Ok – here’s another side of me that you all have probably never seen. I have a couple of legendary (pun intended) recipes that I usually break out for special occasions (usually called football tailgates) but that I am willing to share here.
First of all:
UncleLar’s Killer Kreole Kornbread Sausage Stuffing
(served when we deep fry a turkey at our tailgate)
Ingredients:
- box of cornbread mix
- 1 cup minced onion
- 2 tablespoons chopped green basil
- 4 teaspoons cayenne powder (or cajun seasoning)
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons ground white pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 chopped green onion
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 2 cups chopped red bell pepper
- 2 green chili peppers, chopped
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (Tabasco)
- 8 oz butter
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 lb spicy Italian sausage (casing removed)
- 2 cups evaporated milk
- 7 eggs, beaten
Directions:
- Make the cornbread following the recipe on the box.
- In a small bowl combine the salt with the white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, onion powder, oregano, thyme, basik, and bay leaves.
- In another bowl, combine the minced onions, green onions, parsley, red/green peppers, chili peppers, and garlic
- Melt the cup of butter in a large fry pan. Add the spices and cook for a few minutes. Add the vegetables and cook about 5 minutes. Do not allow the vegetables to brown.
- Place the sausage in the skillet, crumble and cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain.
- Add the chicken broth and the Tabasco. Stir and cook 5 minutes more.
- Crumble the cornbread into the skillet and mix.
- Add the evaporated milk and eggs off the heat. Make sure to stir when adding the eggs. Return to a low heat and cook, stirring, for about 2 minuts.
- Remove the bay leaves. Place the stuffing in a bowl and cover. Cool before stuffing turkey (the stuffing will be plenty HOT without needing any external heat) if serving with regular turkey or serve on the side with a deep fried turkey.
If you like spicy food, this recipe is a killer (hence the name). It’s great for tailgates because it warms the body.
Next Recipe:
UncleLar’s Chili Extraordinaire
(haven’t tried this in the crockpot yet)
Ingredients:
- 3.5 lbs sirloin steak
- 1 lb pork sausage
- 3 medium white onions
- 4 dried red New Mexico chiles
- 4 chilpotle chiles
- 2 7-oz cans chopped green chiles (optional)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp ground comino (cumin seed)
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- Mesquite seasoning
- steak rub/lime juice/soy sauce
- 4 10-oz cans diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp paprika
- 3 fresh chopped sage leafs
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1 tsp thyme
- 6 pack of beer
Directions:
- Cut off the tops of the dried New Mexico chiles to remove the stems and seed and to expose the interior, leaving them as whole as possible. Cut the tops off of the Chipotles and cut them lengthwise to extract the seeds. Set all of the chiles aside steeping on a small saucer in hot water (just enough to cover).
- Dust the steaks with the Mesquite seasoning, then marinade in the lime juice and soy sauce after a little fork-poking. Pop a beer and grill the steaks over hot goals until medium, then set aside. Set aside a 1/2 lb to snack on while you finish the cooking.
- Get a big oven ready pot. Add the pork sausage, onion, garlic, and saute until the onion is soft.
- Chop the steaks into 1/2 inch cubes and add to pot. Add a beer of your choice (and probably time for another one for yourself).
- Back to the chiles. Remove the New Mexicos from the hot water and cut them in half, length-wise. For each half, carefully scrape off the inner pulp with a flat knife, angled away from the scraping direction. Then scrape the pulp off the knife into a blender. Add the water and the chilpotles, and blend into a sauce. Keep your face away from the sauce DO NOT try to smell it, it’s deadly on the eyes. BTW – if you have to go to the bathroom at any point in time I suggest using gloves – eyes aren’t the only thing that’s sensitive to the sauce.
- Add the ground comino, oregano, paprika, sage, celery, thyme, and the optional green chiles to the pot and add about half of the sauce. Pour in a bottle of beer and pop another for yourself.
- Put in a 300 degree oven for an hour. After an hour test for spice and moisture. Add more or all of the sauce, if you like. Consider adding another bottle of beer if the things appear to be drying out too much. Put back in the over for another hour.
- After the second hour, check for doneness. The sirloin should come apart easily and the gravy should be thick not water. Cooking another hour is not out of the question.
- Serve in bowls with cheese or use as a dip for tortillas.
- You might consider having milk, sherbet, ice cream, and/or cold cucumber slices handy because someone will need them. The chili has an extraordinary afterbite – hence the name.
Another excellent tailgate recipe, the chili keeps you warm just like the stuffing.
