Red Beard Cooks

Okay…hear me out on this one. I know it appears weird but it was actually pretty good.

I was scrolling through the new food items listed for the Wisconsin State Fair and found this Hot Ham and Glazers. It’s essentially (hot) ham and Swiss cheese with a raspberry sauce between two Kwik Trip glazers.

I had to give it a try myself as I didn’t think I’d end up making to that fair. And I knew sooner rather than later I’d be in Wisconsin and could get the donuts. We had ham in the freezer, Swiss cheese in the fridge and, believe it or not, had a raspberry sauce/jam.

When I got around to making it I had a hard time believing that I was actually making the dish since it is a little ridiculous. But it was really good. I’d make it again but from a health perspective, I don’t think it’s a good idea.

This is a Fireball Campfire, another drink that I have a list of ingredients for but no quantities so I was left to make up my own. The list include grenadine, fireball, bourbon, peach nectar, rum and cranberry juice.

I didn’t have any peach nectar and I used Jack Daniel’s Cinnamon Whiskey instead of fireball.

My quantities were 2 ounces each cinnamon whiskey, bourbon and rum with one ounce of cranberry and a quarter ounce of grenadine.

This wasn’t bad but it’s much darker and more red than the picture of the recipe in the original post. Probably needed to back off of the cranberry. Plus my rum was an aged rum so it had some color as well.

This is a much more recently saved IG video for a cucumber “salad”. This was very good and something I would do again. Probably need a bit more practice at cutting the cucumber as some still fell apart but they didn’t change the flavor at all. Since the recommendation was that this was better the next day, I made it at night and let it sit in the fridge overnight. It actually sat for a full day before I got around to eating any. Can’t compare since I didn’t try it right away but I can see how waiting further softened the cucumbers and the flavors grew.

Check out the video here —> https://tinyurl.com/33mv75tf

Another older IG video, this one for a Crunch Hashbrown Toast…Sandwich? The video does a great job of explaining everything. I followed the directions, including letting the hasbbrowns thaw a bit and tossing them with cornstarch before refreezing. That worked well, though I never got as much color as I wanted though it was pretty crunchy.

Mine turned out a bit taller than his but that was due to overfilling the egg portion of the sandwich with steak, onions and whatnot. Only one egg but it was still pretty full.

This was really good though a bit of work.

Check out the video here —> https://tinyurl.com/ywf7bra9

Cleaning out more old IG videos that I have saved, these Sushi Waffles were interesting to try. The video talks about using sushi rice so it is sticky though in the end I made the usual long grain white rice and added an egg white to help bind it.

That worked okay though I think I put too much in the waffle iron. Mine is pretty deep but in the end it wasn’t really crisping up. One side kind of did but it wasn’t a nice flat piece that could be cut and held together.

Overall though, this was pretty good. In reality it’s a lot of what would be in sushi but laid on top of the rice. Almost could just put it over rice and call it a day. Though the. It wouldn’t be very fancy.

Check out the video here —> https://tinyurl.com/9kmdxvk8

Came across this “recipe” (list of ingredients) for a Lemon Lavender Margarita that I decided to try since I still have dried lavender to use (from Bloomington Spice Works). It meant making more lavender syrup (1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water and 1 1/2 tablespoons dried lavender - heat, steep, strain) but that’s okay.

There were no quantities listed so here is what I went -

2 oz tequila
3/4 ounce EACH lemon juice, orange liqueur, lavender syrup
2 dashes orange bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a glass. I did a salt rim and lemon wedge but garnish is up to you.

Turned out well though mine wasn’t as yellow as the one in the picture.

This recipe is about the Gorgonzola Cream Sauce though I’m sad to say it didn’t turn out like I thought it would. Or at least it didn’t get as thick as I thought it would. Which meant that it didn’t cling to the pasta the way I had hoped. And while I had it saved for quite a while, it was a good recipe to use up the Keystone Gorgonzola I had from Bloomington Spice Works.

Check out the recipe here —> https://tinyurl.com/ye23vrxn

This Orange Bread is another recipe from one of my mother in law’s cookbooks. It turned out to be a great recipe and as the recipe noted, it does make excellent toast.

It was kind of odd that one side split open while baking. Even though the recipe didn’t say anything about slashing the top with a lame, I almost did and in hindsight should have. I’d make this again.

1 cake yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
½ cup sugar
1¼ cups orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
1 large egg
¼ cup melted butter
4 to 5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Dissolve the yeast in 1 tablespoon of warm water. Add to the orange juice, egg, butter, salt, sugar, grated rind, and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Add 2 more cups flour or more, using just enough so that dough can be kneaded, and the vanilla extract. Knead dough until smooth and elastic.

Place in a bowl, brush with butter, cover, and let rise until doubled. Put into 1 large loaf pan, well buttered, or 2 smaller glass pans.
Let rise again until doubled, and then bake in a 350° oven for 45 min-utes, or until done.

We were given a bunch of rhubarb recently and while most got cut and froze for later use I saved some out know I had a few recipes saved. I settled on this one for a Rhubarb Upside Down Cake.

I was very happy with the end result. It came out pretty easily and didn’t fall apart. It was a little odd, in my mind, that the streusel type topping was now the bottom but it worked. I made one change to the linked recipe and that was to use strawberry jelly in place of the red currant jelly.

Check out the recipe here —> https://tinyurl.com/39hvrad8

I’ve posted about this chorizo recipe before but I forgot about it until I came across the picture I still had on my phone of the recipe.

It’s nice and quick and packs a little bit of a punch but it’s not overpowering. At least for me. Granted the original recipe calls for a half pound of pork and I use a full pound so I imagine it would be stronger with only half the meat.

Highly recommend.

1½ tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1½ teaspoons ground coriander
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
¾/4
teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch ground allspice
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1½ teaspoons sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
8 ounces ground pork

Following up to the Crème de Menthe bars from yesterday, I decided that I’d finally make my version of this Seasick Crocodile drink a local restaurant highlighted (about a year and a half ago) that I had forgotten I had even saved.

This drink is much more of a grasshopper. In fact, in looking at a recipe for a grasshopper, it’s pretty much this plus the vodka makes it a “flying grasshopper” (per the internet anyways).

My measurements are as follows. I put everything in a shaker with ice and strained into glass with more ice. Topped with whipped cream from a can and the shavings are actually a Hershey kiss that I grated with a micro plane.

2 oz vodka
1 oz Mr. Black coffee liqueur
2 oz crème de menthe
2 oz crème de cacao
2 oz heavy cream

This recipe for Creme de Menthe Bars was another I snagged randomly out of one of my mother in laws cookbooks. I did so because it reminds me of grasshopper pie which is a staple on my mother’s side for any family gathering.

These did not taste like grasshopper pie but they were good in their own right. Like, actually really good. I ate way too much of the pan when I really need to be cutting g back on the sugar. But I’d make them again. My only issue was the chocolate got a little hot in the microwave so it didn’t spread as easily but you can’t tell from the picture. It just didn’t quite make it to the edges of the pan.

1¼ cups margarine (or unsalted butter)
½ cups unsweetened cucoa powder
3 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten tsp. vanilla
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cups green Creme DeMenthe
1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

In saucepan heat 1/2 cup margarine and the cocoa, stirring until well blended. Remove from the heat and add 1 cup powdered sugar, egg and vanilla. Stir in cracker crumbs, mix well. Press in bottom of 9 x 13 ungreased pan.

Melt 1/2 cup margarine, add Creme DeMenthe, beat in remaining powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over the chocolate layer and chill for 1 hour.

Melt remaining butter and chocolate chips and spread over the Creme DeMenthe Layer.

Chill 1-2 hours. Cut in 1 inch squares. Don't cut to cold, chocolate will break.

Checking off another saved recipe, this is “Walter Sands Basic White Bread” from King Arthur Baking Company. A pretty good loaf and it lives up to the name - a basic white bread. Not a whole lot to say about it.

Check out the recipe here —> https://tinyurl.com/4z66a2ph

This Sausage, Greens and Beans Pasta is another recipe that I saved again based on it popping up on my Facebook memories. Can’t recall when I made last since I saved it about a year ago and am just now getting around to doing it.

Overall this was a good pasta. A little involved but it wasn’t too complicated. I did choose to use spinach over the other “greens” they were calling for. I also used chickpeas but would suggest using a different bean. Despite the lengthy cooking time, they never really softened.

⅓ cup olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
8 ounces spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas or cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed, patted dry
¼ cup dry white wine
12 ounces paccheri, rigatoni, or other large tubular pasta
Kosher salt
8 cups (lightly packed) torn escarole, kale, or Swiss chard leaves
¾ cup finely grated Parmesan, divided
Freshly ground black pepper

Step 1
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Fry rosemary, turning, until crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Step 2
Add sausage to same pot and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon and stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through, 8-10 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a plate.

Step 3
Add chickpeas to pot and cook, tossing occasionally and mashing some chickpeas with spoon, until browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Transfer about half of chickpeas to plate with sausage. Add wine to pot, bring to a boil, and cook until liquid is almost completely evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Step 4
Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, about 3 minutes less than package directions.

Step 5
Using a spider or a slotted spoon, transfer pasta to pot with chickpeas and add escarole and i cup pasta cooking liquid. Cook, tossing often, until escarole is wilted, pasta is al dente, and sauce is thickened, about 4 minutes. Add another ¼ cup pasta cooking liquid, then gradually add ½ cup cheese, tossing until melted and dissolved into a luxurious, glossy sauce. Thin with more pasta cooking liquid if needed. Season with pepper, and more salt if needed. Add butter and toss. Add more cooking liquid if needed. Season with pepper, and more salt if needed. Add butter and toss to combine, then mix in reserved sausage and chickpeas.

Step 6
Divide pasta among bowls. Crumble rosemary over top and sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup cheese.

These Crispy & Crunchy Lettuce Wraps were another seasoning packet we had from Epicure. You mixed the packet into a pound of ground pork, 2 diced bell peppers, a tablespoon of water and a teaspoon each of soy sauce and sesame oil.

The packet was tamari powder, ginger, garlic, chives and chiles. I used green bell peppers while the picture showed red. Red may have been better from a presentation standpoint but otherwise I don’t think it mattered.

You cooked everything in a wok, though any pan would work.

These were okay. Taste wise they were fine but the whole lettuce wrap thing wasn’t working for me. Maybe it was the quality of my lettuce. I used the rest with eggs for a breakfast burrito and that was pretty good.

Happy 4th of July!

I have made the American Flag Pie linked in the recipe below from King Arthur Baking Company several times but decided this year I didn’t want to mess with crusts so I just made a crisp.

I followed the directions for the blueberries and strawberries (no rhubarb this time) and put it in a 9x13 pan. I then put a topping over it that was 3/4 cup each brown sugar, flour and oatmeal plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon. One stick of butter mixed in with a pastry blender and sprinkled over the top.

It doesn’t have the same look since it’s just the blue in the corner with the red but it worked really well for a relatively quick and easy dessert. Baked at 375° for 45 minutes then cooled.

Check out the original recipe here —> https://tinyurl.com/4xkcx63y

This was another relatively recent IG find and one I was really looking forward to trying. I managed to find the Baja Fiery Mango Doritos (quite by accident) so I had to run and grab some chicken as well.

This worked yet didn’t work. It worked nicely to crush the Doritos and use them as the final coating (even shaking in the bag) but they did not come out of the fryer looking all nice and orange like they started.

I used new oil (canola) in the little fryer we have but it just browned up. Not sure the issue but I bet if I would have baked them or air fried them (though I don’t have an air fryer) they would have stayed orange. Also, it lost the taste of the Doritos so it was kind of just another chicken tender. Luckily I had saved some of the Doritos to try separately for the taste perspective so I at least knew what they were supposed to taste like.

I thought they were good. Enough of a kick that you knew it was there but not too much. Though I can’t say I would sit here and eat a whole bag.

Check out the video here —> https://tinyurl.com/mr3derhk

This is a Soy Old Fashioned, one of my more recent IG finds. The video is linked below. And yes, this is “soy” as in soy sauce.

It was…different. I agree with the description that it was both sweet and savory but I’m really not sure I liked it. As a friend would put it - I don’t need all that extra stuff, just give me the bourbon. And don’t mind the lemon peel…more examples of my difficulties with garnishes. 🤣

2 oz bourbon
2 dashes soy sauce
3 dashes orange bitters
1 barspoon (teaspoon) simple syrup

This recipe popped up recently in a Facebook memory. The name of it is a Chicken Carbonara Risotto. However, it is not a risotto nor is it really a carbonara. I can’t really say why it’s called that except that was the name on the recipe. It’s more of a chicken and rice dish.

What I can say is it’s a super quick and easy recipe that at least mimics a risotto. And it has bacon so…that’s always positive.

I’d recommend it as an easy recipe when you need something like that.

1 TBSP oil
1lb chicken breasts, cut into bit sized pieces
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup frozen peas
11/2 cups milk
2 cups instant white rice
1/4 cup chopped, cooked bacon
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Cook chicken until done, about 4-5 minutes. Add the soup, peas and milk. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice; cover. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in bacon and Parmesan cheese.

This Honey Coffee Cake is another recipe that I snapped a picture of from one of my mother in law’s cookbooks a while back. Cookbook unknown unfortunately as I didn’t capture what it was as well.

The recipe comments stated that this was better the next day so I made it the night before. Plus there was no way I had time to make this in the morning.

I don’t know exactly what kind of “10 inch round pan” I was supposed to use but I used my tube pan, curling the log around the center and doing my best to seal the resulting seam. A Bundt pan might have worked as well though it did rise quite a bit.

The end result was pretty good. I didn’t do anything extra - glaze, icing, brushing butter. Mostly from laziness of just not wanting to but I don’t think it needed it anyways.

Note - a yeast cake is equal to 2 1/4 teaspoons

3/4 cup heavy cream
2 egg yolks
⅓ cup honey
2 yeast cakes dissolved in ½ cup warm water
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups flour or more
2 teaspoons salt
Filling

Heat the cream to lukewarm and pour over the honey, butter, and sugar.

When cooled add the salt and the egg yolks and blend well. Add the yeast mixture and enough flour to make a stiff dough. (You may need another ½ cup flour.) This dough is so rich that, like that for many coffee cakes, it requires no kneading. Cover and let rise until doubled. Then turn out on a floured board and roll into an oblong. Spread with the filling. Roll as for a jelly roll and coil in a well-buttered round 10-inch pan. Cover and let rise again.

Bake in a 375° oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until nicely browned. Serve hot with butter, or cool and spread with a glaze and sprinkle with more chopped nuts.

FILLING
2 egg whites, beaten stiff
¾ cup sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Combine ingredients and spread over the dough.

I was given this recipe for a Cinnamon Peach Picnic Cake and since I’m pretty much a sucker for anything peach I had to try it.

This was good but now quite what I thought it was going to be. It turned out much more like a coffee cake than, I don’t know, an actual cake. Maybe that’s what it was supposed to be like but it is described as a dessert.

Worth a try.

⅓ cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½2 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1¼ cups packed light brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups diced peeled peaches (3 to 4 peaches) (about 1 ¼ lb.)*
(2-oz.) pkg. sliced almonds (about ⅔ cup)

1 Heat oven to 350°F. Spray13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Combine sugar, cinnamon and ginger in small bowl.

2 Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.

3 Beat butter in large bowl at medium speed 30 seconds or until creamy. Beat in brown sugar until combined. Beat in egg until well-blended. Beat in almond extract.
At low speed, beat in flour mixture in three parts alternately with buttermilk until just blended, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
(Mixture will look curdled.) Stir in peaches. Spread batter in pan; sprinkle with almonds and cinnamon mixture.

4 Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Checking off another one of my saved IG videos, this drink is called a Scooby Snack. And yes, I originally saved it purely for the name.

It is a fun drink though I have to be honest and say I did not like it. And that’s my own fault because it uses coconut rum and I very much dislike it. It smells like sunscreen for Pete’s sake!

However, my wife is a fan of coconut rum so she was more than happy to finish the drink and have a second. Now to figure out what to do with the rest of the melon liqueur…

As far as measuring goes, I estimated based on the pour but went with 2 ounces of run and 1 ounce each of the melon and pineapple juice.

Check out the video here —> https://tinyurl.com/2dysk8h6

I haven’t made bread in a while which has been okay since I am pretty much the only one that eats it. But I thought it was time to make some more and I still have this bag of oat flour in the cupboard so I went looking for an oat flour bread recipe.

I settled on the one linked below. It turned out well though you can see my cut marks in the picture as I wasn’t confident in the loaf when I went to cut it and was a bit hesitant. But it was fine. I’d make this again, mainly to use up the rest of the flour. One change - it says it makes three loaves. I made two, using slightly larger pans.

Check out the recipe here —> https://tinyurl.com/39t6a2fk

This Chicken Caesar Sandwich was inspired by a post from Cabalar Meat Co a while back. I can’t compare mine to theirs since I’ve never had theirs but it was a pretty good sandwich in its own right.

I made my own chicken tenders with flour, egg wash and crushed corn flakes. I baked mine rather than frying. Turned out well though the coating was different as the corn flakes were all the same consistency.

For the dressing, I made my own using the recipe linked below. THAT was fantastic and almost worth the effort itself. I used the leftovers on regular salads and have saved that recipe for the future.

Check out the recipe here —> https://tinyurl.com/2ynp6tsn

The same friend that shared the puppy chow variation asked me to make these smoked shotgun shells for the same get together. Or rather, their daughter said they wanted them. Happy to oblige.

I made a variation of these last year though I can’t remember exactly what I did for that version. This version was mixing a pound of ground pork with an 8 ounce block of cream cheese and healthy amount of Redbird Rub from Bloomington Spice Works. That was piped in to cooked manicotti shells which were then wrapped in bacon. I used two pieces per shell and it was regular bacon - not thick cut. I used two pieces to try and make sure all of the shell was covered. I recall from last year that the parts of the shell that weren’t covered got hard. I dusted the bacon with more of the Redbird Rub.

I smoked these at 250° until done which worked out to be about 3 hours. First was making sure the pork inside was cooked and then it became getting the bacon done to my preference.

These turned out really well. The two pieces of bacon worked to cover everything. Definitely making these again. Or at least another variation.

I had a friend send me the video linked below. Bringing puppy chow to their house when we hang out is pretty much a given so this ritz bits and oreo puppy chow was a different take.

Generally speaking it was good, though there was a lot of grief given for not just making the normal puppy chow. The video doesn’t specify but I used the normal puppy chow recipe for the butter, peanut butter and chocolate. Then just went for it with the powdered sugar. Whatever they call for in the recipe never seems to be enough.

Hard to say which was better the ritz bits or the oreo. I think my money is on the ritz bits.

Check out the video here —> https://tinyurl.com/ubjaku7z

Finally pulled the trigger on making this cocktail - the Blinker. I was procrastinating on buying the bottle of Michter’s Bourbon though I can’t say why. And I will say that you could make this cocktail with any bourbon.

It was a good cocktail. I am minus the garnish as we ended up not having enough raspberries. Truth be told, I got the shaker stuck and had to set it aside and figure out how to mix up another one in a makeshift shaker. It worked though I used up all the raspberries. I did eventually get the shaker apart.

I ended up buying one grapefruit and juicing it so I had plenty for the second cocktail (and more).

1.5 oz Michter's US*1 Small Batch Bourbon
1 oz fresh ruby red grapefruit juice5 oz fresh lime juice 75 oz simple Syrup
3 fresh raspberries

Lightly muddle 3 raspberries in the large tin of a cocktail shaker.
Add the sugar, citrus, and Michter's US*1
Bourbon to the small tin.
Add ice and shake. Double strain over fresh ice in double rocks glass. Garnish with 3 raspberries skewered on a cocktail pick.