook until starting to get light brown, about 2 minutes. Add the milk and stir until smooth. The mixture will begin to thicken as it comes to a simmer. Once thick, turn off the heat and add 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Stir until melted. Now add in the sour cream and garlic and stir to combine. Next, add the hash browns, bacon, and green onions and stir until well mixed. Check the seasoning at this point and add salt and pepper as needed.

Add to a 2 quart casserole dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake until the top is golden and the potatoes are tender, 45 minutes.

I think the only thing I would have done differently is cutting down on the bacon and just sprinkling it on the top. It lost its crispness - which wasn’t cool! Everything else was spot on. This was great as a side for dinner, but would also be awesome for breakfast or brunch!

So...it's Friday and I am excited! This whole daylight savings thing has thrown me off! Have a great weekend everyone. 

Pan Fried Noodles - oh yeah, I am fancy!

John and I both share a love of pan-fried noodles. In fact, when we order Chinese food it is about the only dish we can both agree on. He likes battered, fried chicken of some sorts (general tso’s chicken, pon pon chicken, orange chicken, etc.) whereas I am a much bigger fan of stir-fry types of dishes or noodle-y type dishes.

I stumbled upon this recipe on my new favorite website - Gojee - which I told you about previously, and I was ecstatic. I could actually make pan-fried noodles at home?? And it is easy?? No way! As you can tell, I was psyched to say the least.

They turned out better than I could have ever expected and they were seriously so easy! You didn't even need any fancy or special equipment - just a cookie sheet and your broiler. The only two things I did different from the original recipe were 1. Using olive oil because I didn’t have safflower or corn oil and 2. Using some Asian noodles (you can see the package in the first picture below) versus angel hair spaghetti.

I found these at Smith's - so they must not be too authentic

 

Freaking YUM!

Pan Fried Noodles - adapted from the recipe above:

• 3/4 lb thin egg noodles
• 1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil mixed with 2 tsp olive oil
• Salt to taste

Boil noodles according to the instructions until al dente. Drain and rinse lightly. Place back in your pot and toss with the sesame and olive oil. Spread the noodles out on a large baking sheet.

Heat broiler. Place the noodles 3 inches under the broiler and cook for 20 minutes, until they are golden brown. Flip them over with a spatula and brown on the other side (this took about 7 minutes but watch them carefully).

As you can see, we topped ours with a stir-fry of chicken, onions, zucchini, garlic, broccoli, carrots, and red bell pepper. You can top yours with whatever you would like or eat them plain - they really were just that good!