Spaghetti for Company

Serves 12

Ingredients

• 1 lb bacon, cubed.
• 1 lb sage sausage. I used Jimmy Dean.
• 2 heads garlic, peeled and sliced
• ½ white onion, peeled & chopped.
• 2-3 TBSP dried Italian Seasoning
• 1½ tsp ground black pepper, maybe more.
• 2 TBSP dried Italian seasoning
• ½ tsp beef bouillon concentrate (low sodium variety)
• zero salt (this doesn’t need it)
• 1 large can (29 oz) cooked and diced tomatoes.
• 2 jars or cans, prepared tomato sauce; I used “Garlic & Herb.”

Preparations: preheat the cast iron Dutch oven on a stovetop burner. Chop the bacon up & fry it. Set aside on paper towels to drain. Pour off most of the grease, but save it for later.

Toss the sausage in the hot Dutch oven. While the bottom is cooking, use the spatula to cut into modest-sized meatballs. When these are about half done, add the garlic and cook together with the sausage. Drain tomatoes, reserving liquid; add to sausage. Add bacon and stir well while frying. When they're hot and spicy, add tomato sauce and reserved tomato juice. Bring to a boil, stirring.

I cooked the onions separately, in bacon grease. When they’re mostly done, add the beef bouillon concentrate. Cook together for a few more minutes and add to the sauce.

Adjust spices, which mostly means add more of this or that. Reduce heat and simmer for 4 hours. Yes, I said 4 hours.

Serve over whole wheat pasta. Enjoy!

Mashed Potato Italian Savory Bread

2 teaspoons yeast

3 cups flour

¾ cup leftover mashed potatoes

2 tablespoons butter

1½   tsp. salt (more or less to taste)

2 tablespoons sugar

¾ cup milk (slightly more if try potatoes)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 TBSP Italian seasoning

4 cloves garlic, roasted and minced

4 strips bacon, cooked & chopped

4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 tsp of your favorite pepper mix. I use Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning

Variation: add a batch of sage.

Barbecued Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts

Note: This is not suitable for vegetarians, dieters, or wimpy eaters. 

For each portion:

1 chicken breast, at room temperature.

5 or 6 strips of bacon,

6 leaves fresh basil.

    (also consider rosemary, thyme or spearmint)

Directions:

Preheat the barbecue on medium high. Put a Pizza stone or other brick/stone cooking surface on the barbecue’s grilling surface to preheat with the barbecue.

Lightly pound out chicken breast until it’s a uniform thickness. Season lightly with pepper, no salt.

Cut a 14” square of aluminum foil. Lay the uncooked bacon on the foil to form a solid layer. Lay the chicken breast on top of the bacon, and lay the fresh herbs on top of the chicken.

Using the foil, wrap the bacon completely around the chicken. Roll up the edges of the foil (just to take up less space on the barbecue). Do not cover the bacon-wrapped chicken.

Drizzle olive oil on the baking stone, and place the foil with the bacon on the hot stone. Close the lid. Cook undisturbed for ten minutes or until you see bacon fat running off the foil and the backing stone. It will make your cooking fire happy.

Use the foil (and hot pads) to flip the meat over to cook directly on the stone.

Continue to cook, turning regularly but not frequently, until a meat thermometer reads 190⁰ in the center of the chicken breast.

Note: unless the stone is darkened from the smoke and juices of previous cooking adventures, the bacon will cook, but remain its bland, uncooked coloring. Be particularly careful that the bacon is indeed cooked.

Serve with a flavorful beer or ale. A Belgian Dubble or a Pale Ale would go well with this.

Fairly Traditional Pesto Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup of fresh basil
2/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan
2/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup of pine nuts
2 cloves of crushed garlic
salt

Method
Chop the basil, garlic, pine nuts and salt in a food processor until a purée has formed.
Slowly add the olive oil, while the processor is still running and continue to blend for a few seconds.
Switch the machine off and stir in the grated cheese.
The sauce is now ready to serve, store in the refrigerator or freeze.

This stuff is excellent!

Fresh Basil & Thyme bread

1¾ tsp yeast
3 cups bread flour
1 cup rye flour
1½ TBSP gluten
1½ tsp salt
2 TBSP sugar
1½ olive oil
1½ TBSP butter, in small pieces
2 TBSP milk powder
1⅓ cups 2% milk

Herbs:
½ cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
⅓ cup finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 TBSP finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1½ TBSP 9-grain seed mix.

Put it in the bread machine in this order, fire it off and come back later to enjoy.

The herbs are fairly mild in the final bread; the bread is firm and well-textured.

Siah's Grilled Taters

4 lbs red potatoes. Smaller is better.
¼ cup olive oil
¾ lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 large red onion.
¼ cup white wine vinegar.
2 TBSP white wine vinegar for after taters are grilled.
1 TBSP sugar.
1 cup crumbled blue cheese.
Parsley for decoration.

Boil potatoes until mildly tender. Drain water and half or quarter the taters. Toss taters with olive oil, salt & pepper. Grille until golden brown.

While grilling, sautee onions in 1//4 cup oil, ¼ cup vinegar and sugar (until dissolved).

Mix everything together, and add bacon, cheese & parsley.

Spicy Bread

Into the bread machine, in this order:

1½ tsp active dry yeast

4 cups white flour

2 TBSP white sugar

1 TBSP gluten

2 TBSP dry milk powder

2 TBSP butter

1 tsp salt

1⅓ cups milk, lukewarm.

Spices

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp paprika (smoked?)

1 tsp black pepper

1 TBSP garlic powder

No Knead Artisan Bread

Ingredients:

• 6 cups all-purpose flour (you may substitute up to 2 ½ cups with whole-wheat or other kind of wholegrain flour)
• 3½ teaspoon table salt
• ½ teaspoon active dry yeast, sprinkled over ½ cup of warm water between 110 and 115 degrees
• 3 cups of 110 to 115-degree water

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (start at the slowest speed to avoid flour flying into the air, and once most of the flour is incorporated, switch to the second-slowest speed to finish).

Alternatively, use a wooden spoon to mix everything in a large bowl. When you are done, your dough will look like this:

Next, use a bowl scraper or a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl and to compact the dough neatly on the bottom:

Cover the bowl with a plate and allow the dough to rise at room temperature from between 4-5 hours to overnight.

Maybe make the dough in the evening and then bake it the following morning. Or increase the amount of yeast to 2 teaspoons for a quick two-hour rise in a pinch.

The dough is ready to bake as soon as it has doubled in bulk and the surface has become dotted with air bubbles:

Half-an-hour before you intend to bake, place your dutch oven into the oven and set the temperature to 500 degrees F. Set the timer for 30 minutes.

Option: on a well-floured board, fold the bread several times, with a handful or two of shredded cheddar or jack cheese. Maybe add some herbs?

Once the timer goes off, pour your dough directly into the hot pot, using a bowl scraper or a rubber spatula to make sure all of it goes in. Note that it won’t have much of a shape at this point.

Set the timer for another 30 minutes. If your loaf appears a little pale upon emerging from the oven, keep the lid off and return the bread to the oven for the additional 3-5 minutes, or until the loaf is browned to your liking.

Just keep in mind that if you keep it in there for too long, the loaf might stick to the bottom of the pot and be difficult to remove. If this happens, allow it to cool in the dutch oven as the loaf will pull itself from the bottom as it cools and shrinks.

A word of caution: Your pot will become incredibly hot in the 500-degree oven, so be sure to double-up your pot holders!

(Inspired by Paul McLain; this version from the New York Times, with Paul's modifications.)

Naan Bread

Warning: this makes a LOT of bread, suitable for dinner for six people.

Ingredients

· 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
· 1 cup warm water
· 1/4 cup white sugar
· 3 tablespoons milk
· 1 egg, beaten
· 2 teaspoons salt
· 4 1/2 cups bread flour

· Garlic salt or other seasonings
· 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions
1. In the mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy.
Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough (about 4 1/2 cups, or a little less). Knead on low for 6 to 8 minutes, or until smooth. [Can be divided at this point, goodies added to one, while the other is prepared for raising.] Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise an hour or so, until the dough has doubled in volume.

2. Punch down dough. Pinch or cut off small handfuls of dough about the size of a large golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. [Refrigeration up to 24 hours is OK here. If possible, warm to room temperature before proceeding.]

3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat. Start grilling the steak, and perhaps the larger vegetables.

4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, sprinkle garlic salt lightly, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared. Or serve it fresh as it comes off the grille.

Comments:

· This is yummy. Use "Green Top" (Johnny’s Garlic Spread) for seasoning.

· This also works to chop or roast garlic, and mix it into the dough in the earliest stages.

· This works well on the hotter side of the barbecue, while the steak and veggies are cooking on the rest of the grille.

· Be careful that you don't lose track of the status of the rest of the meat. Naan demands a lot of attention.

· Excellent option: slice the steak thin and wrap in the Naan bread. Add other veggies (we used fried spinach w/ melted goat cheese!).

Variations: Add to mix while kneading in the machine:

- Variation One: (this was really good)

· 8 cloves of garlic, roasted & chopped fine.

· 1 TBSP garlic powder.

· 1/2 tsp paprika

· 1 tsp curry powder

· 1/4 tsp pizza peppers

· 1/4 tsp black pepper

- Variation Two:

· 1 tsp ground cumin

· ground coriander

· poppy seeds

- Variation Three:

· garlic

· fresh ginger

· ground coriander

· ground cumin

· ground cinnamon

· chili powder

· raisins

· flaked coconut

Josiah’s Bourbon Marinade

Makes a couple of cups.

½ cup good bourbon
2 TBSP Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce
3 drops green Tabasco sauce
3 drops chipotle Tabasco sauce
½ cup oil
¼ cup cider vinegar
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP sugar
½ tsp brown sugar
2 TBSP basil
1 tsp anise seen
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp celery seed
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour into a Ziploc bag with your meat. Massage into the meat for a few moments, then let it sit for a couple of hours.

Updated in June 2011.

Caesar Salad, GuyFoods Style

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive or macadamia nut oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
2 strips thick-cut bacon, in small cubes
¼ cup roasted chicken breast, chopped fairly small.
1 brown egg
2 TBSP shredded (not ground) parmesan cheese

3 large leaves of romaine lettuce, cut into strips.
¼ cup goat cheese or feta cheese
¼ cup homemade croutons, small (or store-bought croutons, quartered)
2 TBSP (or so) of creamy Caesar salad dressing.

Heat up a cast iron skillet with the oil. Add bacon. Fry until fairly done and add chopped garlic. When the garlic softens, add the chicken. When the bacon is done, the garlic and chicken will beginning to get brown.
Add one egg and scramble until bacon and garlic is coated. When the egg is pretty well done, add parmesan cheese and remove from the heat.

In the meantime: prepare the lettuce, place in a fairly large bowl. Crumble the goat/feta cheese into the lettuce, and add the croutons. Add dressing and toss. Add egg/bacon/chicken mixture and toss some more.

Serve with a nice amber ale.

Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients
• 2 pounds boneless lean beef, cubed
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 6 or 10 cloves of garlic, roasted, added whole to the soup
• 4 TBSP low sodium beef base
• 5 cups water
• 2 potatoes: washed (not peeled) and sliced into ¼"x¼"x 1" chunks.

• 4 stalks celery, chopped into ½" lengths.
• 6 carrots, chopped into ½ lengths.

• 6 green onions, chopped into ¼" lengths
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley (Do NOT get carried away!)
• 1 cup barley
• ½ cup fresh basil, chopped.
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions
1. In a skillet over medium heat, saute the beef in the oil for 5 minutes, or until browned. Stir in the salt, pepper and garlic powder and place seasoned meat in a slow cooker. Deglaze with broth and add to the slow cooker.
2. Add the broth, water, celery, carrots, green onions, parsley and barley. Cover and cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours, or until the vegetables and barley are tender. Add the thyme just before serving.

Homemade Chili Bread

1⅔ tsp active dry yeast
1 pkg Homestyle Creamy Butter Mashed Potatoes
3 cups white flour
2 TBSP white sugar
1½ TBSP gluten
1½ TBSP buttermilk powder
2½ TBSP butter
⅔ tsp garlic salt (the potatoes have salt as well)
1½ cups milk, lukewarm.

Spices:

1 TBSP chili powder
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
⅛ tsp black pepper

Load into bread machine, set the timer, and press go.

Opinion: Looks bright, but is mild. Consider adding some dried tomato and increasing the chili, garlic & pepper components. Don't use too much liquid, or the bread will fall.

Haupia Chicken Curry

1 cup Coconut Curry Sauce

Several leaves of fresh basil, cut into long, thin strips
1 chicken breast, cut up.
1 serving of your favorite wild rice or pasta; I used whole wheat rotini, which was quite good.
bit of olive oil, a bit of lemon juice.
seasonings: lemon pepper, white pepper, garlic salt, lemon grass.

Dribble the chicken in olive oil and lemon juice, seasoned with lemon pepper, white pepper, garlic salt, and a tiny bit of lemon grass.Grille the chicken on a barbecue or indoor grille.

On individual serving plates, layer pasta, basil, then chicken. Ladle the sauce over the top.

Works well with a Belgian ale. Mine was home-brewed.

The critics raved!

Coconut Curry Sauce

Scale to taste. This serves two or three, with meat and pasta.

1 cup haupia sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp curry powder
⅓ tsp powdered ginger
¼ tsp dried lemon grass
1 TBSP peanut butter
1 TBSP reduced sodium chicken base

4 slices bacon, chopped small
¼ cup sweet onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, roasted, and then finely chopped
1 large sardine, mashed into paste; reserve sardine oil

In a modest saucepan, heat haupia sauce. When it is hot, add lemon juice, curry powder, ginger, lemon grass and whisk to an even texture. When it begins to boil, add chicken base and peanut butter, stir thoroughly, and reduce to simmer. It is normal if this turns out green.

While that’s cooking, fry the bacon; you might want to add a little oil. When it’s partway done, add the roasted garlic and the onions. When it’s brown, add mashed fish and the oil from the can of sardines. The bacon component of this should be fairly crispy when you’re done; if you have difficulty accomplishing this, put the whole mix in a small plate and microwave it (covered!) for a while.

Add the bacon mixture to the sauce. Stir (whisk) well.

Serving suggestions:
• With grilled chicken, over pasta

• Over toast, cheese, bacon, topped with a fried egg

• Stirred into scrambled eggs

Ice Cream Sandwich

Take a slice of hard-frozen ice cream. I like chocolate with chunks for this.

Slather it with peanut butter, at least a ¼ inch thick. Organic peanut butter, of course. We wouldn’t want this to be unhealthy.

Cover it with another slice of hard-frozen ice cream. Let’s go with peach for this one.

Press the whole thing together. Then dip it in cake batter. White is sufficient.

Deep fry quickly. Don’t want the ice cream to melt.

Drain. Set on a plate. Drizzle lightly with dark chocolate sauce. Lay two slices of fairly firmly cooked bacon on top and sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar over it all.

Enjoy.

PS: You might want to keep "911" on your speed dial.

Manly Meat Rolls

I like to have something quick to grab when I have just a moment for a meal. This is the perfect thing to make if your freezer goes out and the meat you had in there thaws.

Crust (sufficient for two meat rolls):
4 cups Bisquick
1 cup milk (adjust as needed)
3 TBSP garlic powder
2 TBSP onion powder
3 TBSP Italian seasoning
1 TBSP chili powder
(I use a double recipe and make 4 meat rolls at a time.)

Sauce, per meat roll:
¼ cup Alfredo sauce (more or less to taste) or
¼ cup bleu cheese salad dressing

Filling: Select as you like:
1½ pound sage sausage, browned
½ cup sliced carrots, pre-cooked
¼ cup sweet onion, sliced, microwaved until soft
½ cup fresh whole spinach leaves
¼ cup frozen corn
¼ cup chopped, frozen, broccoli
4 ounces sliced pepperoni
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese

¼ cup shredded or diced mozzarella cheese
¼ cup shredded or diced cheddar cheese

Freshly ground pepper

Freshly ground lemon spice mix
(I tend to make each one differently; my favorite includes sausage, any two kinds of cheese, carrot, onion, a frozen veggie or two, and a lot of spices.)

Use 4 or 5 of the above for each meat roll.

Roll out the dough, spread the sauce, add ingredients, roll up the meat roll, transfer to a large cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Top with butter and cheese, or other interesting things from the ingredients list.

Cook at 375 or 400 for 20 - 25 minutes, or until browned on top and 140 degrees inside. Set aside to cool. When completely cool, slice into 2" slices, and put each in a separate freezer bag.

When you're hungry, take one out of the freezer, microwave it for a minute or two, grab a bottle of iced tea, and eat on the run.

Fairly French Pizza

So, I'm going to have to turn all of my mg and liters into ounces and gallons, so please have patience with me.

This is for two medium/small pizzas or one big one.

Pizza dough:
I did have a recipe as inspiration, but I didn't use it much. If you know what dough (bread dough) should feel/look like, make sure your Flour/Water mix feels like that. The rest is about right.


Flour, 500g (3 cups)
I always mix whole wheat flour with white flourWater, 300mL (1¼ cups)
this is going to be harder than I thought....Fresh Yeast, 20g (0.70 oz)
Olive Oil, 2 Tablespoons
Basil, Oregano, Thyme, and Cumin (¼ cup)
some salt, (1 tsp)
a little bit of sugar (1½ TBSP)

Pizza dressing:

Ground beef, 500g (one pound)
Spoonful of Paprika, Chilis, Herbs of Provence
(is that right? It's just a mix of Tarragon leaves, Rosemary, Thyme, and Oregano)Bell pepper, red
2-3 medium sized red Onions
(or normal Onions, but red Onions are sooooo much better!)1-2 Garlic cloves
Roquefort or Bleu Cheese... or just Gouda, if you don't like stinky cheese.
1-2 cooked/boiled Eggs
The dough works like every other dough (for people without Bread machines):
You mix all the bread dough ingredients together in a big bowl, and then knead it until you have a regular bread dough ball. Roll it out on a baking sheet/tray and let it sit in a warm place for about 30 min.

While you're waiting for the dough, you can start pre-heat the oven to 200C (or 392 F) and start working on the dressing:

Mix the ground beef until it has the same consistency as mashed potatoes and then add all the spices. This is your sauce. When the dough is ready, you can distribute the meat-sauce like you would tomato-sauce. Use a fork to poke holes in the meat-covered-dough, so it will bake evenly later.

Cut up the Bell Pepper, Onions, and Garlic as finely as possible. If you like lots of Herbs, you can add more of the French Herbs to this mix. If not, you don't need it. I added more Chili. Distribute this finely cut mix all over the pizza.

Slice the boiled eggs thinly and place them on the pizza. If you decided to go with the Gouda instead of the stinky cheese, I highly recommend putting bacon on top instead of Eggs. Because Bacon might not be French, but it's wonderful!

The Germans have a phrase, "Das Auge isst mit", which kinda means "your eyes eat with you". Ok, it sounds weird when I translate it directly, but it just means make what you're cooking pretty, because nicely arranged foods just taste better. All that to say, decorate your pizzas. Don't just throw every thing on there. I know this blog is called "Guy Foods", but even guys like nice-looking food.

Slice your choice of cheese (or shred it, depending on the cheese) to cover just about everything. Place your Pizza in the Oven for 30 min, but keep an eye on it!!!

Sometimes I need 30 min to get the cheese all nice and crispy and brown on top, sometimes I need 20 min. I don't actually know why. Probably has something to do with the settings.

Wait for it to cool a little when it's done, and enjoy!!!

Butter & Herb Potato Bread

1½ tsp active dry yeast
1 pkg Idahoan Butter & Herb Mashed Potatoes
3 cups white flour
2 TBSP white sugar
1 TBSP gluten
2 TBSP dry milk powder
2½ TBSP butter
½ tsp salt (the potatoes have salt as well)
1⅓ cups water, lukewarm.

Load into bread machine, set the timer, and press go.

This is good! Buttery, lightly seasoned, very smooth.