There’s something about me and coated baked pork chops. My mom made them when I was a kid and I loved them then. I make them now and I still love them. Sometimes I use the stuff right out of the box, and sometimes I make my own. Like this Lemon Pepper Shake ‘n Bake. Same wonderful coating as the classic, but with a wonderful kiss of citrusy lemony yumminess and a little bit of pepper. Lemon and pork go great together.
More Coating. More Better.
I’m not shy with the coating when I use my lemon pepper Shake ‘n Bake mix. I really like that lightly crunchy bread crumb goodness. I my chops all over. Sides too. Then I coat them one more time. I know, that’s probably a little excessive but I love it so!
Use a good lemon pepper seasoning. You want one that is perfectly balanced, no one flavor over-powering the other. That way you’ll end up with the best baked chops!
I was making my standard burgers for dinner the other day. Nothing fancy. But I wanted a little something extra. Something to jazz them up a bit. They aren’t bad burgers to start with, nope. But some deluxe burger sauce might take them over the top, I figured. And I was right.
A Well-Balanced Simple Sauce
If I had to come up with one word to describe this deluxe burger sauce I’d say ‘balanced’. It’s a little sweet. Oh and there’s a little heat. There are some classic burger flavors, too. And a little of that Unami thing. So a bit of everything. Nothing overpowering yet not boring. Great on a burger. That’s what I was after.
I store my leftover homemade sauces in squeeze bottles. If refrigerated, I set them out an hour before using so they come to room temperature. You don’t want to put cold sauce on hot wings!
This is easily one of my favorite chicken recipes, from roasted to fried. Hands down. The coating on these copycat Chili’s honey chipotle chicken fingers is perfect. It adheres to the chicken, bite after bite. It’s got a tremendous, delicious crunchiness to it. I mean crazy crunchy too! And then there’s the sauce. It’s slightly sweet with just the right amount of smokiness and heat. I think it’s fantastic. So fantastic that I doubled the recipe. Why? Because more is better!
The Perfect Sauce
The honey chipotle sauce for these copycat Chili’s honey chipotle chicken fingers has just the right amount of sweetness. From honey. Yummy honey. There’s just a little bit of heat and smokiness. Chipotle chili pepper is great in a sauce. It adds that bit of a kick from jalapenos. And it adds the flavor and aroma of the smoke used to smoke the jalapenos. It’s great stuff and it’s what really makes this sauce fantastic.
Great On Salads, Too
These chicken fingers are also great on top of a bed of greens for a tremendous fried chicken salad.
The Presto Fry Daddy is perfect for making smaller batches of food. It only uses a few cups of oil and comes to temperature quickly. Clean-up is easy too!
Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Stir and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer 2-4 minutes or until thickened slightly.
Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.
For the batter
In a shallow bowl or pie plate, combine all of the batter ingredients EXCEPT for the flour. Continue stirring for 30 seconds.
Whisk or stir in the flour until smooth.
For the breading
In a shallow bowl or pie plate, combine all of the breading ingredients.
For the chicken fingers
Heat 3″ of oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 350 F.
Working in batches as needed, dip chicken tenderloin pieces into the batter. Shake off any excess.
Toss the chicken pieces in the breading and coat well. Do not shake off any excess.
Fry wings for about 8 minutes or until golden brown and cooked completely.
Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
Serve tenders drizzled with the sauce or serve the sauce on the side for dipping. I do not recommend tossing the chicken in the sauce as it'll knock off the delicious crunchy coating.
I seriously don’t know what came over me. I think it’s been at least 20 years since I’ve had steak fingers. And I’ve never made them at home. But for some reason, I needed them and now. So I made them. These steak fingers with easy white gravy weren’t like the ones I recall from decades ago. Those were kinda tough. Kinda tasteless. These hit the spot. Nothing tough about them. And very tasty. I certainly had no problem devouring a good number of them!
I’m A Huge Fan Of These
If I’d had more time, I would’ve made gravy using the grease left over from frying the steak in a pan. But I didn’t. I had to get on with it so I deep-fried the beef and made a simple gravy on the side. These steak fingers with easy white gravy weren’t about recreating the classic step-by-step. They’re more about just getting the flavor and consistency right. And I did. I liked them. A lot.
If I’m cooking for a crowd, I’ll break out my big deep fryer. But, if it’s just the two of us or I’m cooking things that don’t take too long, I’ll fire up my Fry Daddy fryer. It fries everything perfectly. And as an added bonus, it doesn’t use a lot of oil, which saves me money.
The Presto Fry Daddy is perfect for making smaller batches of food. It only uses a few cups of oil and comes to temperature quickly. Clean-up is easy too!
Heat 2" of oil to 350 F in a deep fryer or Dutch oven.
In a shallow bowl (or pie plate), mix together the flour, Cajun seasoning and baking powder.
In another shallow bowl (or pie plate), whisk together the milk, eggs, and Worcestershire sauce.
Working in batches, dip the steak strips in the flour mixture. Make sure to coat them well, then shake off any excess.
Next, roll the strips in the milk mixture. Shake off any excess.
Return the strips to the flour and again coat well.
Add strips to the hot oil and fry 1-2 minutes per side, turning once, until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate or wire rack while cooking the remaining strips.
Serve the steak fingers with the white gravy for dipping.
For the white gravy
Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk while heating, bringing to a slow boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer and let simmer until the desired thickness is achieved.
Yep. Cedar planked cool Ranch Doritos. “Now what in the world is he up to now?” It’s ok if that’s what you’re thinking. My wife certainly thought the same thing. Then she tried them. Then she she knew. They’re fantastic! She doesn’t doubt me any more! Well, at least not when it comes to grilled tortilla chips!
Once you have soaked your board you’re only minutes away from enjoying these delicious chips. They take truly almost no time at all. You can easily feed a small crowd with just a few planks and a few bags of chips.
Not Just For Show
Cedar planked cool Ranch Doritos look cool. I think they did. It’s not every day that I see a load of chips going onto the grill. Well, not until I did them at least. Now I see it all of the time. They’re the perfect snack. Or side. The cedar aroma and flavor is not overpowering. It’s subtle. You still get the classic chip flavor. But it’s more pronounced. Stronger. Better. And the chips are crunchier.
These little bites of deliciousness are fantastic hot off the grill.
Soak plank (or planks if you need more than one) in water for at least 1 hour.
Fire up your grill to medium-high heat, around 400 F.
Place the plank over indirect heat. Add the chips. Close the lid.
Let the chips grill for 2-5 minutes. Check them at least once. If they start to turn dark brown or char on the edges, remove them.
Let cool slightly before serving.
Notes
Note: If you prefer a stronger cedar flavor and aroma, place your soaked plank over direct heat for a few minutes first. Get a nice char on the plank. Then move it to indirect heat and add the chips.
I was lucky as a kid because for a while we lived near a Roy Roger’s Restaurant. My favorite burger as a tyke was the Double R Bar burger. It wasn’t anything fancy, pretty much your standard burger, but it was topped with seared ham. Ham. And no ketchup or anything like that for me. BBQ sauce. For some reason my kid taste buds screamed for that combination. Many years later I make them at home, with a slight twist. Beyond the Double R Bar smash burger. I might put a bit more on them than just BBQ sauce, but they’re still mighty darned good.
There’s Nothing Wrong With Simple
This isn’t some kinda fru-fru fancy, thick, topped-with-stuff-you-can’t-pronounce burger. It’s a good ole backyard burger. Double R Bar smash burgers just have that slight twist that makes you think “hey, even if it’s simple, it’s special”.
The equipment
Here’s the equipment I use. You can get by using two cast iron skillets. Use a larger skillet for cooking the burgers, and a smaller one to smash the burgers and keep them flat. Since I’m a cooking gadget collector, I prefer to use a few more tools.
The griddle
First, a griddle. You can buy griddles that sit on top of your grill grates or ones that replace them. Just about every grill I have has a griddle on it. I use them for a lot of things, not just smash burgers. You want one that can be placed over the hottest part of your grill so it gets screaming hot.
Next, you need a burger press. You can use a heavy cast iron skillet, like I mentioned. Or get a burger press. For easy cleanup I wrap mine in foil first. When I’m done, just peel off the foil and toss. Super easy. Get a press that’s at least big enough to cover two burgers. You only smash one at a time, but if you want to keep them flat, you want to rest the press on top so bigger (and heavier) is better. Plus I’ve found that a bigger, heavier press tends to stay on the burgers whereas a smaller, lighter one is hard to keep centered on the burgers, specially if you have a bunch of them cooking at once.
Next up, a dome. While not 100% required, it does speed the time it takes to melt the cheese and it does it in a nice even fashion. In my opinion you don’t really need one if you’re using a super melty cheese, such as American, but for thicker slices like say a deli pepper jack, you want the cheese to melt before you over-cook the burger and that’s where a dome comes in handy.
Lastly, you need something to clean your griddle. I like to clean mine when I’m done cooking, but you can do it at the start instead. I use one of these pad holders with a griddle cleaning pad. Then I add a bit of water to my griddle then use the pad (connected to the holder) to scrub off any big chunks and get up some of the grease. I don’t go crazy with it, I always heat the heck out of my griddle before cooking, but I get the worst. The long arm on the pad holder makes it perfect for scrubbing a hot griddle, too.
Fire up your grill for high heat. Place a griddle or a large cast iron pan over the highest heat.
Season the ground beef with salt and pepper and form into four 4 ounce balls (not patties!).
Place the balls of beef on the griddle and let cook for one minute. Just let them cook, don't mess with them.
Take your press and flatten out the patties. I like to use the point of the press and work my way around the ball first, doing a little section at a time and then finally I press down on the entire patty to flatten it out. You can also just flatten out the ball all at once. At this point I also like to season the patties some more.
Let the patties cook until you start to notice a little char along the edges. Flip, season again if desired, and continue cooking another minute or so until the other side is charred. The burgers are thin so they will cook very quickly so watch out.
Add the cheese slices. If desired, cover in a dome to help the cheese melt.
Meanwhile, place the ham onto the griddle and let brown, cooking for about 2 minutes. Flip and cook another minute to get a little color on the other side. Remove.
Toast the buns. Slather one side of each bun with your desired condiments.
Remove the patties from the grill and place on top of the bun bottoms.
Add the ham, followed by the onion, tomato, lettuce and pickles, as desired.
We were on vacation in Sevierville TN when we had to swing by a Publix grocery store for a few items. I always make sure I peruse the snack and wing sauce aisles of grocery stores when I’m out of town. I never know what I might find. Well, this time, the food gods were shining down on me because I found Old Bay Goldfish crackers. But when I returned home, I could not find them in our stores. That one little bag I had bought did not last long. I needed more. So I made homemade Old Bay Goldfish crackers instead! Just as good, and actually a bit better.
Better. Much Better.
Why are my homemade Old Bay Goldfish crackers even better than the stuff in the bag? Because I added a lot more Old Bay seasoning is why! I’m addicted to that stuff. I loaded my crackers up big time. Heck yeah, they were finger-licking good! I didn’t let any of the seasoning go to waste, that’s for sure.
Get Your Crunch On
Just a little note. These crackers come out of the oven still a bit soft. Good, but not quite crunchy. They will be. Just let them cool a bit. Resist eating them and let them cool. Or don’t resist.
This cheesy chicken fajita melt was a huge hit in our house. Huge. The chicken, vegetable and cheese filling is incredibly tasty. The chicken is tender and juicy and packed with classic fajita flavor. Oh, yes, there’s cheese. And lots of it. This is one fantastic sandwich. We made it on the griddle on our grill, but you can use a countertop griddle, an outdoor griddle such as ones from Blackstone or Weber, or even a large skillet. No matter what you use, you’ll love the end result for sure!
More Seasoning Makes These More Better
Don’t be shy with the fajita seasoning when you make this cheesy chicken fajita melt. Get to shaking that bottle. You’ll be happy you did. You want the chicken to have that fajita flavor. You want the vegetables to have that fajita flavor. And yep, get some on top of the cheese too. Last thing you want to have happen is that you take a big ole bit of sandwich only to ask yourself “Where’s the fajita?”.
These are not light fare. You’re not going to the leave the table hungry after devouring these sandwiches. That’s for sure!
Season the thighs with the fajita seasoning. Don't be shy with the seasoning. Let the chicken set for 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.
Preheat a griddle or large cast iron skillet over high heat. I used a large griddle on my gas grill, but a flat top griddle, Griddler or the like will work just fine. You'll want a large surface as this recipe makes a large batch.
Also preheat your oven to 400 F. Note: Since I was using a griddle on a gas grill, I used the grill as my oven instead.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the griddle. Add the thighs and cook for 4 minutes per side until lightly charred and cooked to 165 F.
Remove the chicken to a platter to cool slightly then cut into small cubes.
Add remaining butter to the griddle and add the onions and peppers. Cook until lightly softened and charred, stirring often.
Add the chicken to the vegetables. Season with more fajita seasoning and stir to combine.
Add half of the cheese and mix until melted. Remove to a plate or bowl.
Slice off the top of the bread loaves and remove most of the contents. You want a completely hollowed loaves, but be careful to not poke any holes in the sides or bottoms!
Top with the remaining cheese and sprinkle with more fajita seasoning. Transfer to the oven (or a hot grill over indirect heat) and toast for 10 minutes or until the bread is lightly toasted and the cheese is melted. If you want a little color to your cheese, place the loaves under the broiler for a minute or two.
Top with chopped fresh cilantro and Mexican crema and serve!
Very few things go together as great as guacamole, bacon, cheese, onion and a burger. These bacon guacamole smash burgers are a real winner in our house. I love the coolness from the guacamole on a hot-off-the-grill patty. Smoky bacon is always a great addition. Ooey, gooey cheese is a must. A little onion adds a great crunchiness. Every bite is fantastic.
Good Guacamole Makes For A Great Burger
I don’t skimp on the guacamole when I make bacon guacamole smash burgers. Sometimes I’ll use a spicier guac for a little kick. But normal, good-ole mild guacamole is fine too. If you’re looking for heat, you can also add a good pepper jack cheese. Jalapeno jack is a real winner, too.
Delicious Hot Juiciness
I like to serve this burgers as soon as they come off the grill. I love the cool guacamole on the hot patty. Oh, I already said that. Well, I’d apologize for repeating myself but I was remembering just how great every bite was as I was writing this.
The equipment
Here’s the equipment I use. You can get by using two cast iron skillets. Use a larger skillet for cooking the burgers, and a smaller one to smash the burgers and keep them flat. Since I’m a cooking gadget collector, I prefer to use a few more tools.
The griddle
First, a griddle. You can buy griddles that sit on top of your grill grates or ones that replace them. Just about every grill I have has a griddle on it. I use them for a lot of things, not just smash burgers. You want one that can be placed over the hottest part of your grill so it gets screaming hot.
Next, you need a burger press. You can use a heavy cast iron skillet, like I mentioned. Or get a burger press. For easy cleanup I wrap mine in foil first. When I’m done, just peel off the foil and toss. Super easy. Get a press that’s at least big enough to cover two burgers. You only smash one at a time, but if you want to keep them flat, you want to rest the press on top so bigger (and heavier) is better. Plus I’ve found that a bigger, heavier press tends to stay on the burgers whereas a smaller, lighter one is hard to keep centered on the burgers, specially if you have a bunch of them cooking at once.
Next up, a dome. While not 100% required, it does speed the time it takes to melt the cheese and it does it in a nice even fashion. In my opinion you don’t really need one if you’re using a super melty cheese, such as American, but for thicker slices like say a deli pepper jack, you want the cheese to melt before you over-cook the burger and that’s where a dome comes in handy.
Lastly, you need something to clean your griddle. I like to clean mine when I’m done cooking, but you can do it at the start instead. I use one of these pad holders with a griddle cleaning pad. Then I add a bit of water to my griddle then use the pad (connected to the holder) to scrub off any big chunks and get up some of the grease. I don’t go crazy with it, I always heat the heck out of my griddle before cooking, but I get the worst. The long arm on the pad holder makes it perfect for scrubbing a hot griddle, too.
In small bowl, stir together the salad dressing, hot sauce and jalapenos.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
For the smash burgers
Fire up your grill for high heat. Place a griddle or a large cast iron pan over the highest heat.
Season the ground beef and form into four 4 ounce balls (not patties!).
Place the balls of beef on the griddle and let cook for one minute. Just let them cook, don't mess with them.
Take your press and flatten out the patties. I like to use the point of the press and work my way around the ball first, doing a little section at a time and then finally I press down on the entire patty to flatten it out. You can also just flatten out the ball all at once. At this point I also like to season the patties some more.
Let the patties cook until you start to notice a little char along the edges. Flip, season again if desired, and continue cooking another minute or so until the other side is charred. The burgers are thin so they will cook very quickly so watch out.
Add the cheese slices. If desired, cover in a dome to help the cheese melt.
Toast the buns. Remove, add the patties and serve topped with two pieces of the bacon and 2 tablespoons each of the guacamole. Add the onion and tomato if using.
Well, that was embarrassing. I’m guessing that these slow cooker Ranch corn chips were supposed to last at least a few hours. Heck, it says ‘makes 12 servings’ in the recipe. So much for that idea. They’re just a little too good to sit around. They didn’t last long and I’d be tempted to say it’s more like 4 servings…. or 2. Packed with Ranch flavor, you can’t beat this simple snack recipe. The fact that I’m addicted to Ranch flavors didn’t help me with my self-control. Again.
The Search For Corn Chip Perfection
The recipe for slow cooker Ranch corn chips calls for a single 9.75 ounce bag of chips. I found that our bag had about a cup of crumbs at the bottom. You can’t use those in this recipe. I recommend that you grab 2 bags and sort through them, only using the best chips you find. Save the crumbs to grind and thicken chili. Or sprinkle them on top of salads in lieu of croutons or bacon.
I would point out that the recipe does say to let the chips cool before serving. You’re probably going to find that difficult to do. “The waiting is the hardest part” as Tom Petty once sang.
In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter and the dip seasoning.
Pour butter mixture over the chips, gently stirring them with a spatula as you pour so they get covered.
Gently stir until the chips are well coated with the butter mixture.
Place chips in a slow cooker on high, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so.
Spread the chips out on a large piece of wax paper and let cool before serving.
Notes
You might need to grab 2 bags of chips so that you can get enough perfect chips to make a batch. Our bag had quite a few crumbs in it so we ended not being able to use a good cups worth of them.
