Pickled Cucumbers, Onions, and Jalapeños

I love pickling veggies and this is an oh so easy recipe! I can't remember a summer bbq growing up that my mom didn't make a batch of pickled cucumbers and onions. She would stick them in her old school tupperware dish and they would just marinate away in the oven. Her version is obviously amazing, but to take it to the next level I added in some jalapeños for heat. This is definitely optional, but if you are a spice fan then don't hesitate to throw them in.

Pickled Cucumbers, Onions, and Jalapeños
Makes 1 quart of pickles

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1.5 cucumbers peeled and sliced
• .5 medium sweet onion sliced
• 1 jalapeño sliced
• 16-20 ounces of white wine vinegar
• Pepper to taste

How to Make Pickled Cucumbers, Onions, and Jalapeños

1. Alternate layers of cucumbers, onions, and jalapeños in a mason jar or tupperware with a lid. 
2. Pour your white wine vinegar over the top and make sure everything is immersed. 
3. Add pepper to taste. 
4. Seal your mason jar or tupperware and place in the fridge for at least a day.

These pickles pack a punch of vinegar and heat! They are so delicious. 

Enjoy these at your next Spring/Summer bbq!

~H

Loaded Breakfast Casserole

Have I mentioned how much John loves breakfast?!? Well, he does so I am always looking for new creative breakfast ideas. Although this is neither new or well, creative it is one of his favorites. This breakfast casserole is loaded with sausage, ham, peppers, onions, hashbrowns and cheese! It gets this little crispy crust and bottom on it that make it so amazing.

All those crispy bits!

Loaded Breakfast Casserole
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of breakfast sausage browned (you can use pork, turkey, whatever you like)
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1 bag of frozen shredded hashbrowns (20 ounces)
• 1 onion diced
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• 1-2 jalapeños diced (optional depending on if you like the heat)
• 1 medium onion diced
• 5 eggs scrambled
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 2-3 cups shredded cheese of your choice
• Salt and pepper to taste

How to Make Loaded Breakfast Casserole:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Prepare a 9" x 12" casserole dish by spraying with cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl combine all ingredients until well mixed. 
4. Pour the mixture into your prepared casserole dish and place in the center rack of the oven.
5. Bake for 60-75 minutes until your eggs have setup in the middle of the casserole. 
6. Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting. 

This is the perfect weekend breakfast because you can make this on Friday or Saturday night then just pop it into the oven in the morning. Sit back, have some coffee, tea, juice, or an adult beverage of sorts and then enjoy!

~H

Shepherds Pie

First off, sorry I have been so MIA the last few weeks. John and I moved - don't worry we still live in San Diego - and moving is a b!tch! I will get back into the swing of things now, so don't you worry!

In my last post, I made some delicious garlic mashies and I promised a recipe to use the leftovers. Drum roll please...Shepherds Pie. This is just a delicious bowl of comfort and so tasty! If you have the mashies already made, this is a cinch to put together. It is definitely also a make ahead meal if you want to prep it then pop it in the oven for 45 mins to 1 hour at the end of the day.

Shepherd's Pie
Makes 4 large individual pies or 1 large casserole (9" x 13")

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups of leftover garlic mashed potatoes (or make them from scratch)
• 1.5 lbs ground meat (I used 85/15 ground beef, but use whatever you want - lamb, pork, chicken, turkey)
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2-3 carrots diced
• 4 stalks celery diced
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup frozen corn (optional)
• 2.5-3 cups beef stock
• 1-2 tbsp corn starch
• Salt and pepper to taste

How to Make Shepherds Pie:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. If your mashed potatoes are already made, start here. If they are not, then go to this recipe and make your potatoes and set aside to cool. 
2. Over medium hight heat, brown your ground meat in a large skillet. Salt and pepper to taste. 
3. Add in all of your veggies and let cook for 3-4 mins. You still want them toothsome because you are going to bake them. 
4. Add in your beef stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let reduce by about 1/3.
5. Mix your corn starch with about .5 cups of cold water. Pour this into your meat mixture while stirring. Let thicken to the consistency of a thick gravy. 
6. Prepare your casserole dish or individual ramekins by spraying with cooking spray. 
7. Spoon your meat mixture into your vessel of choice until about 2/3 full. 
8. Top with mashed potatoes. 
9. Place in the oven and bake for 45 mins to 1 hour. You will see the filling start to bubble, so that is when you know it is done. To avoid messes, I place mine on foil lined baking sheet just in case they spill over. 

Just the meat mixture. 

Topped with mashies.

And baked until they are delicious and golden brown!

Be careful when you first dig in because these will be piping hot! 

Enjoy!

~H

Garlic Mashies

We sure do love mashed potatoes at our house - or as well like to call them, mashies - so this is a recipe I had to perfect. Outside of my sausage dip recipe, this is the recipe I get the most compliments on - people just love these potatoes!

There is quite a bit of contraversary in the food world about the right and wrong way to make mashed potatoes. What type of potato should I use? Cream or milk? Butter or no butter? Should I heat the cream and butter before adding to the potatoes? Should I use a ricer, potato masher, or hand mixer?
Well, I can tell you I break every culinary rule there is making mashed potatoes and they come out amazing, creamy, and delicious every time!

Garlic Mashies
Makes a lot of servings  :)

Ingredients:

• 2.5 pounds red potatoes peeled and diced
• 3/4 -1 cup heavy cream
• 1 stick of unsalted butter diced into 1/2 tbsp sized pieces
• Garlic salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

How to make Garlic Mashies:

1. Add your potatoes and just enough water to cover them to a large stock pot. Over high heat, boil until they are tender (easily pierced with a fork - almost to the point of falling apart).
2. Drain your potatoes and add them back into the pan but do not place back on the heat. 
3. Add the butter to the potatoes and smash them with a hand mixer until the butter is fully incorporated and melted. 
4. Start mixing the potato/butter mixer on medium high speed. Slowly add in your cream until you reach the consistency you like. 
5. Add in garlic salt and pepper to taste while finish up mixing. 
6. Set back on the stove and let them finish until warmed through on medium heat. Stir as needed. 
7. Serve immediately. 

Yum! My go to mashie recipe that is super amazing! Since there are just two of us and this makes a lot of potatoes, you can get creative with the leftovers. Next recipe coming up - Shepherds Pie!

Enjoy!

~H

St. Louis Smoked Ribs

This girl can grill! Boy are these ribs amazing! I read a lot of bbq blogs regarding the best method to cook meat on the smoker and sometimes their methods work out really well and other times they just don't work.  When you come across a method that just isn't working, the key is to just keep trying - tweaking the recipe, trying different cooking temps, cooking times, using a different cut of meat, etc.

There are tons of blog posts on ribs and the best method for cooking them. A lot of smoking champs talk about the 3-2-1 method and I have just never been able to make that work for me. Basically, it is 3 hours of direct smoking, 2 hours wrapped in foil on the grill, then 1 additional hour of direct cooking on the grill to get a nice crust on the ribs.

Starting with the basic 3-2-1 method, I made some minor tweaks and have come up with the most amazing smoked ribs! They are just perfect - moist and delicious, fall off the bone, etc.

St. Louis Smoked Ribs
Makes 1 slab

Ingredients:

• 1 slab St. Louis style ribs membrane removed (you could also use baby back ribs)
• Your favorite bbq rub
• 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

How to make St. Louis Style Smoked Ribs:

1. The night before you cook the ribs, remove them from the refrigerator and rub them with your favorite bbq rub and olive oil. Be generous with the seasoning. Cover and refrigerate overnight. 
2. 1 hour prior to smoking your ribs, remove them from the refrigerator and let sit. Soak your smoking wood in water or apple juice at this time as well.
3. Set your grill up for indirect smoking at 225-250 degrees. Place your seasoned ribs directly on the grill and let smoke for 2.5 hours. 
4. Remove the ribs from the smoker and wrap in tinfoil. Place back on the smoker and continue to cook for 2.5 additional hours. 
5. Remove from the smoker and let rest still wrapped in foil for 1 hour.
6. Now, set your grill up for direct heat cooking and crank the temperature up to 450-500 degrees.
7. Place the ribs on the grill bone side down for 4-5 minutes until a nice crust forms. 
8. Remove and serve immediately. 

These ribs are so tender and just fall right off the bone. They are perfect and the method works every time. 

Here are a few more pics:

Right when they go on the grill the first time

Right before getting wrapped in tinfoil - they have been smoking for 2.5 hours at this point

Finished plate served with some amazing sides

Now that it is starting to warm up, you should definitely be trying this recipe!

Enjoy!

~H