Chorizo and Goat Cheese Meatloaf

So many of you have been asking the Doctor (that's me) to get off my butt and get this running again, so here you have it.  Ya' Happy now?!?!?!?  I doing this a bit differently now, with some new recipes and flavors, but still with my own personal signature "mad scientist" flair.  This blog is simple, easy recipes for the guys who can't cook, but wants to impress his friends and dinner dates. That being said, let's get cooking.   We're going to get this New year's party started right, with a really tasty meatloaf recipe that's built for parties.  I like to make these in muffins tins so they're finger food-ish (well for me anyway), or you can roll these into 1-2 oz meatballs and serve them in Romesco Sauce, a nice pepper coulis, or, my favorite, the good old Italian Gravy (Romesco and Pepper Coulis Recipes to follow soon.)  Before we get started, remember there are many types of chorizo, I used a hot Salvadorian style Chorizo form my buddies shop in Arlington, VA, but you can use any fresh Chorizo you like.   Let's get to the cutting board.  You'll need:

1/2 c. Onions, small diced (not minced, you want everything uniform so it cooks evenly)

Chorizo Goat Cheese Meatloaf, Pepper Coulis

1/2 c. Bell peppers, small diced
1/4 c. Chopped Cilantro
1 tbsp. chopped oregano
1 c. crumbled Blue cheese
5 slices of toasted potato bread, diced (It's works trust me)
1/4 c. mushrooms, chopped,
1 clove garlic crushed
3/4 lb. Ground beef
3/4 lb. ground chicken
6 links Chorizo sausage , uncased.
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
2 tbsp olive oil, or vegetable oil

1. If you haven't' already, just stick the bread into the toaster (trust me).  when you've cut it up, take mixing bowl, pour the milk over it, mash it up and stick it in the fridge so it can soak up.

2. Take you olive or vegetable oil, and get it into a saute pan, on medium low heat.  Add your garlic and let it sweat for a minute or so (you'll know when it's ready when it starts to smell nice and mellow).

3. Add the rest of your vegetables to the pan and left them cook down, you want all of the water evaporated from the onions and mushrooms.  if you want you can add some wine, but just remember it has to be completely dry before it comes off of the stove.  You'll have to toss or stir this around every minute or so.

4. When the vegetables are down, put hem into the same bowl with the bread and milk and stir it around, with the herbs.   Let this mixture sit for about an hour.  If the bread doesn't absorb all of the milk  don0t' worry about it.  The goal is to make a pananda (softened breadcrumbs) but it doesn't have to be perfect for a meatloaf. This is also a good time to get your over pre-heated to 350.

5.  Next is my favorite part, the meat, take all 3 meats, get some gloves on (if you want) and dump it all into the bowl.  Season it with salt and pepper, add the goat cheese and eggs, and GO TO TOWN.  that means mix it.  I prefer to do this one my hand so you still have some goat cheese hunks in there.  if you want to use a mixer, partial freeze your goat cheese crumbles so they don't dissolve.  Remember TASTE, TASTE, TASTE.  You can take a bit of the mix and pop in the nuke machine (that's microwave for you newbs) to make sure your sample if safe to eat.

6.  When everything is mixed, spray down (or even better, butter) your favorite muffin tin and place in the oven for 35 minutes.  If' you're  making meatballs, just take a 1 oz cookie scoop, and form them with that.  You'll only cook the meatballs for 15 minutes.

7.  Serve these puppies up on your favorite platter with you favorite side.  I recommend home fries, (yeah those awesome potatoes cooked in butter with onions and bacon), or some healthy veggies if you like.  If you're looking for just saucing  it, you can find a good Ceasar vinaigrette and puree some roasted red peppers into it for an excellent sauce.

Stay tuned, because you mooks get a bonus recipe for new year's.  What is it.  for those of you that know THE DIP, you're gonna learn how to make it.

Happpy Eating, I'm going back to the lab

-The Doc

THE Dip. Not a dip, THE Dip.

Since I moved to my current location from an unmentionable, Deep South, Bible beating location, I've been very well known around these here parts for a very popular party favor.  That favor is the bison taco dip.  Every party I've hosted or been to over the last seven years has had a request for this delicious, sloppy, cheesy mess (mess in a good way, like Waffle House hashbrowns good, but without the potatoes getting in the way of the good stuff).  This recipes is super easy, super fast, and I guarantee you'll be a hit at the next New Year's or Superbowl party...screw it, any party.  This recipe makes about 1 1/2 gallons

THE Dip, picture provided by Jeremy Rhodes

1 small onion, small diced

1 Pablano pepper, small diced (it's optional)

1 small red bell pepper, small diced

3/4 c. chopped Cilantro

1 big brick (yes the big brick, about 1 lb) of Velveeta

1 pint whipped cream cheese

2 lbs ground bison

1/4 c. chili powder

1/4 c. cumin

1 tbsp garlic powder

1.  In a large pot, start browning your meat.  If your bison is real lean, add some butter to the pot before you start. I like to use a potato masher to break the meat up as it cooks.  This is a dip so I want all of that buffalo goodness all throughout.  

2. When the meat is half way done, add the vegetables.  Let those sweat in the meat fat.  (READ:  Don't drain it, especially if you're using beef, you want it trust me)

3.  Add the chili powder, cumin, and cilantro now, let those sweat out for a good minute or two, now lower the heat.

4.  Add your cream cheese too the mix and stir through.  Start cutting up your big ole' block o' Velveeta and slowly add it piece by piece to the dip.  this is an excellent time for me to advertise the potato masher again.  As it passes through and cuts the Velveeta, it makes it easier to melt.  

5.  When everything is melted, it's ready to serve.  This dip is best slightly warm so it's more like a fondue.

You happy now haters?  You have my secret dip recipe, so now you can try to make it on your own.  Seriously, this stuff goes with just about anything.  I even use it for a macaroni and cheese sauce, or an omellete filling.  As for some easy variations, Veleveeta does make some different product flavors, so feel free to mix those in, personally, I like the pepper jack.  You can also change up the meat.  I like to mix different meats and sausages, like turkey and merguez.  You can even add BBQ pork shoulder (without the sauce) or smoked brisket.

-The Doctor.  

Chow Chow Relish

In keeping with the southern Style BBQ theme, I'm giving you a recipe from the Carolina low country. I was first introduced to this recipe by a good buddy by the name of Corbett Rouke. This is a simple and cheap recipe they had at nearly every family affair. If you have a garden or just a bunch of left over vegetables, this is a great way to use them up. This is a big recipe, but if you jar it, it will last over a year in storage. If you're bored of the same old everyday coleslaw with your BBQ, this is an excellent replacement. This chow chow relish recipe makes 4 pints.

Little bit o' Chow Chow in the jar

1 small head of cabbage, rough chopped
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped, stem removed
2 cups chopped onions
1 green bell pepper, julienne
1 red bell pepper, julienne
3 tablespoons of salt
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of celery seed
1 teaspoon of mustard seed
2 teaspoons of dry mustard
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
2 1/2 cups of white vinegar

1. Mix all the chopped vegetables in a large bowl and sprinkle the salt over them. Let stand, uncovered, for 4-6 hours in a cool place. At the end of the standing time, drain the vegetables well. this will pull out excess moisture that will be replaced by the flavorful mix we are about to add to it. you will also notice the volume of the vegetables shrink.

2. Mix vinegar, sugar and spices in a large pot and simmer on the stove for 10 minutes.

3. Add drained vegetables and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes until pot begins to boil.

4. At this point you can either let the relish cool in the pot and server it the next day, or you can pack it. To pack the chow chow mix while it's boiling into hot, pint canning jars. Leave 1/4 inch head space in each pint jar. Wipe the mouth of the canning jar clean, place canning lids on the jars and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.


Happy Eating

- El Doctoro

Slow Roasted Pork

Da butt. Yup, Pork butt. For those not familiar, the pork butt is actually a shoulder. It needs to be cooked low and slow to bring out its intoxicating and addicting natural aromas and flavors. All of the fat in the meat needs to melt through muscle tissue and permeate it with it's goodness, to fully enjoy everything about the pig. Below is a recipe that takes a while, but it's basic and very versatile. You can use it for sandwiches, throw some spices on it and do some pulled pork for BBQ (like with my watermelon BBQ or any other of the sauces you've seen/will see from me), or use it for tacos. I'll post some more recipes throughout the months using this as a base.

Way slow cooked pork shoulder.

1 5 lb. Pork butt, cut into 10-12 oz pieces
1 tbsp ea Salt and pepper
4 tbsp Paprika
2 tbsp Garlic powder
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil

1. Combine the oil and all of the spices into a bowl. Roll each piece of pork in the bowl until it's well coated with spices.

2. Place the meat in a piece of foil and wrap the foil around it so you have kind of a meat pouch.

3. Cook the pork at 325 for 3-4 hours or until it's super tender.

By itself this pork is delicious, and very versatile. You'll see me refer to this recipe a lot when doing recipes with pulled or roasted pork.

Watermelon BBQ Sauce

Summer=cookout=BBQ, we all know that. So, in celebration of the beginning of warm weather and grillin' time, I've put together a simple, yet different BBQ sauce to "WOW" the friends and family with. This isn't your everyday, run of the mill toxic sludge you get in the store. This is how it's made on the homestead, well kinda. This recipe is based on one of the basic four styles of sauce (tomato base, vinegar base, mustard base, and dry). Keep an eye out during the summer for variations on this and recipes with the other four.

1 small, seedless watermelon (it if's not, we can just strain it later) enough for 1 1/2-2 cups of puree)
1/4c spicy brown mustard
1/2c sugar
1/4c cider vinegar (not that distilled crap, get the good stuff)
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, chopped fine (about 1/4c)
2 tbsp whole butter
1c ketchup (organic if you can get it)

1. Start a pot on low heat. Add the butter and let it melt. Swirl the pot if you have to.

2. Add the onion and let it sweat, you don't want to get any color on this. The onions should barely be sweating and just lazily cooking away. stir them every 30 seconds or so for about 5-10 minutes, or until translucent.

3. While the onion are cooking, peel the watermelon, and rough chop it. if you have a blender or a food processor, puree it. (Strain out the seeds if you have one with seeds) If not, just crush it up in a bowl with you hands, you'll just have a chunkier sauce) Put this off to the side for now.

4. Add the sugar and vinegar to the pot. When all the sugar has dissolved, bring the pot to a boil and reduce the liquid down to about 1/3 of what it was.

5. Turn the pot back down and add the mustard and ketchup. When this starts to bubble lightly, add the watermelon puree/chunks and Worcestershire. When this starts to bubble, turn to flame down to low and let it cook for 30-40 minutes. Stir every few minutes.

When it's ready, serve it hot, cold whatever. It's going to be thinner than most BBQ sauces you are used to, but it's still sweet and tasty. I like it on pulled pork and turkey, but use it in place of anything you use for your normal BBQ sauce.

Mmmm.....Pig (Brined Pork Chops)

So it's getting to be cookout time. My favorite thing to drop on the grill, is a nice juicy pork chop. The key to making pork great, and not just good, is your brine. What's a brine? It's a salt and sugar solution you let the meat soak in before you cook it. Almost like a marinade, but better. Brines are very versatile and once you get the hang of making a basic one, you can get creative with what you put in it. Here's what I use in the summer:

4 ea 8 oz pork chops (bone in or out, depends on what you like)

Brined chop done under the broiler

2 cups good old H2O
1 c brown sugar
1/3 c Salt (Kosher or Sea Salt, not that iodized table crap)
1 tsp whole peppercorns
5 sprigs thyme
5 sage leaves
1 tbsp fennel seeds
2 each star anise (optional)
2 cups ice

1. Put all of your ingredients in a pot, except the ice and pork chops.
2. Bring everything to a boil, and stir until the salt and sugar have all dissolved.
3. This is where the ice comes in, it's a great time saver. Transfer the liquid you just boiled into some kind of container. Drop the ice in and stir. Your liquid should be about room temp.
4. Now for the pig. Drop your pork chops in and let them sit about 2-3 hours.
5. Get your grill ready and just cook. I leave them on until they're about medium. (about 6 minutes each side)

You can use this brine with any light meat you want. Roast a chicken with it, turkey breast, pork loin, whatever. This is an easy way to impress your friends at your next cookout.

Later,

The Doctor

Roasted Corn Guacamole

Welcome back, let's start Round 2. Last week I put up a fairly wicked burger. This week, we're doing something to put on top of it, or dip your chips in, or whatever you want to do with it. It's quick, easy, and pretty damn tasty.

Roasted Corn Guacamole

3 large Haas Avocados
1 small red onion, peeled, cut into 1/2" rings
1 ear fresh corn
oil
salt and pepper
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 Roma tomato
Tabasco
2 limes

1. Preheat your oven to about 400. Take a bit of oil and rub the corn and onion rings, then season them with salt and pepper. Place them on any kind of baking pan and cook them for about 15-20 minutes, or until you have some color on the corn and the onions are soft.

2. When the onions and corn are ready, pop them in the fridge for a few minutes. This will cool them down enough for you to handle and cut later. Move to step 3 while you're waiting. CHOP CHOP.

3. Yup, step 3 is chopping the cilantro. For guac, I like to leave the chunks bigger. Just take a knife and push through the leaves a couple of times. You can cut it finer if you like.

4. Now that your vegetables have cooled, take a knife and run it down the side of the corn cob, to take the kernels off. Next, rough chop or dice the onions. You want the pieces to be between 1/2" and 1/4". Dice the tomato in the same fashion.

5. Avocados are next. These are easy. Cut them in half, cutting around the pit, and just twist them apart. ( Seriously, it's important to have nice, ripe avocados for this. If you don't, you might as well go to some crap chain restaurant and eat that pre-made garbage.) Now you're asking "How do I get the pit out?" Easy, take a knife, and hack into it SOFTLY. Just enough to embed the end of the blade, closest to the handle, into the pit. then twist it out. Take a spoon and scoop the avocado halves out. It doesn't matter if you break them up, you're mashing them anyway.

6. Here's the fun part, mashin' time. Take the avocado, place it in a bowl with the sour cream, cilantro, onions and corn. Then mash 'em up as much as you like. I like to leave it a bit chunky. I use the back of a spoon or a fork. You can use a potato masher, jack hammer, or any other implement of destruction you choose.

7. Cut the limes and squeeze them right into the avocado mix, season it with salt and pepper and add as much Tabasco as you like for a little kick. Mix the seasonings in, make sure everything is mixed evenly, and eat.

See? Easy. Feel free. I put this on everything. Chips, burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, you name it. See ya next week.

The Doctor

The Pendie Burger

I'm pulling in time proven Man-Burger recipe from my good buddy, Mike Pendergrast's backyard recipe book. We made these about every cook-out at the house in college, and went with any beer, whiskey, malt liquor, or (dare I say) Zima, we had in the fridge (had to keep the girls happy). This ultimate Man-Burger recipe is unique, easy and tasty. It's origins lie in a famous Minnesota sandwich recipe, called the "Juicy Lucy".

Makes: 4 Burgers (You need 4 buns obviously. Lettuce, Tomato, and Onions are optional)

Gooey, Cheesy, Pendie-Burger Deliciousness

2.5 lbs Ground beef
4 oz. Velveeta, cut into 1/4" cubes
1 shallot, chopped
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 tbsp ranch dressing
1 tbsp French's mustard

1. Start by mixing all of the ingredients together in a bowl, except the Velveeta. Man up and dig into the raw meat.

2. When everything is mixed, form the mix into eight equal sized patties. I know I said 4 burgers, just read on and trust me, Evil Doctor, remember?

3. Take 1 oz of the Velveeta and 2 patties. Put the Velveeta between the 2 patties and make 1 big pattie. Think of a cheese sandwich, with meat as the bread.

4. Hopefully, you have your grill fired up. Just pop them on and cook for between 7 and 10 minutes on each side. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper to taste. I like to make the patties about 3/4" thick. Stays juicy, but doesn't take too long to cook. I eat these as rare as I can, but you can cook them how you like. The Velveeta in the middle melts, and your cheese is inside. You can also make these a day ahead and have them ready for cookout.

5. There always a step 5...eat it, I like toasting the buns a bit in an oven or on the grill, and eat it with some pickle and tomato slices. Throwing some bacon on it doesn't hurt either, but then gain, it's bacon, it's good on anything.

Till next time,

The Doctor