Smoked Chicken w/Carmelized Onion Sauce

I promise this is the last smoked thing I'll do for a long time!  Jay smoked some chicken this weekend so I figured this would be a good time to do it for our freezer swap while it is fresh.

The carmelized onion sauce is very rich and it is a strong flavor....a little goes a long way.  Kids would like it if they are adventurous eaters.  There are several ways to go about this dish:

1.  Serve the chicken over rice with or without the sauce.
2.  My favorite way:  Make an open faced sandwich with the chicken and top with melted cheese (under the broiler)
3.  Reserve the sauce for another time and serve it over pork chops or cooked chicken breast.
4.  Eat the chicken with your favorite BBQ sauce.

To heat the chicken:  place it in a pot of simmering water for 15 minutes.

To heat the sauce:  place it in a sauce pan on medium until it is melted and then heated through.  If it is too thick you can thin it with chicken stock.

Carmelized Onion Sauce

• Chop 4 medium onions into half circles
• Add enough oil to coat the bottom of a large saute pan
• Sweat the onions on medium heat for 10 minutes then season with a pinch of salt and about 1tsp. sugar
• Carmelize the onions by cooking on medium heat for about 30 minutes or until browned
• Remove onions and add 2 T flour to drippings in the pan to make a roux.  (If there are no drippings add 2 T butter.)
• Add 2 cups of chicken broth and half a can of evaporated milk and bring to a simmer to thicken.
  

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

Robyn posted a bunch of Cafe Rio recipes on this blog and having had Cafe Rio's pork, I knew I had to try it. Well I did and it is pretty close to the real deal, so yummy!!! You can serve this in a tortilla with other burrito toppings, or by itself over rice. My kids ate this like candy (something to do with the brown sugar and coke?)

2 pounds pork (we use boneless pork rib meat)
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce
1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

Monterey Jack Turkey Burgers (again)

10-ozs. ground turkey
2 tablespoons minced scallion
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2-ozs. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 strips turkey bacon
4 hamburger rolls (2-ozs. each), split and toasted
1 medium tomato, cut into 4 slices

In large bowl, combine turkey, scallion, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic powder and pepper; mix well. Add cheese; stir to mix well. Shape turkey mixture into 4 equal patties.

Heat indoor ridged grill sprayed with nonstick cooking spray; add bacon. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side, until browned. Transfer to plate; set aside.

Wipe grill clean; arrange burgers on grill; cook 6-8 minutes on each side, until cooked through.

To serve, layer rolls with burgers, bacon and tomato slices.

From Frozen: Grill until cooked through. I like to eat mine with bacon and sliced avocado, yum!

Mandi's Lasagna

I don't know that there is much point to posting this cause lasagna is kind of lasagna, you know. Anyway- here are the things that are in mine:

mozzarella cheese
ricotta cheese
chive and onion cream cheese
asiago cheese
tomato sauce
ground beef
noodles

Yep- that about does it for mine. I think we all probably know how to layer it all up. Cook it for about an hour with the foil on until the last 10 minutes. Enjoy with garlic bread!

Pork Chops and Apples over Rice

5 pork chops cooked or grilled
3 unpeeled apples sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tablespoons margarine or butter

Heat oven to 350. Grease 13x9 baking dish. Place sliced apples in baking dish. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon. Dot with margarine. Top with pork chops. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes or until apples are tender.

Serve over rice.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

There really isn't a recipe I can give you. It is a process to make good Southern pulled pork! In a nutshell....the pork is brined in a molasses brine for about 24 hours. The meat then gets a homemade rub of about 10-12 spices. Then the meat is smoked for about 12-16 hours in a smoker with hickory wood. It also gets an occasional "sop" of spices and marinade during the smoking process.

All you need to do is put the frozen packet of meat in a pan of boiling water for about 15 minutes to warm in through. (I wouldn't microwave it.) Take the meat out of the packet, fluff with a fork and eat with or without a bun. Some people like to put BBQ sauce on it and some don't! Your choice, it is good either way.

Tortellini Soup

1 lb italian sausage, browned
6 c beef broth
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
2 c chopped zucchini
1 c carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c chopped green pepper
1 c chopped mushrooms
2 tsp sugar
1/4 c parsley
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 garlic clove
2 c frozen tortellini

Put everything in crockpot and cook 3-4 hours, or until carrots are tender. Add tortellinis 30 min before done, or cook tortellinis separately and add to soup.

From frozen: Thaw in fridge or pot on stove. Cook tortellinis according to package directions in separate pot. Combine warm soup and cooked tortellinis and ENJOY!