PORK TENDERLOIN AND SAUSAGE RICE

First, let me thank Gustad Mody who let me steal this general idea from his blog IRON STOMACH. I have been watching him cook and eat some very strange things over the past few months, and you should too!

About an hour before mealtime, I placed a pork tenderloin, split down the middle to open it up for cooking, in a brown’n serve bag (buy the combo bag and spice package), that was originally intended for pork chops. However, pork is pork – Porky!

The tenderloin I had on hand had BBQ sauce on it, but it is not necessary to have that specific one. Sprinkle the provided spices all over the pork, add about a ½ cup of water, and place on a cookie sheet for baking. I cooked the pork for about 40 minutes, turned the oven off, left it in the oven, and began preparing everything else.

- Prepare about 2 ½ cups of white rice by following the recipe on the box, except add about a tablespoon of butter and Velveeta cheese and salt in the water. When the rice comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and sit it aside.

- Mix you a drink of George Dickel (white label) and Diet Coke over ice and continue to follow directions – for as long as you can! You poor people outside the South will have to substitute, but no matter what you use, it ain’t go’na be good enough!

- Chop up about 3 bundles of green onions and place on a paper plate for later use.

- Chop up some broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots for later sautéing, place in a paper plate, and sit a side.

In a medium skillet, bring a small amount of olive oil and garlic to heat. Dump in the green onions and sauté. Once they are hot, sprinkle on about half a tablespoon of sugar and turn off the heat. Continue stirring the onions over the low heat as you prepare the next step.

In a large skillet, dump in a pound of hot breakfast sausage and cook up as you would in preparing hamburger meat for spaghetti. Leave the meat in medium to small chunks of cooked sausage. When the sausage is about done, dump in the onions and continue to mix thoroughly.

When the sausage is done, dump the rice into the large skillet and mix thoroughly again. Turn the heat off, mix another drink, and move on to preparing the next step.

In the medium skillet you used for the onions, dump in mixed vegetables on top of hot olive oil and garlic. Sprinkle the veggies with Mrs. Dash’s spicy seasoning, cook for about 10 minutes, and then turn off the heat – more if you like wimpy vegetables!

Now, remove the tenderloin from the oven, slice, and serve with a scoop of the vegetables on one side and the rice and sausage on the other.

Mix another drink and take small sip between bites…good taste combo! Mmmmmm!

LEFTOVER MEXICAN BREAKFAST

We had some terrific Old El Paso Hard and Soft Tacos for dinner last night. Some gooey cheese spread on the inside of a soft taco shell and some great hamburger meat, salsa, shredded cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes on the inside of a hard shell. Man, they were good!

This morning there was a lot of hamburger meat left over, so I proceeded to concoct a way of cleaning them up!

I first heated the leftover hamburger meat in a tablespoon of oil, added some jalapeño peppers, and a couple of spoonfuls of Harry & David’s Pepper and Onion Relish.

Then I pushed the heated meat to the side and added 2 eggs (actually 3 yokes since one was a double), salted and peppered the eggs as usual, and added a few sprinkles of Tennessee Sunshine Sauce and scrambled them.

When the eggs were just about finished, I mixed them into the meat mixture and turned off the heat.

I then spread out tortilla wraps, pasted the inside with sour cream, added a layer of the hamburger and egg mixture, sprinkled with shredded cheese and served. My wife added her favorite Salpica Tomato Jalapeño Salsa to hers, and we were off!

Coffee and jalapeños makes for a fantastic taste combination in your mouth. It’s wonderful!

FRIED RICE WITH SHRIMP

Let me say honestly, up front, that this did not turn out as I wanted it, nor like I have prepared it several times prior. It was probably because I only had brown rice and I do not think it has the right taste for this dish. Also, I only had canned peas and they are too mushy for the proper taste. Therefore, I will propose the proper ingredients to make yours turn out properly.

Get the following together:

- Two cups of white “5 minute” rice, cook with butter and a slice of Velveeta cheese in the water
- One package of pre-cooked, peeled, and deveined cocktail size shrimp (use fresh if you have time and don’t mind the work)
- One package of frozen peas, or peas and carrots, allow to sit out and thaw until the individual peas will separate
- One bunch of fresh green onions, diced into ¼” pieces
- One small jar of mushrooms, diced into small pieces
- About 1/3 of both a red and yellow bell pepper, sliced and diced
- About six halves of dried tomatoes, sliced and diced
- Four or five extra crispy fried bacon strips, crumble into pieces when cool
- Three or four large eggs
- One package of Kikkoman Fried Rice Seasoning Mix (or whatever brand you find)
- Soy and sweet and sour sauce

Begin by cooking the rice and allowing it to cool. Also cook the bacon and allow it to cool.

With all the onions, peppers, bacon, dried tomatoes, and mushrooms dumped into a bowl and sitting on the side ready for use, start some olive oil and garlic heating in the largest skillet you have.

When the oil is hot and the garlic begins to sizzle, dump in the bowl of vegetables and bacon, and stir-fry until they soften. Add some salt and pepper. Do not over cook, because they will be in the heat for a few more minutes as other ingredients are added.

When the vegetables are soft, dump in the rice, the cooked shrimp, the frozen peas, some soy sauce to taste, and fry until very hot and most of the oil is absorbed. If you use fresh shrimp, cook it first and sit it aside add it at this stage.

Now push the rice and vegetables to one side of the skillet and crack in the eggs. Salt and pepper the eggs and scramble them. When done, mix into the rice and vegetables along with Fried Rice Seasoning. Taste a bite at this point to determine if more salt and pepper is needed.

Some people’s taste is best fitted for just leaving it as is at this stage. Others may prefer a little hint of sweetness, so they can add some sweet and sour sauce after turning off the heat. Mix thoroughly and serve. I prefer a bowl and a large spoon to insure I have a little of everything in each bite.

TRASH CAN TURKEY!

Some great friends invited us to their lake home this week for “trash can turkey”! Wow, was it ever great.

It is so simple that anyone can get great results:

- Spread out some aluminum foil on the ground making a circle
- Drive a broom or hoe handle into the ground in the middle of the circle
- Rub a 15 pound turkey with your favorite seasoning or “rub” (use either smoked or un-smoked turkey)
- Place a the uncooked turkey down over the stake
- Place a 20-gallon non-galvanized trash can down over the turkey
- Place charcoal around the bottom of the trash can and over the top of the trash can
- Light the charcoal and once the coals turn white the turkey will be done in 90 minutes!

If you have more than 12 people, then cook two turkeys.

For desert, you might like some good ol’ Tennessee shine with cherries in the bottom!

Islamrada Fish Company Restaurant & Bar

Who'd a thunk it! Great food at a Bass Pro Store!

While visiting the shop today in Sevierville, Tennessee, a group of four of us decided to try out the new restaurant. The Samuel Adams and Killian as appetizer hit the spot, although it was only in the 80's today, instead of 97 like yesterday!

My brother-in-law had the Mahi Chardonnay, my sister-in-law and wife had the Lobster Tail, and I had the Shrimp and Grits. All were surprisingly delicious with the long grain brown rice and fresh butter and sugar coated bread.

Later we split chocolate cake and ice cream at Bailey's Sports Grille in Knoxville!

PORK TENDERLOIN AND APPLE RICE

I had to come up with something simple and quick to entertain my mom this evening, so I found a pork tenderloin that was about to go out of date, some packaged rice, a can of green peas, an apple, and jar of mushrooms. Sounds like plenty to me!

I first cut the tenderloin splitting it in half but leaving it connected on one side. I dropped it into a large Ziploc bag, poured in about 4 tablespoons of olive oil, dumped in about 2 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic, some cayenne pepper, some regular pepper, salt, and a squirt of Heinz 57 and honey mixture, and then closed the bag and rolled the meat over and over to get the mixture evenly distributed over the meat. I then set it aside in the refrigerator.

I peeled the apple and cut it up into ¼-inch pieces, diced up the mushrooms, and minced up about ¼ of an onion, and dumped it all into a bowl and set it aside.

I then poured me a mixed drink of Diet Coke and Jefferson’s Straight Kentucky Bourbon and went out to light the grill!

After the grill was very hot I laid the tenderloin out on the grill and then turn it down to the low setting, closed the lid and went back to the living room to visit.

In about 15 minutes I check the meat, turned it, observing the nice black grill markings.

I then returned to the kitchen, and started 2 ½ cups of water boiling. I put 2 tablespoons of butter and about the same about of Velveeta Cheese into the water.

Once again, after about 15 minutes, I checked the meat on the grill and turned it.

By now the water was boiling, so I dumped in the package of rice, the apple, and the mushrooms. When the mixture was boiling good, I turned the heat down to simmer and placed a lid on the pot. I turned the timer to 7 minutes and walked away.

In a microwavable bowl, I poured a can of peas, a tablespoon of butter, and added salted and peppered. I cooked the peas for about 3 minutes in the microwave and set them on the stove to wait on the rest.

It was now time to check the meat for the last time. I turned all but the center burner off and moved the meat to the side, and left it for 10 more minutes.

By now my drink was empty and the timer was sounding for the rice.

As you can see, the meal was delicious looking and tasting and well received. My efforts were applauded again!

GREAT SUMMER – SCALLOPS?

Man, was it hot today or what? Came home from a hard day at jury duty and needed something quick, easy, and good! I found a package of Alfredo mix in the cupboard, a package of frozen bay scallops in the freezer, half a green pepper, and onion in the vegetable bin in the refrigerator and half a box of bow-tie pasta in the cabinet – what luck!

So, with my first Flying Dog – Old Scratch pale ale foaming in a frozen mug I began…

First, I started water boiling in a large pot, salted it, and put a drop or two of cooking on oil on top to keep the pasta from sticking.

I chopped up the onion and green pepper into dice-size pieces and sat them aside. By now the water was boiling and I dropped in the pasta and set the timer for 12 minutes.

I put the frozen scallops in the sink with the wrapper still on it and began warm water slowing pouring over it.

After the 12-minute boiling time I poured the pasta into a strainer and let the hot water pour over the scallop package. I shook out all the water, poured the pasta back into the pot, and sat it aside.

On a small eye, I began simmering ½ cup of milk, 2 tablespoons of butter, and a chunk of Laughing Cow Swiss cheese. When the mixture was about to slowly boil, I poured in ½ a package of the Alfredo sauce powder and stirred it until blended, and then reduced the heat to 1.

In a medium skillet, I poured in about a pancake size spot of olive oil and dumped in about ½ a large wooden spoon of minced garlic.

I took the wrapper off the scallops and cut them into 4 pieces each and when the oil was hot and the garlic began to sizzle, I dumped them into the skillet.

Salt and pepper the scallops and sprinkle them with Cayenne pepper.

When the scallops have tossed in the oil for about 5 to 8 minutes, dump in the onion and green peppers, which have been salted and peppered too. Leave the onions and peppers laying on top of the scallops for about 3 minutes to steam and then mix them up together and cook for another 5 minutes. The onions should begin to caramelize which is a single everything is ready – dump the skillet mixture on top of the pasta and mix it all up.

Stir the Alfredo sauce to ensure it is completely dissolved and very hot. Then pour it over the contents of the pot – stir it all up, finish off the last of the Old Scratch and ring the dinner bell!

I served it just in a bowl with nothing else, but some garlic bread or bread and olive oil/salt/pepper mixture would be good too.

Yummy!