Bourbon BBQ Sliders with Garlic Aioli

Oh my, these little sammies were sooooo very good. I must tell you now that 1 pound of ground beef will only yield 10 (2 oz. each) burger patties, and 10 sliders is just not enough for the four of us. So if you decide to make these awesome sliders, make 2 lbs! The recipe for the bbq sauce and the aioli is plenty for twice the patties. All you have to do is saute a little extra onion, garlic, and peppers.

This recipe is in 3 parts, so I am going to start with the aioli since it will need some time to chill. I recommend any recipe that has lots of mayo in it to refrigerate as long as possible so all the flavors can infuse and there won’t be an overwhelming mayo taste.

Garlic Aioli

1/2 cup mayo

1 T fresh lemon juice

1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine all the ingredients and refrigerate. *If you have an immersion blender I recommend giving this mixture a quick blending to really get those pieces of jalapeno and garlic minced as much as possible. Also this helps blend all the flavors real well.

Bourbon BBQ Sauce

1 onion, minced

1 jalapeño pepper, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup BBQ sauce

1/4 cup bourbon

1/4 cup brown sugar

Chop up the veggies as fine as possible. If you don’t like much pepper you can use just the leftover half from the aioli. Saute in EVOO and allow a few minutes to cool. Only use about 3/4 of this onion mixture and reserve the rest for the meat.

Combine the onion mixture with the bbq sauce, the bourbon, and the sugar. Taste and add more sugar or bourbon as needed.

Set aside.

Bourbon BBQ Sliders

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/4 of the onion mixture you made for the bbq sauce

1 pkg fried onion crisps

1 pkg Hawaiian sweet rolls

Add the remaining onion mixture with the meat and combine well. You can even add a few tablespoons of the Bourbon BBQ sauce to the meat but not too much or your burgers will not stay together.

Grill burgers and toast the rolls.

Assemble your slider by putting a small dab of aioli on the bottom portion of the roll, then a patty, topped with a dab or two of bourbon bbq sauce and some fried onions. Place top half of roll on top and enjoy!

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Four Bean Salad

Recently I went to a dinner at a friend’s house where everyone brought sides to go around the main course, and it was there I discovered this awesome bean salad. Now, I know some of you will say this is old news, but to me it’s not and I had to make one of my own and share. I love the flavors of the balsamic mixed with sugar. It’s not too sweet and not too bitter. Just perfect.

There are lots of things you could add into a salad like this, such as onion and bell pepper, but I just wanted to keep this simple so it’s strictly beans and dressing. And really, you could use any combination of beans you’d like.

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 can green beans, drained and rinsed

1 can navy beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup EVOO

1/2 tsp salt

Combine the beans in a large bowl. Whisk vinegar, sugar, oil, and salt until sugar dissolves.

Pour vinegar-sugar mixture over beans and toss well to coat.

Cover and refrigerate over night. Stir several times.

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Cajun Chicken Fritters with Cajun Aioli

These fritters were super yummy, and the best part is with all these flavors you could easily swap the meat out for crab or shrimp or any other fish you like. The aioli definitely made this dish so don’t forget to whip up some and refrigerate for a bit while you’re making your fritters.

Cajun Chicken Fritters

3 or 4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 eggs, separated

1 cup buttermilk

1 T butter, melted

1 tsp srirachi or other hot pepper sauce

1-2 tsp cajun seasoning

1 1/2 tsp liquid crab boil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped bell peppers (any colors)

Cooking oil

Cajun Aioli

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 T grain mustard

1 tsp cajun seasoning

1. Whisk ingredients for aioli together and refrigerate. *This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled, depending on how much you like.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder.

3. In another bowl combine buttermilk, butter, slightly beaten egg yolks, hot pepper sauce, cajun seasoning, and crab boil.

4. Stir to combine the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture. Add in peppers, garlic, and shredded chicken.

5. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and then fold into the chicken mixture completely.

6. Heat cooking oil (about 1 inch) in a dutch oven or heavy skillet, and drop chicken mixture by spoonfuls into the oil, about 4 at a time so they have room to cook and don’t stick together. Flip and cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towel-lined plate.

7. Serve with cajun aioli and something creamy and crunchy like cole slaw.

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Bacon Cheddar Potato Cakes

Use your leftover mashed potatoes to create a new side dish full of flavor and crunch. These are really good!

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

4 slices turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 egg

1 tsp onion powder

salt & pepper, to taste

EVOO

1. Combine all the ingredients and form 2 oz. patties.

2. Heat EVOO in skillet over medium-high heat and cook each potato cake for about 4 or 5 minutes on each side until golden brown. *Cook about 3 or 4 at a time so they don’t stick together and you can easily flip them.

3. Drain on paper towel.

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Mini Apple Tarte Tatins

This was a twist on a recipe I’ve been meaning to do for some time. Lately I’ve not been turning out the best stuff- it’s like I’ve lost my mojo. I know, right? How does that happen?? So needless to say I’m not very motivated by lengthy recipe directions. Originally I meant to make an Apple Slab Pie, which was on my menu for the month, but instead I decided to do these cute and easy little tarts.

1 sheet puff pastry

3 apples

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter, divided

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon sugar

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 375*.

2. Peel, core, and cut apples into 3 rings. Toss with cinnamon sugar and set aside.

3. Roll out thawed pastry sheet and cut into 9 equal squares. Wrap each apple ring.

4. Get skillet over medium heat and put in sugar and 1/2 the butter. Bring to light boil and caramelize into a syrup.

5. Place apples smooth side down into caramel syrup and cook a few minutes.

6. Melt remaining butter and mix with vanilla. Pour evenly over the upsides of the apple tarts (the side where the pastry is folded under).

7. Place whole pan into oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and apples are tender.

8. At this point you could carefully flip each tart over and give it about 10 more minutes in the oven to get some of that caramelized syrup on the top side, or spoon it over the top from the bottom of the pan.

9. Serve top side up where the folds have baked up a little. Serve with ice cream if desired.

Marinated London Broil

 

This is an awesome steak marinade. I doubled the recipe for the London Broil, but ordinarily it’s enough for 2 to 3 steaks. You should have all these ingredients on hand, and once you try it I bet you’ll never use another marinade recipe again. This marinade is good for all kinds of steaks.

Steak Marinade

1 T EVOO

1 T Worcestershire

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 T soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp yellow mustard

1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Place marinade and steaks into a container and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Marinade steaks over night if possible, but at least for an hour. Steaks also cook best when they are at room temperature, so keep this in mind when marinating and preparing for cooking times. Discard extra marinade or throw it into a saucepan with some mushrooms. Awesome!

To cook the London Broil, get a large skillet really hot and sear both sides of the meat for just a few minutes. Deglaze pan with some red wine (about 1/2 cup). Then take the meat and place under the broiler until done (if needed).

White Bean Turkey Chili

This is a super easy, healthy, and yummy chili. All you have to do is prep the meat and a few veggies and the slow cooker will do the rest for you.

1 lb. ground turkey

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

1 lb. dried navy beans, soaked and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn

1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and diced

2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp tarragon

1 tsp pepper

3 cups vegetable broth

1 cup white wine

1 cup heavy cream

1. Saute garlic in some EVOO. Add ground turkey and cook until browned and crumbled.

2. Add meat and the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot.

3. Cook on low for 6 hours.