Recipe Review from 5/27/2019

And again, I find I forgot to hit "publish", so this is getting posted late. 

This past week (week of Memorial Day) had me at a five day yoga training which impacted the meal plan a bit. As I didn't want to eat out three times a day, I packed breakfast and lunches, and ate supper out. By the end of the day, I just need to get out of the hotel and air the brain out a bit.

The beginning of the week was Memorial Day weekend, and we took advantage of some nice weather (finally!) to grill a bit.

The Meal Plan:
Sat (L) out Dickies BBQ (S) brats and potato salad
Sun (L) leftovers (S)Fish Chowder leftover Dickies
Mon (L) leftover/egg salad sandwich; (S)BBQ Pork Steak
Tues (L) leftovers
Wed - Sun: Yoga Training

Smashed Potato Salad (modified from Cooks Country)
We were watching an episode of Cooks Country before the weekend started and they made this smashed potato salad recipe. Not only did we think, "yum", but I realized I had nearly all the ingredients on hand. A grocery shopping trip later, we had everything necessary to make this with a few modifications. If you want the original recipe, you'll have to sign onto Cooks Country. My modifications are below.

This is a "make ahead" recipe, as it does need a couple hours to chill. You WILL need a very large stock pot for the potatoes. And, you do want the potatoes cooked until they are soft.

This was tasty, you can definitely swap out mustard varieties for different flavors.   And this makes a lot.  Like enough for 5-6 dinners for two people.  Which is the downside of making potato salad unless it's for a potluck or larger family gathering, there's a lot of leftovers.   Bottom line - recommended!

Photo from CooksCountry.com

3 pounds Baby Red potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 hard-cooked large eggs, chopped
½ cup chopped sweet pickles
½ cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup finely chopped onion

Combine potatoes, 8 cups water, and 1 tablespoon salt in Dutch oven and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook at vigorous simmer until potatoes are tender, 14 to 17 minutes.

Drain potatoes in colander. Transfer 3 cups potatoes to large bowl, add 1 tablespoon vinegar, and coarsely mash with potato masher. Transfer remaining potatoes to rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar, and toss gently to combine. Let cool completely, about 15 minutes.


Whisk mayonnaise, ½ cup water, mustard, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper together in bowl. Stir mayonnaise mixture into mashed potatoes. Fold in eggs, pickles, celery, onion, and remaining potatoes until combined. (Mixture will be lumpy.)

Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, about 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

St. Louis BBQ Pork Steaks ( modified from Cooks Country)
If you want the original recipe, you'll have to sign onto Cooks Country. My modifications are below.

We did a specialty order of pork from a local place, which came with "pork steaks".  I had no idea what to do with these, so I headed to the internet and some of my favorite sites.  Cooks Country came through with this splendid (and easy!) recipe.  Now I did modify this - recipe calls for cutting up a pork butt, but I was already set to go with my steaks. 

My only comment would be to watch that last 1/2 hour of cooking time.  Because my steaks were probably thinner than if I had cut my own, they were cooking a tich faster.  Still, this turned out fantastic and I would make it again.  Heck, I'd use the BBQ sauce recipe again!  Served with the potato salad from above.  Recommended.

photo from Cooks Country

2 cups beer - lager or other mild beer recommended (I used a Corona)
1 ½ cups ketchup
¼ cup A.1. sauce
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
4 medium to large pork steaks (6 would also work good, but I didn't have six)

1. MAKE SAUCE Whisk ketchup, beer, A.1., sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire, garlic powder, hot sauce, and liquid smoke in large bowl. Transfer to large disposable aluminum pan.

2. HEAT GRILL Heat all burners on high, covered, for 15 minutes. (For charcoal grill, light about 100 coals. When covered with fine gray ash, spread evenly over bottom of grill. Set cooking grate in place and heat covered, with lid vent open halfway, for 5 minutes.) Scrape and oil cooking grate.

3. SEAR AND SIMMER Season pork steaks with pepper and grill until well-browned, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer steaks to pan with sauce, cover with foil, and place pan on grill. Turn all burners to low and cook, covered, until steaks are tender and sauce is slightly thickened, about 90 minutes.

4. FINAL SEAR Using potholders, remove pan from grill and turn all burners to high. (For charcoal grill, light about 50 coals. When covered with fine gray ash, remove grill grate and scatter evenly over spent coals.) Remove steaks from pan and grill until lightly charred around edges, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Skim fat from sauce and serve with steaks.