BIEROCKS TOTALLY ROCK!!!

On our last trip to Ithaca (Dec), we stopped at the Farmer's Market http://www.ithacamarket.com/home.php
to get a bite to eat before heading out to start our Holiday Shopping Spree at the Cayuga Lake wineries. The Farmer's Market has an array of different ethnic food vendors so there's a lot to choose from. While walking down the isle I noticed a sign on a warming/steaming pot... HOT STUFFED BUNS $1.50 each!

Well, that hit the spot. It was a cold and windy day. This is just what we need. They had a choice of 3 kinds but I only remember 2 of them because those are the ones that we bought. We got one that was onion and bacon and the other was spinach, feta and garlic. And YES, I took pictures of them as we were driving!

They look like softballs. They were DELICIOUS!!! We couldn't stop talking about them. We were disecting the insides with every bite!

After we got home I posted the question, on my favorite web site, of what these buns were actually called because I wanted to make them. I found out that they were called Bierocks, sometimes referred to as Runza. They are German and often made with cabbage and ground beef.

I went on http://www.allrecipes.com/ and found a recipe that got good reviews. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pams-Bierocks/Detail.aspx

I used that recipe for the dough and then made our version of the fillings as we remembered them from our trip. The recipe made 18. I thought there would be a lot left over for another dinner. WRONG!!! All 18 were eaten! I didn't stuff the ones with the onions and bacon enough but the flavor was still there! We will be making these quite often.

Pam's Bierocks
SUBMITTED BY: PUSHKEMAA PHOTO BY: Michelle S "A German dish, these sweet dinner rolls are stuffed with ground beef, onion, and cabbage. A great alternative to the Finnish pasty!"

PREP TIME
50 Min
COOK TIME
25 Min
READY IN
1 Hr 30 Min
Original recipe yield 20 stuffed rolls

INGREDIENTS

2 cups warm water
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1 egg
2 teaspoons salt
7 cups all-purpose flour

I didn't make this filling but this was part of the recipe
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
6 cups shredded cabbage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup melted butter

**The fillings that I used are:

-I defrosted a box of frozen chopped spinach and squeezed out the water. I then mixed it with crumbled up Feta Cheese and chopped garlic. There were no measurements. I just added until I liked the flavor.

-I sauteed chopped onions and chopped smokey bacon that we got from Oscar's Smoke House in Warrensburgh., NY. http://www.oscarssmokedmeats.com/

I'll miss going there being that it was a must stop on the way home from Plattsburgh.

And that's it. Replace those filling recipes in place of the filling part below *.

DIRECTIONS
Prepare dough: In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Mix in sugar, margarine, egg, salt and 1/2 of the flour. Beat until smooth; add remaining flour until dough pulls together. Place in oiled bowl. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight, OR let it rise for 1 hour.
*In a large heavy skillet, brown meat. Add onion, cabbage, salt and simmer 30 minutes. Cool until lukewarm. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) Coat a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
Punch down dough and divide into 20 pieces. Spread each piece of dough out on an un-floured surface and fill with approximately 2 tablespoons filling. fold dough over and seal edges. Place on prepared cookie sheet and let rise for 1 hour.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with butter and serve.

UNCLE STAN'S ROLLS....YUM!!!!

Every year, just before Thanksgiving and Christmas, Uncle Stan comes to our house to bake his famous crescent rolls. This recipe was from Grammy (PJ and Stan's Grandmother) so it must be a very old recipe. He has been making these rolls for at least 3o years, probably closer to 40+.

My fondest memory of these rolls is when we had dinner at Gran's house, Stan would always pack up extra rolls for us to take home. We would all get in our car and start to pull out of the driveway but BEFORE we even would get out of the driveway... the kids would have the bag of rolls open and they'd sit there stuffing their faces! It happened EVERY time! Now that Grans house is no longer, Stan comes here to bake them. We always mail some down to Brooke to enjoy. She even started making them for her friends!So Saturday Uncle Stan came over to make his rolls for Christmas. We thought it would be nice for him to help us decorate our Christmas tree in between the risings of the dough. Scott and Alyssa got into their 'silly' moods and played a trick on us. I put the margarine in the microwave to soften it. Stan asked where the mixer was. I said that I put it on the counter for him. It was no where to be found! I asked S & A if they saw it and they said no. I then went into the microwave to get the margarine and Scott yelled that I'm loosing my mind if I'm looking for the mixer in the microwave! (He thinks he's funny). Where did the stinking mixer go??? We found it. Of all places, they hung it from a hook on the beam by the ceiling!! Leave it to them! Uncle Stan thought it was so funny!

A & S holding Brooke's ornament from the day she was born.

The rolls took a long time to make this year. The dough just wasn't rising. Also, I put them back in the oven in the morning because they were under baked. Much better now.
I hope the tradition of having these rolls for the holidays will carry on with the kids. It's a nice tradition.

SUPERB GOLDEN CRESCENTS

aka...

UNCLE STAN'S ROLLS

Mix together:

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of milk

1ts. salt

2 eggs

1 stick of margarine (melted)

Mix:

1/2 cup of warm water (closer to room temp) and 2 pkgs of dry yeast. Add to the above mixture. Mix all together then add 3 1/2 - 4 cups of flour. When mixed, leave in mixing bowl and put a dampened dishtowel (CLEAN) over the bowl. Put it in a draft free and warm area and let the dough rish until double.

Turn dough out, cut in half. Roll/flatten out into 2 circles; cut into 8 triangle pieces. Roll up into a crescent and lay out on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Cover with the dampened dish towel. Let rise until double. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Yield: approx 16 rolls

BBQ GLAZED HOMEMADE MEATBALLS

I made these meatballs a few nights ago. PJ called and asked what was for dinner and I told him "some sort of meatballs, rice and a vegetable". He sounded so sad. I asked him what he'd rather have, even though I already knew what he was going to say, and he said spagetti. He needs comfort food in other words! So I ended up baking these in the oven until they were a little golden in color. I put 1/2 aside to add to spagetti sauce and then made the sause for the BBQ ones. These were so good. They reminded us of the Cocktail Meatballs in Dunky Sauce that my mother used to make for parties some 35 or so years ago! These were bigger and used as part of the main meal though. Scott and PJ gobbled these up and even put them with the spagetti and mixed the sauce in too. I made a lot (I used 3 lbs of chop meat so I doubled everything) and we had leftovers for another meal. The next morning I noticed that there weren't ANY left for another meal! Scott and Chris ate them during the night! I guess I should be glad that the family enjoys leftovers!

BBQ Glazed Homemade Meatballs

PREP TIME
15 Min
COOK TIME
1 Hr
READY IN
1 Hr 15 Min
Original recipe yield 25 meatballs
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup quick cooking oats
6 1/2 ounces evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup ketchup
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon liquid smoke flavoring
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
In a bowl, mix beef, egg, oats, evaporated milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and 1/2 cup onion. Form into 1 1/2 inch balls and arrange in a single layer in the baking dish.
In a separate bowl, mix ketchup, garlic, sugar, 1/4 cup onion, and liquid smoke. Pour evenly over the meatballs.
Bake uncovered 1 hour in the preheated oven, until the minimum internal temperature of a meatball reaches 160 degrees F (72 degrees C).

Lynn's Version of CRAB AND CORN SOUP... SURPRISINGLY PRETTY GOOD!!!

Today is the 31st anniversary of PJ and my first date!!! (9-9-77) Normally he says Happy Anniversary first but this time I remembered first! I called him at work and he was very surprised that it was already the 9th! He was taking 1/2 a day today to take care of legal things with his mother so I decided to surprise him with a nice lunch. He brought tomatoes home from Saratoga the other day that need to be used so I made BLT sandwiches with them. BUT to make it extra special, I made my version of Crab & Corn Soup, one of our favorites. I had the ingredient list from Maxie's Supper Club in Ithaca (they won't give you the actual recipe). So I decided to wing it. We had 3 ears of corn left over from last nights dinner that I roasted on the grill so they had a nice smokey flavor. They would be perfect for this. I don't have a recipe for this soup. It's a little of this and a little of that all thrown together.

I started by cooking some bacon for the sandwiches and saving a little for the soup, including a few TBS of the grease to add to the oil and butter. Then I diced 2 ribs of celery and 2 shallots. I put 1/2 of a stick of butter in the pan, with a little veg oil so the butter doesn't burn on medium heat. I threw in the celery and onions and cooked them for about 10 minutes, making sure not to burn them. This brings out the sweetness in the onions. I added the leaves (chopped up) of about 3 sprigs of Thyme from my garden. Then, and I think this is what made it taste so good, I added about 1/4 of a cup of JOE'S SEASONINGS. This is from the New Orleans Cooking School. http://shopping.nosoc.com/

It's a low salt, no MSG, no preservatives all purpose seasoning, so really I guess any will do, but low salt would be best.

I stirred this through and cooked for a couple of minutes more. I added some flour, probably about 1/3 of a cup, and kept stirring for a few minutes more. I had about a quart of water that I froze from when I made corn in a pan so it has that delicious corn flavor. I dumped that in and kept stirring. I then added about 2 cups of 2% milk and kept cooking and stirring occasionally for about 10 more minutes. I then went to the fridge to get the 3 ears of corn. They were no where to be found! Chris must have eaten them in the middle of the night! I ended up finding some frozen corn, throwing that in and I even added a can of creamed corn! I cooked it for about 10 more minutes and it was basically finished. I spooned it into bowls and added chopped scallions and a little more Thyme to the top. DELICIOUS!

PJ was so impressed! He had the sandwich and soup and went back for a second bowl of soup!

"It ain't da seafood dat makes ya fat anyway -- it's da batta!"

New Orleans is the most interesting city if you're into different cultures and foods. There are so many cultures from so many different countries and it's all blended together to create some really GREAT food!

"it is an indisputable fact that no place loves its food quite as sincerely – or as indulgently – as New Orleans. Some people eat to live, but New Orleanians live to eat. As a result, the city offers one of the most incredible – and incredibly diverse – concentrations of exceptional dining and unforgettable cuisine in the world. "

We make sure we try different things and Scott seems to be the better one for doing that!

We learned to cook Gumbo, Jambalya, Bread Pudding and Pralines at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Note: When you cook Onions, Peppers and Celery together, it's called Trinity. See pic at top!

My pictures make everything look they are the same color but believe me, they weren't!

GUMBO

Jambalya

Bread Pudding

PRALINES

Scott had some Alligator Sausage made into a Po Boy

We had great smokey Ribs...

The Gumbo Shop was recomended to us as a place that the 'locals' love. It's not a chain and a little out of the way. It was good! http://www.gumboshop.com/

PJ and I both had the
CRAWFISH AND PASTA IN TASSO CREAM Penne pasta, crawfish tails and tasso, tossed in a reduced cream sauce

Scott had a BLACKENED CATFISH PO-BOY

All you want after the 3rd day after eating N.O.'s food is a nice bowl of

LIGHT SALAD!!!

3 NEW RECIPES CREATE A GREAT MEAL!!

I spent most of yesterday cooking. Sadly, I was very happy about it! There were some recipes that I wanted to try so I put them together to make a meal. Let me just say that I got compliments from EVERYONE on last nights dinner so I guess they were all winning recipes! I had bought 2 packs of those 2" in diameter pork tenderloins thinking that was enough for 4 adults. I knew one wouldn't cut it with the boys appetites. I was surprised to see when I opened it that each pack actually had 2 tenderloins so now I had 4! What the heck. Maybe the leftovers would make good sandwiches. Boy was I wrong! There were NO leftovers, just happy faces!!! I'm beginning to think that people are right that soaking meat in a brine is the key to moist meat.

As for the Asparagus Salad... What can I say. I think I ate 1/2 of the asparagus BEFORE I even grilled it. The dressing was so addicting I couldn't stop myself. It must have been all of the garlic! PJ started picking at it as soon as he came home from work. He was very impressed!

The AuGratin Potatoes were very good except I had to bake them for an additional 45 minutes. But we took helpings from the sides of the pan. Those were cooked through. They were very tasty though.... a little different being that they had nutmeg in the mixture.

Asian-Glazed 'Melt-in-Your-Mouth' Pork Tenderloin

INGREDIENTS
1 gallon water
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons finely grated ginger
1/4 cup grated onion
1 lemon, thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1 (1 1/2 pound) pork tenderloin

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup sweet and sour sauce
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely grated ginger
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice


DIRECTIONS
To make the brine, mix together the water, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, 2 tablespoons ginger, onion, lemon, 5 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce in a large container. Add the pork tenderloin, cover, and refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours.
For the glaze, whisk together 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce, sweet and sour sauce, hoisin sauce, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons ginger, brown sugar, and orange juice.
Prepare an outdoor grill for high heat.
Cook the pork tenderloin on the preheated grill until no longer pink in the center, 7 to 12 minutes per side. Remove the tenderloin from the grill and cover with foil; allow to rest for 10 minutes. To serve, brush with glaze, and cut into thin slices.

Asparagus and Sun-Dried Tomato Salad
Recipe courtesy Aaron McCargo

He won the Food Networks 's latest Star contest.
Show:
Big Daddy's House

INGREDIENTS

2 bunches asparagus, stems trimmed and split lengthwise

2 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped rosemary leaves

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped thyme leaves

1 (8-ounce) jar julienne sliced sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, oil reserved

12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced thin ** SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM

DIRECTIONS

Preheat grill on medium-high heat.
Add asparagus, chopped garlic, salt and pepper, rosemary and thyme to a large bowl. Mix together. Grill asparagus for 3 to 4 minutes. Place asparagus back into bowl. Add julienne-sliced sun-dried tomatoes. Mix together.
Remove 2 tablespoons oil from asparagus mixture, and place into saute pan. Add mushrooms; cook for 3 to 4 minutes until browned and crisp.
Remove mushrooms and mix into asparagus mixture. Serve at room temperature.

** I think any mushroom would be fine. The shiitake mushrooms are sturdier when cooked but are also quite expensive. I did a bad thing... I took the stems off of my mushrooms while in the store so I wasn't then paying for pieces that I would throw out! I do that with Portabello's also! SHHHHHHHH!

Herb Potatoes au Gratin
Recipe courtesy Aaron McCargo
Show:
Big Daddy's House

INGREDIENTS

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups milk 1/2 cup grated yellow Cheddar

1/4 cup grated American cheese

1/4 cup grated white cheddar

1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 pounds russet potatoes, washed and scrubbed, peeled and sliced thin

Au Gratin:

1 stick butter, melted

2 cups panko bread crumbs

2 teaspoons smoky paprika

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large sauce pot over medium-high heat, add butter. Stir in the flour until pasty. Add milk; stir to remove lumps and let cook for 6 minutes until it gets thick. (mine got too thick so I added more milk until it had a good creamy consistancy) Lower heat and add the cheese, bouillon, nutmeg and black pepper. Whisk until well combined and sauce thickens, approximately 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a bowl, combine butter, panko and smoky paprika. Stir well.
Place potatoes into a casserole dish. Pour cheese over potatoes and sprinkle au gratin on top. Wrap with foil and bake in oven for 35 to 45 minutes. ( I had to increase my baking time for an additional 45 minutes!) Remove foil and cook for 10 minutes uncovered. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

BOK CHOY SALAD, RIBS & BBQ CORN YUM!

This is a really nice, summer salad. Kris made it for the shower. I had 2 helpings and would have gone back for more had I not wanted to look like a pig!

I decided to make it last night to go with our RIBS and BBQ SMOKED CORN (recipes at the bottom).

As with all of the recipes that I try, nothing ever goes without some sort of problem. The recipe is easy enough but you need to pay attention! I put the 'mixture' on the stove to saute until golden brown. I then ran outside to put the corn in the smoker. I was rinsing out the cooler that the corn was soaking in with the hose when Alyssa came running out to tell me that the stuff on the stove is BLACK! Yup! I forgot about it! So I had to start all over again! Then when I was making the dressing, I put it in a tupperware container that has holes in the top that the steam can come out of. Being that this was very hot, I thought it was a perfect choice. I poured it in and it came to the top. That was my problem! As I snapped the top on, the hot oil mixture shot out onto my shirt and across the kitchen! What a mess. This recipe is really easy, it's just my mistakes that make everything so difficult!

The salad came out delicious and everyone enjoyed it, so much so that Alyssa and Scott finished off the leftovers this morning for breakfast!

BOK CHOY SALAD

4 Bok Choy (or 4 bags of coleslaw)

3 bunches of scallions

4-6 pkgs Ramen Oriental noodles soup

6-8 oz slivered almonds

6-8 oz sunflower seeds (I bought dry roasted)

Garlic powder

Chop Bok Choy and Scallions (white and green parts) and put in a large ziploc bag with holes in it. Refrigerate.

While still in unopened packages, crunch up ramen noodles well with your hands. Disgard the seasoning packets. Pour noodles into a large bowl; add almonds and sunflower seeds to make a nice even mix. Add garlic powder (as much as you want. I added quite a lot!). Mix well.

Saute 1/2 of the dry mix in a large skillet in some vegetable oil. WATCH CAREFULLY and stir often sop it doesn't burn! When a little golden brown, remove the mixture from the pan and repeat with the rest of the mix. Allow to cool. You can do that in advance and store in a container at room temp.

DRESSING

1 cup olive oil

3-4 TBSP soy sauce (I used low sodium)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

Boil all dressing ingredients together, mixing constantly while cooking. Remove from heat IMMEDIATELY when mixture comes to a boil and keep stirring until it stops boiling. Let cool and pour into a container and refrigerate. (I forgot to let it cool. That's where I went wrong!)

Prepare salad by mixing all ingredients together RIGHT BEFORE EATING so it doesn't become soggy.

BBQ CORN

INGREDIENTS
10 ears fresh corn with husks
1 quart beer
1 (7 pound) bag of ice cubes

DIRECTIONS
Place whole ears of corn in an ice chest. Pour beer over top. Dump ice out over the ears of corn. Place the lid on the cooler, and let sit 8 hours, or overnight.
Preheat smoker** to 250 degrees F ( 120 degrees C).
Place corn in the smoker and close the lid. Cook for 1 to 2 hours, turning every 20 minutes or so. Kernels should give easily under pressure when done. To eat, just peel back the husks and use them for a handle.

**You can also cook these on a grill for about 30 minutes if you don't have a smoker.

PJ smoked the ribs the day before in the smoker. All I then had to do was brush on a BBQ sauce and grill them to warm them up for dinner. I chose to make my favorite BBQ sauce from my idol... Tyler Florence!

The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce

INGREDIENTS

1 slice bacon , cut into 1/2 " pieces

1 bunch fresh thyme

Extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika if available

Freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute bacon for a few minutes. Add the thyme and cook slowly 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, give the sauce a stir, and turn the heat down to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Once the sauce is done cooking, remove about 1 1/2 cups of the sauce and reserve for serving along side the ribs at the table. The rest of the barbecue sauce will be used for basing the ribs.