Tag: foodporn

Our Fondue Tradition

On By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes9 Comments

When the kids were growing up, we started the tradition to fondue on New Year’s Eve and watch a marathon of movies. We would pick movies that had multiple movies in the series like Harry Potter, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Jason Bourne, Lord of the Rings, Batman, Ocean’s 13, etc. Whatever the movie, it was about being together as a family and eating a meal that was a shared experience.

Fondue Plate

Our children have all grown up and moved onto their own lives, but we continue to spend our New Year’s Eve eating fondue and watching movies until about an hour before midnight.  We do a peanut oil fondue with steak, chicken, mushrooms, and green peppers (we used to do hot dogs when the kids were younger).  Then we do our family curry sauce, chutney, and béarnaise sauce for dipping.  Although we love a good cheese or chocolate fondue, this is a perfect fondue for creating a hearty meal, especially when needing to offset all of the glasses of wine that lead up to our midnight toast.

Fondue Table

Our New Year’s Day tradition is pork and sauerkraut, which is a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition that is meant to provide good luck throughout the coming year.  It works out really well since it is a slow cooker meal and we are usually moving a little slower after New Year’s Eve.  We’ve decided to share with you our curry fondue sauce recipe, which is obviously simple and can be used with other meals besides fondue.

Cooking in Peanut Oil

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Mayonnaise
  • 3 tbsp Whole Milk (Skim can be used to lower the fat and calories)
  • 4 – 5 tsp Curry Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Tabasco Sauce

Instructions

In a medium size bowl, combine mayonnaise, milk, curry powder, and tabasco sauce.  Whisk together and chill for 30 minutes.  If it is too thick, simply add a dash more of milk and stir.

Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding

On By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes4 Comments
Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding

For every holiday, we have a food tradition that we are adamant about doing every year. Don’t ask us why, but we are very superstitious about our holiday meals. We’ve been very fortunate over the years and, although we know it has nothing to do with the meals that we’ve eaten, we just don’t want to jinx ourselves. Our Christmas tradition is to have prime rib (or standing rib roast) with Yorkshire pudding. It isn’t a complicated meal, but it is certainly delicious.  We flew home on Christmas Eve so that we could be home for Christmas and cook our traditional dinner on Christmas Day.  It was the perfect complement to being home.  You don’t need to have a holiday or a superstition to give this meal a try 😉

Prime Rib

Ingredients

  • 6 – 8 lb Prime Rib (3 or 4 ribs)
  • 5 Garlic Cloves – minced
  • 1/4 cup Prepared Horseradish
  • 4 tbsp Fresh Rosemary – roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Thyme
  • 1/4 cup Sea Salt
  • 1/8 cup Fresh Ground Black Pepper
  • 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 3 Eggs
  • 3/4 cup Whole Milk
  • 1/2 cup Pan Drippings from the Prime Rib
Prime Rib

Instructions

Stir together the flour and salt into a bowl.  In another bowl, beat together the eggs and milk.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully incorporated.  Stir in 1 tablespoon of Rosemary and 1 teaspoon of thyme.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Yorkshire Pudding Batter

Place the prime rib, bone side down, into a large roasting pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  In a small bowl, combine the garlic, horseradish, 3 tablespoons of the rosemary, 1 tablespoon of the thyme, sea salt, pepper, and olive oil.  Whisk the ingredients until it forms a paste (whisking instead of stirring allows the ingredients to bind together).  Generously rub the paste over the top (the fat cap) of the prime rib.  Roast the prime rib in the oven for 2 – 2 1/2 hours (approximately 20 minutes per pound) until it reaches an internal temperature of 125 degrees.

Combine Herbs
Whisk the Rub Ingredients
Rub the Prime Rib

Pull the roast from the oven and set it aside, tented, for 20 to 30 minutes to rest (cutting into the roast without letting it rest will cause the juices to run out and the prime rib to be dry).  Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees.  Pour the pan drippings into a 9 inch square baking dish.  Place the baking dish into the oven for 5 minutes to get the drippings smoking hot.  Take the baking dish out of the oven, pull the batter out of the refrigerator, and add the cold batter to the pan drippings.  Place the pudding back into the oven and cook until puffed and dry, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Let the Rib Rest
Yorkshire Pudding
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Chili Mac – Traditional Comfort Food, Non-Traditional Recipe

On By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes4 Comments

This is one of our favorite winter time recipes.  This might not be what you typically think of when you think of chili mac, but it is really, really delicious. 🙂  There is something about the tang of the vinegar combined with the spice of the chili powder that makes this dish stand out.  Obviously you could use macaroni noodles, but the spaghetti noodles work so much better because they simply add a layer of flavor because they aren’t as thick as macaroni noodles.  It is also a one pot dinner where we use a short cut to make it easier, but you certainly could make the chili from scratch if you’d like.  If you’re willing to give it a try, we think it might become one of your favorite recipes as well.

Cooked Chili Mac

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Lean Ground Beef
  • 3 – 15 oz Cans of Chili (you’re favorite brand)
  • 4 tbsp Chili Powder (half hot and half regular if available)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Granulated Garlic Powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (optional)
  • 3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 8 oz Thin Spaghetti Noodles (half of a 1 lb package)
Spices
Chili Mac

Instructions

Add the ground beef, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to a large sauce pot and brown the ground beef on medium-high heat.  Browning the ground beef with the spices will allow the meat to absorb the flavor as it cooks.  Add the three cans of chili, retaining the cans.  Stir the ground beef with the chili.  Fill each chili can three-quarters of the way to top with water, swirling the water as you fill them to get any additional sauce from the sides of the can.  Add the vinegar and the water from the three cans to the pot.  Stir in the cayenne pepper and bring to a boil and then reduce the heat low.  Cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours.  Increase the heat to medium-low and add the spaghetti noodles in small batches to the pot (you can break the long noodles into shorter pieces, if you prefer), stirring them in as they are added.  If you add the noodles all at once or in large handfuls, they will stick together and not fully cook.  If there isn’t enough liquid to cover the noodles, add enough hot water to ensure that the noodles have enough liquid to absorb.  Cooking the spaghetti noodles in the liquid from the chili will allow them to absorb all of the spices and flavors from the chili while they cook.  Cook the noodles until they are at the desired tenderness.

Brown the Ground Beef
Ground Beef and Chili
Bring to a Boil
Add Spaghetti Noodles
Ensure Noodles are Spread Out
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