Here's supper... Homemade Sautéed Chicken Nuggets w/Smoky Bourbon BBQ Sauce

This will bring your family to the dinner table quickly,

Sautéed Chicken Nuggets!

You can call them fingers, you can call them strips, you can call them tenders or nuggets…

It makes no difference ~ these little handheld chicken gems are way up there in my list of deliciousness!  

There’s nothing humdrum about them, particularly if you serve them with a favorite sauce.

They’re easy peasy, simple and good, nuf’ said!

I have a feeling you’ll be cooking this a lot, because…

they’re a culinary wonder ~ simply delicious!

Homemade Sautéed Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:

1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 egg

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon cayenne

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon seasoned pepper

1-2 tablespoons cooking oil, or butter

Smoky Bourbon BBQ sauce, for dipping (recipe below)

Method:

Cut chicken into 1½” chunks and set aside.

Beat egg in a shallow bowl.

Place flour and seasonings in another shallow bowl or resealable plastic bag, combining well.

Dip the chicken nuggets into beaten egg.

Dredge chicken in flour.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.

Add chicken, cook about 10 minutes until cooked through and no longer pink.

Serves 4

Printable recipe

Smokey Bourbon BBQ sauce 

Ingredients: 

1 cup bourbon

½ cup water

¼ cup brown sugar 

1½ cups ketchup

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

4 tablespoons molasses

⅛ cup Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon liquid smoke

Dash hot sauce

Method:

In a large saucepan, bring bourbon to a boil, simmer for 7 minutes, most of it will evaporate.

Add remaining ingredients, heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until it is of a smooth and thick consistency.

Makes 2 cups

This is great for grilled chicken and ribs too!

Printable recipe

Enjoy!

Marinated BBQ Pork Chops

I hope you all had a good weekend and enjoyed the warm weather like we did.  Our yard is now being blanketed with leaves and we've been having exceptionally nice weather for the last week ~ weather like we should’ve had in June!  It’s absolutely gorgeous out there this fall with all the different colors of leaves on the trees.

But now for the reason of this post:  saucy pork chops.  We really like pork chops and I prefer mine thick and juicy; saucy and tender.  

Pork is leaner and healthier than it used to be but may not contain enough fat to remain succulent ~ this is when marinating comes to the rescue.  This is a simple marinade that is not too sweet.  It’s easy to make with ingredients you most likely have on hand.    

This BBQ marinade makes some sticky and delicious chops.  I bet your palate will fall in love with these saucy chops!

Marinated BBQ Pork Chops 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup cider vinegar

½ cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon seasoned pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon celery seed

4 (6-ounce) pork chops

                

Method: 

Stir together first 10 ingredients and mix well.

Place pork chops in a plastic bag and spread sauce over all sides.

Marinate in refrigerator for1 hour or overnight.

Heat nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Drain and reserve marinade.

Place chops in skillet and brown on both sides.

Add reserved marinade.

Cover pan and simmer on low heat until chops are cooked through, about 30 minutes.

ENJOY!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes. 

Saucy Sloppy Joes

I love sloppy joes ~ they aren’t just for kids, are they?

 

It’s something I have tried many recipes of.  This recipe is adapted from one that was in The Chicago Tribune years ago.

It’s the addition of cranberry sauce and liquid smoke with all the spices that makes it really tasty.  I know, you’re probably saying “cranberry sauce?”  It’s a great surprise ingredient!  It really adds to the flavor and does not make the sloppy joes overly sweet.

If you like sloppy joes, you must try this; it’s a keeper for sure! 

Saucy Sloppy Joes 

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon dry mustard

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon celery seeds

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

8 ounce can jellied cranberry sauce

1 cup ketchup

Hamburger buns, split and toasted

Method:

Brown ground beef in skillet with chopped onions.

In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients and stir well.

Add bowl contents to ground beef.

Cover.  Simmer on low heat for close to 45 minutes to let the

flavors blend.

Spoon onto hamburger buns and serve. 

This is an excellent tasty sandwich!   

ENJOY!!!

Visit my friend Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway! 

For a chance to win my friend Bo’s great Le Crueset giveaway, visit Bo’s Bowl!

Bubba’s Winning Homemade Summer Sausage

 

You’re probably asking why would anyone bother to make their own summer sausage.  The reason is, because it is so very delicious!

 

 

The flavor of Bubba's home made sausage is much better than the store bought version, cheaper also and you know exactly what it consists of.  You control the ingredients ~ no added chemicals~ and flavor it as you like.  It reminds me of growing up on the farm with Dad making our own pork sausage, not similar to supermarket sausage at all.

 

 

Our older son, Bubba here on my blog, has been refining his summer sausage recipe and has hit on the exact proportions for it.   It's easy to pull together, it just takes time; requiring 5 days to cure.  

There is no casing involved.  Do not use a grade of ground beef with very low fat content as the result will be dry and crumbly.  Do not substitute any other salt for the Morton Tender Quick Cure ~ it is not the same thing!

It’s a great summer sausage that you just slice and serve with cheese and crackers or by itself.  I love the great flavor and the texture also!

 

Good job, Bubba!  It’s delicious!!!

 

 

 

Loaves: 4-5

Bubba's Homemade Summer Sausage

The flavor of Bubba's home made sausage is way better than the store bought version, cheaper also, plus you know exactly what's in it. Just give it a try it to believe it!

Prep time: 10 MinCooking time: 9 HourTotal time: 9 H & 10 M

Ingredients

• 4-1/4 pounds 75%-80% ground beef
• 4 tablespoons Morton Tender Quick Cure
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed
• 3 tablespoons coarse black pepper
• 3 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke

Method

1. Knead all ingredients together, mixing completely.
2. Cover with foil and put in fridge.
3. Knead, re-cover, and put back in fridge for days 2-4. Repeat each day.
4. On the fifth day, knead and then roll into 4-5 loaves (I roll it out on a board and put some pressure into it so the meat packs together without air gaps).
5. Place on broiler pan, and put in oven at 170-180 degrees.
6. For 80% beef I've been using 170 for ~8 hours.
7. For the 75% stuff, I went 180 for ~9 hours. Turn every two hours.
8. Remove from oven, place on wire rack, and let cool to room temperature.
9. When it's at room temperature I put it rack and all into the fridge.
10. Make sure to leave a plate under the rack while it's cooling to catch the drippings (in the fridge as well).
11. Once it's cooled to fridge temperature, remove from rack and put in bags.
12. Freeze or keep in fridge (especially due to lowering of the curing salt).
13. Slice~Eat~Enjoy!

Notes:

Inactive time = 5 days

https://pamsmidwestkitchenkorner.blogspot.com/2010/12/bubbas-homemade-summer-sausage.html

Created using The Recipes Generator

See updated version with pork and additional spices here.

Barbecued Chicken Wings

It’s time to grab some napkins and have some finger-lickin’ good chicken wings!

Whether you call them Buffalo wings, chicken wings, hot wings or just wings, they’re a wonderful thing.  I guess I’m not alone in my love for wings and now that grilling season is here, they’re the perfect thing to barbecue. 

They’re called Buffalo wings because that is their city of origin is Buffalo, NY.  There are several legends of how they came about with one being that they were first prepared in Buffalo in 1964 by Teressa Bellisimo, the co-owner, along with her husband, Frank of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo.  Their son, Dominic, arrived late one night at the bar, hungry and unannounced, with his college friends.  Teressa needed a fast, easy snack for them and as luck would have it, they had just received a mis-delivery of chicken wings instead of the necks and backs she had ordered for her spaghetti sauce.  It was then that she came up with the idea of deep frying the wings and tossing them in hot cayenne sauce. 

They are probably Buffalo wings to the rest of the country but, around here we call them chicken wings and they’re a great bite-size morsel of savory goodness.  This time there was neither hot sauce nor blue cheese dipping sauce ~ just a delicious barbecue sauce and this is the way it goes….

BARBECUED CHICKEN WINGS

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds chicken wings

1 cup bottled bottled chili sauce

½ cup water

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Combine all ingredients except chicken wings, in a large saucepan. 

Bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Set aside for basting.

Rinse chicken wings, cut and discard wing tips, pat dry.

Place wings on grill under slow heat.

Cook, turning occasionally and basting with sauce approximately 30 minutes until cooked through.

Makes about 2 cups sauce

Serve

They’re finger-lickin’ delicious!

Bubba’s Homemade Summer Sausage

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Bubba did it again!

I posted Alice’s (my MIL) summer sausage recipe back on February 16^th and I just have to post the updated version of it now.

Bubba has been working on this recipe for a while now ~ he has tweaked it way up several notches into an amazingly delicious spicy sausage.  You may remember how he loves hot spicy food but, this one does not have as much heat as the others.  (See Bubba’s recipes on the right side-bar under “labels.”)  This summer sausage is pungent with all the garlic powder and mustard seed ~ it will keep those vampires at bay.

 Bubba, 1971, almost 3 years old

It looks like it might be a lot of work as it’s spread out over so many days but, it’s not!  It just requires a little mixing each day with a long oven time on the final day.  And then you have it, freshly made summer sausage from YOUR very own kitchen.  It’s a wonderful thing!

If you enjoy summer sausage and have never tried making it yourself, you must make this!  I guarantee you will not be buying it from a store again!  It’s that delicious!!!

See updated version here:    

Bubba’s Summer Sausage

Ingredients:

4.25 pounds ground beef ~ 80%

4 tablespoons Morton Tender Quick Cure

1 tablespoon, mustard seed, mounded

3 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

3 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoon Liquid Smoke (hickory)

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

Method:

Mix all ingredients with your hands thoroughly, even knead it like bread.

Cover and refrigerate.

For each of the next 4 days, prior to baking, knead until meat starts to warm up, about 10 minutes.

Day 2:  Knead and refrigerate.

Day 3:  Knead and refrigerate.

Day 4:  Knead again and refrigerate.

Day 5:  Divide into 4 logs and place on broiler pan.

Bake at 180 degrees for 9 hours, turning every couple of hours.

Meat will appear red when fully cooked.

Transfer sausages onto a wire rack over a pan to drain excess fat.

Place in refrigerator until cool.

Slice and serve.

Give this a try ~ it’s the best!