Whole Grilled Filet of Beef

Serves about 15

Think one long filet mignon before it gets cut into individual steaks. And here's my thinking - one giant steak is easier to cook than about 10 small ones.

Ingredients

• 1 whole fillet of beef, about 4 pounds
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon each Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

Directions

1. Remove filet from fridge about 45 minutes before cooking
2. Clean and trim the filet, removing the silverskin and excess fat
3. Combine the garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary with 1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
4. Rub oil/garlic mixture all over tenderloin
5. Heat your grill well and cook the filet, grilling until its cooked to your liking (medium rare is perfect, so look for your thermometer to read between 130-135 degrees)
6. Allow to sit at least 20 minutes before serving
7. Serve with horseradish cream

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Mexican Meatloaf

Serves 8

Way way good...and if you don't save some to make a Grilled Meatloaf Sandwich the next day - I'll come find you and hurt you.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef

• 1 pound ground pork

• 3/4 cup bread crumbs (Japanese Panko crumbs work really well)

• 1 package fajita seasoning

• 4 ounces diced green chilies

• 2 eggs, beaten

• GLAZE:

• 1 1/2 cup ketchup

• 1/3 cup apricot jam

• 2 tablespoons chopped chipotle peppers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mix all meat loaf ingredients together and put into a greased loaf pan or shape into a loaf and place on a greased baking sheet

3. Mix the glaze ingredients together in a bowl and spread about 3/4 of it over the meatloaf

4. Bake 45 minutes to an hour, or until 155-160 degrees inside

5. Allow to cool slightly, slice into 1 inch thick pieces and glaze with extra sauce before serving

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Antipasto Sandwich

Makes one sandwich

Everyone has had an antipasto salad - right? Well...how about an Antipasto sandwich?

Ingredients

• 1 large crusty Italian roll, cut "hot dog" style leaving a "hinge"
• Genoa salami
• 5 - 6 pieces of marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
• 2 Tablespoons ready made olive tapenade
• Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• Jarred roasted red pepper slices
• Fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Preheat broiler
2. Place cheese on both sides of open roll broil until crispy and the cheese is just melted
3. Next spread olive tapenade onto the roll
4. Cover with 6 or so slices of the salami
5. Then the artichoke hearts, red peppers and basil leaves
6. Close the sandwich, cut in half and share

New Zealand Savory Muffins

Makes 8, I think

We had these in Christchurch, NZ when we shot a show way down there. They were off-the-hook-amazing.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup cooked bacon,diced
• 3/4 cup grilled onion
• 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup cooked & mashed sweet potato
• 1/2 cup blue cheese

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except blue cheese and mix well
2. Put in greased muffin tins (don't use paper cups, they don't cook as well)
3. Push a big chunk (about 1 tablespoon) of blue cheese into the middle of each muffin
4. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes

Fish Stick Tacos

Makes 10

No laughing - I have not lost my mind and these are really good.

Ingredients

• 20 fish sticks, yes those little frozen-in-the-bag kind
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup green salsa
• 10 corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup green cabbage, shredded
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Bake sticks according to package directions
2. Mix sour cream and salsa, set aside
3. Warm tortillas until they get a tiny bit brown
4. Take a tortilla, add sauce, cabbage, 2 fish sticks and finally a squeeze of lime

Thai Curry Noodle Soup

Serves 4

This is easily one of Mrs Cooking Guy's most requested meals.

Ingredients

• 2 cups chicken broth

• 14-ounce can coconut milk

• 1/2 -1 tablespoon curry powder

• 1/2 tablespoon Asian chili paste

• 2 packs Ramen noodles, uncooked & without the seasoning pack

• 3/4 pound shrimp, raw, shell-off and de-veined (31/40’s or 21/25’s are great)

• 1/2 red pepper, diced small

• Green onions (scallions), cilantro and limes for garnish

Directions

1. Put broth, coconut milk, curry and chili sauce in a small pot and bring to a boil

2. Turn down to a simmer and add the noodles and shrimp

3. In about 4 minutes, the noodles will be soft, the shrimp will be pink and cooked - and you'll be eating like Thai royalty

4. In the meantime, cook red pepper in a little oil in a non-stick pan until softened and beginning to get a little color - set aside

5. Serve in a bowl and garnish with green onion, cilantro, diced red pepper and a squeeze of lime

Pastrami Breakfast Burrito

Makes 4

This is almost a near perfect breakfast.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
• 2 handfuls frozen French fries, cooked according to package directions and crispy
• About 1/2 pound deli pastrami, rough chopped
• 4 burrito sized tortillas or wraps
• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup any kind of cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Hot sauce
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in nonstick pan and add onions, cook until softened
2. Add pastrami and cook until everything is well mixed and heated through
3. Beat eggs (with salt and pepper to taste) and add to pan mixture, stir well to combine
4. While all this cooks, heat the tortillas
5. Take a tortilla and spread it with about 1 tablespoon of the sour cream and add some filling
6. Sprinkle with cheese, add fries to each, a few dashes of the hot sauce and roll up burrito style
7. Eat, of course

Chili Cornbread & Honey Butter

Serves 8

'Just add water' cornbread mix and plain ol' chili powder make a great and simple combo. And the honey butter...well that just speaks for itself.

Ingredients

• 1 package cornbread mix
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon honey

Directions

1. Mix cornbread according to package instructions
2. Stir in chili powder, pour into pan and bake
3. While it cooks, stir honey into butter and set aside
4. I shouldn't have to describe what to do next, should I?

Chinese BBQ Ribs

Serves 4

So good...and a little different you'll love them. If you're a beer person (and who isn't with ribs?) pick up a some Chinese beer, Tsing Tao to go along with these.

Ingredients

• 2 racks pork back ribs, about 4 pounds
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup Hoisin Sauce
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons 5 spice powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place ribs and vinegar in a large baking or casserole dish - cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 75-90 minutes or until very tender
3. Mix soy, honey, hoisin, garlic and 5 spice powder - set asideRemove from oven and carefully lift off foil - watch out for steam
4. Heat bbq to medium and place ribs meat side down without sauce - but you can baste the back with the sauce
5. Cook until they start to develop grill marks, and turn over - now baste the top
6. You could stop here after they grill a bit on this side, or you could baste them a bit more and then give them a couple more minutes meat side down
7. Give them one extra basting after they've been removed, and just before you serve them

Kaplan Special Breakfast

Serves 4

My mom's old school breakfast - it's perfection on a plate. And if you don't like it, you'd basically be saying you don't like my mom - and I don't think you want to say that.

Ingredients

• 1 small yellow onion, sliced
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into small wedges
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 4 eggs
• 4 pieces toast (sourdough is excellent for this)
• 8 slices bacon, cooked & crispy

Directions

1. Cook onions in a medium hot non-stick pan with a little olive oil until quite soft, then add tomatoes
2. Season with salt & pepper
3. When both have softened nicely, add Worcestershire and mix well
4. Cook eggs, over easy or sunny-side up - but whatever you do just keep the yolk runny
5. Serve it like this: toast on the bottom, then some onion mix, then the egg and then top with the bacon

Blue Cheese Shrimp Toasts

Makes 20 pieces

Warm...shrimpy...and blue cheesey. Damn.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked small shrimp
• 3 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
• 1 bunch green onion (white & light green parts only) chopped fine
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1 tablespoon cholula - or your favorite hot sauce
• 20 sour dough bread slices (cocktail size, about 3.5 inches square) lightly toasted
• Five slices deli muenster cheese, each slice cut into quarters

Directions

1. Turn broiler to high
2. Combine shrimp, blue cheese, green onion, mayo & cholula in a bowl - mix well to combine
3. Top each bread slice with some of the shrimp mix, and then one quarter of a cheese slice
4. Broil until lightly golden and cheese begins to melt

Brisket Grilled Cheese

Makes one

How do you spell comfort food? I spell it: B-r-i-s-k-e-t G-r-i-l-l-e-d C-h-e-e-s-e.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Finlandia butter*
• 1 clove garlic, minced, crushed or chopped fine
• 2 slices sour dough bread
• enough thinly sliced & heated brisket to cover one piece of the bread - don't skimp but you also don't want too much
• 2 slices Finlandia* cheddar cheese
• 2 slices Finlandia* jack cheese
• 1 tablespoon horseradish sauce - the mayo kind, not the grainy 'prepared' kind

Directions

1. Put butter and garlic in a small bowl - mix well
2. On one slice of bread, spread the horseradish sauce, add 2 slices of cheese, then the heated brisket, then the other slices of cheese, then top with last slice of bread
3. Spread half the butter/garlic mixture on the bread and cook in a hot non-stick pan until golden brown
4. Butter top side, flip and continue cooking until the bottom is golden as well
5. Eat - but not too quickly even though you'll want to

*Finlandia butter is available at select COSTCO locations and other fine retailers.

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No Mayo Tuna Sandwich

Makes one

One small change makes this the perfect sandwich - really.

Ingredients

• 1 small can tuna
• About 2 tablespoons mustard, your choice - reg, dijon, grainy, spicy etc
• 2 slices whole wheat bread - it tastes better and is better for you
• Thinly sliced tomato - enough to cover a piece of bread
• Thinly sliced cucumber - enough to cover a piece of bread
• Alfalfa sprouts - enough to cover a piece of bread, and don't skip this part, they really add to the flavor
• Fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. This should all be pretty obvious, but...mix tuna with mustard - add more or less mustard depending on how moist you like it
2. Toast bread, then add the tuna, tomato, lots of fresh ground pepper, cucumber, sprouts and top with last piece of bread

Grilled Mashed Potato & Bacon Pizza

Makes one pizza

An amazingly stupid sounding, but fantastic combo. I like using the raw dough you can buy - but it works well with a store-bought crust like a Boboli (see #10 in directions if you do).

Ingredients

• 1 ball pizza dough, or
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups cooked mashed potatoes
• 2 ounces Ready Bacon, diced and cooked until crispy
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

1. Lightly oil a baking sheet and spread out dough until it's about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick - it doesn't need to be a perfect circle (in fact it rarely is)
2. Warm potatoes in a small pot on stove
3. Combine garlic & oil in a small bowl and set aside
4. Heat grill to medium
5. Lightly brush top of dough with oil and put oiled side down on the grill
6. Once bottom of dough has good grill marks - 5 to 7 minutes, lower heat and flip dough over
7. Brush top with garlic oil, then spread with the mashed potatoes, bacon and then sprinkle with the cheese
8. Close grill lid and let cook until cheese melts, about 3 or 4 more minutes
9. Remove, slice and eat - but that was obvious, right?
10. For a store bought ready crust, brush the top with garlic oil, then add the potatoes, bacon and cheese and bake in a 425 oven about 12 minutes

Grilled Meatloaf Sandwich

Makes two (crazy good) sandwiches

When we shoot a show, the crew (Michelle and Shannon) eat whatever it is I've made. And this sandwich went into their top 5...immediately.

You can use a store-bought meatloaf for this - or try the Mexican Meatloaf recipe on the site - it's way good.

Ingredients

• Enough 3/4 thick slices of meatloaf to cover 2 slices of the bread you'll use, which should be:
• 4 slices of something really good, ie sourdough, a hearty rye, whatever
• if you made the Mexican Meatloaf (see recipe) use the sauce from that, if not combine:
• 1/4 cup mayo, 1 Chipotle pepper, minced and a tablespoon of apricot jam
• 4 slices Muenster, Provolone or Havarti cheese

Directions

1. On a grill or in a non-stick pan, cook the meatloaf slices until heated through and starting to get crispy
2. When you flip the slices, add the cheese to the top
3. Toast or grill bread
4. Spread chipotle mayo on the bread and add arugula, the meatloaf and the final slice of bread

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Spicy Hoisin Tofu with Eggplant

Serves 4

Ok, I know what you're thinking..."Tofu Sam, really? No...really.

Ingredients

• One 14 ounce block firm Tofu
• 2 Asian Egg Plants, the long thin kind
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1/4 cup Hoisin
• 1 tablespoon Chili Paste
• 2 tablespoons green onion light green and white parts only, chopped

Directions

1. Remove Tofu from package, wrap in a double layer of paper towel and let dry about 15 minutes
2. Cut off ends of eggplant, slice lengthwise and cut into even 3/4 inch slices
3. Add peanut oil and eggplant to hot pan or wok and cook for 5 minutes, stir often
4. Remove eggplant from pan and set aside
5. Cut Tofu into even medium size cubes, about the same size as eggplant and put in hot pan or wok with a little oil and stir fry about 5 minutes
6. Add eggplant back to pan with tofu and add Hoisin and Chili paste, stir well until well mixed - but don't be too rough or you'll bust up the tofu
7. Garnish with green onion and serve

Halibut with Olive Tapenade

Serves 2

Simple and simply great.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Black olives
• 3 tsp capers
• 3 tsp parsley
• 1/4 cup olive Oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 - 6oz Halibut fillets
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Chopped drained olives, capers and parsley either by hand, or in a processor until chunky but fine add olive olive, salt & pepper - mix well and set aside
2. Drizzle halibut with olive oil and season with salt & pepper
3. Grill or sear until cooked to where you want it
4. Top with tapenade - serve

Mexican Street Corn

Serves 4

Stupid good.

Ingredients

• 4 ears of corn, husks & silk removed
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 2 pairs wooden chopsticks
• 1/3 cup Mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup crumbled Queso Fresco or grated Parmesan cheese - on put on a plate
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbs Chili Powder

Directions

1. Heat grill to medium high
2. Rub olive oil on each ear and grill until they soften and get grill marks - about 15 minutes
3. Remove from grill, insert a single chopstick into the end of each ear as a handle
4. Brush with mayonnaise, roll in cheese, then sprinkle with a little chili powder & finish with a squeeze of lime juice

One Pot Brats

Makes 6

Dog simple and super delicious - and everything is cooked in the same pot. Beautiful.

Ingredients

• 1 white onion, thinly sliced
• 1 green pepper de-seeded and sliced thin
• 3 tbs butter
• 2 bottles of dark beer
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
• 6 pack of bratwurst
• 6 sliced sandwich rolls
• Mustard, for serving

Directions

1. In large throw away foil pan (if ur doing this on a grill) add onion, green pepper and butter
2. Cook over medium heat until veggies soften and get lightly brown
3. Next add beer, sugar, vinegar and pepper to pan and mix well
4. Let mixture cook until it comes to a simmer
5. Then add brats to pan and let cook for about 5-10 minutes
6. When brats are ready, toast buns , top bun with mustard, brat and some of the onions and peppers

Grilled Pork Loin Burgers

Makes 4

A great change from the usual ground up stuff.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 3 boneless pork loin chops
• Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper
• 4 ciabatta rolls
• 1 bag ready coleslaw with the little packet of dressing

Directions

1. In a large bowl mix mustard, honey, cilantro and curry powder - set aside
2. Drizzle pork with olive oil then season with kosher salt and pepper
3. Mix coleslaw withdressing, set aside
4. Grill pork loin, basting each side with mustard glaze until cooked
5. Slice rolls in half and drizzle with olive oil, grill open faced until jut getting crispy
6. Put pork on roll, add a little extra sauce and top with coleslaw