Slow Cooker Pork Chops in Dijon Paprika Sauce

This slow cooker recipe reminds me a little bit of a past trip to Budapest, or what I remember of Budapest, which is the food of course.

Most of the dishes I consumed were meat and potatoes with various sauces, many with paprika and mustard. Always with lots of red wine, which gave me nasty hangovers and cravings for more rich and saucy meat and potato dishes.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops in Dijon Paprika Sauce Print Recipe.
Jesse liked this meal so well he ate his portion and the extra one too.

1 1/2 pounds mixed baby red, purple and white potatoes

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can Campbell's Healthy Choice Cream of Chicken Soup 

1/4 cup cooking sherry

1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
4 pork chops, any type


1. Grease the slow cooker with light colored oil. Scrub the potatoes and place them snuggled together in a large oval slow cooker.



2. In a bowl, mix together soup, sherry, Dijon, garlic, thyme, paprika and pepper. Pour mixture over potatoes.



3. In a large skillet, melt the butter until the foam subsides over high heat. Gently add the pork chops and season with salt and pepper. Sear both sides.

4. Place pork chops on top of the potatoes. Scrape pan drippings into the slow cooker.



5. Cover and cook on low heat for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 1/2. Plate and spoon sauce over potatoes and pork chops. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

By Laura Flowers.


Qdoba Copycat Queso & Ghoulish Goodies Giveaway

Halloween being my favorite holiday, I thought I’d kick off October with a giveaway. A winner for the totally adorable and doable monster filled cookbook Ghoulish Goodies will be drawn on October 13th.

For your part, leave a comment with your favorite Halloween food or recipe.

This queso sauce/dip won’t be in there though, but it’s an idea I’ve been meaning to tackle for awhile. My family really likes Qdoba’s queso and I wanted to create a copycat. After a few variations I feel this one is pretty close to the real one, but please let me know what you think.

The spooky chips are "Frights Bites Tortilla Chips" from the local grocery store.

Qdoba Copycat Queso
You should be able to find Philadelphia Cooking Creme in the refrigerator section near the cream cheese. Print Recipe

2 poblano peppers
10-ounce container Philadelphia Cooking Creme
8-ounce package Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese
2 medium tomatoes, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1/4 cup water
Cayenne pepper, to taste

1. Place peppers on a hot grill or under a broiler. Blacken the skins on all sides. Place them in a paper bag and roll top down to seal. Set aside until cool to touch, about 30 minutes. Peel off skins and discard seeds and stems. Chop peppers very fine.

2. Add chopped peppers, cooking creme, cheese, tomatoes, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and paprika to a medium size pot and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.

3. Add the cilantro, water and cayenne pepper and stir for another minute or so until it thickens to preference.

4. Turn off heat and serve immediately as a dip or sauce.

Recipe & photograph by Laura Flowers.

Sausage Apple & Red Potato Skillet

This is so stinking easy and tasty that it's going in my arsenal of emergency what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-feed-the-family recipes.

A skillet like this will be especially helpful on those days I sneak away on my bike for several hours. I can see myself telling Jesse, “Oh yeah Honey, I spent the time and made that skillet dinner you really like.”

Who needs Hamburger Helper anyway?

Sausage Apple & Red Potato Skillet
Print Recipe
This super quick skillet dinner will be ready to serve in less than 20 minutes.

3 tablespoons butter
12-ounce package apple chicken sausage
20-ounce package refrigerated rosemary garlic red potato wedges
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1 apple, cut into wedges
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar

1. In a very large skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat. Slice the sausage into 3/4-inch pieces and add them to the skillet. Cook until both sides of the sausage brown.

2. Add the potatoes, onions and apple slices. Toss to combine and continue to cook until the potatoes are golden brown.

3. Stir together vinegar and sugar and pour the mixture into the skillet. Stir to coat and cover with a lid. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the potatoes and apples are tender and the vinegar is absorbed.

Recipe and photographs by Laura Flowers.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

It's another Dishboy takeover today and I'm happy, because along with you, I now have this recipe too! The only thing I'd add is to not let the condensation fall back into the sauce from the Slow Cooker lid. Occasionally, as the sauce simmers pull off the lid and shake the water into the sink to prevent the sauce from becoming too watery. ~Laura

"Hello...“Dishboy” Scott again. To those old timers who know and love “Dishboy”, I send warm greetings! For those of you who are newer and are wondering who this strange poster is…well you can read more about me by clicking up there in the “Favorites” navigation link at the top of the page.

Anyway, I just love being able to just jump in occasionally and ride on the coattails of someone else’s hard work and talent. Thanks, Laura, for letting me “guest blog” today. I am happy to be able to visit with you all again.

Laura has been waiting (semi-patiently) for me to post my spaghetti sauce recipe for some time now. I think I’ve been promising her that I would post this recipe for at least a year. Well, here it finally is! This sauce recipe is quite yummy, and very easy. If you want this recipe to turn out like it is intended, you MUST remember this key thing: There is something special that happens when you cook tomato-based sauces all day. I’ve mentioned this to you before, and it is critical as you cannot duplicate the taste any other way.

I strongly recommend that you make this as I do, by cooking it all day in a slow cooker. The goal is to cook it long enough that you are getting a heavily caramelized sauce sticking on the side of your Crock-pot. I use an oval 5.5 quart Crock-pot, and this starts to occur when it has been on high for around 5-6 hours (although I have noticed that some slow cookers don’t get as hot as mine and it takes longer for this stage to occur).

Please do not be afraid of this caramelized residue…it is the secret of this sauce! Once it starts forming, I scrape the sides with a rubber spatula and stir this back into the sauce. I try to do this several times, once more caramelized residue has formed."

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
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1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground hot Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
3 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 heaping teaspoon oregano
½ heaping teaspoon basil
3 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
salt, to taste

1. In a large skillet, cook the meat and onions until the meat is brown and the onions are tender. Add the minced garlic near the end of this step to prevent it from burning.

2. Place meat mixture (without draining) and all other ingredients into a large crockpot. I like my spaghetti sauce less thick, so I do not drain the tomatoes. If you like a thicker sauce, then I would recommend draining them before adding.

3. Cook on high for at least 5-6 hours, or low for 10-12 hours, stirring caramelized sides back into the sauce. As the sauce is nearing completion, it should be easy to skim off any fat with a tablespoon, as the fat will pool on top while it simmers.

4. When complete, stir well, and serve on top of your favorite pasta.

Recipe by Scott Bader. Picture by Laura Flowers.

Seasoned Taco Meat from Scratch

This taco filling is a redo from an unnecessarily long recipe. I’m much happier with it now and hope you’ll be able to navigate it quickly.

Seasoned Taco Meat from Scratch
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Skip the chemical laden taco spice packets. This re-worked recipe from an old magazine puts those things to shame.

Spice Mixture
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Place all the spices together in a small bowl and set aside.

Taco Filling

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, diced

3 medium garlic cloves, minced
Spice mixture, above

1 pound 90 percent lean (or leaner) ground beef, yak or bison 

1/2 cup plain tomato sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth 


2 teaspoons white vinegar


1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes.

2. Add garlic and spice mixture; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground meat and cook, breaking meat up as you go. Deglaze the pan a little with extra broth if needed at this point. Scrape the pan bottom to prevent scorching, until meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

3. Add tomato sauce, chicken broth and vinegar; bring to simmer. Stir frequently and break meat chunks up completely. Cook for about 10 minutes or so until the liquid is reduced and thickened, but mixture isn’t dry. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper if needed.

Recipe and photograph by Laura Flowers.

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Philly Cheesesteaks

I did something crazy.

Insane.

I enrolled back into college at the age of thirty-four to start working toward my PhD in food science.

Why didn’t I do this earlier? Because I have a phobia. A horrible fear of big math, and to get into this program I have to face this dastardly subject.

Starting about seven years ago, I watched the university catalog come and go. I noticed when the school of food science merged with the neighboring school to expand their program. I noticed four years ago when they began offering an undergraduate degree in wine.

Then two days ago, I noticed that first class of wine students will be graduating next month.

Lastly, I noticed I let all this time pass by and allowed fear to stop me from accomplishing my dreams over a few scary math classes.

Not anymore, I’ve signed up. I’m going to finish those crazy classes and apply to the PhD program. It might take while, but in the meantime I’ll take every single food class on the list. Food processing, cheese making, wine classes, nutrition courses and on and on.

Or, I’ll fail out of math miserably but learn a lot of foodstuff. OK, I’m NOT going to think about that! I can do this!

I hope.

Philly Cheesesteaks
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So easy! Why don’t I make these more often?

3 to 4 hoagie rolls
1 white onion, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 pound good quality deli roast beef, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Sliced provolone cheese or warmed Cheese Whiz
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper
Mayonnaise

1. Heat oil in a large cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and bell pepper and season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetable soften and start to brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the skillet. Add the chopped deli meat and cook until no longer pink. Add the peppers and onions back in and toss to warm through.

3. Smear mayonnaise on the hoagie rolls. Place a slice of provolone on the side if using. Spoon in the hot beef mixture. Smear with Cheese Whiz if using.

Recipe and photograph by Laura Flowers.
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Blackberry Creme Brulee with Brown Sugar Sauce

Best crème brûlée ever.

When I die, please bury me in a giant vat of this amazingly perfect custard. It’s so incredible, it made crème brûlée hating Dishboy Scott moan and proclaim it to be about the best thing he’s ever put in his mouth.

It’s that good. It’s so good my husband Jesse, who could care less about dessert, inhaled half the batch in less than 24 hours.

Make this custard and you’ll thank me again and again. In fact, skip dinner and eat this instead. Why bother with dinner at all when there could possibly be such a perfect dessert in your life?

Blackberry Crème Brûlée with Brown Sugar Sauce
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Like magic, brown sugar makes it’s own sauce on the bottom of each ramekin.

Special tools you’ll need are 8 four-ounce ramekins, a fine mesh sieve (strainer) and a torch of some kind. I use Jesse’s shop propane torch (more fire=more fun), but you can buy a little brûlée torch at most fancy kitchen stores.

2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 1 cup or so fresh or frozen blackberries
8 teaspoons dark brown sugar, divided
Sugar for brûlée


1. Place 8 four-ounce ramekins in a metal 9x13-inch pan. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and set a kettle of water to boil.

2. Place the heavy cream in a 3 quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring often until just the point of boiling. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl whisk together egg yolks, 2/3 cup sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Whisking the entire time, slowly pour about 1 cup of the hot heavy cream into the egg mixture. Then pour the egg mixture into the heavy cream while whisking.

4. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large clean bowl. Place 1 teaspoon brown sugar into each ramekin. Place blackberries over brown sugar so they are nearly touching, but not packed. Slowly ladle cream mixture evenly into the ramekins, scraping all of it out of the bowl with a spatula.

5. Pull the oven rack out about half way and place the pan on it. Pour the hot water into the pan until it’s about half way up the ramekins. Bake for 35 minutes. Custards should be mainly set around the edges, but the center will still be jiggly.

6. Carefully move the custards to a cooling rack. Once cool, move to the refrigerator and chill for at least four hours.

7. To Brûlée: Sprinkle custard tops with about a teaspoon of granulated sugar and torch with fire until deeply golden brown pulling back the torch as needed so the sugar doesn’t char.

Recipe and photographs by Laura Flowers.
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BBQ Chicken Pizza with Cilantro & Cheddar

Technically, I should be studying before I flunk out of real estate school. So what am I doing? Procrastinating of course, but you’ll forgive me because I’m sharing this cheesy gooey tasty pizza recipe instead.

Someone please kick my backside into gear and tell me to go cram. Where’s a good drill sergeant when I need one?

Obviously not here. If one was, they’d be raiding my refrigerator for leftover pizza right now.

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Cilantro & Cheddar
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Cilantro adds color and bright flavor to this saucy pizza.

1 (12 to 14 inch) pizza dough, below

1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 1/4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
1/3 cup onion slivers

2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, to taste

Red pepper flakes
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Coarse cornmeal (polenta) for pizza pan




1. Heat up the grill to hot and close the lid.



2. Meanwhile brush a 12 inch pizza pan very lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Stretch and roll the dough and place on the pan. Brush top of dough lightly with olive oil.



3. Spoon barbecue sauce around the dough and sprinkle top with mozzarella. Top with shredded chicken, onions, cilantro and cheddar. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.



4. Set pizza pan on the grill and close the lid. Turn grill to medium high and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until done. Turn to medium heat for a thicker crust pizza and cook longer. Transfer onto a cookie sheet with tongs.

6. Drizzle with more barbecue sauce if desired and cut into wedges.

Helpful hint: If the top of your pizza ever cooks faster than the bottom crust you can shimmy the pizza directly onto the grill and char until done to your liking.

Pizza Dough
Makes enough dough for two medium to large pizzas.

1 cup warm (110 degrees F) water
1 (1/4-ounce) envelope (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup bread flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

1. In a stand mixer bowl add the water, yeast, and honey and let sit for 5 minutes until foamy. Add the flours, olive oil, and salt and mix with the dough hook until well kneaded. Remove the dough and knead by hand for another few minutes.

2. Oil a large bowl. Remove the dough from the stand mixer and knead on a clean surface for two more minutes. Place the dough in the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes until doubled in volume.


Recipes & photograph by Laura Flowers.

Grilled Double Bacon, Pepperoni & Onion Pizza

This week I’ve faced my enemies and cowered in their wake. For several days, Housework and Clutter won battle after battle, but I think I’ve clawed my way out of the mess. And tonight, we celebrate with war whoops and grilled pizza.

Grilled Double Bacon, Pepperoni & Onion Pizza
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This is Jesse’s pizza of choice. If I slapped some pig skin on top he’d probably cry tears of joy.

1 (12 to 14 inch) pizza dough, stretched onto a pan, recipe below
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup pizza sauce, recipe below
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
5 slices thick sliced bacon, cooked and cut into chunks
1/4 cup Canadian bacon, cut into quarters
1/4 cup pepperoni
1/4 cup diced onions
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Reggiano
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for brushing
Dried oregano
Garlic powder
Salt & pepper
Cornmeal for pizza pan

1. Preheat the grill on high to 500 degrees, with the lid closed. Brush a good quality pizza pan lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with cornmeal. Set aside.

2. Stretch and roll out the pizza dough until thin, and place on the pan. Brush the top with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and then spoon on pizza sauce.

3. Top pizza with the mozzarella, bacon, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, onions and then Parmesan. Season with oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

4. Set pizza on the grill and close the lid. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until cooked through.

Zesty Old School Style Pizza Sauce
Makes enough sauce to cover three medium, or two large pizzas.



1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (without sugar)

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Fresh cracked pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon white vinegar



Place all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and stir together.



Makes 1½ cups of pizza sauce.


Pizza Dough
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey or sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt

Place water, yeast, and honey or sugar into a stand mixer bowl. Stir to combine and set aside for 10 minutes.

Place the rest of the ingredients in the bowl and knead with a dough hook on low speed for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead by hand on a clean surface for another minute. Pat into a circle.

Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough inside, flipping once to coat with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Makes two large pizzas.

Recipes and photographs by Laura Flowers.

Deep Fry That Turkey!

I love to deep fry things. I think this goes back to my first real job. Real meaning when I wasn’t paid in peanuts for picking strawberries, or placing flyers on car windshields before the “working age” of sixteen. Slaving away at McDonald's and being paid minimum wage for the first time in my life, I was stepping up in the world!

I worshipped McDonald's back then and could eat their food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for at least a week straight. My favorite job was working the fryolator. I loved watching the hot oil come alive into a monster of noise and bubbles when I dropped in fries, chicken nuggets, and Filet-O-Fishes.

Since that time I’ve been obsessed really. I fry everything I can, and have gone through multiple fryolators in my adulthood. Nothing though, captures my attention more than the giant turkey frying pot that my brother and sister-in-law bought me for Christmas one year. I love LOVE that thing.

Although now, after many years of singeing off my eyebrows and arm hair while lighting stoves and grills, I have a nice healthy phobia of propane and fire together. Jesse and Dishboy Scott had to help me by taking orders, lighting and un-lighting as I directed. For some reason I have no fear of skin melting hot oil, and ecstatically enjoyed, manically really, frying this turkey.

What I learned deep frying turkeys.


1. Make sure you have enough oil to cover the bird. You might need to go a bit above the fill line on your pot as I did, but never put in a bigger turkey than your frying instruction manual says it can handle.

2. Peanut oil is expensive and impossible to find in my 150 mile shopping radius. I used Kirkland Signature Creamy Liquid Shortening from Costco instead. It worked great and only cost about $20 for a vat I could nearly swim in. Well, if one would want to swim in creamy liquid shortening.

3. Heat the deep fryer 25 degrees above where you want to fry. I heated the oil to 350 so my final temperature was 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Wear full battle rattle: Pants, closed toed shoes (no flip flops you college students!), long sleeve shirt, asbestos gloves, hat, protective eyewear, kevlar helmet, and flak vest. Oops those Army days are over. Skip the kevlar and flak vest. However, if you’re a female with long hair like I am, or Fabio, tie it back! There’s nothing like the smell of crispy fried human hair.

5. Make sure your bird is completely thawed and dry, inside and out. Very extremely incredibly exceptionally completely thawed and dry.

6. Turn off the fire before lowering in the bird. This will enable you to spend Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day far away from the intensive care burn unit.

7. Lower the bird very extraordinarily painfully slowly into the oil, over about 1 ½ minutes. If the oil boils too furiously, pull the bird up a bit and try again slowly.

8. Then turn the gas back on. Monitor the temperature.

9. Cook birds for about 3 to 3 ½ minutes per pound until crispy and golden.

10. Turn off the fire before removing the bird. Again, holidays in the burn unit are no fun. Have a foil covered rimmed baking sheet very close, and lift the bird onto it.

11. Frying a turkey is fun, thrilling, and yummy, and now I want to do it every week. So please, take what I’ve learned and go forth terrified, but determined and excited.

Since I’m a turkey frying novice here's a bunch of links I used from expert turkey frying geniuses:

1. Chow’s “How to Fry a Turkey, 10 Steps to Satisfaction”.

2. Alton Brown’s Fried Turkey episode on YouTube.

3. Gumbo Pages has lots of excellent information. They also bring up bird injections. I just fried the darn thing plain though, but I love their article.

4. EatTurkey.com. What a cool site lol! Of course they show us how to incinerate these birdies. Plus they tell us how to gauge the amount of oil to use.

5. Wikihow has a step by step guide.

6. About.com also has step by step instructions.

7. Are you tired of these yet? Yes? Convinced? No? Let’s carry on then soldier.

8. For fun, how about How NOT to Fry a Turkey on YouTube?

I could go on and on and on as Google is a god-like resource. I think you get the picture though. Deep fry, deep fry, deep fry and deep fry that Thanksgiving turkey to golden perfection. Just take those few precautions while doing so and you’ll have a beautiful golden turkey that’s crispy on the outside and juicy and perfectly cooked on the inside.

Save that carcass for broth! Those deep fried bones are a goldmine of flavor.

And as my friend Robin from Texas says, "Don't fry your turkey on your front porch like they do in Texas!" Evidently there are a number of house fires fueled by too many Bud Lights and porch turkey frying on Thanksgiving Day. Thanks Robin, I never thought of that one!

I have got to visit Texas.

Pictures and insanity provided by Laura Flowers.

Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Copycat KFC Coleslaw

This is my first and last post of the week as I’m leaving tomorrow to journey to San Francisco for the Foodbuzz Festival. Since I’ll be missing a whole week of posting recipes I hope I can make it up to you with a giveaway.

I’m giving away one slightly used Spyder calibration tool for a monitor. A calibration tool is what professionals photographers use to color correct their screens to a standard. Though it worked great with my PC, it couldn’t calibrate my Mactop. If you’re not a Mac user I think you’ll appreciate having this very cool tool.

Just leave a comment telling me why you could use the Spyder and I’ll do the random number thingy when I get back Monday.

See you when I get home! Or hopefully, see you at the festival.

Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Copycat KFC Coleslaw
Printer Version
It isn’t a misprint; you’ll need two bottles of BBQ sauce for this recipe. One for tenderizing pork in the Crockpot and the other for flavoring it in the oven.

First step: Crockpot
1 (12 ounce) beer
18 ounce bottle BBQ Sauce
1 tablespoon seasoning salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 pounds boneless pork shoulder country style ribs

Combine the ingredients together in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours, or until meat shreds easily. Move pork to a cutting board and discard liquid. Shred with two forks and discard fat. Meanwhile, make the coleslaw and refrigerate, recipe below.

Second step: 9x13 inch pan
Shredded pork
1 (18 ounce) bottle BBQ sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Place the pork in the pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl and spoon over pork. Toss to combine. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes until heated through.

Assembly:
8 sandwich buns
BBQ Pork
Coleslaw

Warm the buns in microwave and top with pork and slaw. Serve immediately.

KFC Copycat Coleslaw
This is a variation of a copycat that’s been floating around for years. I’ve hunted for its origins, but wasn’t successful.

1 head cabbage, shredded
1 large carrot, shredded
2 to 3 tablespoons minced onions
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Shred cabbage and carrots and place in a very large bowl. A food processor works well for this. Mix in onions.

Stir together the rest of the ingredients until smooth and toss with the cabbage mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Recipes & photograph by Laura Flowers.

Not Your Average Baked Spaghetti

Jesse asked me to make baked spaghetti for our Friday evening get together with friends. Ok, that’s only partially true. Jesse has been asking me on a semi-regular basis to make baked spaghetti since we got married.

I’ve been beating around the bush trying to escape this task for years. The only baked spaghetti I ever knew were dried out noodles with sickeningly sweet Ragu that always arrived with the traditional potluck fair.

I called Julie and warned her Jesse had requested baked spaghetti. She tried to be kind, but I don’t think her experiences have been much better. I couldn’t imagine serving my poor friends a meal they dreaded. They deserved something they could at least choke down. So, I sucked it up and gave this recipe some thought and attention. The results were much better than I expected, and most certainly not as bad as my worst fears.

Or perhaps, everyone was just being polite and ate it anyway! Hey, it could happen.

Zesty Crockpot Marinara Sauce

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This marinara cooks for about 10 hours, so it’s often easier to make this the day before you’ll be using it for baked spaghetti.


28 ounce can crushed tomatoes in rich puree

29 ounce can no sugar tomato sauce

6 ounce can tomato paste

1 cup water

1/2 cup good red wine

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed and finely minced or pressed through a garlic press

2 to 3 teaspoons sugar, to taste

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 large bay leaf or two small



Stir the ingredients together in a large Crockpot. Cook on low for 10 to 12 hours, stirring occasionally.



Not Your Average Baked Spaghetti
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You’ll need a big 10” x 15” baking dish for this recipe, if you don’t have one you can break it up into two smaller pans. For a vegetarian version, leave out the sausage and toss the spaghetti with the extra marinara sauce before layering it into the bottom.

4 cups Crockpot Marinara Sauce, made the day before
1 pound hot Italian sausage
1 pound spaghetti noodles, broken in half
1/2 cup reserved pasta water
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
32 ounce container whole milk ricotta
2 cups shredded Parmesan Reggiano, divided in half
2 cups shredded mozzarella

1. Brown the sausage in a skillet breaking it up well. Drain off the fat and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and get out a 10”x 15” baking dish.

2. Boil the spaghetti to al dente according to package directions in heavily salted water. Toward the end of cooking time reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain the spaghetti and toss with butter and olive oil. At this point you can also toss the spaghetti with the leftover sauce if preferred. Place the noodles in the baking dish.

3. In a bowl, mix the ricotta with the reserved pasta water. Place the sausage on top of the noodles and spread the ricotta over everything.

4. Top ricotta with 1 cup Parmesan Reggiano. Spread 4 cups of sauce over the cheese and top with mozzarella and the remaining Parmesan.

5. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and the sides are bubbly. Rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with the extra sauce if desired.

Recipes & photograph by Laura Flowers.

Steak & Onion Pizza with Cheddar Cheese and Garlic Cream Sauce

A few months ago, I splurged on a small package of New York strip bison steaks thinking someday very soon I’d make Jesse a nice dinner when we had a night on our own. That someday just now arrived and when I opened the package I found a bonus! Inside were three steaks instead of two.

I suppose I could have called a friend for dinner, but instead selfishly saved the extra piece for pizza. What my friends don’t know won’t hurt them, right?

Steak & Onion Pizza with Cheddar Cheese and Garlic Cream Sauce Printer Version
This pizza is so worth the splurge.

1 recipe pizza dough, below
1 recipe garlic cream sauce, below
1 New York Strip Steak or other steak of choice
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 to 2/3 cup very thinly sliced red onion
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil for brushing and drizzling

1. Place a square pizza stone on one side of the grill and preheat on high. Brush the steak with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the steak to rare. Set aside to cool for a few minutes leaving the grill on. Slice any fat off the steak and slice into thin bite size pieces.

2. Cut out a piece of parchment paper the size of your pizza stone. Place it on a cookie sheet. Divide pizza dough in half and set the other aside for another pizza. Roll out dough and brush with olive oil. Move the dough to the parchment.

3. Spread a layer of garlic cream sauce onto the dough. Top with mozzarella, cheddar, lots of onion slivers, steak and Parmesan. Season with salt & pepper and drizzle top with a little olive oil.

4. Slide the pizza with parchment onto the baking stone. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes until the top is bubbly and the bottom crust is deeply browned.

Pizza Dough
1 cup lukewarm water

2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast

1 teaspoon honey or sugar

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1. In a stand mixer bowl add the water, yeast, and honey or sugar and let sit for 5 minutes until foamy. Add the flour, olive oil, and salt and mix with the dough hook until well kneaded. If you use bread flour you’ll need to drizzle in a little more water until the dough forms a ball.

2. Olive oil a large bowl. Remove the dough from the stand mixer and knead on a clean surface for two more minutes. Place the dough in the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place for at least an hour before using.

Notes: I use part whole wheat flour in my pizza dough sometimes, when doing this add a little extra water if needed until the dough is lightly tacky.

Garlic Cream Sauce
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/8 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1/4 cup Parmesan Reggiano

1. In a saucepan melt the butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds until fragrant.

2. Turn the heat to medium low and add the rest of the ingredients, but add the cheese last so it doesn’t hit the hot pan and seize up. Stir constantly until it coats the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and move the sauce to a bowl.

3. Sauce will thicken quite a bit as it cools.

Recipes and pictures by Laura Flowers.

Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been craving comfort food lately. Maybe because I can finally turn the oven to 450 degrees without running the air conditioner on high for the next twelve hours! It must be a fall thing.

Besides, I figure I’ve got a few more bike rides to fit in before it snows. I’m going to enjoy this splurge while I can.

Buttermilk Biscuits Printer Version
Prepped with a food processor, these mile high biscuits come together so fast your oven won't be preheated in time, so turn it on several minutes before you begin.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold butter cut into pieces

3/4 cup buttermilk



Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cover an insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper. If you don’t have one, double up two cookie sheets together.



Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a food processor and process to mix. Add butter and pulse until crumbly with small pea sized butter pieces still in places. Add buttermilk and pulse just until the dough comes together.



Flour a surface, dump out dough, and then flour top of dough. Kneed a few times and roll out to about 1 inch thick. Cut out biscuits with a drinking glass or biscuit cutter. Continue to roll out dough and cut biscuits until dough is used up.



Place biscuits on cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until lightly golden on top.


Makes 8 to 10 biscuits.

Sausage Gravy
Good sausage gravy is a guilty pleasure of mine.

1 package Jimmy Dean All Natural Regular Pork Sausage
4 tablespoons butter, diced
3 tablespoons extra light olive oil or vegetable oil

1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

4 cups milk

Break up sausage into a very large skillet or wide bottom pot. Cook over medium high breaking apart the sausage into small pieces. When no longer pink and well cooked remove the sausage from the pan leaving the grease behind and set the meat aside. Add butter and oil and stir occasionally until the butter is melted.

Next, add the flour and cook for 3 to 4 minutes stirring frequently. Add the salt, pepper, and cayenne. Rub the thyme between the palms of your hands to crush it while adding to the pan. Slowly stir in the milk and bring it to a simmer stirring constantly until gravy is thickened to taste. Add the sausage back in and cook for a couple minutes to warm through.

Season with more salt and pepper if needed and serve hot over biscuits.

Recipes & Pictures by Laura Flowers.

The BAT with Chipotle Garlic Mayo on Nature’s Pride Country White Bread

Nature’s Pride is offering a chance at hotel and airfare for Foodbuzz’s fantastic festival. Well, so I hear it’s fantastic, as every one of my blogging buddies who went last year bragged about it for the next month.

Sadly, I was not there. I felt happy for my friends, but completely green with envy at the same time. I badly want to go this year and am crossing my fingers and toes that I get picked for this opportunity.

Besides, I really want to share this sandwich with everyone I know. It’s swoon worthy. Or maybe that’s just the bacon talking. Either way, I love to share and would have a chance to do so at the festival if picked.

So here’s my entry. Nature’s Pride you make a darn good bread, and I’m hoping this little sandwich is tasty enough to make the cut.

I have a feeling there are going to be a ton of fantastic entries. Please keep your fingers crossed for me! And maybe your eyes, and your toes…

The BAT with Chipotle Garlic Mayo on Nature’s Pride Country White Bread

Printer Version

1 1/2 pounds applewood smoked thick cut bacon

Chipotle Garlic Mayo, below
1 to 2 tomatoes, sliced and squeezed of some of the juice
2 avocados, sliced

8 slices Nature’s Pride Country White Bread

Fresh ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place half the bacon on the foil side by side and bake until the top starts to brown. Carefully flip the bacon and cook until the bacon is done to preference.

2. Carefully move bacon to a paper towel covered plate and blot off grease. Repeat with the rest of the bacon. Cut the bacon in half and set aside.

3. Make the Chipotle Garlic Mayo. Spoon sauce to taste onto one or both pieces of bread per sandwich. Layer the sandwiches with tomato, avocado, bacon and season with pepper. Top with bread slice and cut in half to serve.

Makes 4 sandwiches. Total time 25 minutes.

Chipotle Garlic Mayo
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (from a 7 ounce can)
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the can)
Juice of ½ a lime
1 clove garlic
1 cup mayonnaise
½ tsp salt

Combine ingredients in a small or mini food processor. Pulse until smooth and well blended. Taste for spice. Add another chipotle if desired.

Recipe and photographs by Laura Flowers.

Grilled Jalapeno Mustard Beer Glazed Chicken Quarters

Last fall my friends Julie and Brian introduced me to jalapeno mustard at their bonfire. Since then I’ve topped it on everything from tofu corn dogs to french fries to beans. So, when Beckett Media asked me to fill in a couple recipes and pictures for a grilling guide I ran right to the jalapeno mustard and threw this recipe together.

This flavorful chicken is super simple and I really should make it again someday. I know Jesse would be happy if I did. We eat so much vegetarian and vegan around here I often forget I have the option to grill meat.

I’m lucky my husband puts up with me. I figured by now he’d find himself a good meat and potatoes type of wife. This is Idaho after all, and we have a lot of meat and potatoes (and wheat!) and often little else. This probably explains why I think vegetables are so special. Most of the year decent produce around here is rare.

Speaking of produce, I’ve been taking an organic farming class this summer taught by the talented Professor Jodi from the University of Idaho. I figured since I’m surrounded by hundreds of miles of farmland maybe I should learn a little something about it. Most of the material is way over my head, but I’m still learning quite a bit. The best part is the class doesn’t take place inside, but out on the farm. I have a whole new appreciation for organic farming now. It’s not easy, but honestly I’m not sure it’s that much more difficult than standard chemical farming.

Ok, so I’m not the best judge. Maybe it's much more difficult. But it would be nice if we had more organic-like farming practices in our area. It’s frustrating watching tons and tons of pesticides drop out of the sky around here. Do we really need to eat that crap?

Maybe someday our food supply will be less poisonous. I can hope at least.

Grilled Jalapeño Mustard Beer Glazed Chicken Quarters
Printer Version
With minimal effort this mildly spicy chicken dinner is on the table fast. If dark meat isn’t your style, any favorite part of the chicken works well with this recipe.

1/2 cup Beaver Brand Jalapeno Mustard, Extra Hot
1/4 cup light colored beer
Seasoning salt
5 to 6 pounds quartered chicken legs

Preheat grill to medium heat. Mix the mustard and beer together in a bowl and set aside.

Trim off excess fat hanging off chicken pieces and rub with a generous amount of seasoning salt. Place fat side down on the grill, brush with sauce and cook for about 15 minutes. Flip the chicken over and baste with more sauce. Cook for another 12 to 15 minutes or until juices run clear.

Recipe & photographs from Beckett Media's Grilling Guide 2010 by Laura Flowers.

Bison Potato Soup with Bacon & Jalapenos

Whew! I needed to take a couple days off to catch up from my weekend. It was madness I tell you.

Friday afternoon a very fun editor from Virginia put me in touch with another very fun editor from California. They were in a bit of a crazy bind. Well more like a panic really. They needed new rib, chicken, kabob, and pizza recipes with photographs. Oh and maybe a cover if I could swing it. Oh and everything had to be styled specifically so, but not fussy.

I sort of blinked and read it again. They wanted all this by Sunday night and it was Friday afternoon? I had two thoughts. This is absolutely insane, and heck yeah I’m in! All I can say is I’m very lucky I have a bunch of people around me willing to put up with my 100mph brainstorms. Thanks to all their support I not only got it done while having a good time (although I don't know yet if any of my shots worked for their cover),

but was able to give her two extra recipes just in case.

I don’t know if you realize this, but when you look at my blog you aren’t looking at food styling. I’m giving you the real deal. My goal here is specifically to make real food, take pictures of that real food we’re actually eating, and not spend much time fussing about it. In other words, this is my place to unwind.

On the other hand, when I’m working for a magazine, newspaper or corporation I’m creating a product for their business. Food styling and planning is a must and the creative process is much different than my homey little blog. Admittedly, I thoroughly adore that process. I love to make food beautiful! It’s my art and passion.

What typically happens in those types of situations are recipes get planned and tested beforehand and then cooked again in an um, nicer way to photograph. The point is to make us all drool, and to do that food has to be fussed with quite a bit. Sadly, most of that food can’t be enjoyed and ends up in the trash, which makes me feel shameful.

Thoughts aside, I can tell I’ve been neglecting my happy place here because I’ve been giving you a lot of dessert and soup recipes. When I toss the meat and potatoes to the side so to speak, it means I’m just sharing the end pieces. I’ll spend some time catching up on a few meals. Hopefully on ones with lots of vegetables.

All I’ve got to offer you today is soup, again. Bison soup that I took a quick shot of a couple weeks ago. I hope it’ll be enough for now.

Bison Potato Soup with Bacon & Jalapeños
Here in the Northwest we're still coping with rain while the rest of you are
enjoying the sun. Soup season might run through July at this point.

8 ounce package sharp cheddar, shredded
¼ cup flour plus 2 tablespoons, divided
½ pounds (about two large) russet potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 pound ground bison (ground beef works too)
3 cups chicken broth
1 (12 ounce) bottle beer
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 cups milk
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup jarred jalapenos, diced
2 tablespoons liquid from jalapeño jar
½ pound crispy cooked bacon, chopped

1. Toss the shredded cheese with 2 tablespoons flour, set aside.

2. Scrub potatoes and cut into large dice. Cover with water in a large pot, salt well and bring to a boil. When nearly fork tender strain the water and add the potatoes back to the pot.

3. Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium high. Add the carrots, onions, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder and cook until softened some, about 5 minutes. Add the bison and cook until no longer pink. (If there’s a lot of fat you can strain some out here.) Add 1/4 cup flour and cook for 3 minutes more minutes. Pour the mixture in with the potatoes.

4. Add the chicken broth, beer and parsley and bring the soup to a high simmer for a few minutes. Add the milk and bring back to a simmer, but do not boil for 5 more minutes stirring often. Turn off heat and stir in cheese until melted. Stir in the sour cream and jalapeño juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Garnish bowls with diced jalapeños and crispy bacon.

Recipe and photograph by Laura Flowers.

Printer Version