Bacon Wrapped Scallops

In the continuing adventure to try things wrapped in bacon my wife was wanting some fish so we thought we would wrap some scallops in bacon and give it a go – I have never had them before or have made them but I have heard of others doing it so it was not a complete unknown – I had cooked scallops once before as we usually opt for fish or shrimp – These were wonderful and I look forward to having them again real soon – I think these are a great starter as well – as long as you stick with the smaller scallops the larger scallops lend themselves to a better size for a  main course.

WHAT YOU NEED:
Scallops – These were U-15 you can use half a bacon strip U-15s -  for U-10s you may want to use the entire strip
Package of your favorite bacon
2 Lemons
4 Garlic cloves
2 Big Stalks of Rosemary
Good Olive Oil
2 Sticks Butter

TOTAL TIME: 30 Minutes
PREP TIME: 10 Minutes
COOK TIME: 20 Minutes

-First I cook the bacon in the oven at 375 for 10 minutes to partially cook them – remove them after 10 minutes making sure they are still flexible
-Tear the bacon in half wrapping one half around a scallop – secure the bacon to the scallop with a  toothpick
-Melt 2 Sticks of Butter with 4 Minced Garlic Cloves add a little salt and pepper making Garlic Butter
-Place in a broiler pan – Drizzle Olive oil over scallops and season with salt and pepper – Place lemon slices and Rosemary under scallops as they cook
- Broil Scallops for 4-5 Minutes
- Flip scallops liberally basting both sides with the garlic butter – Cook another 4-5 minutes
- Remove and baste again with garlic butter – Reduce pan juices in a sautee pan  for a few minutes and use as a sauce – It’s Killer!
- Remove toothpicks and Enjoy – Serve on top of Rosemary bunch and Lemon Slice – drizzle reduced pan juices over scallops

Bacon Wrapped Scallops - Au Gratin Potatoes - Cantaloupe - Asparagus

Bacon Stuffed Waffles

Usually on Saturday and Sunday mornings we make something for breakfast that requires more steps than opening a box of cereal and pouring milk in a bowl. Lately we have been doing blueberry pancakes or waffles. Since bacon makes everything better we thought lets put some cooked bacon in the batter and make some bacon waffles – In addition to the waffle I also like to make flavored syrups by adding different ingredients to the syrup today I will show you how I make my Jack Daniels syrup in case you want to get a buzz while eating waffles. The Jack Daniels syrup was inspired by an episode of Epic Meal Time -The below recipe will make 3 waffles.

WHAT YOU NEED:
2 Cups Bisquick
1.5 Cups Milk
2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Jack Daniels
Butter
Your Favorite Syrup
1 Package of your favorite Bacon

TOTAL TIME: 25 Minutes
PREP TIME: 5 Minutes
COOK TIME: 20 Minutes

- Cook Bacon over Medium Heat, Crumble into dime to quarter size pieces reserving some for garnish as well as a a couple of strips for garnish as well
-Add Bisquick,Milk,Vegetable Oil,Egg and Vanilla to bowl and whisk till batter is formed
-Fill waffle iron with batter adding your crumbled bacon pieces to mixture be sure to press down into batter and have coverage so you can get at least some bacon in every bite
-Take almost equal parts syrup and butter – I do about 60% syrup and 40% butter and put into micro safe bowl and microwave until warm and butter has melted do this on a medium power     setting so you don’t scorch the sugars.
-Add 1 part Jack Daniels with 4 parts syrup/butter mixture – you can add more or less depending on how strong of a Jack taste you want in your syrup
-I Garnish with non other than more Bacon – use remaining crumbles you did not put in the batter on top of the waffle as well as breaking a strip in half

Easter Eggs!

So I saw a picture of something similar to this floating around the Internet this week and thought it would be fun to make my version of Easter Eggs hoping that Hollie would get a kick out of them. I usually hear the same adjectives from my wife about how my food looks however today was different she called the Easter Eggs Soooooo Cute and I have to say I agree.

WHAT YOU NEED:
6 Hard Boiled Eggs
1/3 C Miracle Whip Light
Green Leaf Lettuce
Baby Carrot
Black Olive

TOTAL TIME: 45 Minutes
PREP TIME:20 Minutes
COOK TIME:25 Minutes

-Hard Boil Eggs and Peel Shell
- Slice the egg about 1/3 of the way up exposing the yolks – Remove by pressing on the sides – Remove yolks from all 6 eggs and place in a bowl with 1/3 C Miracle Whip light or your favorite Mayonnaise – we will be eating so much today I was just trying to keep it somewhat light – Salt and Pepper the yolks and stir to you get a smooth consistency
-Fill the yolk pocket up with the yolk mixture leaving about a 1/2 inch on top for the “face”
-Cut small pieces of carrot off for the nose and small pieces of black olive off for the eyes the replace the 1/3 of the egg for the hat

Bwak Bwak!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Breakfast Fatty

Yesterday I went to the store to get what I needed to make a breakfast fatty. I stop into Rock Creek Sports bar which is next door to safeway as I usually do for a quick beer before I go shopping. I get the usual what are you up to today question as Paul serves me a glass of Stella. I told him I was going to smoke a fatty and enjoy the afternoon….4 people turn around and say…Right on dude and nodded their heads….it took a second but then it occurred to me that they thought I was talking about a doobey…..I should know by now that when folks in boulder county hear “Fatty” they think of Marijuana where as when I hear Fatty my palms start sweating and my mouth waters as I think about what to stuff it with.  We all laughed when I explained what I was actually doing. Here is my Breakfast Fatty – This served with a Fried egg and some Green Chili on a homemade biscuit is as about as good as it gets in my opinion for a breakfast sandwich.

WHAT YOU NEED:
2 Packages of your favorite bacon
2 1lb Packages of your favorite Susage
Package of your favorite sliced cheese
5 Cubed Potatoes
1 Onion
1 Poblano Pepper or Pepper of your Choice – I also used a red bell
3 Garlic Cloves
Your Favorite Rub
Your Favorite Green Chili
1 Egg
1 Biscuit

TOTAL TIME: 2 Hours
PREP TIME: 30 Minutes
COOK TIME: 1.5 Hours

- Made Potatoes by Browning cubed potatoes in vegetable oil with garlic and onion and pepper – generously apply rub to potatoes as they brown – 12-15 minutes
- Create bacon weave, Add layer of sausage by putting into 1 gallon bag and pressing flat then cut bag to remove sausage – season sausage with favorite rub – then apply layer of sliced cheese.
- After Potatoes have cooled add potatoes and roll up into a “Fatty” be sure to close off ends and get a good seal on bottom

[Show as slideshow]

-Smoke Fatty with Hickory at 250 until internal sausage temp is 165 should take around 1.5 hours
-Cool your fatty overnight in the fridge – It will slice much better when cold – Take slices and sear the sides in a pan while you fry an egg
-Take the seared fatty slice put on a biscuit with your favorite green chili or maple syrup and fried egg and enjoy

GQue's Bacon and Egg Pasta

As a big fan of pork…specifically bacon.  Any chance I get to add it to whatever I am cooking -  I do so. Also as a relative newbie to cooking outside of my normal meat, potato and veggie cuisine I thought I was being somewhat creative when I thought of Bacon and Egg Pasta…Little did I know that has been around for ohhhhhh 80 years. Here is how I like to do my Bacon and egg pasta:

WHAT YOU NEED:

Box of Spaghetti (17.6 oz)
4 Eggs
Package of your favorite bacon
1/2 C Grated Pecorino Cheese
Small Bundle of Italian Parsley

TOTAL TIME: 30 Minutes
PREP TIME: 5 Minutes
COOK TIME: 25 Minutes

- Bring a pot of salted water to boil – Cook Spaghetti to al dente – Reserve 2 C of pasta water when draining water from pasta
-Take 10 Slices of bacon – Stack them and slice into variety of different rectangular sizes – Cook in a sautee pan with a little vegetable oil until golden brown
-When bacon is finished add 3/4 C of pasta water to sautee also add just under 1/2 C of pecorino cheese (reserving some for garnish) add pasta and 1 TBL of finely chopped Italian Parsley and    cook  for 1 minute
-Beat 4 eggs in a bowl and remove pasta from heat – Pour beaten eggs into the pasta off the heat plate and serve with pecorino cheese and Italian parsley as garnish
-Note that next time I cook this I am going to separate the egg whites and only use the yolks for the pasta resulting in a much more decadent richer sauce

My Friend Kevin Feit from Swinestone Cowboys sent me this documentary on the Whole Hog Pit masters in Lexington TN.  The documentary made by Joe York takes you inside the town where all they smoke is Whole Hogs….that’s it nothing else. This video is not a how to video rather it shows you from the butchers, the cooks, the meat distributors what is so special about whole hogs and the men that cook them – It profiles the folks that make it happen and is another great example of why I think BBQ people are some of the most interesting people I encounter…From BE Scott who found his pitmaster after taken him in when he was thrown out of his house at 16 to the guy that went to the hospital b/c he had inhaled too much hickory smoke and needed oxygen, its story after story of those that get er done…….Well Done Joe – I look forward to seeing more of your work.

http://vimeo.com/1535389

MMMMMMMmmmmmm Beer!

It’s no secret – I love beer. I am reminded of Forest Gump’s friend Bubba who loves shrimp and they have that scene in the movie where he rattles off all the ways you can eat shrimp….Shramp cocktail,shramp skampy, shramp sammich beer is as versatile as shrimp…Instead I hear lager beer, pale ale beer, IPA beer and so on and so on – With the explosion of so many new craft breweries and living in what is known as the napa valley for beer, I am fortunate to get to try different types of beer – I have tried about every type of liquor and while I have my favorites…vodka,whiskey,scotch,wine. I always come back to Beer – A TALL and COLD glass of beer is as good as it gets – Heck I even like Non- Alcoholic beer.

I came across this article the other day that has scientific data on the health benefits of beer. Prior to the article I had to rely on Cliff Claven’s rendition of why beer is good for you, it always made sense to me problem with that is there was no science to support his rational position on why drinking beer makes you smarter – Until now, Click on the link for 10 scientifically proven reasons why drinking beer can be healthy.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/10-surprising-health-benefits-beer

Squash,Zucchini,Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta

What I will show you is the technique I use to create this dish you can substitute any seasonal veggies or cheese you prefer for what is listed below – What is great about this sauce is that it is mostly pasta water so it is very Low-cal/Low-fat when compared to a cream or meat sauce

What you need:

2 Squash
2 Zucchini
1 Asparagus Bunch
10 Cremini Mushrooms
Olive Oil
Italian Seasoning
1 Cup Grated Pecorino Cheese
Curly Parsley
Box of Linguine
1 shallot

Total Time: 30 Minutes
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

-Bring a pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to instructions on package – be sure to salt the water before adding pasta
-Sautee veggies (When prepping veggies be sure to cut each veggie to a similar size) in Olive oil, also add in a finely chopped shallot, season veggies with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Sautee over medium heat until all veggies are soft.
-Drain Pasta from Water reserving 2 Cups of pasts water
-Add Sauteed veggies and remaining pan juices to cooked pasta add 1 1/2 C of pasta water to the pot also add about 3/4 C of grated pecorino reserving the other 1/4 for garnish
-Cook for 1-2 minutes over low heat until all flavors are combined
-Plate and garnish with Parsley and remaining Pecorino – Salt and Pepper to taste

Butternut Squash Soup

In an attempt to eat healthy I made a low cal low fat soup using only vegetables and Vegetable Stock – You can finish this recipe of with some Cream or cream cheese or marscapone cheese and give it a nice creamy decadent taste but it will also add the fat and calories – your call – My wife really enjoys butternut squash so here is how I make it for her:

The starting lineup

What You Need:

2  Small or 1 Large Butter Nut Squash(s)
1 Small Sweet Yellow Onion
4 Carrots
1 Container of Vegetable Stock
Salt and Pepper
Garnish with crushed garlic crouton and parsley – I did not have a crouton so I used a saltine cracker

Total Time: 40 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

- Prep Butternut squash by peeling and cutting into 1 inch squares – remove and discard the the stringy pit and seeds, Peel and cut carrots in to small even pieces, dice onion into small even pieces
-Sautee Onions in butter over med high heat season with Salt and Pepper, after about 7 minutes add Veggie stock, carrots, squash and bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes or until squash is tender – You will want all the veggies to be submerged in the stock for it to cook properly if you want a thin soup and less veggies and more stock if you want a thick soup lower the amount of stock you use with the veggies

Veggies getting to know each other

- Once veggies are soft pour contents of pan into a blender and blend until smooth consistency, taste and season with Salt and Pepper  – Garnish with crushed crouton and parlsey

The soup works well as an appetizer or as a side for a meal you can add the cream mentioned above and it would be filling enough as a meal on its own – I served it with a balsamic fruit salad and a po’ mans steak.

Butternut Squash Soup, Balsamic Fruit Salad, Po man's steak

Roasted Lemon Pepper Salmon - Let's Eat!

I love fish and try to make it at least once a week for the family – I eat it twice a week mostly because I enjoy the taste of it rather than for the health benefits its a nice variety instead of having the traditional meat and potato each night for dinner. Today I am going to show you how to make a PERFECT Lemon Pepper roasted salmon – When selecting salmon make sure you have the fish monger cut it so that it s the same width across the fish – This ensures even cooking and prevents the bottom half of the fish from drying out by overcooking – Also have the gentleman remove the skin, you wont be eating it and it will save you money – here is your starting lineup:

Ingredients - Butter - Olive Oil - Salt/Pepper/Lemon Pepper - Lemons - Pinot Grigio - Salmon

What you need:

2 Lemons
1.5 pounds of salmon – even width
1/4 C olive oil
Lemon Pepper – Salt – Pepper
1/4 C Pinot Grigio
Butter

Total Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 Minutes
Prep Time: 5 Minutes

-Preheat Oven to 425 degrees if you have a convection setting choose that
-Prepare a marinade for the fish by taking 2 tablespoons of Lemon Juice and whisk in a 1/4 C of olive Oil -  This is an estimate as I never measure I go by taste I like a nice strong lemon taste so feel free to add more oil if you want more of a salad dressing taste to it – Also add a small amount of Salt and pepper to your marinade – whisk throughly
- Take fish and place the side where the skin was before removal and place on bottom of roasting pan – Season lightly with Salt and Pepper and apply a thick coat of Lemon Pepper then pour the marinade over the entire piece of fish – I let the fish sit out for about 10 minutes before I put in the oven just to try and ensure it is an even temperature so that it cooks evenly throughout. I then place a pat of butter under a slice of lemon in as many places as possible on the fish. the butter is key as I find it gives it a decadent flavor and keeps the fist moist while cooking – Pour you wine in the the roasting pan and its ready for the oven.

What it should look like before it hits the oven

- After roasting for 10 minutes I check the temp – I pull the fish at 130 this will get you a Medium Rare fish – I Immediately foil the fish and let it steam for 10 minutes on my countertop, it will carry over cook and come out a perfect medium – It will be uber moist and tender and better than just about anything you can get in a restaurant.

I served this over some sort of starch and along with a vegetable – Tonight it was a garlic and herb rice and broccoli with a bacon and crab arancini ball I picked up from the store – Let’s Eat!