Life gets in the way

There has been some drama in my life lately.  I'm still documenting my recipes, but haven't been motivated to post. However, I did submit a recipe suggestion for Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese to a local restaurant, Mac N More, and won for the month of August! That's twice now... pretty cool.  :)  I've also entered a couple of "bigger" recipe contests... haven't won yet, but I love having my family and friends over for tasting parties to try out my original recipes .I had a  front yard full of people camping out for the Labor Day weekend....Of course, I cooked for them and enjoyed every minute of it!

Collard Greens and Cheese Dip

This is a combination of 8 oz. Cream Cheese, 1 tablespoon Lemon Zest,  2 garlic cloves  and 3 green onions, large chop. Blend until smooth.

Added a 1 pound package of frozen (thawed) chopped Collard Greens, 1 cup of Parmesan Cheese 1/2 cup Milk/Cream, Salt & Pepper to taste. Pulse 5-10 times just to incorporate the greens and cheese.
Serve with crackers or pita chips.

Pretzel Buns (Burger Size)

Combine 1 1/2 cups Warm Water, 1 tablespoon Sugar, 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt, 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 package) instant yeast, 4 1/2 cups Flour and 1/4 cup melted Butter in a Food Processor until well incorporated and dough starts to pull away from the sides of the processor. Approx. 5 minutes.  Transfer dough to a clean oiled bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a Silpat and set aside. Bring 10 cups of water and 2/3 cups baking soda to a rolling boil. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Form into a Bun and place on Parchment/Silpat lined sheet pan.  Place the Buns into the boiling water for 30 seconds, turning once. Remove Buns from the water using a large flat spatula and return them to the sheet pan.

Brush the tops of each Bun with the beaten egg and water mixture (1 large egg yolk w/ 1 tablespoon water) and sprinkle with Kosher Salt or Pretzel Salt. Slash tops with sharp bread knife once or twice. 

Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Tomatillo and Avocado Salsa

This is a combination of 5 small Tomatillos, 1 Avocado, 1 small onion, 2 Jalapeno, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 3 teaspoons dried cilantro and Salt & Pepper to taste. **to reduce the heat level, remove the seeds and ribs of the Jalapeno.

Serve with your favorite tortilla chips!!

Baked Potato Salad w/Avocado and Dill Sour Cream

Roasted a combination of baby red and yellow potatoes in a 350 degree oven for approx. 1 hour or until they are soft when you squeeze them. Cooled the Potatoes and cut them into bite size pieces. Added 3 sliced green onions, 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese and 7 pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped.

1 to 1 1/2 cups of Sour Cream and Hidden Valley Dips Harvest Dill.

Added Avocado plus Salt & Pepper to taste.

This change up of my basic Baked Potato Salad was quite tasty with the addition of Avocado and Dill.

Smoked BBQ Pulled Pork Mac N Cheese

3 pound and 4 pound Pork Butts. Rubbed with Garlic & Onion Powder, dried Thyme & Rosemary, Paprika, Red Pepper Flakes, Salt & Pepper.

Into the Smoker: using Mesquite and Apple Wood Chips for 2.5 hours.

This is after 2.5 hours of cook time in a 300 degree oven.

I cooked both Pork Butts last night and put in the Fridge. It is now the next morning and I'm shredding the 3 pound Pork Butt.

I used two pounds of Rigatoni pasta for this size dish which I took to a Potluck. Cook the pasta 1 minute less than what is says on the package.

I added BBQ sauce to my Cheese sauce... Budweiser, LOL!!

I toasted (to golden brown) 1/2 cup Panko Bread Crumbs and 1/2 cup Potato Flakes with 2 1/2  tablespoons butter in a frying pan, cooled and sprinkled over my Smoked BBQ Pulled Pork Mac N Cheese and put into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.   BIG HIT!!!!!

Seafood Chowder

Fried up 4 slices of Bacon in 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil.

Took out fried Bacon and drained on paper towels. Added diced Yellow Bell Pepper, diced Shallots, diced Leeks and minced Garlic to the bacon grease.

Chopped Shrimp, Bay Scallops and Crab Meat.

Add Diced Potatoes with 1 cup Claim Juice, 1 cup Shrimp Stock and 1 quart Half N Half.  The seasonings I added were Garlic & Onion powder, dried Rosemary, dried Thyme, Salt & Pepper to taste.

Add Seafood and Simmer until Potatoes are tender.Stir in Bacon at last minute..... Soups On!!!!

Nice cup of Seafood Chowder!!!