I tried the Mexican Lasagna and Garlic Green Beans last night and must say it was a hit!
I only deviated slightly from the posted recipe. I made was to add the chili powder to the meat as it was browning. I also sautéed the onions in the same pan I browned the meat in. (I removed as much of the grease as possible.) It deglazed the pan quite well. I also used a package of “6-cheese Italian Blend” instead of Colby.
Babyjesus said he didn’t like the green beans, but after we retired to the living room he kept sneaking back to the table and getting more of them.
Warning to anyone else that tries this recipe.
This makes quite a bit. There’s 3 of us in the household and we were only able to eat about half of what this recipe made. This would be a very good dish to take to a potluck. Not too labor intensive and should be easy to reheat.
weirddave, I tried the Mexican lasagna–that stuff is good!
I highly recommend it!
I had to wait until Friday night to make it because my husband will not eat leftovers and Friday we were having guests! They loved it too!
Next time, I think I might change the cheese–I’m not too fond of Colby. Any suggestions? Also, I think this might be good also with two cans of cream of mushroom soup instead of the one can of mushroom and one can of cream of chicken.
I served a green salad with it (I love salad) and I made the garlic green beans. I left off the almonds, though, and added a little mild onion to the beans! Keep up the recipes!
I’ll post the next recipe tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvienence.
Teriaki-Tarragon Pork Tenderloin, Lightly Grilled Portabella Mushrooms, and Roasted Corn on the Cob.
Ok, this onr is one of my favorites on the grill. Get yourself a nice pork tenderloin, and marinate it for a few hours in teriaki sauce. Just before you’re gonna throw it on the grill, take 4 portabella mushroom caps and blanch them for 1-2 minutes. This means throw them in boiling water. Remove caps from water, dry them on towels, and ( if you want) marinade them in teriaki for a few minutes. Warning: thin teriaki sauce works better than the thick stuff for this. Wrap 4 ears ( or more ) of corn on the cob in aluminum foil. Now you’re ready to cook.
Before we get to the grilling, we must talk about grill technique. It is key to know that you shouldn’t always cook right over the hot coals. My grill is shaped like a horizontal oval. I usually build a nice size fire at the bottom of the oval, and cook both over it and around it. When your fire is hot and ready to cook, place the tenderloin on the grill, but around the edge of the fire, not directly over it. The reason for this is that many marinades contain sugar, and it will burn if placed over the hottest part of the fire. Sprinkle the TL with tarragon,( fresh is best )close the lid and let it cook for about 15 minutes ( with a nice hot fire ). The hardest part of grilling is knowing when stuff is done. It is kind of an art, and practice is the best way to master it. I usually cook my tenderloins for about 15 minutes, flipping them once halfway through. Put the ears of corn on the grill just inside the TL also. Make sure they are well wrapped in foil!( flip the corn when you flip the tenderloin.) After 15 minutes, place the mushrooms OUTSIDE the tenderloin, NOT DIRECTLY OVER THE FIRE! Portabella mushrooms will quickly dry out over direct heat, and then they’re no good. You only need to cook them for a few minutes per side. What you are mainly doing is heating them, and adding grill marks and grill flavor. Your corn should be done by the time you put the mushrooms on, so move the ears to the back of the grill to stay warm. The pork shouldn’t suffer from a few more minutes on the grill. Sprinkle the tenderloin with tarragon agaain, slice and serve. Enjoy!
Now, about the Mexican Lasagna. Glad y’all liked it! You can substitute a cheese blend for Colby like Jesuslynch did, (Though I would use a mexican blend instead of an Italian one) and I have used 2 cans mushroom soup if I had no cream of chicken available.
Next week: Fun for the kids! Hobo Stew They’ll love the fact that you make it UNDER the grill!
For those of you with gas grills
You can get the same effect of different heat zones by only turning on the burner under half the grill. This side becomes the equivelent of the hot coals in the above recipe.
Well, weirddave, you must have read my mind because I bought some pork tenderloin with groceries this week! I’m not crazy about the mushrooms but I’ll make them anyway and let hubby eat them!
tip from a professional cook. (in reference to chix cordon bleu.) when dippin stuff in egg, (prior to dippin em in breadcrumbs), dip em in flour first. the flour gives the egg somethin to grab onto; this will ensure a more even coating. kay? by the way, it might be fun to see a thread where the dopers could post recipes for their “specialities.” any takers?
Weirddave,
I am going to try your recipes this week- I didn’t see this thread until now. How about some crock pot recipes?
Zette
Hmm. I don’t do a lot with crock pots, but I have made BBQ before, I’ll look into it. I see that as more of a winter thing, for some reason. I suppose you could make my award winning stew in a crock. I’ll consider it.
**HOBO STEW **
This is a great meal for the kids. The adults may wish to make something else at the same time, maybe the recipe from last week. This one works great in a campfire, but a grill works just fine. In order to get the full effect, you must tell the kids the story that goes along with it, something to the effect when 'bos rode the rails, they would each scrounge what food they could, and meet back at the fire to make HOBO STEW. Play it up kinda like a “stone soup” kinda thing. Anyway, the recipe.
Take 2 thick sheets of aluminum foil and place them on top of each other, stacked. Put 1 lb ground beef in the center- make a ball, then flatten it a bit. Add carrots, celery, onions, peppers, potatos and any other vegtable you like. ( warning- potatos will still be a bit hard if you dont boil them for 5-10 minutes first.)Season with salt and pepper. Wrap the foil up around the food, and twist it closed. Here’s the fun part. When you have a nice hot bed of coals, use a poker to make a concavity, and put the foil right in the coals. Leave it there 20-25 minutes, during which time you can cook food for the adults on the grill above. Remove it with tongs, and carefully open it up. There will be lost of steam, don’t get burned. Spoon out the beef/veggie mix to ach child’s plate, and you’ve got a meal fit for a drunken bum. hehe. Seriously, kids love cooking IN the fire rather than on it, and the result is not bad at all.
I dunno what I’m gonna do for next week, I guess it depends on the feed back I get. Hope to see ya then!
I finally made the Chicken Cordon Blu last night and I must say that it was delicous! My daughter loved it and told me that I’m the best cook. Guess what I’m having for lunch today? 
Thanks for the recipe weirddave. I think the next one I’m going to try is the mexican lasagna, I will let you know how that one turned out.
Y’know, I enjoyed this the first time around. Anyone interested in doing it again?
Dave, I’d like to see some more of your recipes. I’m not much of a cook, but I do want to learn a few basic, simple things that I can use on short notice. I clipped a few of the ones already posted here, and I’ll try them out soon. The cordon bleu chicken sounds great!
And if you’re taking requests, I’d like to find a good recipe for chili - preferably something done in a crockpot. I’m good at dumping in ingredients and leaving it alone for the afternoon!!!
I’ll second the vote for the chili. I really should purchase a crock pot, so this will be its christening recipe
I’m going to try that Mexican lasagna too this week - looks damn good.
Dave, I tried the chicken cordon bleu recipe last night, and got rave reviews from the family. Even my picky nephews liked it. The idea of chicken with ham and cheese made them curious enough to try something different, even if Uncle Ralf made it (and thus potentially dangerous in their eyes). We didn’t do the twice-baked potatoes, as Missus Coder had other side dishes in mind already, but I’ll try that soon. And I’m thinking maybe a little bit of mushrooms in the cheese would be A Pretty Good Thing.
Keep 'em coming!
Let’s go DAVE! I just cut and pasted all so far. I and my neighbors thank you.
Guys, Dudes, Blokes, Fellas…
The best way to impress the opposite sex with cooking is to do some serious BAKING. It’s a smell thing. Cakes, scones, cookies, anything. Not much point preparing your most impressive sushi if the smell aspect is lacking. Yer GF comes home and there’s a cake in the oven, there’s a comfort food smell permeating the house- you gonna score tonight!
Trust me, it works.
BTW, this is a cool thread.
Hmmm. A guy named “Ralf” is complimenting my recipe. Not sure how to take that… Flattered, naturally.
CROCK POT CHILI
Brown 1 lb of ground beef or turkey. Traditionalists may lynch me, but I like the taste and texture of turky chili. YMMV. Drain the beef, dump it in the crock pot. Add 1 or 2 cans kidney beans(to taste), 1 can tomato paste, 1 can diced tomatos( or dice 2 tomatos yourself ) 1 cup water and-Easy way:1 packet of chili seasoning, available at any grocery, Traditional way: 1 ts chili powder, 2 ts cumin, 1/2 ts each fresh ground pepper and salt. Mix. Cook all day on low to medium setting. That’s it! Spoon it into a bowl, top with shredded cheese and serve with fresh garlic bread.
Making it hot
The above is mild chili, suitable for the whole family. If you like yours spicy, there are several ways to do that. You can add tobasco sauce to taste, and this will certainly spice it up. I prefer to use peppers. There are a wide variety of peppers available. Chopping up 2 salsa peppers and adding them to the chili before cooking will make it nicely spicy, without driving everyone away. Hotter varieties of peppers should be used proportionally, the hotter the pepper, the less of it you need. If you REALLY want mega alarm chili, double all of the above ingredents, and add NO MORE THAN 1/2 of a trinidad habernero pepper, finely diced. I am not sure if you can even buy these, I grow them myself. The plants are actually sold as “too hot for human consumption.” A LITTLE TINY BIT of these peppers goes a LOOOOOOOONG way. Use them with care.
Next week: I was planning on doing Bol Go Gi, a Korean beef dish. Thanks to SDMB poster Tiburon who gave me an easy version of the traditional Korean marinade that gives this dish it’s destinct flavor.
ROFL!! Sorry - the name “Ralf” came to me 2nd hand. It’s a long story involving the Honeymooners and a computer repairman. But it wasn’t meant that way!
Are those units teaspooons (tsp) or tablespoons (tbsp)?
Sorry, Teaspoons. I generally use Tbl for tablespoon. I know, I know, I’m weird-check the username.