Category: Dave’s Blog

Happy Taco Tuesday & April Fool’s Day!  

Chili Gravy

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 onion, chopped

3 Tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon Mexican or regular oregano

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper Kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper, to taste

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth. More, if needed  

Tex-Mex Enchiladas

1 twelve-ounce block cheddar cheese, shredded

12 corn tortillas

1 twenty-eight-ounce can red enchilada sauce.

1 white onion, chopped

Handful fresh cilantro, roughly chopped  

Make the Chili Gravy Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. When browned add chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, cayenne, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Stir until mixed evenly. Add the flour and stir in with the seasoned ground beef. Pour in the broth and bring it up to a boil. Then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. It smells really good at this point. When it thickens up, then it is ready to pour over the cheese enchiladas. If the gravy is too thick for your liking, add a little more broth.  

Heat The Tortillas In a skillet, heat the enchilada sauce to barely boiling, then turn down to a slight simmer. Submerge each tortilla in the hot enchilada sauce to make it soft and pliable before adding the cheese and rolling it.  

Tex-Mex Enchiladas Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Ladle about a half cup of the chili gravy into the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Add about 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese on the lower third of the sauced tortilla.

Then tightly roll the tortilla around the cheese and place seam side down in the 9×13 baking dish. Repeat until you have rolled all enchiladas. Pour the remaining chili gravy over the enchiladas, and sprinkle about 1 cup of shredded cheese evenly over the top of the enchiladas. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes. Serve the enchiladas hot, and top with chopped onions and chopped cilantro just before serving.

Hi-O, Hi-O, It’s Off To Work We Go. Another five days of workin’ for the man!  

Roasted Garlic Butter Rib-Eye Steaks 

4 Rib-Eyes

Olive oil

Montreal Steak Seasoning, to taste 

Roasted Garlic and Herb Butter

1/2 shallot, diced

1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped

1 tablespoon thyme, chopped

Kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper, to taste

2 bulbs garlic

4 tablespoons olive oil 

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut the tops off the head of the garlic bulbs (enough to expose the top of the garlic cloves) and remove any loose papery outer layers.

Place garlic cut side up on enough foil to wrap the garlic. Drizzle oil on the exposed surface of the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Wrap the sides up and place the foil wrapped garlic onto a baking tray.

Roast in the preheated oven until golden and soft, about 45 minutes or up to 60 minutes. Roasting time will vary based on the size and type of garlic.

Set aside to cool, then squeeze out the soft cloves.

While the garlic is roasting, season the steaks with Montreal Steak Seasoning and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Get a stick of softened, unsalted butter in a bowl and begin adding the roasted garlic (8 or so cloves), rosemary, thyme, shallots, and salt & pepper. Mix and set aside.

Grill, BBQ or air-fry the steaks to your preferred doneness. I like mine medium-rare.

On the last flip of the steaks, top them with a teaspoon, or so, of the roasted garlic butter. Remove the steaks when done and top them with more butter. Tent them with foil and let them rest for 10 minutes, enjoy!

Happy Opening Day! The Giants open their season in Cincinnati, the A’s are in Seattle and the Dodgers host the Tigers. Bust out the brats and enjoy! 

Opening Day Beer Brats 

3 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)

2 pounds of brats

2 onions, halved and sliced into half moons

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 bottles of a good craft beer

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup Stone Ground mustard1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons cider vinegar 

In a large skillet on medium high heat brown the brats on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the other 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the skillet and cook the onions on medium heat until soft and lightly browned. Add the garlic, nutmeg and caraway seeds and cook until fragrant, and then add the beer, and mix in the mustard, vinegar and honey.At this point, if you want to do a smoker or grill version, put everything into an aluminum foil pan and set your smoker or grill to 250. Let everything stew and cook for about an hour.Add the brats back into the skillet and cook for 8-10 minutes or until brats are done.

Remove the brats to a serving platter and then bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Boil until onion mixture is thickened – stirring frequently.

Serve on brat buns or hoagie rolls topped with the onion mixture.

Pork steaks are on sale at my favorite meat store in Redding. So…

Smothered Pork Chops with Garlic-Mushroom Sauce  

4 boneless pork chops or pork steaks Paprika, to taste

Kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons butter, divided

1/2 cup olive oil, divided

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1/2 small yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

2 Tablespoons all-purpose Flour

2 cups chicken broth

Minced parsley or chives, for garnish  

Season both sides of pork chops with paprika, salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter and half of the olive oil. Sear both sides of the pork chops until golden brown and cooked through, about 2-4 minutes per side. Remove pork chops from pan and set aside. In same skillet over medium-high head add remaining the butter and olive oil. Add onions and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until they are golden and browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and mustard and cook for about 1 minute until garlic becomes fragrant. Stir in the flour, cooking stirring to remove lumps. Slowly add the broth, whisking until blended. Season with salt and pepper, to taste Return pork chops to pan and cook for a couple of minutes or until they are heated through. Serve hot. Garnish with parsley or chives.

I made some hot, steamy fuh-jy-tas on the Blackstone last night.

2 pounds steak of your choice

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 red bell peppers, sliced

2 yellow bell peppers, sliced

2 yellow onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic minced

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 packages fajita seasoning

Flour tortillas

Lime wedges, for squeezing  

Slice steak against the grain into small slices about half inch thick. Place into bowl or resealable gallon sized bag and add 1 Tablespoons olive oil, toss to coat. Then add 1 package of fajita seasoning to meat and toss to coat. In another bowl or resealable gallon size bag add vegetables and remaining olive oil. Toss to coat then add in 1 package of fajita seasoning and mix until coated. Preheat the Blackstone for about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Pour vegetable oil on preheat griddle and spread out. Put the steak and vegetables on hot, oiled griddle. Cook for 8-10 minutes, tossing the steak and vegetables a few times. You want these to be slightly charred and cooked through. During the last few minutes add garlic. During the last minute of cooking place tortillas on griddle to warm. Remove the steak, vegetables and tortillas from griddle to a large platter. Build your fajitas and hit them with a squeeze of lime and enjoy!

It looks like it’s gonna be really nice this weekend in Redding. So…fire the grill! These chicken thighs make for great tacos! 

Grilled Hawaiian Chicken Thighs 

The Meat and Marinade

4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 C. packed light brown sugar

1 C. soy sauce6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1-2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

1 onion halved and sliced into half moons

1 stick salted butter Marinade Directions

In a bowl, mix the brown sugar and soy sauce together. Keep mixing until almost all the sugar is dissolved in the soy sauce.Add in the garlic, ginger and onion and mix.

Let the mixture sit for a few minutes.

Put meat into a zip lock bag and pour mixture over it. Depending on how much meat you have you may need to make more marinade and split this into 2 different bags. Let this marinate for at least 4 hours. For the Grill13×9 Pyrex dish1 stick of butter1 bunch green onions sliced small1 bunch coarsely chopped, fresh cilantro Grilling DirectionsFire the grill to medium-high heat.

Place Pyrex dish on the top shelf of the hot grill.

Add the butter to the Pyrex so it starts to melt.

Add the meat to the grill and cook to perfection.

When the pieces of meat are done place them in the Pyrex to let swim in buttery goodness until all are done and add the green onions and/or cilantro.

St. Patrick’s Day is this coming Monday. If you’re looking for a good Corned Beef & Cabbage recipe, my mom always made a good one that is certain to knock your shillelagh in the dirt! 

Ruthie’s Corned Beef & Cabbage with Horseradish & Mustard Sauce 

1 corned beef brisket (about 4 pounds) with spice packet

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 bay leaves

3-1/2 pounds small potatoes (10-15), peeled

8 medium carrots, cut into 1” chunks, cross-wise

1 medium head cabbage, cut into wedges

1 cup apple juice

1 cup beer 

HORSERADISH SAUCE:

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 to 1-1/2 cups reserved cooking juices from corned beef1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/4 cup horseradish 

MUSTARD SAUCE:

1 ½ tablespoons salted butter

⅓ cup brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

¼ cup prepared Dijon mustard

1 large egg

Kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper, to taste

¾ cup cider vinegar 

Rinse and pat dry your brisket. Place brisket in your crock pot with the spice packet, brown sugar and bay leaves.

Add the beer and apple juice, then cover the remainder of the brisket with water.

Cover the crock pot and cook on low heat for 6 hours.Add potatoes, carrots and cabbage and continue cooking for 2 more hours, or until the vegetables and the corned beef is nice and tender.

Cut beef across the grain into slices. Serve with vegetables, Horseradish Sauce and, if desired, Mustard Sauce. 

Horseradish Sauce:

strain and reserve 1-1/2 cups cooking juices; skim fat from reserved juices. Discard remaining juices.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually whisk in 1 cup reserved juices. Stir in sugar, vinegar and horseradish; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until thickened. If desired, thin with additional juices. Season to taste with additional sugar, vinegar or horseradish. 

Mustard Sauce:

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat; remove from heat.

Whisk brown sugar, white sugar, mustard, egg, salt, and pepper together in a medium bowl. Whisk in vinegar until well combined. Stir mixture into melted butter in the saucepan.

Stir sauce over medium heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes more.