CUCUMBER SALMON BITES

I have mentioned it in the past, but my very beautiful and talented cousin Brianna has a food blog - Swinton Kitchen.  I'm not one for recipes, and usually just make things based on what I know works together.  Recently, I decided that I was going to give one of her recipes a shot.

I chose the Swinton Kitchen: Cucumber Salmon Bites, and let me tell ya...they turned out fantastic, and delicious!!!

My finished product. Devoured moments after this photo.

Next up on my Swinton Kitchen list to try are the Apple Cookies.  I'll report back.

Driftless Winter 2016: BOB'S BITCHIN' BBQ

After Day One of my Winter Driftless trip, my buddy Adam, and I were in dire need of some food and drink.  While I was driving, Adam, was naming off places he was finding near our hotel in Dodgeville, Wisconsin....

McDonalds - No.

Burger King - No.

Hardee's - Hell No.

Culvers - Maybe.

A&W - Maybe.

Bob's Bitchin' BBQ - Did you just say bitchin'?  Really?????

I think we were both sold on the name alone, and I mean, how could you resist some barbecue.  After finding it and driving past, it didn't look like much, but once we stepped inside the place was big, and it was PACKED.  Everyone in Dodgeville and surrounding towns must have been there.  The Hostess told us it'd be an hour wait.  Starving, but intrigued by the place, we decided it was a good idea to grab a beer at the bar and wait.

The BBQ was definitely Bitchin' 

The food lived up to expectations.  I forgot what Adam had, but I ordered the sample platter and chose the beef brisket, smoked sausage, and smoked pork chop.  It came with cornbread and 2 sides of your choice, and I chose the mac n cheese, and sweet potato fries.  They had a bunch of different BBQ sauces that they make on the table.  All of them were great, but my go to was the habanero bbq sauce.

It never had a chance.

Well worth the wait, and would definitely make a return trip there in the future.

Thanksgiving, again.

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving.  Spent lots of time with family, friends, and food.  I know I sure did, and I've been trying to work it all off ever since.  I love the food on that day so much, I decided I was going to cook a few things that I enjoy eating on that holiday, so, I can have it for dinner all week.

While I was walking through my local grocery store on Sunday, they were having a sale on turkey legs, so, I picked up 4 of them.  I've never cooked a turkey, hell, I'm not very good with ovens.  I can cook on a grill and stove top no problem, but the oven always gives me issues.

While I'm not one for following recipes, and usually just make everything off the top of my head or however I think my Mom would make things, I had to look up the temperature and time turkey needs to be cooked.

I started by placing the 4 turkey legs in a large tin or whatever it's called.

Next I just added a bunch of herbs and spices that I enjoy to a little bowl to season the turkey.

Black Pepper

Basil

Tyme

Oregano

Lemon Pepper

Chopped up some yukon gold potatoes.

Cleaned and chopped up some carrots and a white onion.

After seasoning the turkey legs, I added all of the vegetables.  I also, added some extra virgin olive oil, and water.

I let it bake in the oven at 350 degree's for 2 hours and 15 minutes.

The finished product looked fantastic!

It tasted even better!

Good thing I'm doing double days at the gym again.  Need to get back in shape, and eat all of this delicious food at the same time.  It's not easy being me. :)

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Usually with stuffed peppers I either use Italian sausage or ground sirloin. I'm becoming a big fan of ground turkey, and thought, how would this taste as the meat substitute in my stuffed peppers. So, I gave it a try, and I must say, it was very tasty! While I'm still a huge fan of spicy Italian sausage, I think the turkey will be a nice change up once in awhile for future meals.

Cook the ground turkey in a frying pan, with diced/sliced mushrooms, white onions, and a lot of minced garlic. Other ingredients used during this process - Extra virgin olive oil, oregano, and pepper. Once you're able to break up the turkey, add a can of diced/sliced tomatoes. For this one I used a can that had some seasoning already added to it. I think it was garlic basil, and then let it simmer on low heat.

While the turkey is simmering, you can prepare the peppers. You can use any color your heart desires. I went with red this time. Cored the peppers, then removed any left over seeds, and spine.

Once you're done doing that, the turkey should be ready, and you can begin scooping it up and filling in the peppers. When you have the peppers all stuffed I like to add a top layer of mozzarella cheese. You can now place these in a pan suitable for however many you decide to make.

Get your oven preheated to 400 degrees, and place the peppers in the center. I let these ones bake for about 20 minutes. I like when the cheese reminds of the cheese off a pizza. That's when I know they're done.

Last step is to enjoy. Sorry there is no picture of a pepper on a plate looking good. I was distracted by how good they were, I forgot to take a picture. =)