Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Recipe: Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs

Recipe: Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs



Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs: What could be better than bourbon, bacon, and meatballs? These tasty meal-sized meatballs are easy to whip together and satisfy the heartiest appetites!

I'm pretty sure I'm one of the only people in the US (or at the very least in my family) that doesn't like hamburgers or meatloaf. I will, on very rare occasions, eat a hamburger from certain restaurants (like Margaritaville, Hog's Breath Saloon, or Flipdaddy's), but really, if I never had ground beef again, I would be perfectly happy.

Of course, everybody else in my family is the exact opposite. And Gus? He loves ground beef. And meatloaf. And meatballs. So when I saw this recipe for meatballs inside an onion and then wrapped in bacon, I figured I had stumbled upon meatball nirvana.

Never satisfied to leave things alone, I decided to add some of my own touches. I swapped out the ketchup for Evan Williams Spicy Apple Grilling Sauce. If you've never heard of this, it's an amazing sauce that is made with Evan Williams Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey. It's tangy-sweet, with hints of apple, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. Yum. Dee-lish-us. We bought ours at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown, Kentucky, but it's also available at various stores online.

I cooked the meatballs in the onion and bacon, but then I removed those outer layers and basted the meat with more of the Evan Williams sauce because I knew we wouldn't eat the bacon or onion. And for all of you who are groaning and saying, "WHAT? That's the best part!" - hey, all I can say is we're weird like that. I also baked mine in the oven instead of grilling them. So I gave my version a new name:

Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground Angus beef
2 large Vidalia (sweet) onions
1 pack bacon (I just used cheap bacon since I was going to remove it)
1/4 c. chopped fresh mushrooms
1/4 c. diced Vidalia onion
1 TBSP Evan Williams Spicy Apple Grilling Sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. Panko bread crumbs

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2) Peel onions and save the largest, outermost shell of each for the meatballs.
(Note: I only made two meatballs. If you want to make smaller meatballs, you can do this and adjust your cooking time accordingly. The reason I only made two was that I wanted my cooking time to be consistent. If figured if I used the different-sized layers of the onions, I would have a bunch of different-sized meatballs that would require different cooking times - too much work!)

3) Dice 1/4 c. of the inner part of the onion.

4) Add ground beef, diced onion, chopped mushrooms, bread crumbs, 1 TBSP. Evan Williams Spicy Apple Grilling Sauce, soy sauce, Worchestershire sauce, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl and mix by hand - just until loosely mixed together. Do not overmix!

Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs: mix ingredients together in bowl

5) Loosely pack half of mixture into the shape of a ball...

Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs: form loosely into balls

and place inside two onion halves. Repeat for other half.

Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs: place meatballs inside onion halves

6) Wrap meat and onion with bacon strips. I used about 5 strips for each meatball. It will vary depending upon the size of the meatball. You can use toothpicks to hold the bacon in place if needed.

Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs: wrap meatball and onion in several strips of bacon

7) Place meatballs into non-stick baking dish or one that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

8) Bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes. Keep an eye on it during the last 10 minutes because the grease from the bacon will start to splatter and smoke. I ended up popping the lid on the baking dish for the last 10 minutes.

Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs: baking in oven

9) Remove from oven. Carefully slice through bacon and onion on each meatball and push it away, exposing meatballs.

Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs: cut through bacon & onion and peel back, then baste with bourbon sauce!

10) Brush a generous amount of Evan Williams Spicy Apple Grilling Sauce all over meatballs, and return to the oven for 10 more minutes.

Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs: Evan Williams Spicy Apple Grilliing Sauce

11) Remove from oven, and serve. Add more sauce as desired.

Baked Bourbon Bacon Meatballs: What could be better than bourbon, bacon, and meatballs? These tasty meal-sized meatballs are easy to whip together and satisfy the heartiest appetites!

Note: The original recipe states that it serves four. Not in my house. As I mentioned, I made two 1/2 lb. meatballs, so obviously, my version serves two. I can't eat 1/2 lb. of meat, so I just cut mine in half and gave half of it to Gus. He didn't have any problem eating 3/4 lb. of meat. He likes meat. :-)

You may be wondering what I thought of it since I don't really like ground beef. I really liked it! The flavor was awesome! Gus would say that bacon can make anything better, but I would say that bourbon can make anything better. So maybe it's that bacon and bourbon can make anything incredibly awesome?! Seriously, the Evan Williams sauce is amazing, and I highly recommend trying it.

Do you have a favorite grilling sauce?
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Kim
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Recipe: Blueberry Cobbler

Recipe: Blueberry Cobbler


If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I've been enjoying the fruits and vegetables from one of our local organic farms. The fresh blueberries and blackberries have been amazing, so I wanted to use them in a dessert. Buddy requested cobbler for the blackberries, so I figured I could just do that for both.

Delicious blueberry cobbler made in a cast iron skillet!

(This post may contain affiliate links which were added to make it easier for you to find the items. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). You are free to use the links or not - if you do, I thank you!)

I searched all over Pinterest for just the right recipe - or what I hoped would be the right recipe. And I finally decided on the Skillet Blackberry Cobbler by Family Savvy because Buddy wanted his cobbler to be "flaky" like a pie crust.

I had to buy a cast iron skillet for this recipe, because I didn't have one. I know, I know. I think I just lost some of my Southern cred. (Hangs head in shame.) I'm sure you could make this in a baking dish. However, I'm not sure that it would turn out the same. I really recommend getting a cast iron skillet if you don't already have one. Just don't forget to season it, and keep it seasoned!

I made the blackberry cobbler first, and I made it exactly as the original recipe said - but for us, even after cooling, the middle was too runny and there was too much sugar on the top (even Buddy said it was too sweet, and I didn't think that was possible for him). As you can see in this photo, there was a lot of thin liquid in the middle:

blueberry cobbler

So I made some adjustments for the blueberry cobbler, and it received rave reviews! My adaptation of the original recipe is what I will be posting below.

Blueberry Cobbler

Ingredients:
2 - 12'' pie crusts (I used Marie Callender's)
2 pints berries (I used fresh, but you could also use frozen)
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar (for filling)
1/2 c. flour
1/4 stick butter, cut into small cubes
1/8 c. sugar (for top crust)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Place one pie crust in bottom of skillet. Now here's where I tell you that pie crusts hate me. Whether they're made from scratch or store-bought, they hate me. I couldn't find the refrigerated kind, so I had to buy frozen. I let them thaw, then tried to transfer one out of it's aluminum pan into the skillet. It crumbled apart and I had to press it back together. Pie crust hates me.

3) Pierce the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork, bake for 7 minutes, then remove from oven.

Blueberry Cobbler: bottom crust in cast iron skillet.

4) Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.

5) In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and flour. It will be a little crumbly.

melted butter, sugar, and flour mixed together in bowl

6) Add the berries to the mixture, and fold in gently until the berries are covered and everything is mixed evenly.

berries added to sugar mixture

7) Place the berry mixture into the baked crust.

berry mixture added to baked crust

8) Now another tricky part, if you're like me. If you're using a frozen pie crust that you've thawed, I recommend putting it on a flat pan so that you can press it out into a flat circle. Then, using a spatula, gently loosen it from the pan, and invert it over the skillet, dropping it over the berries.

blueberry cobbler made with pie crust

9) I didn't try to seal the edges together, but I did sort of push them down. I tried not to handle the crust more than necessary - I didn't want to give it any excuse to fall apart on me! Then I added the small cubes of butter.

pie crust with butter cubes on top

10) Next comes the 1/8 cup of sugar. The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of sugar! In the photo below, I had used 1/2 cup sugar and it was still way too sweet - so you can imagine how much 3/4 cup would be! Last step before baking is cutting some 1" slits into the top of the crust.

blueberry cobbler in cast iron skillet

11) Now just bake for about 35-45 minutes or until the cobbler starts to bubble at the edges and slightly brown on top. You can use aluminum foil to keep the crust edges from getting too brown if needed, but I didn't have any problems with this.

yummy blueberry cobbler

The above picture is what it looked like after about 30 minutes in the oven. Yum!

fresh homemade blueberry cobbler

And this is what it looked like fresh from the oven. It was really difficult to wait until it cooled. It looked soooooo good!!

blueberry cobbler

The blackberry version was good, too. I really need to try to make a version of this with baking Splenda, because for sure this one is not on my Metabolism Miracle diet! LOL!

Do you have a favorite cobbler recipe? Share, please!

Would you like a printable version of this recipe and others? Subscribers have members-only access to printable recipes, travel printables, and more! You can sign up here!

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Kim
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Recipe: {enjoy the view} Kentucky Burgoo - is it soup or is it stew?

Recipe: {enjoy the view} Kentucky Burgoo - is it soup or is it stew?


If you read my post last week on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, or you follow me on Instagram, you know that I recently made burgoo.

iKentucky burgoo recipe - is it soup or stew? Who cares? It's delicious!

If you've never heard of burgoo, then you've probably never been to a Derby party in Kentucky. It's my understanding that Illinois claims to be home to the first burgoo recipe - and so does Kentucky. It sounds like the sort of thing that came about by throwing together the ingredients one had on hand, but what do I know?
 
Wherever it originated, burgoo is sort of a cross between a soup and a stew, and is characterized by having at least three different types of meat, as well as beans and vegetables. Some make it more like a soup, with a thin broth, while others make it very thick like a stew. And there are some serious burgoo cook-offs where the recipes are quite secret.

My recipe isn't a secret, and I'm happy to share it with you. It was actually really good - until I added the bourbon. Rookie mistake. I forgot to account for the fact that I was using a single barrel bourbon - and I should've used less. Or I should've added a little at a time. But no, I dumped it all in at once. Please don't do that. Unless you want your burgoo to smell and taste like bourbon with a hint of meat and veggies.

{enjoy the view} Kentucky burgoo
            (printable version)

Ingredients:
2 lbs. beef strips, cut into 1" pieces
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces
2 lbs. boneless country pork ribs, cut into 1" pieces
1 qt. chicken broth
1 qt. beef broth
2 stalks celery, diced
1 lg. onion, diced
2 c. okra, sliced
2 cans sliced carrots
4 med. potatoes, diced
2 cans butter beans
2 tsp. minced garlic
14 oz. tomato puree
salt/pepper
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
cooking oil
1/4-1/3 c. bourbon (optional)

Directions:
1) Add a little cooking oil to skillet over med-high heat, then add meat a little at a time to sear on each side. Don't add too much at a time or move it around because you want it to get a nice brown sear. Remove and repeat until all meat is browned. Add more oil as needed.

Burgoo typically has at least 3 types of meat in it - I used chicken thighs, pork ribs, and stew beef.

2) After meat is removed from pan, add celery and onion (add a little more oil if needed) and reduce heat to medium. Once onion is translucent, add garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes.

Browning the onions, celery, and garlic in a little cookiing oil.

3) In large stockpot, add chicken and beef broths, tomato puree, meat, and celery/onion/garlic mixture. Stir together, and simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours.

Adding the tomato puree and chicken and beef broths.

4) Add potatoes, okra, beans, carrots, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper (to taste), and simmer for another 2-3 hours.
 
Now we're cookin'! Added the potatoes, carrots, beans, and okra!

5) Add bourbon, if desired, and simmer another 30-60 minutes.

Final simmer before adding the bourbon!

If you're using a single barrel (or another stronger) bourbon, I recommend using 1/4 c. and start by pouring in half of that. If you're using a bourbon with a lower alcohol content, then you could use more.

You can definitely make this to suit your family. In Kentucky, burgoo usually contains lamb rather than pork - but my family doesn't like lamb, so I substituted pork. You can also add/remove veggies. I left out corn because Buddy doesn't like it. Gus doesn't like okra, but it's easy enough for him to pick that out, so he was outvoted. You can use different (or more types) of beans. You can leave out the tomato puree if you'd rather have a stock-base or if you really love tomatoes, you can add stewed tomatoes to the mix. You can also add more or less liquid or increase/decrease cooking time to make the burgoo thinner or thicker. We like it to be more like a stew, so I cook it longer.

Kentucky burgoo - it's delicious!

You can also make this in the crockpot, you would only need to adjust your cooking times accordingly.

A couple of other notes: I used canned carrots because I don't like the consistency/taste of fresh carrots when cooked in soups. I also used canned butter beans because I'm not good with dried beans and can never seem to get them to cook down to the right consistency despite any amount of pre-soaking. So, of course, you can use fresh if you like - or in the interest of saving time, if you want to use canned potatoes and okra instead of fresh like I did, I'm sure you could do that as well.

Have you ever tried burgoo?
Are you going to give it a try now?

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Kim
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Recipe: "Light" Parmesan Chicken

Recipe: "Light" Parmesan Chicken


I'm always looking for new ways to prepare chicken, because quite frankly, I'm burned out on eating it. So when I saw a recipe for Parmesan Chicken Tenders on the My Fitness Pal blog, Hello Healthy, I wanted to try it.

"Light" Parmesan Chicken

As you can see, it's not Chicken Parmesan with gooey cheese and tomato sauce - which is why I like it. And it was meant to be made with chicken tenderloins. But I had boneless, skinless breasts, so that's what I went with...

This is really, really good. The breading is wonderful with Parmesan cheese and garlic and onion powder to flavor it, but it's very light, so it is definitely more suited to thin tenderloins than a thicker breast - unless, of course, you pound the breast into a thinner cutlet.

combining the ingredients for the breading

Part of what makes this "light" is that you only briefly brown it in a pan, then you transfer it to the oven to finish cooking. I think that is what makes all the difference with the texture of the breading. Most oven-baked breadings I've tried have been horrible - but this one is delicious - both in texture and taste.

Dredging the chicken, and briefing browning it in the skillet

You can click here to see the original recipe on Hello Healthy. I didn't use buttermilk, and as I mentioned, I used chicken breasts instead of tenderloins since that's what I had on hand. This made enough "breading" for easily 4 breasts or at least 8 tenderloins, so I had a good amount left over.

"Light" Parmesan Chicken
       (printable version)
Ingredients:
1/3 c. flour
3 TBSP. cornmeal
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. skim milk
1 egg
2 chicken breasts (but it makes enough to bread 4)
1 TBSP. cooking oil
non-stick cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees, and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix all dry ingredients together in low, flat dish.
Lightly beat egg together with milk in another bowl.
Dip chicken in egg mixture, then dredge in breading mix.
Place cooking oil in skillet over medium heat, and add chicken once it reaches the proper temperature.
Brown chicken lightly on both sides, then transfer to baking sheet.
Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes (or about 5 minutes for tenderloins), or until done. I turned mine over halfway through.


The nutritional info says that 2 tenderloins is one serving, and yields 326 calories, 12g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 4g monounsaturated fat, 128mg cholesterol, 581mg sodium, 15g carbs, 1g fiber, 2g sugar, and 35g protein. But those numbers are using the ingredients in the original recipe. And that makes the total net carbs 14g - way too much for a dish like this, and way too much for someone who is insulin-resistant like me.

So next time, I'm going to try to make it a little more "insulin-resistant-friendly", and do some swaps to make it more low carb. I'll definitely be sharing it!

In the meantime, let me know if you try it, and if you do, how you like it!

Do you have any easy chicken recipes that are low carb? 
 
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Kim
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