Scallions and ginger, oh my! OH MY is right. This stuff is something to be reckoned with. I normally have some sort of homemade sauce in my refrigerator, and it’s funny because we just upgraded our refrigerator, and kept our older one, primarily for all of my condiments and sauces. I swear I have an aisle of Asian condiments or ingredients, a variety of barbecue sauces, mustards, and ketchups, only to name a few. My wife is happy now that all of these condiments have their own home. But let’s get to the point. Scallion and ginger oil. Holy Moly this stuff is the bomb diggity. Super simple to make, and trust me, you will be using it on pretty much everything, well, besides chocolate chip pancakes or something along those lines, but that’s your game.
Scallion and Ginger Oil Recipe
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
2 bunches of scallions, cleaned, and thinly sliced
1 cup of grapeseed oil, warmed
3 tbsp fresh ginger, grated or finely minced
1 tbsp kosher salt, to taste
2 tbsp soy sauce, to taste
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, to taste
I say to taste because once the mixture cools down and mixed, add more salt, soy sauce or vinegar to your liking.
Start by heating a pan on the stove over medium heat. Add the oil and let it come to a warm, if not hot temperature. Nothing smoking hot, but something you know is nice and warm.
During this time, get your other ingredients ready.
When the oil is hot, add the scallions, ginger, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar to a bowl.
Scallion and Ginger Oil Ingredients
Pour in the hot oil, and give a good stir. Let it come to room temperature, then taste a bit and adjust any seasoning if necessary.
Scallion and Ginger Oil
Trust me when I say this. This stuff rocks. It’s almost the hidden umami that everyone questions when I use it, either on potatoes, omelets, or on grilled meat. It’s that good, and it lasts for weeks in the refrigerator. Don’t judge me on the tomatoes, as I know they are not in season here, but we grilled some meat, had this as a side alongside some rice, and it was amazing. Simple and easy. Go for it and enjoy!
Last week was a great week to say the least. Not only was I able to take a couple of days off of work to take my family camping, but my wife and kids treated me like a king on Father’s Day. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the whole concept of Father’s Day, but heck I’ll take a bit of pampering and great sentiments from my kids. With that said, my wife had suggested that we have her dad and brother over and we would cook out some steaks. As my wife suggested that she do all of the cooking, I quickly sidetracked her and informed her that I would do the cooking. I was not about to buy great beef and have my wife not be able to handle the grill and get the temperature right on eight steaks. No offense, but it was probably best for everyone.
So my decision on the meal was a steakhouse fare. Ribeye’s, fillets, rosemary baked potatoes, roasted corn, roasted mushrooms, and a simple salad. That’s when I thought I would make a couple of different compound butters; a cilantro and garlic for the corn, and a blue cheese butter for the steaks. If you have never tried the combination of blue cheese, and beef, well please open that door and give it a shot. It’s such a wonderful combination.
This does not get any easier to make, so let’s get started.
Ingredients:
Your favorite cut of beef, cooked to your liking
4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
1/4 cup your favorite crumbled blue cheese, room temperature
That’s it. Basically take the butter, blue cheese, and cracked black pepper and add them to a small bowl.
Use a fork, and mix, and lightly mash the butter with the cheese. You can roll this into a log within plastic wrap if you desire, but I did not go that route with this one. When your steak is cooked, and still nice and warm, add a dollop of the blue cheese compound butter onto the top of it, and dig in.
This butter was a perfect pairing with the perfectly cooked ribeye, and it just made it so much better. Hope you enjoy!
¼ cup your favorite crumbled blue cheese, room temperature
Instructions
Use a fork, and mix, and lightly mash the butter with the cheese. You can roll this into a log within plastic wrap if you desire, but I did not go that route with this one. When your steak is cooked, and still nice and warm, add a dollop of the blue cheese compound butter onto the top of it, and dig in.
I know the name of this recipe is pretty hilarious, but recently I joined an online barbecue forum, and everyone was talking about the ‘fatty’. I can see why they call it that, most likely due to all of the bacon, and pork, but trust me on this one, this thing is nothing but awesome. There are a few great things about making this, as one you get to make a bacon weave, lay out some great ground pork, and stuff the pork with whatever you have in mind, then roll it up, and place it on the smoker. I got really excited when making this, and the end result was something my entire family loved.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
16 slices of bacon
2 lbs Italian sausage, or ground pork
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
3 small cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, diced
4 basil leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
pizza sauce
salt and pepper to taste
wax paper
gallon size sealable bag
smoker
Now let me start by saying you can stuff this however you want. I went more of an Italian style stuffing because I wanted to finish the bacon wrapped fatty with pizza sauce rather than barbecue sauce, but take the general layout here and make it your own.
Start by making your bacon weave. I will not go over those details, but it only takes a few minutes. There are many online instructions how to make one. One resource is this one, on YouTube.
Once the bacon weave is made, lay it on a large sheet of wax paper. Next add the Italian sausage to a sealable plastic bag, and with a rolling pin, gently roll the sausage back and forth and side to side to level it out.
Once the pork is nice and even, using a scissors, cut along side the edges of the bag. Carefully flip it over and onto the second piece of wax paper.
Add the mushrooms, garlic, onion, cheese, and jalapenos to the top, center of the flattened sausage. Carefully start rolling the pork mixture into a log using the wax paper as your guide. Once you have it in log form, using your hands, seal up the edges, then add the log onto the top of the bacon.
Repeat the process with the bacon. Now you have a bacon and pork log!
Place this onto your smoker. It’s going to smoke for a few hours. I smoked it on low for about 3 hours, then finished in the oven after lathering some pizza sauce onto it. You want the internal temperature of the pork to be about 165.
When you are ready to serve, slice into rounds, and serve with any of your favorite sides.
The end result is a great smoky flavor, along with an exterior of crispy bacon, and an interior of super tender pork, melted cheese, and great vegetables. It was surprising, to say the least, how great this was. I had it as a sandwich the following day, and don’t even get me started on that one! If you are looking for a new item to put on your smoker, and one that will serve many, give this one a shot. Hope you enjoy!
Start by making your bacon weave. I will not go over those details, but it only takes a few minutes. There are many online instructions how to make one. One resource is this one, on YouTube.
Once the bacon weave is made, lay it on a large sheet of wax paper. Next add the Italian sausage to a sealable plastic bag, and with a rolling pin, gently roll the sausage back and forth and side to side to level it out.
Once the pork is nice and even, using a scissors, cut along side the edges of the bag. Carefully flip it over and onto the second piece of wax paper.
Add the mushrooms, garlic, onion, cheese, and jalapenos to the top, center of the flattened sausage. Carefully start rolling the pork mixture into a log using the wax paper as your guide. Once you have it in log form, using your hands, seal up the edges, then add the log onto the top of the bacon.
Repeat the process with the bacon. Now you have a bacon and pork log!
Place this onto your smoker. It’s going to smoke for a few hours. I smoked it on low for about 3 hours, then finished in the oven after lathering some pizza sauce onto it. You want the internal temperature of the pork to be about 165.
When you are ready to serve, slice into rounds, and serve with any of your favorite sides.
Are you like me and have about 45 different condiments in your refrigerator? I know I’ve probably said this time and time again, but my wife want me to get another refrigerator for the garage, just to store my condiments. Yep, seven mustards, fish sauces, oyster sauce, you name it, I probably have it. I love condiments. I’ll admit that. I love everything they have to offer in terms of adding flavor to anything you throw at them. There is one condiment that I totally love though, and that is horeradish. Yeah, that pungent, gnarly root of a sauce that opens the nasal passages and give you an awesome kick. What I love with horseradish though is beef. Beef and horseradish is like the peanut butter and jelly sandwich combination. They are meant for one another. They truly are a perfect marriage.
This past Christmas, I knocked out my New York strip roast, and as I made things like chimichurri, blue cheese sauce, caramelized onions, and steakhouse style mushrooms to go along with the steak, the horseradish cream sauce stole the show, at least in my opinion.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
4 tbsp prepared horseradish
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp salt, to taste
It doesn’t get any easier for a sauce, trust me.
Add everything to a mixing bowl, stir well, and taste. Season with any additional salt, pepper, or additional horseradish if you want it a bit spicier.
When you are ready to serve, spoon a generous amount of the horseradish cream sauce alongside your beef, or heck even better make some steak frites and dip some fries in it to boot.
The flavor combination will blow you away. Don’t even get me started on making a sandwich and smothering the horseradish cream sauce all over. Don’t.
That refrigerator? I probably need to get one in 2015. Maybe I’ll add that to one of my goals. Hope you enjoy!
