Memphis Beale Street Burger

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Neely's Dry Rub Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Butter
• 6 hamburger buns
• 6 slices pepper jack cheese
• 12 slices smoked apple wood bacon, fried crisp
• 1/2 cup Neely's "Secret Sauce", recipe follows
• 1 pint cole slaw
• 2 beef steak tomatoes, sliced

(side note: You can use any dry rub seasoning, I used one using red and black pepper)

(side side note: you can use any type of cheese, pepper jack is really good though)

 

Directions

Preheat your grill to medium-high heat.

1. In a large mixing bowl, break up the meat with your hands. Add the chopped shallot, garlic, Neely's Dry Rub, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper, to taste.

2. Mix with a wooden spoon until thoroughly incorporated. Using your hands, divide the meat into 6 equal balls. Flatten them into patties and use your thumb to create an indent in the center of each burger. Cook's Note: This indent will help the burgers from puffing up while you grill them.

3. Grill the burgers, uncovered, for 3 minutes on the first side. Flip and continue cooking for another 3 minutes for medium-rare, and 4 minutes for medium. Remove from grill and immediately top with the cheese.

Butter the buns and place on the grill. Toast for about 1 minute and remove from grill.

Build your burgers by topping with the bacon, Secret Sauce, coleslaw, and tomatoes. Add onion rings if desired.

 

Neely's Secret Sauce:

• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce (recommended: Neely's BBQ sauce)
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon cayanne pepper
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

(side note: I used Winger's Barbecue Sauce...it was delicious!)

Mix all the ingredients together in s medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving, allowing the flavors to develop. Can be made a day ahead.

Enjoy!

Roasted Spicy Mayonnaise Chicken Breasts

Sorry it's taken so long to post a new recipe! Gotta love it when school starts. But here is a recipe I tried last night. It's really good. It's kind of spicy and I substituted a couple of the ingredients but it came out fabulous :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 lemons, zest finely grated
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus additional for seasoning
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional for seasoning
• Pinch cayanne pepper
• 4 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

(side note: I replaced the celery seeds with minced celery stalk and the lemon zest with 1 tablespoon of lemon extract since I didn't have the celery seeds or lemon zest on hand)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon zest,  paprika, celery seeds, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Season the chicken with additional salt and pepper, to taste.

2. Arrange the chicken on the prepared baking sheet. Slather the mayonnaise mixture over the chicken. Bake until the juices run clear when the chicken is pricked with a fork, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and serve hot.


Enjoy!

Potato Skins (the unhealthiest recipe I will ever put on here)

This is one of my guilty pleasure recipes. It's really simple to make and are super good. These are perfect for a party, movie night, or comfort food. Just don't eat them all the time.

Ingredients

• 6 small to medium sized russet baking potatoes (total 3 pounds)
• Vegetable Oil (oil to fry the potatoes in)
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• 6 strips of bacon
• Cheese
• Sour Cream
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced, including the greens of the onions

Directions

1. Scrub the potatoes clean then bake the potatoes using your favorite method, either oven or microwave.   If using an oven, bake in a 400°F oven for about an hour. If using a microwave, cook on the high setting for 10 minutes.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, cook the bacon strips in a frying pan on medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool. Crumble.

3. Remove the potatoes from the oven (or microwave) and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half horizontally. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the insides, reserving the scooped potatoes for another use, leaving about 1/4 of an inch of potato on the skin.

4. Heat up the vegetable oil in a shallow pan (put enough oil to get inside the scoop of the potato)

5. Fry the potatoes for 5-7 minutes or until crisp

6. Place fried potatoes in a baking pan (spray the pan first) and use a paper towel to absorb the extra oil out of the potatoes

7. Put the desired amount of cheese on the potatoes (I put tons of cheese on mine) and crumbled bacon

8. Preheat the over to 350°F and bake the potatoes for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese melts

Place potatoes on a plate and have sour cream ready for them to be dipped in. Enjoy!

Chicken Marengo

Isn't this picture gorgeous? I love Google. I just tried this recipe last week! It tasted fabulous! I just had the chicken by itself but it would be really good with a pasta.  Enjoy!

 Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) whole tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Side note: I used diced canned tomatoes instead of whole ones. That way you don't have to cut them to eat them with the chicken

Directions

The recipe doesn't go into the prep for the chicken so you can do whatever you want. What I did was cut the chicken in about 2x1 pieces and then pounded them to about a quarter of an inch.

1.Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

2.In a large skillet heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken to skillet; sauté on both sides, about 10 minutes. Place chicken on plate; cover with foil to keep warm.

3. Add remaining oil to skillet and heat over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 3 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes with liquid, chicken broth, basil and thyme. Bring to a boil; cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up tomatoes.

5.Return chicken to skillet. Simmer the mixture until chicken is no longer pink, about 10 minutes longer.

6. Place chicken on serving plates. Spoon tomato mixture evenly over chicken. Serve immediately.

Side note: I used a electric skillet to saute, cook, and serve the chicken. If you're cooking the chicken in smaller pieces and for more then 4 people it's a lot easier this way.

Grilled Pork Chops with Chive Cream Sauce

Mmmmm...pork...This is one of my favorite dishes! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 shallots, crushed
• 3 pounds pork chops (4 large chops)

Chive Cream:

• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper (it's less of a pepper taste and makes the sauce look better)
• 1/4 cup minced fresh chives 

(side note: the cream is really good without the chives as well)

 

Directions

1. In a shallow pan, stir together oil, salt, pepper, and shallots.

2.  Place pork chops in pan, coat with marinade on both sides, and let rest for 15 to 30     minutes.

3. Prepare a charcoal fire or preheat broiler.

4. Place pork chops on grill or under broiler, about 4 inches from heat, and cook until browned on one side (about 4 minutes).

5. Turn and cook second side until lightly browned and slightly firm.

6. Serve chops immediately, drizzled with Chive Cream.

Side note: Broiling the pork is good but it is exceptional when you can grill it on the barbecue

Directions for Chive Cream

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, place half-and-half and lemon extract.

2. Simmer until reduced by about one third; keep warm over low heat.

3. Just before serving, season with salt and pepper, then stir chives into warm cream sauce.

Side note: You don't have to season with the salt and pepper, it tastes great as it is

 

Side side note: prep the cream after you're done with the pork. Keep the pork warm by putting it on a plate covered with foil or just put it in the oven. If the sauce is cooked too long it gets a weird texture but still tastes good

Big Easy Shrimp

This dish is the one that proved to myself and my family that I could actually cook. It is a spicy shrimp dish but not so spicy that you have to grab a glass of water after your first bite. It's really yummy by itself but is also good with angel hair pasta. Enjoy!

 

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 2 strips turkey bacon or Canadian bacon
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can (16 ounces) chopped tomatoes with juice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

(side note: I prefer pre-cooked shrimp, that way you don't have to worry about the raw factor)

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Place on a paper towel–lined plate. Crumble when cool. Leave any drippings in the skillet.
2. In the skillet, over medium heat, cook the onion, bell pepper, and celery for 5 minutes, or until tender. (cut the vegetables however you want, I prefer cutting the bell pepper and celery in small slices)
3. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the tomatoes (with juice), bay leaf, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and hot-pepper sauce. Heat to boiling.
5. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add the shrimp and bacon and cook for 5 minutes, or until the shrimp turn pink. Remove and discard the bay leaf before serving.

Explanation

I started cooking a few months ago and I absolutely LOVE it! I have found so many recipes, websites, etc. that have helped me so much when trying to find food that tastes good and are healthy. I just want to be a source that will help you guys find them as well.

The reason I started cooking was because my mom assigned us a night to cook. I had to get creative because I wanted to cook foods that my family and I liked but could also meet my parents South Beach Diet on Phase 1 requirements. I've found some really yummy recipes that are easy to make and that you will (hopefully) like as well! I'll be putting up a few right now and then I will be posting them as I find them and try them out.

If you have any recipes and/or suggestions please leave a comment or message me and let me know!