UGH!! I really believe that all 3 of these are worthy of their own thread but did not have time last week to post them. Thought about taking a nasty, gloomy, rainy Sunday yesterday and posting all of them in individual threads but didn't want to blow up the forum. Home early today and decided to do one long post with all three of these.
Made some pepperoni and salami, was slicing it last Sunday to vac seal. Tracy walked through, grabbed a slice of pepperoni, eyebrows went up (it's really good!!) and she decreed that we were having pizza for dinner. Uhhhh....sure thing honey....anything you say dear....looks like I best get some dough going.
The dough after the second proof
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I'd just gotten a considerable shipment from The Sausage Maker. Found this little toy on their site and knew I had to get one. It is fantastic!! A real game changer for getting the dough rolled out nicely in the pan.
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Dough all rolled out
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Sauce, pepperoni, and spicy Italian sausage, all homemade. More pepperoni would have been nice but this was what was left after packaging up the rest of it.
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Onions and peppers
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Lotsa mozz and some fresh grated Romano. I was in a cheesy mood
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Onto the grill and under the pizza dome for 10 or 15 minutes to start melting the cheese and set the crust. Now onto the top rack to finish
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Getting close....
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Done and sliced for serving
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Pizza and cold beer on the patio. Works for me
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As most of you know our menu is limited due to some dietary constraints that Tracy has. Beef is our predominant protein and I try to come up with ways to vary the menu. Being that we love Mexican themed meals, I thought this one might be fun. Smothered rib eyes with roasted Mexican orange sauce. There are no oranges in the sauce. That's the color after adding all of the pepper spices.
Start the sauce by roasting onions and a couple huge Roma tomatoes. Onto the
Rec Tec at 475 for 30 minutes or so.
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While the veggies are on the grill I start getting the spices toasted.Oil, garlic, and the spices in a skillet
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Cook till the garlic starts to darken the it becomes very aromatic...and it does smell good!!
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Veggies off the grill
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Everything into the Ninja and blended up. It is certainly orange
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Just had to try some on a chip. It is outstanding!!
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Seasoned a couple of nice rib eyes with the Mexican spice blend I put together not too long ago
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Grill some peppers and onions
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Flash blast the steaks on one side over the screaming hot sear burner
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Put the steaks on a CI pan and top with the grilled veggies and some Monterey Jack cheese then under the pizza dome to melt the cheese
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These are looking pretty good!!
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Plated with some Mexican rice and topped with a nice drizzle of the orange sauce. Weather was terrible so we ate inside.
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Ahhhh....I'm thinking I got these about right
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This was really, really good. Very authentic based on a similar meal I used to get at our favorite Mexican restaurant...before COVID. The orange sauce is new to me and it's 100% legit Mexican. So good!! Matter of fact, I used it last night to top some tacos we had for dinner. It's gonna be a staple around here.
Now it's time for some sausage Manicotti in a garlic and broccoli cream sauce. A lot of pics with this one
Sausage, cream cheese, Italian herbs, a little salt, and some Romano cheese. I did add a little heavy cream to get the consistency to where it'd go into the shells easier.
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Mix it all up to create a God awful looking mess
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Put the sausage mix onto the jerky cannon (a story behind this little move)
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Shoot the mix into the shells
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Now to get the cream sauce going. Garlic, butter, and Italian herbs into a skillet
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Saute till the garlic becomes fragrant and add flour
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Heat till it becomes a roux
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Add the heavy cream
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Simmer till it starts to thicken and add the broccoli
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Simmer a little longer and now we have a nice cream sauce
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Ladle it over the Manicotti. I covered the pan with foil and put it on the grill to heat.
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Got some homemade Italian buns out of the freezer. These were made for sandwiches but almost all of them were used in this fashion. Butter and Parmesan cheese on top then onto the grill
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Manicotti off the grill
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Rolls got away from my by a couple seconds but they were still good. Dinner plated and out to the patio.
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This was outstanding. Rich, creamy, and decadent. "Luxurious" is not really in the lexicon of this country boy but if it were, I'd have to say this meal fit the bill. Beware though, it's not a meal for the lactose intolerant
Well, that sums up most of last week's meals. Was kinda nice to have a bit of time to play around and do some different stuff. Smoked a couple racks of Dino ribs over the weekend that might just have to get posted also but am still at the point of not wanting to blow the forum up so might wait to post those babies...but man they came out good!! Thanks for sticking with this, assuming you made it all the way to the end. Take care and see y'all again soon.
Robert