Category: Castiron

Bourbon, Bacon & Brown Sugar Brussel Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts have become one of my favorite side dishes.  Now I’m not talking about those boiled ones that we probably all grew up with.  I’m talking about the roasted or grilled Brussels sprouts.  Cooking them with high heat in either method will caramelize the sprouts and bring out their natural sugars.  Of course when you throw some brown sugar, bacon and bourbon in with them, you’ve taken them to a whole new level of deliciousness.

So give these a try and see if you too don’t become a fan of these beautiful and tasty  Brussels sprouts.  I think you will.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts- halved
  • 8-10 strips bacon
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon (optional)
  • Salt & Pepper
  1. First get a big ole cast iron skillet up to temperature over medium high heat.
  2. While skillet is heating, cut the bacon into small bite size bits. (of course a bite size for me would be the whole strip, but I digress)
  3. Add bacon to skillet and render down the fat. Then lower heat to medium and cook them to a crispy brown.
  4. Remove bacon from skillet to a paper towel lined plate to pull most of the fat from the bacon.
  5. Pour all but about 2 tablespoons bacon fat from the skillet.  (save that beautiful bacon fat for other recipes)
  6. Now place all the Brussels sprouts cut side down into skillet and don’t touch them for 2-3 minutes to get a good caramelization on them.
  7. Add the brown sugar, vinegar and bourbon to the skillet and toss all together.  Allow to cook an additional minute or so stirring continuously.
  8. Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

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Bourbon & Bacon Onion Jam

This is exactly what happens to me every time I am bored and want to try something new.  It started on New Years Eve.  I was planning my appetizers for the evening’s get together with our friends.  Of course I always over do it just a tad, but hey, who ever complains?

I had went to the market to get some bacon for a dip I was doing and saw that they had a 5 pound package marked down to a really low price.  How could I pass that up?  I mean Bacon?  Sale?  Bacon?  Heck, I would have probably grabbed it without the discount.  I am not one to pass up bacon.  So back to my idea.  I had made a beautiful ricotta spread  and needed something to top it with.  I was thinking my home made pepper jelly but now I am thinking how about a bacon jam?   So I grabbed the bacon (or maybe two of them) and headed to produce.  I found some beautiful sweet onions that would blend perfectly with the bacon and brown sugar I had planned.  I finished up my shopping and headed to the truck.

As I was loading my groceries into the truck I saw the liquor store next door and realized I better grab some more bubbly for tonight.  Once inside I of course was checking out the different rums for my rum cakes and then the bourbons.  Hmmmm…..how about some bourbon in my bacon jam?  Now that should just push it over the top.  So I grabbed some of Kentucky’s finest and my bubbly (and two more bottles of rum) and headed out.

I have to tell you all something.  I have never made or had bacon jam.  I have seen it many times on Pinterest and thought how cool.  I should try that.  Well I should be smacked upside my head for not trying it before now.  It is pure heaven.  I made enough to fill a small jelly jar and also a half pint jar.  I am not kidding you.  I had to force myself to stop eating this stuff once it was done.  I looked down and saw half the jelly jar empty.  It is just that good.  So I am now going to share with you my version of  Bourbon & Bacon Onion Jam.  You will NOT be disappointed.   (BTW, I doubled the recipe)

 


Ingredients

  • 1 lb. thick cut bacon, sliced into ½-inch pieces
  • 1 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 cup bourbon
Instructions
  1. In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until nice and crisp. Then move the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Pour most of the bacon grease into a heatproof container to save for other wonderful dishes but leave about 1 tbsp in the skillet.
  2. Add the onion,  and light brown sugar to the skillet.  Cook just until tender and caramelized (about 10 minutes). Stir in the garlic and cook an additional minute. Return the bacon to the skillet, along with the maple syrup, chili powder, ginger, and black pepper, cooking about 2 minutes.
  3. Now add the balsamic vinegar and bourbon and let the mixture come to a boil and cook for an additional minute.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and allow the mixture to simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes.  About room temperature.
  5. Put the mixture into a  food processor and pulse the mixture a few times until you’ve reached the desired consistency. I like to leave a few chunks of bacon and onion visible.
  6. Store in clean glass jars in the refrigerator for up to a week if it actually lasts that long.

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Creamy Bacon-Mushroom Skillet Chicken

skilletchickenI am starting to move my cooking into fall mode.  I don’t know why though.  I live in south Florida and the low today was 84°.  I guess I am just trying to get in the fall spirit.  Crank up the air and lets get to cooking.

So looking through my recipes I found my Parmesan Bacon Chicken.  After thinking a bit about the recipe, I thought I could change it up with a creamy wine sauce and a bit more depth of earthy flavor.  To do this I decided to include some beautiful mushrooms I picked up this past weekend at the farmers market.   So that’s how I came up with this recipe.

Now y’all can make this recipe in a big ole cast iron skillet as the name suggests, and I will do just that the next time.  Tonight though I decided to see how it would come out in my new Multi Cooker I got last week.  This is the second recipe I’ve done in it, the first was my Paella.  It turned out great so I was confident that I could pull this recipe off in it as well.  I was right.  It turned out amazing.  Y’all, I am really getting hooked on this Multi Cooker. Click Here for more recipes in the Multi Cooker.

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Ok, time to shut up and give y’all the recipe.  Let me know what you think and send pics or any changes you made to make it your own.

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 3-4  boneless  skinless chicken breasts (you can use thighs as well)
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning* (See Below for recipe)
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
  • 6 slices bacon (I used an apple wood smoked)
  • 1 cup white wine (and maybe another to sip while cooking)
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary

I began by setting the Multi Cooker to “stove-high”.  I added the olive oil and as it came to heat I added the chicken breasts that I seasoned first with the Italian seasoning and a bit of salt and pepper.  Cook for about 4 minutes on each side to brown.  Remove and place on a plate covered.

sautedchicken

Now add the bacon to the cooker, season with a bit of pepper and cook until it just begins to crisp.  Remove from pan and put in bowl.  Leave the rendered bacon fat in the pan.  We’ll be using it to add some amazing loving taste to the mushrooms.

bacon

Now clean your mushrooms and slice.  Add to the cooker along with the garlic and reduce heat to stove-medium.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper and saute until the mushrooms are soft.

mushrooms

Return cooker to stove-high and add back the bacon, salt and pepper, thyme, rosemary and wine and mix to combine.  Let cook for about 5-7 minutes to reduce the wine by half.

winesauce

Now add the cream, stir to incorporate and reduce heat to stove-medium (don’t want to scorch that cream) and cook for 5-7 minutes to reduce and thicken cream-wine sauce. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as needed to taste.

creamchicken

Remove and serve immediately.  Sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.

Enjoy…

* Italian Seasoning

Y’all, why buy a seperate contianer of Italian seasoning when you probably already have all you need in your spice cabinet to make your own.  Make a batch or even double batch and have on hand for all your other recipes.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup Basil
  • ½ cup Marjoram
  • ½ cup Oregano
  • ¼ cup cut and sifted Rosemary
  • ¼ cup Thyme
  • 2 tablespoons Garlic Powder (optional, especially if you cook with fresh garlic)
Instructions
  1. Place all herbs in a jar and shake well.

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Blackened Cajun Fish

blackenedcajunfish

I decided to make fish tacos tonight for dinner.  Fortunately I have some yellow fin snapper in the freezer that our friends caught down in Key West this past summer.  Lucky for us and not for them, they couldn’t take it on the plane back to Kentucky so we gladly took it off their hands.  Thanks to Diane and Woody!!!!

So I defrosted 6 filets and mixed up a batch of my cajun seasoning and in less than 30 minutes dinner was on the table.  I just love fish tacos especially when they are made with fresh fish.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 filets of white fish. (I used Yellow Fin Snapper our friends caught in Key West)
  • 6 tablespoons Cajun Seasoning (my recipe)
  • 2 tablespoons Paprika

DIRECTIONS

  1. Add olive oil to large skillet and heat on med-high (cast iron is best)
  2. Mix Cajun Spice mix with Paprika in a bowl
  3. Spinkle filets spice mix ( both sides)
  4. Fry  the filet 3 mins on each side.

 

 

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Chicken Osso Buco – Multi Cooker Version

chickenossobuco

This is my Osso Buco recipe that I converted to my Paula Deen Multi-Cooker.  If you would like to use a slow cooker or cast iron Dutch oven, click here.

Traditionally, osso buco is Italian for “bone with a hole” (osso bone, buco hole), a reference to the marrow hole at the center of the cross-cut veal shank.  Veal shank, which is most commonly used in this dish, is relatively cheap and flavorful cut of meat.  Although tough, braising makes it tender.

Well enough of the Osso Buco lesson.  Tonight I substituted chicken for the veal shank.  Fortunately I don’t have to braise the the chicken all day to make it tender.  Plus for me.  I love finding as many recipes as I can to use chicken in.  This one was a winner.  The sweet flavors of the vegetables highlighted the moist tenderness of the chicken thighs.  The combination was amazing.  So y’all need to run out to the garden or farmers market and get some fresh veggies and pick up some chicken because you’re going to want to add this to your recipe collection.  It’s just that good.

Ingredients:

  • 6-8 chicken thighs (skinless/boneless)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 carrots – diced
  • 2 green peppers – diced
  • 1 large sweet onion – diced
  • 3 stalks celery – diced
  • 3-4 medium tomatoes (2 cans diced if you don’t have fresh)
  • 6 cloves garlic – chopped
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • 1 small bunch curly parsley – chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  1. In the Multi-Cooker set on “Stove Top-High” heat olive oil and then brown the chicken on both sides.
  2. Remove chicken to a plate and cover.
  3. Add the vegetables, tomatoes, and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes
  4. Add the chicken back to the Multi-Cooker and nestle into the vegetable/tomato mixture, add the chicken stock and parsley.
  5. Cover and place multi-cooker on “Oven” at 350° and cook for 60-90 minutes.
  6. Uncover and  and cook an additional 30 minutes to reduce liquid.
  7. Remove the multi-cooker inner pot to a hot pad or cooling rack and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes, and serve.

 

 

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Cajun Chicken, Red Beans & Rice

cajunchickenredbeanrice

I’ve had a great day today.  Spent most of the morning at different farmers markets picking up some of late summer/early fall’s best produce.  Living in south Florida allows me to get fresh produce all the way into December and sometimes January.

carrots

eggs

dragonfruit

rambutan

fruits

tomatoes

In fact, I am getting ready to put out my fall garden of tomatoes, peppers and zucchini next weekend, the 2nd weekend in October.

Ok, back to the recipe.  I always get off track when it comes to beautiful fresh produce.  Today I found some great onions and peppers so I decided to continue my recipe development in Paula Deen’s “Multi-Cooker” and also keep with my healthier diet by making a Cajun dish.  I have to tell you that I am in love with this “Multi-Cooker”.  It does everything I want in one dish and the clean up is almost non existent.  Everything slides right out and nothing has ever scorched or stuck for any of my recipes.  Y’all really need to get one of these “Multi-Cookers”

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Ingredients:

  • 3 cups cooked brown rice (you can use white rice*)
  • 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 3-5 tablespoons Cajun/Creole seasoning (my recipe for mix)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion – diced
  • 2 bell peppers – cut into strips or diced (I used a combination of yellow, green and red that I got at farmers market)
  • 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 1 (12-oz) can red beans – drained
  • salt & pepper (to season at end)

Directions:

  1. If you want to cook rice as well in the Multi-Cooker (if you don’t have precooked) you can use 1 cup brown rice and 2 cups water or low sodium chicken broth.  Bring the liquid to bowl on “Stove Top-High” setting.  Add the rice, cover and cook for 45-50 minutes until tender and all liquid is absorbed.  Then remove rice from Multi-Cooker to large bowl and set aside.
  2. Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces. Place in large bowl and season generously with 3 tablespoons Cajun/Creole seasoning.seasonedchicken
  3. Add one tablespoon of the olive oil to the Multi-Cooker set on “Stove Top-High” setting. (if you don’t have multi cooker, use a large cast-iron dutch oven) Heat the oil so it is very hot and then add the chicken in a single layer. You want it in a single layer so it browns very well.  Brown about 2-3 minutes, then flip and brown on the other side another 2-3 minutes.  Remove chicken to a bowl and set aside.chickenincookerchickencooked (One of my followers messaged me to ask if Paula’s “Multi-Cooker” really does get as hot as stovetop.  Does it really cook/saute?  Well I videoed the chicken cooking tonight.  Tell me what you think.)  
  4. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the Multi-Cooker still on “Stove Top-High” setting and when the oil is hot, carefully add the onions and bell peppers. Add the remaining Cajun/Creole seasoning and mix.  Then stir occasionally, until the vegetables are softened and browned.  Let them brown for a bit on one side before string to add flavor.peppers
  5. Add the tomatoes, red beans and the chicken back into Multi-Cooker along with any juices that may have collected in the bowl.  Cover and cook 2-3 minutes.backinpan
  6. Add the cooked rice (my recipe for easier/better cooked brown rice) and stir until well combined.  Cook an additional 2-3 minutes covered to heat through.mixedwithrice
  7. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.

cajunchickenredbeanrice

*White rice has about the same amount of total carbohydrates as brown rice, but there’s a significant difference in fiber content. One cup of cooked brown rice contains 44.77 grams of total carbohydrates, which is 34 percent of the minimum recommended daily allowance of 130 grams. Brown rice has six times more fiber than white rice. You’ll get 3.5 grams of fiber in 1 cup of cooked brown rice, compared to only 0.6 grams in the same portion of white rice. A 1-cup serving of brown rice provides 9 percent of men’s and 14 percent of women’s daily intake of fiber. The fiber makes a significant difference because it moderates the rate at which carbs are absorbed, contributing to more stable blood sugar levels. (courtesy http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/)

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