Dr. Pepper Lemon Pepper Tangy Glazed Sirloin

Gonna grill out today, and here's what's on the menu!

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DR. PEPPER LEMON PEPPER TANGY GLAZED SIRLOIN


Ingredients for marinade

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup Dr. Pepper
• 1/4 cup A1 sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 minced garlic clove (or 1/4 teaspoon pre-prepared minced garlic)
• 1 to 2 pounds top sirloin steak
• Lemon pepper seasoning

Ingredients for glaze

• 1/2 cup BBQ sauce (any kind you like!)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup A1 sauce
• 1 tablespoon molasses or dark corn syrup

Method

• Mix together marinade ingredients in a gallon-size plastic bag (NOT the lemon pepper, that's for later). Cut the steaks into 1 inch-wide strips (should be 4-6 strips per steak depending on how big the steak is)
• Place strips in marinade, mix around to coat, and allow to soak up the flavor in the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight
• After marinading, remove steak from bag, throw away bag, and sprinkle the steaks with the lemon pepper seasoning
• Cook on the grill until desired doneness is attained (should be 8-12 minutes). Prepare the glaze.
• When steaks are a few minutes from being done, brush on the glaze and allow steaks to remain on grill to heat and caramelize the glaze.

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Honey Balsamic Chicken

I've got some chicken in my freezer that needs to be used before it's burned to death, so I'm trying my hand at a honey balsamic chicken recipe with my own spin...

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HONEY BALSAMIC CHICKEN

Ingredients for glaze
 
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar (I used the kind infused with pomegranate)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 tablespoon white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)

Ingredients for chicken

2 chicken breasts (or 4 tenderloins)

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Pinch of nutmeg

Method

1. Coat chicken with dry ingredients
2. Place chicken in a skillet at medium heat with a pat of butter for 4-7 minutes
3. Remove chicken from skillet and simmer the glaze in the skillet for 1-2 mintues
4. Place chicken pieces in skillet again, making sure to turn so that glaze coats them. Heat until cooked

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Meat Loaf

Needed a use for some extra hamburger I had in my freezer and decided to try my hand at some meat loaf. I thought it turned out pretty well!

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MEAT LOAF


Ingredients for loaf:

• 1 1/2 pound hamburger
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tablespoon dried minced onions
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 1/2 tablespoon ketchup
• 1/2 tablespoon mustard
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce 
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/3 cup finely ground Stacy's Sea Salt pita chips (or other form of dried bread crumbs, crackers, crouton, etc)

Ingredients for sauce:

• 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1 1/3 tablespoon mustard
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon barbecue sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Method

1. Line a casserole dish with aluminum foil (this is an important step for your sanity!)
2. Use a food processor to finely grind up your bread crumbs
3. Combine hamburger, egg, onions, milk, and the various other ingredients into a large bowl and stir together thoroughly using your hands
4. Place meat in casserole dish in a "loaf" shape--this is just an oblong shape roughly a foot long, 4 inche wide, and 4 inches deep
5. Mix together ingredients for sauce and pour on top of the loaf, spreading it around and allowing it to drip down the sides
6. Sprinkle just a little more brown sugar on the top
7. Place in 350 degree oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove from oven, allow to "set" for 5-10 minutes, cut up like a loaf of bread and serve

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Beans & Weenies

Henry and I have just gotten married on May 19th (Yay!), but I'm having to cook a lot at home since we are on a tight budget with me being in school, etc. Needless to say, before getting married, I would say my forte in cooking was in the dessert/baking department, so it's pretty intimidating to have to make an acceptable-to-eat-for-dinner meal that will not leave us starving. Thus, I've been expanding my horizons to bigger and better things (that are still easy, fast, and stuff that I already have in my house). The first being...

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BEANS & WEENIES


Ingredients:

• 2 regular-sized cans of baked beans (any kind you like)
• 6-7 hot dogs
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 table spoons dried parsley flakes

Method:

1. Cut the hot dogs up into 1/2 inch pieces
2. Dump the 2 cans of baked beans in a pot, followed by the pieces of hot dogs
3. Add the other ingredients to the pot and stir together
4. Place covered on medium-high heat for 15-25 minutes, stirring occasionally
5. Turn heat to low or medium-low to allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes

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Creamy Chicken and Noodles

This is an easy an quick recipe that's perfect for those times that you don't really have time to plan an elaborate meal. Just use frozen pre-cooked chicken (which I recommend always having in your freezer) and serve with some nice steamed or boiled veggies.

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Ingredients

• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken and Mushroom Soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey
• 3 cups medium egg noodles, cooked and drained
• Chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Heat the soup, milk, black pepper, cheese, chicken and noodles in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat until the mixture is hot and bubbling, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with the parsley before serving.

Captain Crunch Chicken Tenders

I had some Captain Crunch coated chicken tenders at a Planet Hollywood and thought they were so amazing because they were sweet and salty and crunchy. I found the recipe online and definitely thought I should try to make them!

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2 cups Cap'n Crunch cereal
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 lbs chicken tenders (or chicken breasts cut into tenders)
Vegetable oil (for frying)

Thaw chicken breasts, cut each breast into 3-4 slim pieces, and dry strips with a paper towel before dredging.

Coarsely grind or crush the cereal in gallon size bag and set aside. Beat the egg with milk in separate bowl and set aside. Stir together the flour, onion and garlic powders and black pepper and set aside.

Dip the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour. Move around to coat well, then shake off the excess flour. Dip coated tender quckly in the egg wash, coating well, then place all coated tenders in the bag of crushed cereal. Shake bag until all the tenders are coated.

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet to 325 (or for a few minutes on low-medium heat). Drop coated chicken tenders carefully in the hot oil and cook until golden brown and fully cooked, 3 to 5 minutes depending on size.

_____________________________Pictured with a baked potato and green bean casserole. I heated the oil too high, so the coating began to burn before the chicken had cooked fully. They were very yummy though, maybe I'll get them perfect next time.

Apple Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Looking at the recipes I have here so far, they are all sides or appetizers. I've got a few main dishes up my sleeves, but I thought I'd add one that I want to try over the holiday break.

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1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (1 1/4 pound) fresh pork tenderloin
kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 Gala apple, cut into chunks
1/2 cup Riesling wine
1 cup apple jelly
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking dish large enough to hold the tenderloin without folding it.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and brown the pork tenderloin on all sides. Remove the browned tenderloin to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle all sides of the meat with salt, pepper, and parsley.

Cook and stir the onion and apple in the same skillet over medium heat until the onion becomes soft, about 5 minutes, and pour in the Riesling wine. Scrape all the browned flavor bits off the bottom of the skillet and stir to help dissolve them into the wine. Bring to a boil, and pour the onion, apple, and wine mixture over the tenderloin.

Mix together the apple jelly and balsamic vinegar in a bowl until the mixture is smooth and without lumps. Spread the jelly mixture all over the pork.

Bake the loin in the preheated oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 160 degrees F, 30 to 45 minutes. Allow the tenderloin to rest for 10 minutes before slicing, and serve each slice with a spoonful of the apple-onion mixture.

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Creamy Macaroni

Henry and I are hungry for macaroni and cheese tonight, so we're going to make an adapted version of Paula Deen's crock-pot macaroni found here. Hope it turns out well!

Add one pound of meat, seasoned generously with Worcestershire sauce to noodles for an extra kick and a more filling result.

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3 cups Elbow macaroni (1 pound box should do)
1/2 stick butter
1 cup milk
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 pound Velveeta cheese
1 clove garlic
2 eggs


Boil noodles with 1 crushed clove of garlic until soft. While noodles are cooking, brown meat in frying pan while seasoning generously with Worcestershire. Cook meat completely.

When noodles are done, strain them, then put them back in original pot over low heat. Add 1/2 pound of Velveeta cut into quarters. Cut 1/2 stick butter into pieces and stir them into the mixture. When Velveeta is completely melted, add all of meat and stir in.

When meat is mixed with Velveeta and noodles, pour noodles partially into casserole dish. Add some of the grated sharp cheddar and some of the grated Parmesan cheese to layer on top of noodles. Pour second layer of noodles and add more sharp cheddar and Parmesan. Pour the remainder of noodles into dish.

Beat eggs and milk together and pour generously over casserole dish. Then, cover top of dish with the rest of grated cheese.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes on 350 heat.

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Honey-Lemon Thanksgiving Turkey

Since it's about time for Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share the turkey recipe that I plan to make for my family. I have made this recipe before, and it turns out to be just delicious!

The measurements listed here are arbitrary. I usually do not measure anything...just make sure you have enough juice/oil to cover the turkey each time you baste and enough honey to rub all over the turkey 3-4 times.

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The Turkey

Prep:
1 Butterball fresh whole turkey (pick size depending upon how many people you want to feed)
1 container honey
salt
sugar
ground black pepper
3/4 stick butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil or virgin olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 lemon (juice and zest)

Remove packaging and plastic bags containing neck and giblets. Wash turkey in sink, drain the turkey, and dry the cavity with paper towels. Stuff turkey if desired. Place turkey in large roasting pan. Tie back legs together and place tin foil over tip of wings.

Mix oil, melted butter, chicken stock, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 1 teaspoon sugar in small bowl by stirring. Brush mixture onto the skin of the entire turkey and pour rest of mixture into bottom of pan. Drizzle 1/3 cup of honey over the turkey, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sugar, and place in oven at 375 heat. Here is a useful calculator for how long you should cook the turkey depending upon its size.

Along the course of the cooking time, remove the turkey 3-4 times to baste. Take in juice at bottom of pan and drizzle it over turkey until skin is re-soaked. Each time, drizzle 1/3 cup of honey over top and dust lightly with salt, sugar, and pepper. The sugar and honey will caramelize on the skin of the turkey and turn a dark brown.

If turkey browns too much, cover lightly with tin foil. If contents at bottom of pan begin to burn, add chicken stock or water accordingly.

Remove turkey from oven when done and baste with juices from bottom of pan one last time. Remove stuffing if you decided to stuff the turkey. Place turkey on platter and zest a lemon over top.
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Our 12 pound turkey that fed 6 people with plenty of leftovers. Meat was juicy and flavor was very good!