This ain't yo hamburger helper!

Heath has monthly medical staff meetings. Sometimes he comes home with tales of tenderloins of beef or delicious pasta full of juicy gulf shrimp. I stopped cooking big supper on those nights. My kids don't have really discerning palates. Occasionally Jacob has been known to ask for "The Chef," and I'll be damned if he doesn't mean that canned junk by that rascal Chef Boy-ar-dee. He's also been known for compliment gems like "mama, you make the best microwaved bacon," and that old standby "it was so good that I want a peanut butter and jelly instead."

When not asking for "The Chef" Jacob has been known for requesting a "Hand Meal." Of course he means that adorable glove that asks you to trust what he's got in that packet of yellow powder. Tonight I decided to beat him to the punch and make homemade "hamburger helper" and you know what? It's just as easy and utilizes all those random bags of shredded cheese you've got stuck in that drawer.

Brown 1 lb of ground turkey. (It doesn't really brown, I know.) Add about 1/2 cup of chicken stock to the turkey so that the texture will be pretty fine. To this mix add 1 tablespoon of flour and stir. once it's a gloppy mess, add 1.5 cups of chicken stock. I also added about 2 cups of velveeta water at this point. Add salt, pepper, seasoning of your choice. Once the liquid is starting to boil, add wagon wheel pasta. after about 6 minutes add your cheese board. We used cheddar, white cheddar, american melt mix (whatever that is!) and an errant chunk of. That's right. I have that in my house. What's it to you?

I poured this into a dish and cooked uncovered at 250 for about 30 minutes. It would have been great topped with cracker crust, or more cheese, but the starving kids wanted it just that way.

it was actually pretty swell.

Mama 1, Chef, 100....but my luck's changing!

Breakfast for supper

I just needed breakfast for supper. I'm not out of ideas, but I am so tired of almost everything I cook. So I threw something together and it turned out pretty good.

I'm going to call this a griddle frittata. One of our local markets has some really great fresh ground sausage. I started out with browning about 1/2 lb of the sausage. Since I'm lazy I went the easy route and added a bag of frozen shredded hash-browns. I topped with butter and this was stirred up (think Japanese Steak House..Hot for you Baby!) and left to brown. I covered the top with fresh baby spinach and then put a pan over so everything could steam. After about 5 minutes I poured over 6 or 8 beaten eggs and topped with cheese. and covered for another 2-3 minutes. This sliced beautifully an will keep nicely in the fridge.

We loved it. Jacob ate waffles.

Cheers to my Champ!

Want to see proud? Look at the lady behind that winner. Want to see super proud? Look at Jacob's Poppy, Garry Roark.

We've recently been talking about the standard Memphis BBQ Network team lineage. So many teams are a product of another team. Thank goodness for those teams. We wouldn't have a network without teams teaching other people and instilling in them the confidence to branch out. My dad has done his fair share of teaching. He's always been very open about what his process is, and how he achieves a winning product. As one of the longest running competition teams still cooking, we're still trying to evolve. What I've noted is that your best bet is to focus on your own flavors instead of chasing someone else's.

Early last week I helped Jacob make his sauce. My rule was...this is my kitchen, so what I say no to, means no. (Example: bbq sauce doesn't contain cheese.) But that's where it stopped. I didn't make suggestions, although I did buy ingredients that would complement each other. Jacob chose his flavors. He loves his mamaw's kumquat marmalade, and he will always include that.

I suppose my point is that BBQ...real BBQ...is sharing and learning and evolving. I want my son to love BBQ. I want him to have his own idea of what tastes great and I don't want it to just be what I cook. As a parent I'm proud of the win. As a competitive BBQ cooker, I'm proud of his spirit and his individuality and his working toward perfection. As a loser...I'm jealous!

Good job Buddy!

KCBS Strawberry Shortcake

The Ubon's crew is headed to the wild of Pelahatchie MS for a KCBS cookoff. This contest is so cool. It's located inside a campground that has a ton of things for the kids to do: fishing, swimming, boating, exploring. We'll be inside the Jelly Stone Park...that's right...Yogi Bear the picnic stealing SOB will be on hand to sample some great BBQ.

This particular contest has a kid's cookoff and this weekend will be my son's first stab at competition BBQ. Now, he's going to be getting up in my grill, but I suppose I will have to agree to it. Earlier this week I got to look on as Jacob made his 1st BBQ Sauce. He used Ubon's as a base but added his "secret ingredient"...his Mamaw's kumquat jelly. To this mixture he added his own flair...honey, brown sugar, salt, red pepper, cherry preserves and peach preserves.

This mama's heart was swole plum up!!!

We'll be cooking in the dessert category and I think I'm going to make my new amaretto balsamic strawberry shortcake with candied balsamic strawberries. Here you go:

Macerate strawberries with sugar, a little water, some amaretto, and a dash of GOOD balsamic vinegar. while that chills mix together 2 containers of marscapone, a little cream, a touch of amaretto, some powdered sugar. chill. dip store bought lady fingers into the strawberry liquid and layer lady fingers, marscapone, strawberries, and repeat. when i get the candied strawberries down, i'll update. for now....who knows how i did them before.

If you're in Pelahatchie, come by! We'll have a beer, or a sippin' drink, for sure some awesome BBQ.

National BBQ Association and Vlasic

I guess I've finally decided to believe that my awesome partnership with Vlasic is for real! I'm honored to let you know that Ubon's is working with Vlasic. I've just gotten back from Greenville, South Carolina. If you hear that there's been a shortage of tonic water in SC, well, you have me to blame. I've decided that peer pressure isn't just for teenagers!



Vlasic was a sponsor for the National BBBQ Assn. Conference and I got to attend as their rep. There's a couple of things you need to know: 1. a jar of Vlasic pickles kept in your beer cooler could save the day if the day happens to have been one full of bbq smoke. 2...and this may come as a surprise but there are people who don't like mayonnaise in anything especially in their slaw!

Here's the Pickle Slaw recipe I made to sample this past weekend. Keep in mind that you can always find other recipes at www.vlasic.com including the much more accurate version of this slaw. As always, I've personalized the recipe to have a Ubon's touch.

Vlasic Pickle Slaw

Open 2 packages of thinly shredded cabbage and pour into a bowl. Season liberally. As always I used Season't up, but you could use some kosher salt, some black pepper, and some seasoned salt. Let this work it's magic while you chop 3 stalks of celery, 3 or 4 green onions and a LOT (I used a jar) of chopped Vlasic Baby Kosher Dills. Pour about a cup of light balsamic vinaigrette (just off the shelf salad dressing.) (and of course I splashed in some Ubon's sauce. Mix together and cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

This particular salad is low carb (according to your salad dressing choice), very crunchy and most important to my Jubon's friends, free from evil mayo.


Now as I mentioned, I also found time to have a few cocktails and "network" (that's what we're going to call it) with friends. I always like to rub elbows with famous folks and this one is top notch! (As if you needed more proof that I'm awesome.) I really enjoyed spending some time hanging out with Chris Lilly from Big Bob Gibson's.

Yummy night at Babalu

Mark this down. I don't blog about restaurants often, but this place was recommended by my ole pal Beeve and it is worth talking about!

Babalu in Jackson is such a great place. My only wish is that our table had been bigger. Doc and I had fish tacos, fried oysters on roumalade slaw, tuna tartar on fried avocado, tables side guacamole, and scallop ceviche. Doc had a couple of Indian Summers and I fell into my new favorite cocktail of all time. Babalu's Pepe O'Malley.

Here's the recipe I'm going to use for my version of Pepe O'Malley's cocktail.

simple syrup (sugar and water boiled to a syrup)
sparkling water
juice of one whole lemon
Hendrick's Gin
ice
cucumber
mint

I'm going to muddle cucumber, mint, lemon and simple syrup and add equal parts gin and sparkling water.

I'll keep you posted.


UPDATE: I used a jigger of gin, sparkling water, added lemon juice to my simple syrup. holy smokes it was good.

BBQ Brussels Sprouts? Huh?

Ok. So winter doesn't have many super duper vegetables so they flaunt the ones that they have. I've been watching trends, and it would seem that that the lowly brussels sprout is very popular at this time of year.

Most of you know that I don't sleep well or much, so I'm required to talk a lil something to get me to sleep. that lil something also makes me HONGRY. I think this nighttime eating has led me to brussels sprout perfection:

Begin with a bag of frozen sprouts in a steam fresh bag. microwave for 2 minutes. in a pan heat a teaspoon of basil olive oil. (or just olive oil has worked). pour in par cooked sprouts and add salt and Worcestershire black pepper. don't stir...be a chef! flip those things!!! when they are starting to have some golden brown spots add about a tablespoon of honey and a table spoon of balsamic vinegar. I've been known to add a tablespoon of Ubon's...but how could I not.

Wow...next time I find people who like these little sprouts i'm going to try them out. for now, it's my new favorite food.