Instructions:


1.  Husk your corn. and snap off the bottom end.
2.  Tear off a piece of aluminum foil about a foot long for each ear of corn.
3.  Lay each husked corn cob on its own piece of foil.
4.  Spread Country Crock all over the corn cob.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  Just get some on all sides.
5.  Salt your corn a little on the top.  No need to roll it around. You don't want to over salt it.
6.  Roll up each ear in the foil and seal the ends.
7.  Place each ear on a hot grill.  Roll the corn to the other side after about 10 minutes of cooking.
8.  After about 20 minutes total your corn is done. (That means 10 minutes after you roll it to the other side.)  It will be red hot, so use grilling mitts or tongs to remove it.  When you unwrap your corn, be careful because the stem released can burn you.
9.  Serve. This corn is already buttered and salted, so there's no need to do that again.  The best part is that the butter and salt cooked into the corn so there's not a part that's missing flavor.

Ingredients:

1 cucumber, peeled and diced small
1/2 a lime, juiced
pinch of salt (fleur de sel if you have it, but you can use regular salt too)
pinch of sugar
3/4 cup fresh mint leaves, diced small

Special Notes:

I like serving this partially over grilled swordfish or grilled shark.  You can also garnish it with a fresh mint sprig to give it extra flair! :)  This salsa is so good that my daughter and I even like eating it straight out of the bowl by itself! 

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

3 - 4 yellow or red skinned potatoes (don't use the baked potato kind)
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 huge fresh rosemary sprig (yes, use the fresh kind; it makes a difference)
1 teaspoon salt (fleur de sel is the best, but if you don't have it, you'll be ok)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (again, you can use the pre-ground kind in a pinch)

Instructions:

1.  Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces.  Submerge them in a pot full of water so they're covered by about 2 inches of it.  Salt the water.  Boil the potatoes about 20 - 25 minutes until you stick a fork in them and it pierces them easily.

2.  Drain the potatoes using a colander so you don't burn yourself.  Don't rinse your potatoes!  Put them right back in the same blazing hot pot that you just took off the stove, uncovered.  Place the pot back on the same hot burner (with the gas or electric off) on the stove.  The idea is you want to let any residual water steam off of the potatoes to dry them out a bit.

3.  For the next part you do NOT want a non-stick pan.  Use a Le Creuset  large pan, or a cast iron pan.... something like that.  (You won't get your potatoes to brown in a non-stick pan.)  Heat the pan and add the olive oil and butter so it melts.

4.  Meanwhile, smash your potatoes using an old fashioned potato masher or a large fork.  You don't want them to be smooth like mashed potatoes. You want a little chunk or bite to them.

5.  Pull the rosemary leaves off of the stem by running your thumb and pointer finger along the stem in the opposite direction that the leaves grow.  Discard the stem.  Chop the rosemary leaves very fine.

6.  Add the salt, pepper, and rosemary to your potatoes.  Smash a little bit more so the seasonings are combined throughout.

7.  Place your potato mixture in the now searing hot pan.  Flatten them out with a wooden spoon so they cook evenly.  Don't touch them.  Go wash some dishes, have a snack, etc.  You don't want to move them around in the pan so they get crispy brown on the bottom.  This will take about 10 - 15 minutes?  Keep checking.

8.  After you see them getting crispy brown on one side, flip the potatoes over to develop the same crispiness on the other side.   (That means once flipped, don't move your potatoes again.  No stirring here.) The inside of the potato mixture will still be white. That's exactly what you want.

9.  You'll smell the fragrance of the rosemary and your taste buds will be watering.  When you serve these potatoes, don't worry about keeping them in perfect "pancake" form.  You want the crisp outside to mingle with the softer inside on the plates.



Special Notes:

I like serving these as a side dish with fried eggs for breakfast. The gooeyness of the yolk mixed with the potatoes on the plate is delicious.  You can also serve these for brunch, or as a side dish with dinner.

If you want to do some of the work ahead of time, the potatoes can be boiled a day or hours in advance.  Just drain them, and refrigerate them prior to using.  You can also prepare the entire recipe up to a day in advance and just reheat it when you want to.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
12 oz. beef broth (or 2 beef bouillon cubes w/ 12 oz. water)
3 tsp. chili powder
5 cloves garlic, smashed
2, 12 oz. cans red kidney beans (drained, rinsed)
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. salt (add more to taste)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (or substitute red pepper flakes)
1 green pepper, seeded & diced
1 long red pepper, seeded & diced (optional)
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. cumin
1 12 oz. can pinto beans (drained, rinsed)
5 dashes hot sauce (tobasco sauce)
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp. black pepper
1 Serrano chili pepper (minced) (optional)
½ onion, chopped
Leftover steak or venison, diced (optional)


Instructions:

1. In a skillet, brown the ground beef. Drain fat.
2. Add all ingredients to the crock pot.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 – 8 hours, or HIGH for 2 – 4 hours.
4. Stir occasionally & mix well before serving.

Special Notes:

This chili has just the right “kick” to it if you omit the long red pepper and Serrano chili pepper.  The original recipe did not call for the onion, but I prefer to use it.  I also use the red pepper flakes instead of the cayenne pepper. The original recipe also called for 2 cans of pinto beans; I use one. 

This makes a FULL crock pot of chili.

 

Ingredients:

2 cans V8 (tomato juice makes it too sweet for me; you can also substitute a big glass full of Clamato juice)
salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 lemon, squeezed
3 big bangs of Worcestershire sauce with the bottle turned upside down as you slap it
2 oz. bacon vodka (or other premium vodka)
3 stuffed green olives
2 cherry tomatoes
1 big stalk of celery, based trimmed, green top on
1 slice of cooked, bendable bacon, cooled



Directions:

1.  Pour 2 oz. bacon vodka, V8 (or Clamato juice), lemon juice, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce into a jigger with ice.  Shake.

2.  Wet the rim of the glass you plan on drinking from.  Place a good amount of ground black pepper in a small dish.  Turn the glass upside down and press the rim into the black pepper.  (This makes the glass look all fancy - kind of like how you salt the rim of a glass for a margarita.  Plus, it gives your taste buds and extra peppery kick with each sip.)

3.  Strain the drink in the jigger into a tall glass.  (With or without ice - I prefer mine without ice so the drink doesn't get watered down as I sip it.*)

3.  String olives on a wooden skewer, so they are near the top.  Thread the bacon, like an accordion, onto the base of the skewer, and push up so it's right under the olives.  Push the 2 cherry tomatoes onto the skewer next to secure the bacon and prevent it from falling off.  Place the skewer in the glass.

4.  Place the celery in the glass.   Voila!


Special Notes:

*If you absolutely need ice in your bloody mary, try freezing some V8 or Clamato juice in advance into cubes and place those in your glass instead of plain ice cubes.  That way when they melt, they won't dilute your drink.

If you want to burn your lips off, feel free to add a few drops of Tabasco sauce to the jigger before you shake it all up.

If you have any bacon crumbles, they make a great garnish floating on top of the bloody mary as well!

Ingredients:


dill, lemon pepper, parsley, shallots and celery salt, mixed together totally in about 1/2 cup, in equal portions

white vinegar
sugar
sea salt
hot water
garlic (1 clove per jar)
mustard powder
ground coriander
Cauliflower, Zucchini, and Cucumbers need to be cut into spears or rounds.  Green beans are fine, as is.  I've only done zucchini so far.


Instructions:

I eyeball everything.  Do not use the largest mason jars available.  Use small ones, please.

1.  Put 1 peeled, smashed clove of garlic in each mason jar.

2.  Add approximately 2 tablespoons of the seasoning mixture you put together yourself to each jar.

3.  Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to each jar.

4.  Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt to each jar.

5.  Add 1 teaspoon of mustard powder to each jar.

6.  Add 1 teaspoon of ground coriander to each jar.

7.  Depending on how much zucchini you have, stuff your mason jars.  The jars need to be packed pretty darn tight.  If you find that you run out of jars, (I usually start with 2 - 3), then prepare another jar with the mixture as described in steps 1 - 6 above.

8.  Fill each jar 1/3 of the way with vinegar.

9.  Fill the rest of the jar with the hot water.  My water from  my tap gets darn hot. If yours doesn't, don't boil the water, but just make it hotter than the tap. You need to fill the jars up to the tippy top.  You should not have any air space in them.

10.  Close the jars with the mason jar lids as tight as humanly possible.

11.  Shake the jars like crazy to mix the spices and dissolve the sugar/salt.

12.  Refrigerate jars at least  2 weeks unopened so the flavors permeate the veggies.



Special Notes:

This is not your typical hamburger dill pickle taste.  It's very garlicky.  It's just to flavor veggies that would have a bland flavor when eaten raw, and preserves them longer than if you let them sit out on their own.  It's great for the extra garden surplus.

Ingredients:

2 large green peppers, cut in half, top to bottom, cored, tops off
1/2 lb. (or 2 large hamburger's worth) of either ground beef or ground pork
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/3 onion, diced fine
1/3 cup cooked white rice
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
12 oz. can of plain tomato sauce
1 can of water


Instructions:

1.  Cut peppers in half from top to bottom. Don't even bother removing the tops.  Once you have them cut, take your hand, grab the core from the inside of the pepper, and just pull it out with your fingers, right to the top.  The top should come off with the core. Voila!

2.  In a large bowl, mix the ground beef (or pork if you want to shake things up a bit), onion, salt, pepper, paprika, and rice with your hands until everything is evenly distributed.  (This is the messy part.  If you're not into it, ask a child to volunteer.  They like the squishy feeling.)

3.  Stuff the pepper halves with the meat mixture.  Pack it in tightly.  You don't want to over stuff them. This is enough to stuff each pepper adequately.

4.  Place the stuffed peppers in a crock pot so the stuffing doesn't fall out of the peppers.  This requires some layering unless you have the world's largest crock pot.  You want to make sure every pepper gets some tomato sauce on it before you start the cooking process, so pour 1/2 the tomato sauce over the peppers on the bottom of the pot.  Layer  more peppers on top; then pour the remaining sauce over the peppers and you also want some sauce to be at the bottom of the pot, too.

5.  Pour a can of water into the crock pot.  Add the pinch of sugar if you're using it.  Yes, this really is enough water.  We're making stuffed peppers here, not stuffed pepper soup.

6.  Cook covered for 4 hours on high, or 6 - 7 hours on low. 


Special Notes:

This makes enough for 2 people.  Double the recipe for 4 people.

If you don't have a crock pot, then you can bake them in the oven at 350° for 1  1/2 hours until the peppers are soft.  (They get softer in the crock pot, though.)  I don't recommend making these stove top because they can burn on the bottom, but if you're up for a challenge, it's low heat for about 1 1/2 hours on the stove top that will be these done, but you'll have to try to move those peppers on the bottom of the pot around a little so they don't stick and burn.