2 poblano peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed
2 jalapeno peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed
1 large white onion, cut into 8 wedges
4 cloves garlic
1 cup cilantro, loosely packed
2 tablespoons oil (or bacon grease)
3 pounds pork butt or shoulder, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups chicken broth or ham broth
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground (optional)
2 teaspoons oregano
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or fish sauce, or salt to taste)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Place the tomatillos, peppers (cut sides down), onion and garlic on a baking sheet and broil until the skins are all blistered and black before pureeing in a blender along with the cilantro and setting aside.
Heat the oil in a large heavy bottom sauce pan or dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the pork on all sides before setting aside.
Either add the broth, cumin, oregano, pork and tomatillo sauce, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, covered, over medium-low until the pork is falling apart tender, about 2-3 hours, OR transfer to a preheated 350F oven and roast, covered, until the pork is falling apart tender, about 2-3 hours, OR trsansfer the ingredients to a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
Remove from heat and season with soy sauce or salt.
10 manicotti tubes, cooked according to package directions
1 (24-ounce) jar pasta sauce
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Cook and crumble Italian sausage in a large nonstick pan. Once you have it broken apart, add the onion. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink.
Add garlic, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute.
Turn heat to low and add cream cheese. Stir until melted. Remove from heat.
Let cool slightly and then stir in 3/4 cup of mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and pepper.
Stuff the mixture into the manicotti shells. You can either use a spoon or fork to push it in or you can transfer the mixture to a large Ziploc bag and snip the corner and pipe it in.
Pour about 1/2 cup of sauce in the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly. Place the filled manicotti tubes on top of the sauce.
Pour remaining sauce on top of manicotti.
Cover and bake for 25 minutes.
Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for 10 more minutes.
Sliced scallions, fresh cilantro leaves, and toasted sesame seeds, for serving
In a large bowl combine soy sauce, garlic, ginger, five spice, red pepper flakes and honey. Add the drumsticks and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and transfer to the fridge.
Let chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes, up to 1 hour, turning the chicken halfway through.
Preheat air fryer to 380º. Working in batches, if necessary, add drumsticks to the air fryer, making sure to avoid overcrowding in the basket and to reserve the remaining marinade. Air fry for 10 minutes.
While the chicken cooks, transfer the reserved marinade to a small saucepan and add Coca-Cola and place over high heat. Bring to a boil. then reduce heat to medium-low and reduce until sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer sauce to a large heat proof bowl.
Brush drumsticks all over with reduced sauce, flip them and continue to air fry until an instant thermometer registers 165º, an additional 7 to 10 minutes.
Transfer cooked drumsticks to the sauce and toss to coat. Top with scallions, cilantro, and sesame seeds and serve.
1 small red onion, halved and sliced into half-moons.
1 cup prepared Pico de Gallo
½ cup Mexican crema, or sour cream
hot sauce, for serving
lime wedges, for serving
Season the tri-tip on all sides with salt and pepper.
Fire your grill to high. Turn off one side of your grill. Sear your tri-tip on both sides over the flame for about 4 minutes per side. Do not walk away at this point. Your tri-tip could flame up and burn and that es no bueno.
When your tri-tip is seared, moved it to the side of the grill that is turned off for indirect cooking. Cook your tri-tip to an internal temp of 130 degrees. This will take a half-hour, or so.
When done, let the tri-tip rest for 10 minutes.
Slice the tri-tip in half and then against the grain and then cut into small cubes. Place a sheet pan on your grill on low heat. Place tortilla chips onto the sheet pan, top with half of each cheese and then top with some of the tri-tip. Repeat this until all the tri-tip and cheese have been used. Close the hood and cook until the cheese is melted, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove nachos from the grill onto a serving plate, top with the Pico de Gallo, pickled jalapeño slices, onion tomatoes and drizzle the crema or sour cream. Dash on your favorite hot sauce and serve with lime wedges.
Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil.
Spray the foiled baking sheet with cooking spray. Place a rack on it and spray it too.
In the bowl of beaten eggs, add garlic salt, and pepper. Mix well.
On a plate or shallow dish, add the breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan, lemon pepper, some more garlic salt, onion powder, and the Italian seasoning. Season the pork chops with some garlic salt and pepper, to taste and put one by one in the egg wash.
From the egg wash, add to the breadcrumbs/Parmesan mixture. Make sure all the sides are covered with it and put them on the rack. Add some melted butter to each of the pork chops.
Bake it for 30 minutes and check with a fork if they are done. Turn the sides and bake for another 5-10 minutes to make sure both sides are properly cooked. Internal temp of the chops should be 145 degrees.
Combine hot sauce, butter, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, garlic powder, and salt in a pot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer while stirring with a whisk.
As soon as the liquid begins to bubble on the sides of the pot, remove from heat, stir with the whisk, and set aside for use.
A few leaves of fresh basil, torn by hand, plus more for garnish
Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
For the meatballs
Olive oil, for frying
8 oz. ground pork (not sausage)
8 oz. ground beef
8 oz. ground veal (substitute the veal for 4 more ounces of beef and pork, if you prefer)
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta
2 large eggs
2 Tbs. fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 Tbs. dried oregano
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt & fresh-ground pepper, to taste
For the pasta
Lots of Kosher salt…a healthy palm full
1 lb. dried spaghetti
Make the sauce
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-duty 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, anchovies and bay leaf. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft and the anchovies are melted, 5 to 10 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until darkened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, wine, basil and salt & pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce has reduced by about a third, 40 to 60 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and season to taste with salt & pepper. Simmer on very low heat.
Make the meatballs
Combine the ground meats, breadcrumbs, ricotta, eggs, parsley, oregano, Worcestershire, red pepper flakes, and salt in a large bowl. Mix gently and thoroughly with your hands, but don’t over work the meat.
Divide the meat into 16 golf-ball-size portions using a small ice cream scoop or your hands; roll with wet hands to make them round. Set aside on a large platter or plate.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When skillet is hot, add a few turns of olive oil. Add the meatballs and fry just until browned on all sides, 3-4 minutes. Don’t crowd the meatballs. Cook in batches. Add meatballs to the simmering sauce to finish cooking. Repeat with the rest of the meatballs. Simmer the sauce and meatballs on low heat for an hour or more.
Cook the pasta
Bring a large covered pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil.
Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes less than package timing for al dente. Reserve 2 cups of the pasta water and drain.
Return the pasta to the pot and mix with the some of the sauce. Add 1 cup pasta water to thin the sauce and cook over medium heat until the pasta is al dente, 2 to 3 minutes. Add more pasta water if necessary, and season to taste with salt & pepper.
Transfer the spaghetti to a large platter. Top with the meatballs and their sauce. Garnish with fresh basil, torn by hand. Serve with fresh, grated Parmesan or Pecorino-Romano cheese and good, crusty garlic bread to sop up all the goodness!
Egg noodles, cooked per package instructions, for serving
Mix all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
Place chicken in slow cooker, pour sauce over top. Cover and cook on low 6 hours or on high 3 hours, or until chicken is nice and tender.
Remove chicken and chop into bite sized pieces and cover to keep warm.
Meanwhile, combine 3 tablespoons water with cornstarch. Turn slow cooker up to high. Whisk cornstarch slurry into the sauce. Cover and allow to thicken, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Stir chicken back into the sauce and add in green onions.
Spray a 6-quart crockpot with pan spray and add the cream of chicken soup, cheddar soup, chicken broth, salt, Cajun seasoning, and garlic salt into the bottom of it. Stir everything together until combined.
Lay 4 chicken breasts over the soup mixture in the bottom of the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high 3-4 hours. Make sure the internal temp of the chicken is 165-170 degrees.
Before the last 30 minutes of cooking, shred the chicken with two forks or hand mixer and add broccoli florettes, sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese. Stir to combine. Cover and cook for the remaining 30 minutes until the broccoli is tender and heated through.
Serve over rice and garnish with more shredded cheese.
Happy Taco Tuesday! Let’s stay on that Hawaiian Chicken jag.
Grilled Hawaiian Chicken Tacos
• 2 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
• Corn tortillas, warmed or charred on a grill or gas flame
For the marinade:
• 1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Minced Fresh Ginger
• 1 teaspoon Minced Fresh Garlic
• 1/2 cup Pineapple Juice
• 2 tablespoons Ketchup
• 2 teaspoons Sriracha Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• Lime wedges, for squeezing
For the Pineapple Pico de Gallo:
• 1 cup Pineapple, chopped (fresh or canned)
• 2 tablespoons Chopped Red Onion
• 1/2 cup red, yellow or orange Bell Pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon Chopped Cilantro
• Juice from one lime
Mix all Pico ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until using.
• Prepare the marinade by combining the sugar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, pineapple juice, ketchup, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce together, add ingredients to a large resealable plastic bag and whisk together.
• Add the chicken to the bag, seal, and store in the refrigerator to marinate for 2-4 hours.
• After marinating, preheat a grill. Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill the chicken for about 5-7 minutes. Then flip and cook the other side for another 5-7 minutes. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°
• Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove from grill. Set on a cutting board. Let it rest for a few minutes to cool slightly. Chop the chicken into strips or cubes.
• Make the tacos by filling the corn tortillas with the cut-up chicken, top with the pineapple Pico de Gallo and fresh cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.
