Sloppy Jo'tatoes!

What do you get when you make some sweet-and-smoky Sloppy Joe filling, and pile it on top of a loaded baked potato? A Sloppy Jo'tato!

One of our favorite things to eat in Kansas City is the "Barbecue Baked Potato," a loaded baked potato topped with pulled pork at Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue, and that was part of the inspiration for this dish.

This would make a great family-friendly dinner, or a creative addition to a baked potato bar for a party or cook-out.

Sloppy Jo'tatoes Recipe

2 servings

1 or 2 russet potatoes
1 batch of Emergency BBQ Sauce (or a sugar-free sauce for Paleo/Whole30)
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/2 lb. ground beef
optional toppings: butter, shredded cheese, sour cream, chives or green onions

1. Bake your potato(es) however you usually do. (I used one large potato split between my husband and me. You could use one whole potato per person, if you like.) My method is to prick, butter, and salt the outside, then bake directly on the middle oven rack at 450 F for about 45 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, mix up a batch of my Emergency BBQ Sauce. Let it mellow over low heat while you complete the rest of the dish. (Or use about 1 cup of your favorite bottled sauce. But watch out for corn syrup and other nasty chemicals!)

3. Ten or so minutes before the potatoes are due to be done, saute the onion till translucent, then brown the ground beef in a large skillet. Drain off the excess fat, then add the BBQ sauce into the meat mixture -- just until it gets as saucy as you like it. Stir it together, and taste to adjust seasoning if necessary. Keep that mixture over low heat till your potatoes are ready.

4. Check your potatoes to make sure they're done. If not, a bit of time in the microwave might help finish them off. When done, split them open, mash slightly with a fork, and top as you like with butter, shredded cheddar or cheddar-jack cheese, and the Sloppy Joe mix. Then continue to top -- as you wish -- with sour cream, and chopped chives or green onions.

Not too happy with the photo I got,
but the taste more than made up for it!

Mmm-mmm-mm!

Here is nutritional info (via myfitnesspal.com) for one serving, based on using one large potato for two people, and only using about 2/3 of the BBQ sauce. Oh, and I also cut the sugar in the sauce from 1/4 c. of brown sugar to 2 T. of maple syrup.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 2.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 448
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 21 g	33 %
Saturated Fat 12 g	59 %
Monounsaturated Fat 7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 135 mg	45 %
Sodium 377 mg	16 %
Potassium 977 mg	28 %
Total Carbohydrate 28 g	9 %
Dietary Fiber 2 g	9 %
Sugars 11 g
Protein 36 g	73 %
Vitamin A	8 %
Vitamin C	30 %
Calcium	7 %
Iron	25 %

Summer tomatoes, how do I love thee?

On BLT's, oven-dried, oven-roasted, in a sauce...

I had some less-than-stellar farmstand beefsteak tomatoes last week taking up space in my fridge. Actually, just several slices from one large tomato. The flavor was only so-so in the BLT's we'd sliced them for, but I was reluctant to throw them out, so there they sat.

Then something (probably something on Pinterest) made me think of oven-dried tomatoes. Which are basically sun-dried tomatoes, with more control and fewer bugs.

Tried it: uh, YUM!

Below are links to several recipes, but since most of them call for Roma or cherry tomatoes, I was kind of improvising. The first one on the list is the process that I more-or-less followed. Here's mine:

• oven preheated to 200 F
• large tomato, sliced into 1/4" slices
• seeds and the jelly around them poked out and set aside
• tomato slices on a cooling rack; rack nestled in my favorite baking sheet
• checked after a couple hours.

Because mine were thin and mostly jelly-less, they dried out pretty quickly. In two or three hours, some of them were already crispy. So crispy, in fact, that the pieces with a fair amount of peel were like super-tomatoey potato chips. And the tart, intense flavor? Hugely improved over the disappointing fresh version. I chowed down! (Hubs thought they tasted kinda burnt, but I thought they tasted great! Maybe he just got a bad one.) I'll probably try some more next week, to see if I can recreate that great accident.
> Oven-dried tomatoes from About.com
> Oven-dried tomatoes from Food Network
> Oven-dried tomatoes from Tomato Dirt

I mentioned that I had poked out the juices/goop from the slices before baking. One of the recipes I read mentioned "tomato water;" never heard of that, so I googled it. One "recipe" required a food processor, cheesecloth, and eight hours. But I wasn't up for that, so I just took the goop, seeds and liquid and poured the whole mess through a sieve. It yielded about a couple tablespoons of tomato-pink liquid. There wasn't enough of it to use in a recipe, but I tasted it -- then added a wee bit of salt -- and tasted it again, and it was delish! I can see it being a great liquid to poach fish in, or to put up in the freezer to add a little genuine summer taste to a winter marinara or soup.
> About tomato water, from Bon Appetit
> About tomato water, from New York Times

Also, if you want something a little less dehydrated, here's a recipe for roasted tomatoes, which just takes them to a concentrated but still fairly moist stage. I haven't tried this method, but if I did, I would make them without the herbs, to make them more versatile. 
> Oven-roasted tomatoes from Kalyn's Kitchen

3 hours on the weekend, 10 meals for the week!

Minimizing prep time for dinner by combining two nights of prep is something I've had in mind to write about here, but just haven't gotten to it. Then I found out about a Columbia University student who has this concept completely nailed!

Wow! So impressed by this guy. He's pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering, which has got to keep his schedule busy. But every weekend, he takes a few hours to prep and package five lunches and five dinners for the upcoming week.

And this is no tuna casserole or hamburger surprise! His meals feature things like lemon tilapia, roasted carrots, mashed sweet potatoes with honey and cinnamon, Cajun rice.

I have got in the habit of keeping my freezer stashed with healthy homemade burritos, and even though I eat them almost every weekday -- with lapses for leftovers or lunch out with a friend -- I don't get tired of it. I love how easy and thought-less it is to just grab one and pop it in the microwave. And it's been part of the bigger effort that's enabled me to lose more than 20 pounds in the last few months! I will write about that here some day.

But for now, check out Sean's plan. Get the whole story (and a couple recipes) here.

Mr. Steak Continental Burger: A Food Flashback!

Because my hemoglobin tested low last week, I've been trying to eat as much red meat as possible, but I've been wracking my brain for a hamburger dish that isn't mostly bread or pasta. I was thinking about hamburgers with mushroom sauce, and this prompted a food flashback.

Back in the early 80's, when we were dating and then newlyweds, my husband and I used to go to the local Mr. Steak once in a while. The menu favorite for both of us was the Continental Burger. I'm not claiming it would be health food, but it is, at least, a fairly low-carb way to eat a burger. For those who have never tried this delicacy, it was a hamburger patty with some juicy/creamy/mushroomy sauce in the middle, served open face on rye toast, with caramelized onions on top. My husband always ordered a side of deep-fried clams and ketchup for dipping, and a baked potato with butter and honey (yes, honey) on top. How's that for carb overload?! Back then, we could eat that way, though.

Now? Notsza much!

I remember that back then we tried to duplicate the Continental, but never succeeded. Thanks to that modern marvel we call Google, today I was able to track down what sounds like some plausible copycat recipes...

"I was a Senior Grill Chef at Mr. Steak in the early 70's.... The Continentals came pre-made. They were two thin oval patties of what we now call 80-85% lean ground (need that much fat to stay together) -- I think each patty was about a fifth of a pound. The filling was two things only - pasteurized process swiss cheese ONLY and fresh mushrooms. The 'shrooms and process swiss were diced to about 1/2" dice. Put about 1 to 2 tablespoons on one patty, cover with second patty and crimp edges gently but completely so there are no holes. Grill till medium, turning as little as possible, and use some kind of cover on top last 2 minutes or so to help cheese melt. That restaurant served them on buttered, then grilled on one side, light rye bread. The burger was served open face.... Everyone ate them with a knife and fork! They were hugely popular!! I love them, make them once a year or so."

"I worked at Mr. Steak for over 5 years. I have tried and tried to duplicate the Continental and ... have come up with a reasonable knock-off recipe. Take your ground beef and press it into two very thin and large patties.... Don't go crazy with a lot of filling, or it will leak when cooking. Then lay on a piece of 'processed Swiss cheese' -- not the real stuff! You want the fake processed Swiss cheese slices; they melt easily and are gooey; real Swiss won't work as well. Next, place about a Tbsp. of Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup on top of the cheese. Place the other patty on top and SEAL WELL. Grill -- and make sure while grilling you only turn this once or twice at the most. Flipping too much is taking a risk it will break open or ooze out the good yummy stuff inside.... It's been so long now, but I still crave them. Try the above and I guarantee you it will be close in taste and looks; not exact but close enough."

I think the ole' Continental Burger will be making an appearance in our kitchen some time this week! No fried clams, though.

All recipe info found here. 

Multipurpose Spicy Asian Marinade Recipe

This (for now) is a recipe I haven't tried -- yet.

So why am I posting it? Since it got a 4-fork rating on Epicurious -- the highest possible -- I definitely want to try it. Also, it got great comments. Bonus: it's sugar-free! But there's no pinnable image on the original, so I can't post it to my "recipes to try" Pinterest board from there.

Various reviewers said...

"I ground chicken thighs in the food processor, marinated as directed, and then browned the meat for delicious and simple lettuce wraps. I think I will go to this marinade again and again."

"I marinated some shrimp in this for about an hour, and then sauteed them with the remaining marinade; they were so flavorful!"

"Used this over asparagus. Cut the spears into 2" long pieces, marinated it a bit and then sauteed the asparagus in oil, reserving marinade. After removing asparagus from pan, I added reserved marinade along with a cornstarch slurry to thicken for a sauce."

"I used this marinade with scallops and veggie kabobs. It was fantastic!"

The author comments...
"This all-purpose marinade can be used for chicken or turkey breast, pork cutlets, firm-pressed tofu, and seafood. If you prefer to omit the chile, use smashed fresh ginger instead."

Recipe: Spicy Asian Chicken Marinade

by Spices of Life, by Nina Simonds , via epicurious

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine or sake
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried chile flakes or hot chile paste (or 5 to 6 slices of smashed fresh ginger)
• 1 tablespoon virgin olive oil (or canola oil)

Combine all ingredients and use as directed in your recipe.

photo credit: formalfallacy @ Dublin (Victor) via photopin cc