I made a simple dinner tonight for me and MrsMista. T-Bone Steaks, Crash Hot Potatoes made from a recipe on The Pioneer Woman and some collard greens. I used the Garlic Lover’s Steak seasoning from HomeBBQ.com on the T-bones (Thanks Kevin!). Really Good Stuff!
And now for the pictures…
Yes I know I used an Electric Grill. BBQ guy took the easy way out. Whatever man. Can’t argue with results.
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
Ok I didn’t really smoke spaghetti.
That would be stupid. Besides the damned noodles kept slipping through the grates.
Anyway, I was trying to come up with something different to do with some leftovers in the fridge and I decided that it is really hard to mess up pasta. I also came up with 1/2 a pound of italian breakfast sausage and some leftover smoked chicken. Put them all together with some ingredient that I keep around the house and I came up with smoked spaghetti! Wanna know how I did it?
Of course you do!
Here are the ingredients:
1/2 lb. Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled (I used Jimmy Dean)
1 lb. leftover chicken, roughly chopped (Mine was smoked but any cooked chicken will do.)
1 onion, diced
1 dried chipotle chile, rehydrated and seeded
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 15oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp italian seasoning
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1/2 pound spaghetti cooked al dente
2 tbsp butter
Saute the onion and chipotle in 2 tbsp of oil in a large pot until the onion is see-through. Chipotle is a smoked Jalapeño and it adds to the smokiness (is that a word?) of the dish.
Seeding the chipotle
Next add the garlic and saute 2 more minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and all of the other seasonings to the pot and stir well. Mash or blend the sauce to make it like a puree. I like to use my hand blender for this but a potato masher will work in a pinch. If this is too much work for you, you can just use canned tomato sauce and skip this step. I just prefer to control the salt and seasoning in what I cook.
Now add the meat!
Sausage
Smoked Chicken
Mix well and simmer for 20 minutes. Now would be a good time to cook your pasta.
When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the sauce. Mix it until all the pasta is coated. Serve and eat!
Smoked Spaghetti
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
Steak Picado is a Mexican that consists of cubed or chopped steak with Bell Pepper, Onion and tomato. The ingredients are simmered slowly, letting the flavors meld into a wonderful, spicy beef stew.
Now you know that I love to improvise with whatever I can find in the house so here is my own version, called Brisket Picado.
Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
2 Jalapenos, diced (bell peppers are expensive right now!)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 lb. cooked brisket, cubed (use any leftover beef you might have)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp Kosher salt
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 15oz. can diced tomatoes
2 cups cooked rice (cook in chicken broth for more flavor)
Pour the oil into a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and Jalapeños. Cook until the onions are soft and almost see-thru.
Add all of the rest of the ingredients except the rice. Mix well. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve over rice.
Don’t just love a simple dish that doesn’t use a lot of dishes?
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
Now it’s time for a little Cajun Cooking! I’ve done a little research and I have discovered that some of the best dishes come from humble beginnings. This dish began as a Spanish dish called Paella. As the recipe moved through the South local ingredients were added, usually what ever meat was available to the slaves and seafood from the “bayou”. Today this dish can be made with rice and any ingredients you like. Here is one of my favorite recipes:
Jambalaya
Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 lb smoked sausage, sliced (preferably spicy)
½ lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined.
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 15oz. can diced tomatoes
2 15oz. cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup white rice
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cayenne (red) pepper
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
Olive oil
Preparation
1. Put a big pot on the stove over a medium high heat.
2. Add 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil to the pot.
3. Add the chicken to the pot. Cook until it is no longer pink.
4. Remove the chicken from the pot.
5. Add the sausage to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove the sausage from the pot and put the slices on a plate covered with a paper towel.
7. Add the onions to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Add the bell pepper to the pot. Cook for 2 more minutes.
9. Add the rice to the pot. Mix well.
10. Add the canned tomatoes and the chicken broth.
11. Add the salt, black and red pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, bay leaves and sugar. Stir well.
12. Add the chicken and sausage back to the pot. Stir. (Lots of stirring, huh?)
13. When the liquid comes to a boil, cover the pot and lower the heat. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.
14. Stir in the shrimp and simmer for 5 more minutes.
15. Serve in a bowl with some French bread and red wine. Merlot would be great!
Wow! I can’t believe that I haven’t posted this recipe before. Tuna Quesadillas is one of our favorites that kinda evolved in our home. It all started when MrsMista got a hankering (yes my Texas roots come out from time to time) for a Tuna Melt. I actually fry the tuna in the skillet before I add the cheese, put it on the bread, and toast the sandwich in butter in the skillet. MrsMista loved it!
A few days later, she wanted another Tuna Melt but were out of bread. Time to improvise. We had some Mexican dinner rolls (pan de leche) so I split those in half, toasted the inside, added the tuna and some shredded cheese and Voila! Mini Tuna Melts!
About a week later, we got a taste for those Mini Tuna Melts. Lo and behold (dramatic, huh?), we were out of cheese. So I went rummaging thru our freezer and found some cream cheese. It was worth a try. Rolls, tuna, cream cheese. We had a new taste and it was good! So of course when we wanted them again something was missing. The Rolls!! What were going to do? No bread. No rolls.
Waitaminit!
Were those flour tortillas I saw on top of the fridge? Yes!! A new dish was born! Tuna Quesadillas!
Here are the ingredients:
For the tuna salad:
2 cans of tuna
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
1 tbsp sweet pickle relish
2 tbsp mayonaise
1 tsp dijon mustard (optional)
4 hard boiled eggs, diced
2 shakes Worchestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
Now for the quesadilla
2 burrito size flour tortillas
4 oz Philly cream cheese cut into 8 strips
tuna salad from above
2 tbsp vegetable oil (canola or olive)
Add 1 tbsp of oil to a large skillet over medium high heat. When the oil gets hot, put one tortilla in the skillet for 1 minute. Turn the tortilla over. Put 4 strips of Philly cream cheese on half of the tortilla. Spread the tuna salad over the cheese half of the tortilla. Fold the opposite half over. Press lightly. Flip. Press lightly.
Remove the quesadilla from the skillet an place it on a cutting board. Cut it into quarters.
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
Hey folx!
I was in the mood for something warm, quick and filling. The catch is it had to be relatively low in calories because I am trying to lose a few pounds. OK, maybe more than a few. Ok I need to lose the equivalent of a ten year-old kid, but that’s beside the point. I took stock of what I had in my kitchen and decided to cook Wok Soup.
Believe it or not, this is exactly what it sounds like. Soup made in a wok. Amazing, huh? High heat and organization make this a really simple dish. Here are the ingredients:
1/2 lb. chicken, cubed
1/2 lb. frozen pre-cooked shrimp
1/4 large head of cabbage, shredded (or 1/2 of a small head)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp garlic minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground cayenne
1 tbsp canola oil
4 cups reduced sodium chicken stock
Put the wok over high heat and spray with Pam. Season chicken with salt, pepper, cayenne and garlic powder. Add the chicken to the wok and cook until it’s done, stirring and tossing frequently. When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the wok and put it in a bowl.
Add the cabbage, onion and oil to the wok and cook until the cabbage is wilted and the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and jalapeno and cook 3 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, chicken and soy sauce to the wok and cook until the stock starts to boil. Add the shrimp and cook until they are heated thru. Ladle into a large bowl and eat!
Even you can make this recipe! *lol*
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
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wok soup cooking recipe
My son was here this weekend and we were deciding what we wanted for dinner. I saw shrimp. I saw tortillas. I asked my son how he felt about a Shrimp Burrito. He said that’s cool as lon as it’s spicy!
Who am I to deny my child?
Here are the ingredients I used:
3/4 lb cooked, frozen shrimp (We like BIG burritos!)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small onion chopped
3 serrano chiles, minced (you can use jalapenos if you want it a little milder)
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp ground chiles (new mexico or arbols are best)
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp Italian Seasoning (yeah, I know this looks like a Mexican Dish but I was improvising)
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 cup white rice, cooked
Flour tortilas, burrito size
Put the oil in a wok or big skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and serranos. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute.
Add the tomatoes and all of the other seasonings. Simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until they are hot about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Warm up the tortillas in the microwave or individually over the open burner on your stove.
Place a warm tortilla. on your cutting board. Add rice, the shrimp filling and if you like, some nice avocado slices. Roll up into a burrito and eat! For those who need to brush up on your burrito rolling technique, I’ve included the following diagram (Thanks www.tasteoftexas.com)
I hope you enjoy this recipe and remember, dairy products cool the heat from chiles faster than anything.
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
