I was on a Velveeta kick. I was putting it on burgers. Hot dogs. Mac and cheese. Anything that called for cheese, I was gonna put Velveeta in it. But then I ran across this recipe for Velveeta Tex-Mex rice and I thought “Now THAT’S what I was looking for!”. Lots and lots of creamy cheesy Velveeta in a simple side dish that sounded amazing. And it was! This was perfect with our burgers and hot dogs. Despite its simplicity and short ingredient list, it is packed with flavor.
Make It A Main Dish
The original recipe for Velveeta Tex-Mex rice called for adding cooked chicken. I wanted a side dish so I left that out. However, this recipe makes a big batch of rice so I ended up with leftovers. And I figured, sure, why not serve this as the main dish? I didn’t have any chicken but I did have smoked sausage. So I grilled it (you could just fry it in a pan) to get a little color and sliced it into rounds. I reheated the rice (I had to add a bit more salsa to thin it a bit) and stirred in the sausage. Boom! A great main dish in minutes!
It was our anniversary. That required something special. Something big. What? Go out for dinner?!? Nope. Time to fire up my 25 year old grill that we bought when my wife and I were dating and make Fritos Crunch Burgers. What says “Happy Anniversary” like a big ole juicy, dripping, crunchy fantastic burger? Chips. A perfect beef patty. Chili. Cheese. Onion. All on a great toasted bun. Yep, this was an anniversary that we’ll both remember for sure!
Just Do It
Don’t over-think these Fritos Crunch Burgers. They don’t need turkey chili. Or Ranch Fritos. Or some fancy fru-fru imported cheese. These aren’t those burgers. Save that stuff for another day, another burger. Make these and enjoy them. And smile. We did. Heck, we aren’t going to have them every day*. It was a special day that required a special burger.
And yes, you read that right. We bought a grill when we were dating. If you want to know if your marriage is going to last its when your wife-to-someday-be says ‘yes’ to a new grill when you’re still dating!
*Well, ok…. I might have made these two days in a row. I admit it.
Whether it’s fresh corn season where you live (like it is here in Indiana) or not, you’ll love this honey butter skillet corn. It’s sweet. Creamy. The corn just ‘pops’ with flavor. This isn’t a difficult side dish to make but it sure is good. It’s just as great leftover too, so don’t hesitate to make an extra-big batch!
Go Fresh. Go Grilled.
This honey butter skillet corn can be made with canned corn. Or frozen. But it’s best made with fresh corn on the cob. And better still if you grill or roast the corn on the cob first. I had my grill going to cook some wings, so I just tossed a few ears (4 to be exact) on the side of the grill and let them get nice and lightly charred and cooked through. I rotated them every 3-4 minutes, cooking for a total time between 15-20 minutes. You can also roast your ears of corn in a 450 F oven for 150-20 minutes. Just make sure you let the hot corn cool slightly before cutting off the kernels!
In a large skillet (preferably cast iron), melt the butter over medium-high heat.
Stir in honey.
Add the corn. Stir until warmed thoroughly. If you are using frozen corn, you want to make sure the corn is slightly tender. If you are using fresh, raw corn, you'll want to cook it longer until.
Add the cheese, salt and pepper.
Stir and keep stirring for 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything gets creamy yummy.
I love cooking outside on a griddle. Or inside on one. They’re very versatile and one of my favorite cooking ‘toys’. In the nicer months, you’ll find me out manning a griddle on a gas or charcoal grill. When it gets cooler, you’re likely to find me inside cooking on my countertop griddle. There’s just something fun about cooking on them. Like when I made garlic naan pizzas using a griddle.
Learn As You Go
I found that I had a little bit of a learning curve when I made these garlic naan pizzas using a griddle on my outdoor griddle. It fits over a large gas grill and gets super hot. So my first pizza was a bit… crunchy shall we say. I learned my lesson. On that griddle I keep the heat a little lower and keep on eye on the bottom of the crust after about 4 minutes to make sure I don’t burn it.
Outdoors Or Indoors
My indoor griddle of choice is my Cusinart Griddler. I can easily fit two naan on it at once. It does take a bit longer to get the bottom of the naan crunchy like I like. But it can’t get any easier and I don’t have to heat up an oven to get a delicious dinner or lunch meal.
Less Is More
You want your naan pizza crust to be crunchy. Or at least I do. So that means use as little wet ingredients as possible. Don’t go nuts brushing them with oil. And don’t use a lot of sauce. If your toppings are ‘wet’, pat them dry with a paper towel first before adding them.
1tablespoonolive oilor less, use as little as possible
Your favorite pizza sauce
Your favorite pizza toppings
Instructions
Turn on your griddle for medium high heat cooking.
Brush both sides of the naan lightly with the oil.
Place the naan on the griddle and toast for 1 minute per side. Remove to a wire rack.
Add the pizza sauce and swirl around with the back of a spoon. Less is more here. Use as little sauce as you can. The more you add the more your naan might end up soggy instead of crunchy.
Add cheese, if using. Make sure you get it edge-to-edge. All the way.
Add the remaining toppings. Like with the sauce my advice is to not go crazy with it. Less is more.
Return the naan to the griddle and toast 5-8 minutes. Check the bottoms every minute or so after 4 minutes to make sure they aren't getting too dark. If so, reduce the heat and/or move the naan to a cooler part of the griddle. You're not cooking anything here, just melting the cheese and getting the toppings hot so you don't have to toast them very long.
Remove from the griddle to the wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
I like to add a small sprinkling of pizza seasoning to make naans after adding the sauce for extra flavor.
Oh man does this sweet roasted red pepper macaroni salad ever scream ‘summer’. I’m a mayonnaise kinda guy. And elbow macaroni and mayo were made for each other. Specially when you add in a few crunchy things like onion and celery to offset some of that delicious creaminess. This sweet roasted red pepper macaroni salad might remind you a bit of grandma’s classic. But with a few little twists. First, instead of the raw red bell pepper you might be used to I used tasty roasted pepper. It adds a bit of a sweetness and a more complex flavor than just a good ole bell pepper. Second, a little sugar adds a nice sweetness. This is not a tart salad. It’s creamy sweet, lightly crunchy, and delicious!
Leave It Be
There’s nothing I’d change about this sweet roasted red pepper macaroni salad. I thought about it. I thought hey, I could use artificial sweetener instead of sugar. I could cut back on the mayonnaise. All sorts of things went thru my head. And none of them stuck. That’s good because this salad is great just as it is. I wouldn’t change a thing.
This recipe makes a pretty big batch. Plenty for a picnic or family get-together.
I almost always use Blue Plate mayonnaise in the dishes I make. I think it is the best around. If you can’t find it locally you can pick it up online for a fair price.
In a large bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients.
Stir in the pasta and coat well.
Add the remaining salad ingredients and fold to combine.
Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.
Stir before serving. You might have to add a bit more mayonnaise if the salad becomes too thick.
Notes
This is a fairly saucy salad, which I like. If you prefer yours with a little less sauce, place the pasta in a large bowl and prepare the dressing in a separate bowl. Slowly add the dressing to the pasta, stirring, until you get the consistency you are looking for. Reserve the remaining dressing because the salad tends to get thicker and drier after a day or two.
Sure I’ve made Chex Mix in the oven. Quite a few times. And I’ve made quite a few variations on the classic, too. This was my first time making it on my outdoor griddle. And wow, was this ever a fantastic treat. Chex Mix using an Outdoor griddle is a bit different. And that difference is the wonderful crunchy caramelization you get on each and every little tasty morsel. Well, that and hey, it’s fun cooking outside on a griddle!
Big Griddle and Big Fun
This recipe for Chex Mix using an Outdoor griddle makes a pretty decent-sized batch. You’ll need a big griddle (30″ or more) to make the entire recipe at once. You can always divide it and do it in batches. If you go crazy stirring it (like I did) you might lose a few pieces over the side of the griddle, that’s ok. That’s just part of the fun.
Things move fast once you get this started on the hot griddle. You can’t be wandering off. You can’t be slackin’. Keep the mix moving. If you don’t, it’ll burn. And quick too. But it’s fun. You are the master of your Chex Mix. Add other things to it if you want. Take things out. Whatever you want to do. Just keep it moving.
Everyone Into The Pool
The original recipe for this mix required that it be cooked in three phases. The butter and seasoning were added at different times. I found this to be a little extra work and added to the stress of keeping the mix moving at all times! So I dissolved the seasoning into the butter. That way I just had to add it and stir. No add-butter-stir then add-seasoning-stir. Same end result, just a bit easier.
If you're making the homemade seasoning, just combine all the ingredients.
Store in an air-tight container until ready to use. If clumps form, just shake the container to knock them lose.
For the Chex Mix
Pre-heat your griddle over low heat. Make sure that it's clean. Depending on the size of your griddle, you might have to do make the mix in batches. The easiest way to do that is to halve the mix and butter mixture first.
In a large bowl, combine all of the Chex Mix ingredients.
Melt the butter in a small bowl or pot. This can be done directly on the griddle.
Stir in the Worcestershire sauce.
Combine the dry mix ingredients. Add to the butter mixture and stir to dissolve and combine.
Drizzle the butter mixture over the Chex mix and stir well to combine. Take your time, get it all well-coated.
Add the Chex Mix ingredients to the griddle. Immediately spread it out.
You want to toast the mixture for 2 minutes. Keep it moving constantly or it will brown. You want it to get a little color to it. A little char here and there is fine too.
Keep the mixture moving as you continue to toast it. You'll need 5-10 minutes to get it to the desired color and crispiness.
Immediately remove the mix to a large baking sheet (or two) and spread out to cool slightly.
Serve warm or cold. Store leftovers in an air-tight container.
Notes
Save the extra SPG seasoning and use it anywhere you want extra flavor. It’s great on hamburgers, wings, chicken, vegetables, you name it!The amount of mix in this recipe will easily fill a 36″ griddle. Depending on the size of your griddle, you might have to do make the mix in batches. The easiest way to do that is to halve the Chex Mix and wet/dry mix ingredients and place into separate bowls.
These smoked country style ribs were another one of those “where have I been?” things for me. Country style ribs come from near the pork shoulder on a pig, and although they don’t contain ribs, they do contain part of the shoulder bone and are cut like ribs. Now, normally I’d probably approach these as I would pork shoulder or ribs, but this time I used an idea that I had come across on a Facebook smoker fan group.
Everyone Into The Pool
The ribs are smoked long enough to get great flavor deep inside. Then they are transferred to a pan full of a wonderful mixture of soda, BBQ sauce, butter and brown sugar. The end result is completely fall-apart tender and packed with flavor. Nice and different from the things I usually smoke.
A Great Smoked Meat
Next time I smoke country style ribs I’m going to throw a few extra on the smoker. That’s so that I have leftovers. Chopped, it’s great stuff in a stew or on nachos. And the added bonus is that I can often find country style ribs on sale much cheaper than I can buy baby back or spare ribs or pork shoulder.
The ribs are smoked long enough to get great flavor then transferred to a pan full of a wonderful mixture of soda, BBQ sauce, butter and brown sugar. The end result is completely fall-apart tender and packed with flavor.Â
Fire up your smoker for smoking at 225 F. Use any wood you prefer.
Rub the ribs with the yellow mustard. Sprinkle with the rub.
Place directly onto the smoker and smoke for 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature of the ribs reaches 150 F.
Meanwhile, combine Mountain Dew, butter, butter, brown sugar, and BBQ sauce in a medium saucepan and warm thoroughly until the butter is melted and the brown sugar is dissolved.
Transfer ribs to a large aluminum pan with high sides.
Add the warmed sauce.
Cover with foil and return to the smoker for another hour or until the internal temperature of the ribs hits 195-200 F.
You can serve the ribs directly from the pan, or remove them from the pan and return them to the smoker grates and brush with more BBQ sauce. Let smoke another 10 minutes to set the sauce then serve.
Notes
I made the sauce on-the-fly, to taste. I started with about 1 liter of Mountain Dew, a stick of butter, 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce. After those were combined I added more BBQ sauce and a little more brown sugar. Start with a little of each ingredient (other than the Mountain Dew go ahead and start with a liter), taste, and add more as you desire.
I think that the Cuisinart Griddler is one of the best kitchen appliances that I own. I use (often) it for everything from pancakes to burgers to these Italian panini with giardiniera relish. Paninis come out spectacularly on the Griddler. The bread gets perfectly crunchy and golden brown. The cheese gets nicely ooey and gooey. All this in minutes with really easy cleanup. It’s impossible to go wrong with it.
Relish for the Win
The giardiniera relish adds a wonderful flavor to these Italian panini made using the Cuisinart Griddler. I used a mild relish but you can go with a hotter version if that’s what you like. The relish comes in a flavorful oil that adds even more flavor to the sandwiches.
Aldi for the Win
For the bread, meats and cheese my go-to place has become my local Aldi store. They have great breads and their deli meats are available at a great price. And they have a great variety of them too, so I never get bored with my paninis.
Pre-heat your Griddler with the dials set for high-heat panini griddles.
Set out the bread slices on a cutting board or counter top.
Top with the meats and cheese.
Top the sandwiches with the relish. Be heavy handed or go light with it, it's up to you. Be sure to get some of the oil from the relish too.
Add the top slices of bread to form the sandwiches.
Brush the outsides of the bread slices with the oil.
Transfer to the Griddler and close the lid. Cook until the bread is golden brown and crunchy.
Remove and let cool slightly before slicing (if desired) and serving.
Notes
Do not put a lot of pressure on the griddle lid while cooking as it will cause the meats and cheese to escape. Try to keep the lid level so that the tops of the sandwiches cook evenly.
I had to make these as soon as I saw them. The idea of mushroom mixed with ground beef to form burgers appealed to me. I knew that the mushrooms would add a lot of moisture and plenty of earthy flavor. These blended smash burgers have a slightly different taste and texture than my usual 100% beef patties. They are definitely moist and a little more apt to fall apart, so you have to be a bit careful when flipping them on the grill. They’re good burgers, just without quite as much meat.
Classic Tastes
Once you’ve made a smash burger or two you’ll find them to be as easy to make as the non-smash ones. And like any other burgers, they’re open to all sorts of toppings. Sometimes I go crazy. Sometimes I go classic. These blended smash burgers are a lot like my classic all-beef versions. Just not quite as beefy but kinda beefy in another way, you know?
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.
Place chopped mushrooms and ground beef into a large bowl.
Sprinkle with salt and form into 4 large balls (or 5-6 smaller ones, which means of course you'll need more buns and toppings!).
Fire up your grill for medium-high heat. Place a griddle or a large cast iron pan over the highest heat.
Add the oil and spread out a bit.
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.
Top patties with cheese and let cook another 30 seconds to melt the cheese.
Toast the buns. Remove, add the patties.
Add remaining ingredients to assemble the burgers.
Devour immediately.
Notes
After you make a few smash burgers the process becomes very easy and always delivers great results.For added flavor, saute the mushrooms first. Let them cool completely before adding to the beef.
I don’t think of my Char-Broil Big Easy as just a grill. Or just an oil-less fryer. It’s also great at baking. Pretty much anything I can make in my oven, I can make in it. Like my manicotti on the Char-Broil Big Easy. Crazy delicious, with plenty of hot, melted cheese, this dish is easy to put together. And the Big Easy cooks it up perfectly, with hardly any cleanup required.
Dutch Oven Liners To The Rescue
I get these disposable aluminum Dutch oven liners online for baking large dishes like this manicotti on the Char-Broil Big Easy. They are perfect. They’re about 8″ wide and a few inches deep. They hold a lot. They’re heavy duty. Even though you need to still support them on the bottom when lifting them, you can fill them up and be confident that’ll not collapse on you.
Bunk Bed Baskets To The Rescue
My second big key to making on the Big Easy is to have a few bunk bed baskets on hand. Yes, I could get by with just one. And one fits easily into the Big Easy basket. But two are just easier. It’s hard to reach down in the original basket and get something off the bottom. With a bunk bed basket (or two), I just lift the basket and the food right out and onto my countertop (well, cutting board if it’s hot).
It’s a bit of a science to get two bunk bed baskets into the Big Easy but it’s quite doable. Play with it a few times first, without any food in them, and you’ll get the hang of it.
The Big Swap
Food near the bottom of the Big Easy basket tends to cook or bake faster than food higher up. Most of the time that’s not an issue. With this manicotti, I decided to swap the two pans of food around towards the end so they both browned evenly. With two bunk bed baskets this was very easy to do.
Oh Yeah, The Food!
Did I mention that this manicotti is delicious! The Italian sausage and spinach stuffed pasta tubes get cooked perfectly, and are just packed with flavor. I used a good quality, tasty marinara sauce. And plenty of cheese. Maybe a little extra. It’s possible. Boy, did this come out great!
Cook the pasta per the manufacturer's instructions. Drain well and spread out onto a baking sheet to cool and dry.
Meanwhile, crumble the sausage (remove from casings first if using links) into a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until almost done.
Add the onion and continue cooking until it has softened and the sausage is cooked through.
Add the spinach. Stir and cook another 2-3 minutes or until wilted.
Remove skillet from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
Stir in 1 cup of the mozzarella and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan along with the egg, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Spray the two pans with non-stick spray.
Fire up your Big Easy so it heats up while you stuff the pasta tubes.
Spread 1/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of each pan.
Stuff each manicotti with the sausage mixture. I prefer to block one end of the tub with one hand while using the other hand to stuff the tubes (gently).
Place stuffed tubes into the pans. Do not stack. You might have to kind of wiggle and shove them in to get them to fit.
If you have leftover meat mixture just sprinkle it around and in between the manicotti.
Divide remaining sauce over the tops of the manicotti.
Cover the fans with foil.
Place one pan in the bottom of your Big Easy. If you have 2 Bunk Bed baskets, put the pan in a basket instead and lower it to the bottom of the Big Easy basket and attach at the sides.
Place the other pan in a Bunk Bed basket and lower it into the Big Easy basket. It will rest on top of the first basket if you are using two. Otherwise, just attach it to the sides of the Big Easy basket just above the first pan.
Cook for 35 minutes. There is no need to swap the pans.
Remove the foil. Top the pans with the remaining cheeses.
Return the pans to the Big Easy and cook another 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and turns golden brown. The top pan will cook slower than the bottom. If desired, rotate the pans after 15 minutes.
Remove pans from the Big Easy and let rest 15 minutes.
Garnish with parsley and serve.
Notes
The instructions above are for cooking both pans at the same time on a Big Easy. This requires a Bunk Bed basket (or two to make it even easier). If you do not have a Bunk Bed basket you’ll have to cook one pan at a time.
