Sloppy Joe Boats

I got inspired to create this recipe while watching my friends on The Chew earlier this week. They were putting something in scooped out baked potos for a Super Bowl dish, and I thought 'hey. why not do this with sloppy joe stuffing?' Here it is and yes, it was a hit with my home team.

INGREDIENTS
9 baker potatoes, baked at 395 for an hour
1 # 85/15 ground beef, browned
1 cup ketchup
1/3  to 1/2 cup canned, seasoned diced tomatoes with their juice
2 TBSP brown sugar
3 tsp dry mustard
3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt
4 green onions, sliced thin - both white and green parts - just chop off ends
1/3 - 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

STEPS
1. Get potos baking. When they are half-way done, brown your meat.
2. I browned our meat in the cast iron skillet used earlier in the day (when I made Sirloin Hollandaise Egg Brunch to brown the sirloin). The seasonings in the skillet were great to mix in with the meat.
3. As the beef browns, combine the sugar, mustard, W sauce, powders and salt with the ketchup and diced tomatoes. After the beef browns, add this mixture and combine well. Stir in green onions.
4. Once potos are baked, remove from oven, slice in half lengthwise and cool about 10 minutes. Place on a jelly roll pan lined with Parchment paper. Scoop out the insides of the potatoes and save to make mashed potatoes tomorrow.
5. Fill each potato with 2+ packed TBSPs of the meat mixture (use it all up) and return to 350 degree oven for 5 minutes to heat through. Turn off oven. Top each tater with a large pinch of cheddar cheese and place in oven for 7 more minutes to gently melt the cheese using the still-warm oven.

This is a fun alternative to hamburger buns and healthy, too. Great game day finger food or party appetizer. Spot gives this 3 paws and my guys give it a 4.

Gourmet Mac N Cheese

This is a recipe I morphed off a cable talk show recipe that my son really digs. My hubby has even come to like it. A variation of mac n' cheese (using blue cheese) and sliced tenderloin or steak.

While your choice of meat is on the grill, prepare your mac:

Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

2 TBSP unsalted butter

3 cups heavy cream

1 TBSP minced garlic

1 lb hollow pasta (I use Ditalini or mini shells)

3/4 cup blue cheese (at least)

2 TBSP fresh chopped parsley

Melt butter with garlic, briefly cook. Add cream, heat and then simmer 20 minutes, covered. Stir in blue cheese, whisk til blended and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to use.

Cook pasta al dente. Toss with sauce and serve with slices of steak or meat. Sprinkle with fresh parsley. Serve immediately.

This also makes a great party dish - serve it in martini glasses for fun. Of course Spot loves this one, meat is involved and no onions sizzled.

Danny's Favorite Meal: Bacon Bourbon Chicken Wings

It's been so long since I've cooked something new because I am still full from Easter! Last week while watching The Chew, a daytime foodie show I record, I saw a really cool wings recipe. Even though I am highly allergic to bacon (and all pig food), our son's fav food group is "bacon" and I thought it would be fun to make something that he really digs. He had to help me because I can't even come in contact with bacon, but I did the sauce, adjusting the recipe to what we had. My hubby had to go buy some Bourbon, came home with Whiskey Bourbon. Don't know if there is a difference, but when we make this again, that's what we will use.

What a hit! Our son kept thanking me over and over after his first bites. My hubby keeps growling like a happy bear. This is a keeper - even if I can't eat it! "How can this get much better!?! Bacon and wings!!!" - Daniel

INGREDIENTS
24 chicken wings
Vegetable oil and a deep fat fryer
12 slices of thick bacon, cut in half (get 2 short fat pieces)
toothpicks

WINGS PART I:
Cook wings in batches til golden brown (but not fully cooked) at 370 degrees. Depending on your deep fat fryer, this will take up to 11 minutes a batch. (Our fryer does not hold heat well) Place cooked wings on paper towel covered paper bag to cool slightly while you cook the rest of the wings.

SAUCE:
While wings are cooking, prepare and heat sauce in medium sauce pan. Over medium low heat, melt 4 TBSP unsalted butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 5 cloves finely chopped garlic, 1 tsp+ horseradish, 1/3 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3/4 cup bourbon, 3/4 cup ketchup. Heat and stir infrequently for 10 minutes. Turn to lowest setting and keep warm til you finish the wings.

WINGS PART II:
Tightly wrap a piece of bacon around the "fat" part of each wing, secure with 1-3 toothpicks. You don't want the bacon to fall off when you cook the wings again. Use enough toothpicks to adhere the bacon. Cook the wings again until bacon is done, approximately 3 minutes per batch.

FINISHING:
Using tongs, dip each wing in the sauce, coat well. Set wings on plates and chow down!

This recipe made 24 wings and served two. My hubby and my son.

Spot gives this 4 paws for sure. She even tripped me on the stairs as I was heading toward the kitchen to cook!

Homemade Chips N Dip

Thank you Michael Symon! Last weekend I was channel surfing and on a cooking channel found he has a new TV show. After he showed a pork recipe (I am allergic), I froze. He was making homemade poto chips with a blue cheese fondue complete with rosemary. Hold the phone!

To make the CHIPS:
We used a deep fat fryer, and once the oil was hot tossed in three whole garlic cloves, peeled and smashed a bit. Use one and a half large russet potatoes for each eater. Since we made this as our dinner, we made even more. Slice them thin and chip-like. Toss into a large bowl of water to keep fresh til frying. Keep the outer skin on.

Cook chips til medium brown. We have an older deep fat fryer so that meant about 9 minutes.

Layer paper towels over a flattened paper bag. Once the chips come out of the fryer, pat them dry with another paper towel and generously salt with Sea Salt. Move the chips to a larger pasta-style bowl lined with paper towels and toss with 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (pictured). Continue this until all potato pieces are cooked and tossed.

In order to make this recipe, I needed a new kitchen implement! This is the thing I've seen in other people's houses and on the "gadget wall" in cooking sections for years and just wondered about.

Still don't know what it's called, but it worked great tonight and I want to kiss it.

Okay, the recipe Symon mentioned called for a Blue Cheese Fondue dip. My son and I love, love, love the nip of Blue Cheese, so that's what I made. My hubby shudders at the idea, so I bought him some salsa and chilled it. He loved the chips and his version of the dip.

To make the Blue Cheese FONDUE:
In a heavy bottomed pot, cook 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil with 5 minced cloves of garlic, one minced shallot and 2 sprigs of rosemary, removed from the stem. Add a nice fat pince of Kosher salt. Cook til garlic and shallot are softened. Just a couple of minutes. Whisk in 1/4 cup white wine and reduce. About another minute. Then add 3/4 cup heavy cream, stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat. Add a generous dose of ground pepper to taste and stir in 8 oz. crumbled Blue Cheese. Let sit a minute.

If there are any chips left, serve this with them.