Today I have for you nothing but a classic; scalloped potatoes. These have been around almost forever and chances are many of you have eaten them at least once. If you are not familiar with this dish scalloped potatoes are basically sliced potatoes with a creamy sauce that are baked. Scalloped potato recipes are usually with or without ham, this recipe uses ham. It also uses vegetables such as green peppers and onion. This can either be a side dish or can serve as a main course by itself. It is very filling but if you have a large family you might want to double the recipe. Try and slice the potatoes decently thin or they will take longer to cook. This recipe is very simple and the prep only takes about 20 minutes then the oven does the rest. During the last few minutes of baking, you can top the dish with cheddar cheese if desired. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
½ cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups milk
3 cups ham (cubed)
1 large green pepper (chopped)
1 large onion (chopped)
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
5 cups potatoes (pared and sliced thinly)
Additional cheddar cheese (for topping, optional)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt ½ cup butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Mix in flour, salt and pepper. Stir until well blended. Cook while stirring for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk. Return to heat and cook until thickened and bubbly.

Step 2: Stir in ham, green pepper, onion and ½ cup cheddar cheese. Stir gently until mixed well.
Step 3: Add potatoes into a well grease 13×4″ baking dish. Pour milk/ham mixture over sliced potatoes and gently mix. Cover with aluminum foil.
Step 4: Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove aluminum foil and continue baking for 1 hour. During the last few minutes of cooking top with additional shredded cheddar cheese (optional).
(Makes 6 Servings)

It’s not too late to fire up the grill! If you are looking for a fantastic home made BBQ sauce recipe, this is the one. This is hands down the best BBQ sauce I have ever made. Once you try this recipe, you will never need to find another. Perfect for chicken, pork, shrimp, ect. This recipe has various seasonings that all blend to create an amazing flavor. The cayenne pepper gives this sauce just the right amount of heat. Nothing complicated about this, just mix well ingredients and simmer. The longer the simmer the thicker the sauce. Bring this barbeque sauce to your next cookout and everyone will love you. This will make quite a bit of sauce so you may want to half the recipe unless you are making a lot of food. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 cups ketchup
2 cups tomato sauce
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 ¼ cups red wine vinegar
½ cup unsulfured molasses
4 teaspoons hickory flavored liquid smoke
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon celery seed
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Over medium heat, in a large sauce pan combine all ingredients.
Step 2: Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. For thicker sauce simmer longer, for thinner sauce less simmering time is required. Brush sauce onto any type of meat during the last 10 minutes of the meat being cooked.

Yes, it is possible to grill quesadillas. I am taking advantage of this nice weather we are getting here in Michigan. If you are a fan of Mexican cuisine you probably have tried quesadillas at least once. For those of you that do not have a grill, don’t worry, you can cook them in the pan as well (or with an indoor grill pan). What makes these quesadillas unique is the pico de gallo salsa goes right into the filling. I even made a delicious sour cream/green chili sauce to spread over the top. Sadly my local grocery stores were all out of cilantro so I was forced to leave it out. These quesadillas use chicken for the meat but you could also use steak as well. I cooked the chicken in the pan and then made the quesadillas on the grill but the chicken could be grilled as well. If you are looking for a fantastic quesadilla recipe, give this one a try. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (cut into strips, leave whole if grilling)
2 tomatoes (diced)
1 onion (finely chopped)
2 limes (juiced)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (chopped)
1 jalapeño pepper (seeded and minced)
salt and pepper (to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ onion (thinly sliced)
1 green bell pepper (thinly sliced)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
4 (12) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
¼ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped canned green chilies
Butter

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a bowl combine diced tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Step 2: In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until the juices run clear. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the other tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and sauté onion and green bell pepper until tender. Stir in garlic and cook until the aroma flows. Mix in the cooked chicken and half of the pico de gallo mixture. Remove from heat, set aside and keep warm.

Step 3: To make sour cream sauce- in a blender add sour cream and chopped green chilies. Blend until well combined and smooth.
Step 4: Lightly oil grill grates. Lightly butter one side of each tortilla. Lay out flour tortillas butter side down  on the grill. Top each tortillas with ¼ cup of cheese. Add ¼ of the chicken mixture on one side of each tortilla. Top with a little sour cream sauce. When the bottom is lightly browned and the cheese has started to melt, with a spatula fold one side of the tortilla over the top and press down. Cut into wedges and serve with remaining pico de gallo.
(Makes 4 Servings)

Still have more of that garden zucchini? If so you may want to give this recipe for zucchini cake a try. That abundance of zucchini cannot go to waste. This is very similar to zucchini bread but it uses crushed pineapple as well as zucchini. This cake is very moist and has a delicious flavor. It might just be the best zucchini cake ever. For the cake pan, I used a Bundt cake pan but several other types of cake pans should work as well (such as a 9×13).  Once the cake is cooled it is glazed with a combination of confectioner’s sugar and milk.  Like most cake recipe this is super easy and takes very little time. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 cup walnuts (chopped)
2 cups zucchini (grated)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Glaze-
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan.
Step 2: In a bowl sift together flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Step 3: In a large bowl beat eggs and sugar until the mixture becomes light colored. Mix in oil. Add sifted flour mixture to the egg mixture.  Beat for 2 minutes. Stir in pineapple, walnuts, vanilla extract and grated zucchini. Mix well and pour into the prepared cake pan.

Step 4: Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool for a half hour.
Step 5: To make the glaze- In a bowl combine confectioners’ sugar and milk. Mix well.  Remove cake from cake pan and allow to fully cool. When cake is cooled pour glaze over the top.

Southern fried chicken is an American favorite. Here is how to make fried chicken at home with a deep fryer. I know I always enjoy getting a big bucket of KFC and this is just as good if not better. The chicken pieces are first seasoned, then dipped in a hot sauce/egg mixture and then breaded with flour, baking powder and salt. Don’t let the amount of hot sauce scare you, it’s actually is not very spicy at all. I used Tabasco sauce myself. Feel free to add any additional spices to the flour mixture.  A deep fryer for a very deep pot is required for frying. If you don’t want to use whole cut up chickens, this would also be perfect for chicken strips! This fried chicken comes out perfectly crispy and delicious. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2lbs cut up chicken
Oil (for frying)
Seasoning-
1 ¼ teaspoons ground black pepper
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
Sauce-
4 eggs
1/3 cup water
1 cup hot sauce
Breading-
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Heat oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat eggs and water. Add hot sauce and whisk together.
Step 2: In small bowl combine ground black pepper, salt and garlic powder. In another bowl or pie plate combine flour, baking powder and salt.
Step 3: Pat dry chicken pieces with a paper towel. Sprinkle chicken pieces generously on both sides with the seasoning mixture.

Step 4: Dip chicken pieces into the hot sauce mixture and coat thoroughly. One piece at a time, roll chicken pieces in the flour mixture and drop into the deep fryer. Don’t over load the deep fryer with chicken. Fry chicken until brown and crisp (dark meat will take about 14 minutes, white meat about 10 minutes). A good way to tell if it’s done is to pierce the deepest part of the bone with a fork, if the juices run clear, it’s done. Drain on paper towels. Repeat until all chicken is fried.
(Makes 4 Servings)

I had a few requests for the coconut shrimp from the Chinese buffet. I have yet to actually see this on a buffet here in Michigan so hopefully I came close. This is not like your normal coconut shrimp, which is breaded but rather shrimp in a coconut sauce. The sauce has ingredients such as coconut milk, heavy cream, amaretto liquor, sugar, coconut and vanilla extracts. I know using extracts in a dish like this might seem a little strange but I thought the flavor was pretty good. With that being said, this dish is probably not for everyone. If you don’t like sweet dishes, you probably will not enjoy this. You could of course, cut back on the sugar or add none at all.  The original recipe did not call for salt and pepper but I felt it needed seasonings. Let me know what you think. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb jumbo shrimp (peeled and deveined with tails off)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon amaretto liquor
½ cup coconut milk
¼ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar (or less)
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a wok heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Add shrimp and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add green onions and amaretto liquor. Cooking for another 1-2 minutes until the shrimp begins to caramelize.

Step 2: Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside. Add to the wok- coconut milk, heavy cream, and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer (stirring occasionally) until the sauce is reduced by half (about 6 minutes).
Step 3: Add shrimp back into the wok and add vanilla and coconut extracts. Simmer for another 1-2 minutes and serve.
(Makes 4 servings)

This is how they do hot dogs in Chicago. I personally have never had a Chicago style hot dog but had always wanted to try it. A Chicago style hot dog is basically a hot dog with a lot of condiments. Some of the condiments include tomato, dill pickle, relish, onion and hot peppers. If you are from Chicago chances are you already know all about these. I tried to keep this recipe as authentic as possible but unfortunately some items seem nearly impossible to find unless you order them. Probably the hardest authentic item on this list to find is the sport peppers. If you cannot find them just omit or some recommend Tabasco peppers if you can find those. Putting all these condiments on a hot dog might sound strange to some but trust me, it’s delicious! These hot dogs are perfect for the upcoming football season. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 all-beef hot dog
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 poppy seed hot dog bun
1 tablespoon sweet green pickle relish
1 tablespoon onion (chopped)
4 tomato wedges
1 dill pickle spear
2 sport peppers
Celery salt

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Add water to a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add hot dog and cook for 5 minutes or until done. Remove hot dog and set aside. With a steamer, steam hot dog bun for 2 minutes.
Step 2: Place hot dog on the steamed bun. Add condiments in this specific order- yellow mustard, relish, onion, tomato wedges, dill pickle spear, and celery salt. The tomatoes should be placed between the hot dog and the top of the bun. The dill pickle spear should be placed between the hot dog and the bottom of the bun.
(Makes 1 Serving)

Some of you may remember or have tried my Zucchini bread. Here is something better, blueberry zucchini bread! The perfect combination and both just happen to be in season right now. Make good use of that abundance of garden zucchini, go pick some wild blueberries and you have a cheap and easy treat. Chances are if you love to bake you already have most (if not all) of t he ingredients on hand. This bread is very moist and the blueberries taste just fantastic. This recipe calls for 4 mini loaf pans but 2 regular size loaf pans will work as well. Totally optional but you could add chopped nuts into the mix as well. If you have been searching for a delicious zucchini bread recipe that won’t disappoint, give this one a try. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans (or 2 regular loaf pans)
Step 2: In a large bowl beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla. Fold in shredded zucchini. Beat in flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Gently fold in blueberries. Pour mixture into loaf pans (dividing batter evenly into each).

Step 3: Bake for 50 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of each loaf comes out clean. Allow bread to cool for 20 minutes, remove from loaf pans and finish cooling on wire racks.

Here is something different to add to my collection of Chinese recipes- lettuce wraps. I always hear people raving about P.F. Chang’s lettuce wraps and I figured I would try my own version. The result was a delicious appetizer that I couldn’t stop eating.  Some might be wondering, what are lettuce wraps? Lettuce wraps are lettuce leaves filled with a meat mixture that are folded and eaten like a burrito. The lettuce gives a nice crunch and the filling is just delicious with all the Asian flavors. The filling gets its flavor from ingredients such as soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, and hoisin sauce. I used butter lettuce but you could use other types of lettuce as well. There is a little prep work required but this dish only takes about 30 minutes to prepare. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
16 butter lettuce leaves (rinsed and pat dried)
1lb ground beef
1 tablespoon oil (for frying)
1 large onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Asian chili pepper sauce (optional, to taste)
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts (drained and chopped)
1 bunch green onions (chopped)
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Heat a medium skillet to high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add ground beef. Break beef up into very small pieces with a metal spatula and reduce heat to medium. Cook until beef is fully cooked. Drain, remove from pan and allow beef to cool.
Step 2: In the same pan add onions and stir fry for 1 minute. Add garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar and chili pepper sauce to the onions. Stir to mix well. Stir in water chestnuts, green onions and sesame oil.  Continue cooking for about 2 minutes. Add sauce mixture to ground beef and mix well in a bowl.
Step 3: Pile the meat mixture into the center of each lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito.
(Makes 4 Servings)

One thing I have always wanted to try is fried green tomatoes. Taking a look out in my garden I saw quite a few tomatoes that were green and knew I had to try them. For those of you that are not familiar with this dish… fried green tomatoes are just that, tomatoes that are not yet ripe. They get coated with breading and fried in oil. The green tomatoes are first dipped in an egg/milk mixture and then rolled in both bread crumbs and corn meal. You could also use tomatoes that are ripe for this recipe but make sure they are not over ripe or they will become mushy. I suppose you could deep fry these as well if you prefer. If you are like me and want to give fried green tomatoes a try, check this recipe out. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
4 large green tomatoes
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 quart vegetable oil (for frying)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Slice each tomato into about ½ inch thick slices. Discard the ends. In a medium bowl whisk eggs and milk until well combined. Pour flour onto a plate. On a pie plate or bowl combine bread crumbs, cornmeal, salt and pepper. Roll each tomato slice in flour, then dip in egg mixture and then dredge in cornmeal/breadcrumb mixture until evenly coated. Repeat until all slices are coated.
Step 2: In a large skillet add oil, so that the oil is about ½” deep in the pan. Heat to medium-high heat. Add tomatoes to the pan (until the pan is full but tomatoes should not be touching each other). Fry until tomatoes are brown on the bottom, flip over and brown on the other side. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.
(Makes 4 Servings)