Vitamin G Bacon Burgers

Okay... so you are asking yourself, what the hell is a vitamin G burger. Simply the best darn hamburger that you can possibly make, but, I wouldn't advise eating one more than once a month.

Okay, so what are they. Simply, they are homemade burgers, fried in bacon grease. Yes, you head me, bacon grease. My oldest son and his Godfather made a trip a few years back to Memphis and they ate at this place called Dyers. He hasn't stopped talking about these burgers since. Anyhow, he asked me one day if I could make something similar. Well after doing some research and adding a few touches of my own, this is it.

Okay, so first you need a pound of bacon. I find this best to do outside on a grill if possible. What I do is take a large dutch oven, remove the lid, and add a little Crisco / Lard / Shortening to the pot. One other thing I do is I remove the grates to my grill and allow the dutch oven to sit directly on the flavor bars. I do this so I can get the heat that I need in the pot. Once everything is hot and the grease is melted, I add all the bacon. Fry it up just like you normally would.

While the bacon is cooking, make some homemade burgers with ground beef. Don't make them too think as it will not cook right. In fact, it's not a bad idea to whack them once with a cast iron skillet to flatten them a bit.

Once the bacon is all cooked, set it aside and keep warm.

Next, check the oil level in the dutch oven. You ideally want enough grease to cover the entire burger. I like about 2 - 3 " of grease in the pot for this. When everything is set, add a few hamburgers into the pot, and close the lid on your grill. Allow these to cook a few minutes, then open the grill and turn the burgers over so they cook on both sides evenly (sometimes they tend to float and the tops don't cook right). When they look to be done, remove them from the grease.

When all of the burgers are done, you need to quickly dip the buns into the grease as well. I just lay the inside part of the bun halves in the grease for a second or two and then remove them.

Once all done, you need to top the burgers with some cheese, pickles, an onion and the bacon. Place these on your buns and enjoy!

Like I said before, yes there is a ton of grease in these, so you won't want to eat them every day, but the grease is what makes them Vitamin G burgers.

Enjoy!

John’s Killer Grilled Buffalo Wings

Okay, some time back I was watching a cooking show and they were talking about buffalo wings. My family and I really love these things and I was trying to think of a different way to cook these. We all know the basic fry them in oil and cover them with your favorite sauce recipe, but I really wanted something different. Anyhow, they were talking about grilled chicken legs, and that inspired me to come up with this recipe.

First off, you need a sauce. I like to make a basic sauce with Franks Red Hot Sauce (Personally, I think this is the best hot sauce out there since it is not too hot and the flavor is outstanding), and some other ingredients. Normally, when I make my wing sauce, I don't add vinegar, or the brown sugar, but with this recipe, it add a nice zing, and the sugar ands some complexity to it while grilling. You need to heat these all together on the stove, or in the microwave, and then the most important part; you need to fill a clean spray bottle up with the sauce. This will allow you to mist the wings in the sauce as you cook them.

Sauce:
2 cups Franks Red Hot hot sauce
2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons
Stick of butter

Seasonings:
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Italian seasoning
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup dried rosemary
2 tablespoons of red pepper (more or less to taste)


The above should be enough for 7 or 8 pounds of wings.
Rinse and drain 7 to 8 pounds wings. Pour some of the Red Hot sauce over them, and toss. Add seasoning mixture (above) until generously coated. You will lose some in the cooking, so don't skimp!

Place the wings on a gas grill (or smoker) and slow cook them at a very low temperature. I find it best to cook them over indirect heat. After 20 minutes mist them with sprayer at least every 10 minutes. Flip them after you mist them. Total cooking time should be around 1 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on the heat of the grill. They're done when they break at the joint or you can break the wing tip off.

For an exceptional taste, you have to try these over a smoker. First off, the cooler heat is just perfect, but the smoky taste that this imparts is just fantastic!

Grandma Horvath's Hungarian Cabbage Rolls (Part I)

One of the things I miss the most about my Grandma Horvath, other than her love, her smile, and her funny little saying is her cooking. I remember growing up as a kid, and listening to my Mom talk to Grandma. I loved hearing my Mom say that she would be over there shortly to pick something up that Grandma had just cooked.

One of the favorite recipes that Grandma made though were her Hungarian Cabbage Rolls. These were not ordinary cabbage rolls, but monster cabbage rolls. In fact, just one was a meal.

It took me quite some time after Grandma died to figure out how she made these. Many people gave me their take on how a cabbage roll should be made, but they were all missing something. My biggest regret in knowing my Grandma is that I never asked to spend an afternoon with her in the kitchen to see how she made all of her wonderful dishes.

Well, what follows, is how I believe Grandma would have made this wonderful dish.

First off, to get her cabbage rolls correctly, the sauce, or what I like to call, the gravy, has to be just right. In many of my attempts, I just poured a tomato type sauce over the cabbage rolls, and this wasn't what Grandma did. After doing some research and experimenting, I found that one of the secret ingredients was sour cream.

Ingredients (enough to make about 8 cups)

• 1 tablespoon freshly rendered lard (See below)
• 5 – 20 tablespoons Hungarian paprika or more to taste (don’t buy cheap paprika… Grandma would have a fit)
• 10 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and chopped (not powdered garlic)
• 1 cup seeded and chopped Anaheim green peppers or chopped but not seeded Cubanella peppers

• 1 cup peeled and chopped yellow onions
• ½ cup chopped ripe tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon chicken base
• 6 cups beef stock
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

Heat a large heavy stove top stock pot and add the lard and paprika. Cook over medium heat for a moment and then add the garlic, green pepper, onion, and tomatoes. Simmer for a few minutes until all is tender. Add the chicken base and beef stock, along with the salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

In a metal bowl, mix the sour cream and flour together. Mix it well with a wire whip as you do not want lumps. Add a cup of the gravy from the pot and quickly stir it into the cream and flour mixture with the wisk. Remove the gravy from the heat and stir in the cream mixture, mixing it well. Return to the heat and simmer, stirring often, for 15 minutes/ Strain the gravy and discard the solids…or lumps.

Serve this over stuffed bell peppers, Hungarian cabbage rolls, chicken paprikas, or just with Hungarian dumplings.

Now you ask, well where is the recipe for the actually cabbage rolls? That will be coming next, please be patient.

Rendered Lard

Okay, you must be asking yourself, has he lost his mind? He's using lard! That can't be good for you! Well, in moderation, I don't think it will hurt us too much, and besides, it gives us the taste that we need, and let's face it, my Grandma lived into her 80's so it couldn't have hurt her too much. Yes, it may not be that good for us, but perhaps we should enjoy it just one in a while.

Tell your butcher that you want fresh pork fatback, coarsely chopped, for rendering. Get 2 or 3 pounds. Place this in a heavy stock pot or kettle and add one cup of water. Set it over medium heat until all is boiling and then reduce heat to medium low. Cook until the pork fat pieces have shrunk to small toasty bits and the fat is clear yellow, about 2 hours. Allow the fat to cool and store it in glass jars in the refrigerator.

Stay tuned for how to make the rolls....

Welcome

Welcome to my little corner of the web. I hope to use this site to share with you some of my best recipes that I have made, tried, or experienced, as well as other things as they come to be. I hope you enjoy!