Sloppy Joes a la Rachael - sorta

Those of you who have been following this blog

know that I have great difficulties in following a recipe -

any recipe.

I don't care if it is a recipe from Le Cordon Bleu,

I will have the need to change it.

That is just the way things work here.

Deal with it.

Now, back to the matter at hand.

I had heard many disparaging things about this particular recipe -

mostly by people who would never even attempt to actually make it.

The claims ran from unhealthy to ick!

I really am not sure where the unhealthy aspect comes in,

as all the ingredients are minimally processed and fairly health conscious.

I proudly present to you my variation on

Rachael Ray's

"Sloppy Joe Dimaggios - Serves a whole team of 9 little leaguers!"

Okay,

points off immediately for such a long and obnoxious recipe name.

Additional points off for lost opportunities to add flavor.

Not to worry,

that is why you have me.

My mise en place:

1 tablespoon chile powder

1 tablespoon Durkee™ Kansas Style grill seasoning

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 (14.5 oz. can) tomato sauce

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

1/4 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar, tightly packed

1 large garlic clove, grated

First I browned the ground beef.

Then I added the onion.



An homage to Rosie Hawthorne:
Action shot!





The onions cooked for another 4 to 5 minutes.






The remaining ingredients were added.







Then, since my husband is one of those individuals

who can never seem to figure out that the bank actually

closed one or two hours earlier,

I needed to find a way to maintain the food for his eventual arrival.





Thus, the slow cooker came into play.





After the food was cooked,

I simply transferred the food to the slow cooker

and let it have its way.

So no matter what time everyone eventually

found their way home,

the food would be ready for them.







Am I awsome or what?*







*Would someone kindly tell my family?





Very recently,

my local grocery store has had

"THE BEST HOT DOGS ON EARTH"**

for sale.







Naturally, I had to get some. Or more. Just saying.





The Foodie Boyfriend was skeptical - very skeptical -

until he tried these.







**Kahn's hot dogs from Cincinnati, Ohio

are the best hot dogs on Earth.***







***According to one blogger and her daughter.



And this meal?

Exceptional.





It just goes to show that good doesn't always equal fancy.

Low and Slow Cooking

I have to admit that beef short ribs are one of my favorite cuts of meat. Once upon a time, beef short ribs (with bone) used to also be a very economical cut of meat, but alas, those times are long gone. The only saving grace is that the bones will be saved for a future stock. But, as for the meat itself? I can only describe it as unctuous, beefy, sublime. This is definitely a meat that benefits from a low and slow cooking.

First off we have the ingredients for the saute. Sort of. Hey, I haven't even had my morning coffee yet; what do you expect?

Um, yeah, anyway... we have two packages of beef short ribs, complete with bones. In addition, kosher salt, yellow onions, black pepper and garlic cloves are standing by. Just in case the sleep-deprived woman needs them.


And now we sear. And no, we are not trying to seal in the juices. Instead, we are creating flavor, via the Maillard Reaction.

For some unknown reason, I like to play around with proven recipes. Gee, the thing works as is, why would you want to change it? Because I can?

At any rate, I have gathered these ingredients for the sauce du jour: classic yellow mustard, black pepper, white wine vinegar, whole grain Dijon mustard and sugar. This was mixed with some sliced garlic cloves to taste.



And the beef short ribs are still searing. This is not a difficult step, folks. In fact, I was quite busy with other aspects of the dish while the beef did its thing. Why do TV cooks pretend that this is so hard? I'm looking at you, Ina Garten.

Once the beef has eagerly let go of the pan, it is time to deglaze. I had thawed a bit of homemade beef consomme for this task. In addition, I added about 1/4 cup of dry white wine to the hot pan. Then I went to work, dislodging the tasty bits from the bottom of the pan. This liquid goodness then went into the slow cooker with the beef short ribs.

Then the onion pieces that I had left over from the onion rings from earlier in the week were laid on top, while some of the mustard sauce was drizzled over top. The lid went on the slow cooker and the temperature was set to medium. This cooked for about nine hours while I went about my day. Midway through the cooking process, I turned the ribs over and added the rest of the sauce over the top.

Just before dinner time I assembled the ingredients for Creamy Corn and Bacon. Here I have Half and Half, one slice bacon that was chopped, black pepper, salt, one tablespoon flour, corn and one teaspoon sugar.

The bacon fried in the pan.

Then the corn went into the pan with the bacon and the bacon grease.

The corn and bacon already look good. But we're not finished yet...

Some Half and Half was added, along with the salt, pepper, sugar and flour.

This heated through for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, a nice salad and the bowls were chilling in the refrigerator.

The beef short ribs are ready.

More mustard sauce finishes off this dish.

And you know what? Changing out the mustard sauce a bit was an inspired move. The whole grain Dijon mustard added just the right kick to this simple sauce.

The Creamy Corn and Bacon hit the spot. How good was it? My husband and daughter fought over the last of the corn. I'd say that was a vote of confidence.

Trial and Error (or You Win Some, You Lose Some)

While I was at the grocery store on Monday, I picked up a rack of pork ribs for later in the week. As I had a dinner-time meeting planned for Thursday, I knew I would be using my slow cooker to ensure that my poor, culinarily-challenged family wouldn't starve during my absence.

Four ingredients for the pork ribs: the ribs, 1/2 cup turkey consomme for the necessary liquid, Hogwild(tm) Special Dry Sauce (yeah, I know, but I didn't name it. What can I say? My husband goes to Memphis, TN for conferences and brings me back jars of dry rub.), and my own blend of Memphis dry rub.

As Paula Deen would say, rub your meat!

The ribs go into the slow cooker with the turkey consomme. They will end up cooking for about 10 hours.

And, wouldn't you know it? Thursday rolls around and I am not feeling well. I canceled out on the meeting and decided to try a new recipe for macaroni and cheese, since I would be home after all.

The mise en place for Tyler Florence's Mac N' Cheese with Bacon and Cheese. I halved the recipe, so these are the amounts I used: Clockwise from top left: 2 3/4 cups sharp cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, 2 cups elbow macaroni, dried thyme, 2 cups half and half, dried parsley, black pepper, 2 slices bacon, 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 onion, chopped, 1 1/2 tablespoons flour and kosher salt.

My daughter helps add the cheese to the bechamel.

Now Kelley adds the cooked macaroni.

After adding the bacon topping to the macaroni, the dish bakes for 30 minutes.

The ribs come out of the slow cooker and are ready for service.

The verdict? If my husband had come home on time, the ribs would have been just a bit better, but I am used to him messing up my schedule by now. The mac 'N cheese was good, but not great. After asking where I had gotten the recipe, my husband asked that I put it back where I had found it. Sorry, Tyler, but this was not the ultimate. But hey, it was food, we were fed and all's well that ends well.

A Super Spread

Even though I rarely watch the Big Game, I like to prepare several finger foods for my family. This year there will be four of us as my daughter's friend is coming over to watch the big game on the big screen.

I started working on the food on Friday: chopping vegetables for the veggie pizza.

Then, last evening after we got back home, I got the beef roast into the slow cooker so it could cook slowly all night long.

The beef roast is ready to be seared and then slow cooked.

The beef roast and a cup of beef consomme in the slow cooker.

Now it's time to shred the meat. I ended up picking it apart by hand.

The shredded beef in the homemade barbecue sauce.

Some of the potential players for the sauce. I opted to not use the balsamic vinegar. But I did add some pre-made barbecue sauce to the mix.

Really, you can add anything to your barbecue sauce. And before you ask, Rosie, yes. Even those smelly old gym socks. For the rest of you, that's a joke. Smelly gym socks do not make for a good sauce.

I reduced the beef consomme from the roast and used some of it in the barbecue sauce.

The finished sauce.

Now, this is looking good. And it tastes even better. I'm good. Oh yeah.

Today I baked the crust for the veggie pizza. I bet you can't tell what whack-a-dough product I used for this.

I spread a light ranch veggie dip on the reduced-fat crust. Healthy, isn't it?

And here we have the special teams members. Pre-shredded cheddar cheese, broccoli florets, cauliflower, sliced carrots, chopped sugar snap peas, diced red onion, and celery. I sometimes also add bacon, but as my husband points out, then it is no longer a veggie pizza.

Looks like we have a touchdown, folks!

And now for the adult libations. Cocktail time is the best time of the day!

One cup water and one cup granulated sugar. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. This should give you about 1 1/3 cups of simple syrup.

Meanwhile, measure out 2 cups of whisky and juice about 8 lemons.

Strain the lemon juice and add 2 cups of the juice to the mix. Add about 3 cups of ice and stir.

And we have whisky sours. Please notice the lack of choking hazards (besides the ice).

Cheeseball and crackers, cheese cubes and cut fruit with dip round out our dinner. Play ball! (Oops, wrong sport.)