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RE: Tasty, totally unhealthy appetizer! Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots
It's just Alton Brown's meatloaf recipe (from "Good Eats" on Food Network), stuffed with sautéed onions, celery, mushrooms, garlic, spinach, and jack cheese. When it cooks, the bacon weave loses a lot of it's fat, so the end result (per slice) is just stuffed meatloaf with a little crisp bacon. Cool! You could do this in your vertical smoker or even in a Weber with indirect heat. The key to the bacon weave is to use thin sliced bacon; this gives you a finished product that is crisp and tight.
Bacon Weave Tutorial
Rolling a "Fattie"
Many people make this with a seasoned sausage mix, but I think that's too much fat. Alton's meatloaf has several vegetables in it and no sausage. Best meatloaf I've ever had:
This recipe is from Alton Brown of the Food Network show "Good Eats." I've had a lot of meatloaf recipes in my life but for overall taste this one is the best.
I don't use the "Glaze," I either make my own or leave it off.
Good Eats Meatloaf
6 ounces garlic-flavored croûtons
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and broken
3 whole cloves garlic
½ red bell pepper
18 ounces ground chuck
18 ounces ground sirloin
1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
For the glaze:
½ cup catsup
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon honey
Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a food processor bowl, combine croûtons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture. Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground sirloin, and ground chuck with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.
Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Insert a temperature probe at a 45 degree angle into the top of the meatloaf. Avoid touching the bottom of the tray with the probe. Set the probe for 155 degrees.
Combine the catsup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.
If you bake this in a traditional manner (in a bread pan), all the fat stays in it. Do as he suggests and mold it in the pan (or free form into a loaf) but then turn it out onto a foil lined baking sheet.
Everything goes better with bacon! :B
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firecapt1
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01/20/12 04:26pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Tasty, totally unhealthy appetizer! Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots
If you really like bacon you need to make one of these:
http://home.comcast.net/~firecapt1/Bacon Fattie.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~firecapt1/Bacon Fattie Cut.jpg
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firecapt1
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01/13/12 04:28pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Tasty, totally unhealthy appetizer! Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots
A tip before wrapping anything with bacon is to par-cook the bacon before using it for wrapping. Make sure the bacon is still pliable so it can be used as a wrap. This process makes the bacon come out crisper and a lot of the fat is cooked off in the par-cook process. Also don't use the thick sliced variety, it doesn't wrap as well and takes longer to cook.
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firecapt1
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01/12/12 11:46pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Food Dehydrating??
I've made this recipe for years; the family and friends love it!
Beef Jerky
1 to 2 pound(s) beef; I like to use London Broil or round steak.
1 bottles allegro marinade; original.
1 bottles Tsang szechuan hot and spicy stir-fry sauce
1 tablespoon(s) red pepper flakes (less or more depending on how hot you like it!)
¼ cup(s) soy sauce
¼ cup(s) Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon(s) cumin
½ teaspoon(s) onion salt
½ teaspoon(s) white pepper
½ teaspoon(s) black pepper
2 tablespoon(s) liquid smoke
_____
Mix marinade ingredients together in a bowl and let sit for one day in the refrigerator; do not add the meat.
Cut meat into 1/8" strips, this is easier to do if meat is slightly frozen. Add meat to marinade and place back in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Dry in food dehydrator per unit instructions.
Store in tightly covered container.
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firecapt1
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01/10/12 11:54pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Canned Hams
I'm with Happytraveler too!
As a kid we always had canned hams. My Mom used to put pineapple rounds on top, with a cherry in the middle, all of which were skewered into place with whole cloves. I think that, at the time, there weren't other choices that weren't very expensive. Now, like another poster, I get a spiral sliced ham from Costco (cheap, $1.99 a pound).
I believe all of the canned hams are "chopped, pressed, and formed." Not that this makes them bad, but you have to see what they are "enhanced" with. Too many chemicals, sodium, water, etc.
Still, now that you mention it, I think I'll get one. As another poster said I'll try to find a Dubuque or a Hormel (it's what my Mom used) and give it a try for old times sake.
Sometimes, it's good to revisit our childhood food experiences.
Here's one of mine:
Oscar Meyer Bologna w/Velveeta cheese on Wonder Bread
Even better:
Fried Bologna on Wonder Bread!
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firecapt1
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12/30/11 10:50pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Kettle Pizza: My Latest Project
Another great thing to try in this setup would be Stromboli:
Stromboli
½ pound hot Italian sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
1 cup sliced yellow onions
½ cup thinly sliced red bell peppers
½ cup thinly sliced green bell peppers
2 tablespoons thinly sliced seeded and stemmed jalapeños
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ pound sliced ham
¼ pound thinly sliced pepperoni or salami
½ cup sliced black olives
2 cups grated provolone
2 cups grated mozzarella
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash
1 cup finely grated Parmesan
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet and set aside.
In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat until browned and the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. Add the onions, bell peppers, and jalapeños and cook, stirring, until very soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cool.
Punch down the dough and divide half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to a large rectangle, about 10 by 14 inches. Spread half of the cooled sausage mixture across the dough leaving a 1-inch border. Overlapping slightly, layer half of the ham, pepperoni, olives, provolone and mozzarella cheeses over the top. Using a pastry brush, paint the border of 1 long edge with egg wash. Starting at the opposite long end without egg wash, roll up the dough into a cylinder, pinching the edges to seal. Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining ingredients. Let the dough rise, 20 to 30 minutes.
Brush the top of each Stromboli with egg wash. Bake until nearly completely golden brown and starting to crisp, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle each Stromboli with Parmesan cheese and return to the oven until the cheese is melted and the dough is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes. Slice thickly and serve.
Basic Pizza Dough:
1 cup warm (110 degrees F) water
1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, sugar, and 1 tablespoon oil and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add 1 ½ cups of the flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, ¼ cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes.
Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
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firecapt1
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12/03/11 12:23pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Canned Pumpkin Recipe
Here's a great desert for Thanksgiving that's even better than pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie but I was looking for something a little different. Well this is it. It combines the pumpkin pie base, topped with cake and pecans (pecan pie is my other favorite for Thanksgiving).
The pumpkin base is like pumpkin pie. The pecans get crisp like on a pecan pie.
Pumpkin Dump Cake
1 (29 oz.) can pumpkin
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 ½ cup dark brown sugar (packed)
¼ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup pecans (chopped)
1 cup butter or margarine (melted)
Beat together pumpkin, milk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and eggs. Pour into 9x12 greased baking dish. Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture, and then sprinkle on pecans. Drizzle melted butter over the top. Bake at 350 for 1 to 1 1/4 hour, or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool and top with whipping cream or vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!
Notes:
Adjust the spices to suit your taste (consider adding ground cloves and ground ginger). Imagine that you are trying to make a pumpkin pie base topped with cake & pecans.
One might add a tablespoon or two of dark rum to the pumpkin mixture to give it an even better depth of flavor.
This recipe can be easily adapted for a Dutch Oven (12").
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firecapt1
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11/20/11 10:36pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Old Smokey Grill
You can think of this grill as a miniature of a large Weber grill. It works the same way, just use it as you would a large Weber, scaling down whatever you put in it accordingly.
Before we got a Weber Q-200 we used one of these for years and it works very well! Just like anything, it takes some getting used to, but once you learn how to use it properly, you will be able to turn out all kinds of wonderful barbecue.
Enjoy!!!
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firecapt1
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11/20/11 10:14pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Favorite Horseradish
Silver Spring!!
It's in the cold case section of the store, usually near the deli meats & cheeses.
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firecapt1
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11/20/11 10:04pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Best turkey gravy?
I simmer the neck, kidneys, heart (but not the liver) with celery (especially the tops, that's where the flavor is), onion, carrot, bay leaf, and sage (salt and pepper of course) in water and about 1/2 cup of dry sherry. After simmering for at least 2 hours. You are looking to get all the flavors out of the ingredients and reduce the total volume so that you have a concentrated stock.
Strain.
Pick the meat off the neck(s) and chop the heart and kidneys.
In a large frying pan, add turkey pan drippings (with the fat separated out) and thicken with flour dissolved in butter or use cornstarch dissolved in water/stock. Add the reduced and strained stock and chopped/picked meat.
Add milk, 1/2 & 1/2, or water as necessary to adjust consistency. Milk or 1/2 & 1/2 gives the gravy a nice color, consistency, smoothness, and flavor. Adjust spices.
** I make every other component prior to removing the turkey from the oven, then, while the turkey rests, I deglaze the turkey pan with water or wine.
I separate out the fat with something like this:
Fat Separator
That's it! The simple, basic, just like Grandma made recipe.
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firecapt1
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11/20/11 10:02pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Turkey stock & Giblet Dressing
I'm with sharrlan!!
I simmer the neck, kidneys, heart (but not the liver) with celery (especially the tops, that's where the flavor is), onion, carrot, bay leaf, and sage (salt and pepper of course) in water and about 1/2 cup of dry sherry. After simmering for at least 2 hours. You are looking to get all the flavors out of the ingredients and reduce the total volume so that you have a concentrated stock.
Strain.
Pick the meat off the neck(s) and chop the heart and kidneys.
In a large frying pan, add turkey pan drippings (with the fat separated out) and thicken with flour dissolved in butter or use cornstarch dissolved in water/stock. Add the reduced and strained stock and chopped/picked meat.
Add milk, 1/2 & 1/2, or water as necessary to adjust consistency. Milk or 1/2 & 1/2 gives the gravy a nice color, consistency, smoothness, and flavor. Adjust spices.
** I make every other component prior to removing the turkey from the oven, then, while the turkey rests, I deglaze the turkey pan with water or wine.
I separate out the fat with something like this:
Fat Separator
That's it! The simple, basic, just like Grandma made recipe.
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firecapt1
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11/20/11 09:04pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Electronic Ignition for Stovetop (w/pics)
Replace that lousy bulb above the stove (part of the light/fan assembly) with one of these: High Power 36-1210 SMD LED Festoon Dome Bulb Warm White and your DW will be overjoyed!
It worked so well that I replaced the bulb over the sink in the bathroom/vanity area and she is ecstatic. Says she can now see well enough to put on her makeup.
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firecapt1
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11/10/11 11:09pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: Electronic Ignition for Stovetop (w/pics)
Thanks Roadrunner!
Unfortunately (fortunately?) I don't have a low pressure line on our rig. I just use a a Stay Flow system (Stay Flow Adapter) to supply my Weber or any other propane appliance.
I agree on the food related mods, I am always looking for something to help me cook, either inside or outside!
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firecapt1
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11/10/11 10:42pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: Electronic Ignition for Stovetop (w/pics)
Roadrunner275,
What mod for the Weber Q are you referring to? I've got one and anything I can do to make it better would be great!
Maybe you could provide a link to the mod?
Thanks
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firecapt1
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11/10/11 09:24pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: Starlight 1000 (motion light)
Available at Tweety's for $48.88 Starlight 1000
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firecapt1
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08/21/11 09:26pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Starlight 1000 (motion light)
I have to agree with SVCJeff!
If it turns out that your product is defective, or doesn't last as long as should be reasonably expected, you should replace it, or at least offer to repair the unit or replace the defective parts.
I have a Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C EMS-HW30C and when I had a problem with it the company President went out of his way on a holiday weekend to resolve the problem and replace the bad parts with no cost to me (no postage, no charge for the parts).
Surely, the StarLight people have had other complaints about this problem, they should stand behind their product and offer to replace at least the parts if not the whole unit.
I know if I were running a business, I would be deeply embarrassed by my products' failure and would certainly offer more mitigation than just free shipping on the cost of a new unit.
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firecapt1
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08/21/11 08:39pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Starlight 1000 (motion light)
Just a follow-up. I was NOT offered a new unit, just free shipping if I purchased a new one.
I have changed most of my lights to LED's and will be doing so with the new Starlight. As I said in the original post, I believe the problem may have been caused by the heat generated by the conventional bulb. That being said, the fixture still shouldn't degrade to that extent and should have been designed to take the heat.
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firecapt1
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08/21/11 09:36am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Smoke chips with the Weber Q
With my Weber Q 200 I use a cleaned tuna can as a chip holder. I use the chips meant for the Little Chief Smoker, they're of a much smaller grind than regular "chips."
I put the can on the grill and let it begin to smoke before adding the meat.
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firecapt1
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08/20/11 10:45pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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Starlight 1000 (motion light)
This topic has been moved to another forum.
You can read it here: 25340629
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firecapt1
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08/20/11 10:30pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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Starlight 1000 (motion light)
Just a heads-up on the Star Light 1000 Star Light 1000 . I’ve had one for about 3 years and it has worked well. Recently, I had to change the bulb (it burned out), and when I went to unscrew the lens cover to access the bulb, the screw posts disintegrated. The posts are what the lens screws go into in the fixture base. By disintegrated, I mean that the plastic they were made of has degraded to the point that each post just fell apart as I tried to unscrew the lens cover.
My 5th wheel has been parked for the last 2 years (health problems) and the fixture has been in shade the whole time. I keep my 5er hooked up to house power 24/7/365 to maintain the batteries and for occasional use. I can only surmise that the problem is due to heat created by the light coming on and degrading the plastic. Perhaps the plastic that the fixture is made of is not up to the task?
I emailed the company and they offered me free shipping on a new unit (the old one was out of warranty). No explanation or reason for the plastics’ failure.
Just a warning for those of you that have one installed or are thinking of installing one.
Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.
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firecapt1
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08/20/11 10:30pm |
Tech Issues
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