Shotgun shells

Prep:

 

 

 

 

 

Start smoking:

 

 

 

 

 

Finish smoking:

 

 

 

 

 

Serve:

 

 

 

 

 

Smoked Shotgun Shells
8/18/2024
1 lb Johnson sausage links; casing removed
1 lb or less ground dark chicken, 8% fat; Jennie?
1 cup farmstyle, lowfat shredded mozzarella
manicotti shells, cooked for 5 minutes – 11 out of the 14 wrapped with bacon
Johnson’s thin-sliced bacon, 11 slices in a pkg – maybe not a pound
  • The non-bacon ones were too tough to cut without a bacon wrapper, even though we pre-cooked the shell and assembled the night before. Don’t do again.
  • Hard to fill pre-cooked. Try another method?
  • Had enough leftover meat to make 4 sausage patties.
  • Smoked for just under 2 hours. Turned halfway through. Aimed for 250 degrees / 160 temperature of meat at the end. Cheese and grease messy. Foil on the grate would block the smoke?
  • Put a little of the garlic Parmesan butter base on after cooking, but not sure it added much. To soften then shells that weren’t covered? Also tried some bacon jelly, which added some sweetness. Didn’t try the spaghetti sauce.

Valentine’s Day 2024

It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without a menu of yummy carrot dishes.

Carrot Salad

3 T sesame oil
3 clove garlic, minced and sautéed
3 T rice wine vinegar
juice of one lime
zest of that lime
1 T soy sauce
1/2 T sugar
2 cups carrots, peeled into long curls using a peeler

from ncfieldfamily.org

Pasta with bacon and creamy carrot sauce

1 lb bacon
1 lb carrots
16 oz pkg orecchiette pasta or other funny-looking pasta
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1/4 c. dill

 

 

Cook bacon
To make carrot puree: peel carrots, slice, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Drain, then use hand/wand blender, using some of the cooking water if necessary

Mix everything together.

savoryonline.com April 2023 p.55

Carrot Pie

Carrot Pie

3/4 container whipped dessert topping
3/4 c. carrot puree
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. maple syrup
graham cracker pie shell

Make carrots into puree, let cool.
Meanwhile, mix cream cheese, sugar, and syrup. Fold in puree, pour into pie shell, and freeze.

weather plugin

Howdy.  Here is the recently-installed weather plugin:

[location-weather id=”1217″]
However, that one was stupid.  Here is a different one:
[noaa-weather noaa_code=”KGAI”]

Valentine’s Day 2023

Spiced Carrot Dip

1 1/2 Ib carrots. cut into 1″ pieces
2 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp ground mustard
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
3/4 tsp cumin
1 c 2% Greek-style yogurt
1/2 c reduced-fat sour cream
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

* Cook carrots until tender, about 20 minutes. Blend with hand blender.
* Add remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth.
(original recipe said to toast mustard seeds instead of using ground)
adapted from prevention.com

Carrot Bacon

5 medium carrots
4 tbsps maple syrup
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
⅛ teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) if using a regular oven. If using an air-fryer set it to 380°F (190°C).

Wash carrots and peel thinly lengthwise with a vegetable peeler or mandolin slicer.

In a shallow dish, mix together the remainder of the ingredients.

Marinate the carrot strips in the sauce for at least 5 minutes. Work in batches if needed so that the carrots are fully covered.

Place carrots on a lined baking sheet evenly spread out. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes (or in an air-fryer for 5 minutes), flipping halfway through. When they are wavy they are ready. Don’t worry if they’re not crunchy yet, they will harden more as they cool. Sprinkle with salt if you want them to dry out faster and become crispier.

from healthmylifestyle

Russian Carrot Salad (Korean-style)

1 pound carrots, peeled and julienned (preferably with a mandoline)
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 ½ teaspoons salt
⅓ cup vegetable oil
½ onion, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Place carrots in a large bowl. Sprinkle garlic over carrots.
Mix vinegar, sugar, and salt together in a small bowl.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in hot oil until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir coriander and cayenne pepper into the onion; add to carrot mixture and toss. Pour vinegar dr
essing over carrot mixture; toss to coat.
Transfer carrot salad to a dish with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and refrigerate 4 to 24 hours, tossing salad several times while it marinates.

from allrecipes

Grits & Carrots & Shrimp

Ingredients:

grits
carrots
shrimp

Directions:

cook
eat

all together

Valentine’s week 2022

We had the Thai Salad that we had in 2014.

Roasted Carrot and Coconut Soup

1 1/2 pounds carrots, roughly chopped (about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cups chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons red curry paste
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (15-oz.) can unsalted cannellini beans, drained
3 or 4 cups unsalted chicken stock
1 (15-oz.) can light coconut milk
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 ripe avocado
bacon
1 cup cooked lentils

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss together carrots, 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt on a large foil-lined baking sheet. Roast at 450°F until carrots are fork-tender, about 20 minutes, stirring once.

Heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Add onion; cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes.

Add curry paste, grated ginger, and crushed red pepper to Dutch oven, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 1 minute. Add cooked carrots, cannellini beans, vegetable stock, coconut milk, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over high. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 5 minutes.

Blend with hand stick mixer until smooth, about 1 minute or so.

Stir in bacon, lime juice. Serve with cilantro, avocado, and lentils.

adapted from Cooking Light

Microwave Potato Ham Dinner

2 cups cubed peeled potatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons margarine
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups cubed fully cooked lean ham

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the potatoes, carrots, celery and water. Cover and microwave on high for 5-1/2 minutes, stirring once. Add onion; cover and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring once. Pour into a 2-qt. microwave-safe baking dish coated with cooking spray; set aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the margarine, covered, on high for 30-40 seconds or until melted. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk.

Cook, uncovered, on high for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly, stirring after each minute. Stir in the cheese until melted. Pour over the vegetables. Stir in ham. Cover and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes or until heated through.

Taste of Home

Carrot Pecan Crunch Pie

Carrot custard filling topped by crunchy pecan streusel

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans
4 cups carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 eggs
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 pinch salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Topping: In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, melted butter or margarine, and chopped pecans. Mix well and set aside.

Carrot Custard: Steam carrots until tender. Drain and cool. Place cooled carrots in a
bowl and mix with hand wand mixer, add
eggs, condensed milk, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour carrot mixture into pie shell. Sprinkle with pecan topping.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

allrecipes

Walnut Maple ice cream

2 Quart Cuisinart / made about 1.5 quarts.

4 cups half-and-half (1 quart)
2 cups whole milk
1.5 cups whipping cream
4 egg yolks

12.5 ounces of maple syrup, cooked down to about 1/2. (10 minutes on stove once it gets boiling.)

Cook the milks and temper the eggs; bring back up to 170 degrees.
Stir in the maple syrup.

Cool in dishpan with ice packs.
Add a dash of salt.
3 TBS of vanilla – too much?

Brown 1.5 cups of walnuts – a bit too much, but save for topping.

Put 4.5 cups of slurry, right to the top of the right dasher for about 22 minutes. A bit too much slurry and nuts.

Slurry aged for 48 hours. All the milks were store brand. Only the whole milk was organic.

Notes:

1st draft.
Consider splitting the maple syrup with sugar or glucose?
The texture was good, but using 3 types of milk makes the recipe more complicated.
Used large recipe, and then just churned 1/2 at a time. We split the full recipes into two churnings: The first churning, with pre-chopped walnuts, and a had texture than the version with hand chopped nuts — the size wasn’t as consistent.
Used $10, Grade A,  store brand . Try Grade B next time: Grade B maple syrup has a more pronounced maple taste.