BBQ Sauce

I've been wanting to make BBQ sauce from scratch for the longest time. But I haven't found a good recipe that caught my eye. Then I found this Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs recipe made of Homemade BBQ sauce, from What's Cookin, Chicago? which was adapted from the Neely's on the Food Network. So I had to give it a try.

It came out a little spicy, so I modified it and lessened the black pepper and added honey to the mix. I like sweet BBQ sauce. After using this on my pork ribs, however, I felt like it needed a lot of salt. I'm not sure if this is the BBQ sauce I'm looking for yet. I guess my search continues.

2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
5 Tbsp. light brown sugar
5 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1) Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and continue simmering for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Spam Musubi

Hubby decided to surprise me with breakfast this morning. So he locked me up in the bedroom while he prepared everything. The last time he did this, he made some Malasadas, a Portuguese style donut that is a favorite in Hawaii (and our family's favorite too). So it was pure torture when he made me wait in the room while I was able to smell whatever he was cooking.

He was finally done and to my surprise, he made another one of my favorite Hawaiian delicacy - Spam Musubi. I know that not everyone is a fan of Spam. But its quite popular in the Asian/Pacific Island culture. Especially in Hawaii. You see, in the old war days when food was scarce, food that was not perishable (like Spam) was brought into the islands for the soldiers. The locals had to find creative ways to make dishes out of Spam and the Spam Musubi was born. Its basically a Spam Sushi and it was a great, portable meal for a lot of the farmers in Hawaii.

So that was my brief history on this yummy dish. And hubby did a great job with it. It came out yummy. I'm glad he made this because I had been meaning to try to make it myself. I may have to ask him to make some again :)

1 1/2 cup uncooked glutinous, sweet rice

1 1/2 cup water

Nori sheets, cut in half

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 cup sugar (or more if you like it sweet)

1 Tbsp. oil

1 (12 oz) can Spam Lite, sliced 1/4 inch thick

Furikake

1) In a rice cooker pot or regular saucepan, pour in rice and water. Cook rice until done.

2) In a skillet, heat oil and lightly brown sliced spam on both sides.

3) Combine soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Pour in the skillet with spam. Cook until sauce begins to boil. Remove from heat.

4) To assemble the Musubi, use a square sushi mold. Place half a sheet of the Nori on the bottom. Place enough rice to reach about 3/4 up of the mold. Sprinkle with a little bit of the Furikake. Top with a slice of Spam. Fold the Nori over the Spam to seal. Serve warm.

*Note: you can also use a prepared teriyaki sauce in place of the soy sauce and sugar mixture.

**Furikake is a Japanese topping which is a mixture of dried fish, seaweed flakes and sesame seed, found in Asian stores

Korean Bulgogi Beef

Here's another great recipe for Bulgogi from What's Cookin, Chicago? It looked so yummy that I absolutely had to try it out. I love Korean BBQ, and I think I've made all kinds of different versions of it. From Korean BBQ Short Rib to Crockpot Korean Short Rib. So I guess this is another addition to my Korean BBQ repertoire.

Its been a while since we've eaten at a Korean BBQ restaurant. So I was really excited to make this. This came out so good. I served this wrapped in lettuce leaf and a side of white rice. It tastes just as good as what you'd find at a Korean restaurant. I am definitely making this again.

3 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

1 Tbsp. sesame seed, plus more for garnish

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup pear nectar (like Kern's or Jumex)

1 lb. sirloin beef, thinly sliced

1 carrot, julienned

1 green onion, chopped into 1-2 inch length

1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced

1) In a large resealable plastic bag, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, garlic (fresh and powder), onion powder, salt, black pepper and pear nectar. Add beef and let marinate for 3 hours to overnight.

2) In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Remove meat from marinade and place in hot skillet. Discard marinade. Brown beef on both sides and add carrots, green onions, and yellow onion. Cook until vegetables become tender but maintains a slight crunch. Garnish with more sesame seeds and serve over steamed white rice or lettuce leaves (to wrap like a burrito).

Smoky Mac 'n Cheese

I received a Betty Crocker calendar in the mail a few days ago and in it were some yummy looking recipes. The Smoky Mac 'n Cheese recipe caught my eye because we all know how much my daughter loves pasta and Mac & Cheese. So this was a must-try recipe for me.

This dish had so much flavor in it. Its a grown-up version of the old classic. With that said, my daughter wasn't too keen on it. Probably because of the flavor and a little bit of spice. I really liked it and will probably make this again for an adult crowd.

3 cups uncooked pasta

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 tsp salt (preferrably sea salt)

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 cups shredded smoked cheddar (I used regular cheddar and a drop of liquid smoke)

1 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, drained

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup plain bread crumbs

2 tsp. olive oil

1) Cook pasta according to directions. Return to saucepan; cover to keep warm.

2) Meanwhile, heat oven to 375 deg F. Grease a 13x9 inch glass baking dish. In a saucepan, heat whipping cream, mustard, salt, and cayenne pepper to boiling. Reduce heat and stir in cheese (and liquid smoke if using) with a wire whisk until smooth.

3) Pour sauce over cooked pasta. Stir in tomatoes and onions. Pour into baking dish. In a small bowl, mix Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Stir in oil. Sprinkle over top of pasta mixture. Bake uncovered 15-20 minutes or until edges are bubbly and top is golden brown.

Orange Banana Smoothie

Another great way to use up some of our oranges is to make a smoothie out of it. This is a concoction I made up a while back and thought it was fitting to make considering all the oranges we have. Its also a great and healthy snack. I used the leftovers to freeze in popsicle molds for my daughter to snack on later on.

6 heaping scoops of fat free vanilla frozen yogurt

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup milk

1 medium banana

zest of 1 orange

1) Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Place in a glass and garnish with a slice of orange.

Orange Muffins

Oranges are in abundance at our house right now. We've harvested a whole bunch of oranges from our tree that I don't know what to do with. Fresh squeezed orange juice isn't always easy to make. Do you know how hard it is to squeeze oranges to make orange juice? Even with a juicer? Its a carpal-tunnel syndrome waiting to happen. So I needed to figure out what to do with some of the oranges we had. I was thinking of making my Orange Ice Cream Popsicle that my daughter loves. But its too cold to be making ice cream right now. So off I went in search of another great recipe. I really wanted to make a cake or some muffins with my fresh oranges. There were quite a few muffin recipes out there, but I'm always leery about trying new recipes that no one has made yet. I knew I wouldn't be disappointed with any of the recipes I try from Annie's Eats, so I had to make her Orange Muffin recipe.

Annie never seems to disappoint me because these were so yummy. They came out moist and light. Not like other muffins that are dense and almost dry. I especially love the sweet orange glaze on top. Hubby said they were really good and orangey and daughter couldn't wait to eat them once they came out of the oven. Though all she really ate was the glaze off of her muffin.

1 cup milk

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

2 stick unsalted butter, melted

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

zest of 1 orange

for the orange glaze:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1-2 tsp. orange zest

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Line muffin pan with 16 liners.

2) In a medium bowl, combine milk, orange juice, sour cream, eggs and melted butter. Whisk together to blend. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir to blend. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in orange zest with a spatula.

3) Evenly distribute batter into muffin cups. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack over a baking sheet. Drizzle glaze over muffins while still warm.

4) To make the glaze, combine orange juice, powdered sugar, orange zest in a small bowl. Whisk together until smooth, adding more orange juice if necessary to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle over muffins. Allow glaze to set before serving or storing in an airtight container.

Beef Pepper Steak

After a week-long of Fat Flush Dieting, hubby and I are in our next phase of dieting. Calorie counting. I use a great website, Sparkpeople, to help track my calories. The last time I religiously calorie counted using Sparkpeople was about 4 years ago, before I became pregnant with my daughter. I lost almost 15 pounds in 3 months. I'm hoping to lose the same amount again. But we'll see.

What's great about calorie counting is that we can eat whatever we want in moderation (unlike the Fat Flush Diet where the food was disgustingly bland). So yesterday, we went shopping at Costco and bought all kinds of protein: beef, chicken, pork. I wanted to find a recipe to use some of the beef I had just bought and I found this great recipe from What's Cookin, Chicago? It was so simple to make and even more delicious to eat. I haven't had a good beef stir-fry in a while and I'm glad I made this one. Hubby and daughter gave me a thumbs-up for this one.

oil for sauteing

1/2 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. lean steak, cut into strips

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 green bell pepper, cut into chunks

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. water

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. oyster sauce

salt & pepper to taste

1) Place beef strips in a medium bowl and add 1 Tbsp. of cornstarch. Massage cornstarch into meat and refrigerate for an hour.

2) In a skillet or wok, heat oil at medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook until onion is softened. Add prepared beef and cook until brown and no longer pink.

3) Add bell pepper and continue cooking until bell peppers are softened. Stir in 1/2 cup water, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Use the liquid to scrape off the brown bits that form on the bottom of the pan. Bring sauce to a boil.

4) In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 Tbsp. cornstarch and 2 Tbsp. water. Stir in cornstarch mixture into pan to thicken the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over white rice.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I had a taste for my Creamy Taco Mac one day, but realized I didn't have the taco seasoning that it called for. So we had hot dogs instead :( Then I found this Taco Seasoning recipe from Annie's Eats. What a great idea! So I decided to make a batch in case I find the need again for some taco seasoning. Because, frankly, I'd hate to make a trip to the grocery store just to buy taco seasoning.

4 Tbsp. chili powder

3 Tbsp. ground cumin

3 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. paprika

1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1) Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until well incorporated. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

*Two heaping tablespoons replaces a package of taco seasoning

**To make taco meat, cook 1 lb. of meat with taco seasoning and 1 cup of water. Simmer until liquid is almost completely evaporated.