We love fish tacos! Our friends, especially my friend Merlin, love fish tacos. When I tell Merlin it’s fish taco night in the Matthews house, he always asks the same question, “Is it all you can eat?” Yes, Merlin, it is.
They are easy to make, healthy, inexpensive, and wildly popular. Any fish will do, but our favorite by far is salmon. Halibut, swordfish, cod, or tilapia are also great. You can gently reheat last night’s fish for some great fish tacos too. Don’t Microwave the fish. Just don’t. Jim Rome, a sports radio host, has the best take on this ever. He has taken time during several of his “sports” shows to try to teach the world never to microwave fish. It’s worth a listen. I join him in his crusade.
Ingredients
Salmon (or other excellent fish) – about 1/3 to 1/2 pound per person.
Cajun seasoning, Salt, and Ground Black Pepper
Cabbage (1 head is plenty for 8 servings)
Roma Tomatoes (1 tomato for every 2 servings)
Ranch Dressing or Sour Cream
Salsa
1 lime, plus 1/2 lime per serving
Avocados (1 avocado – 4 servings)
Corn Tortillas
Directions
Make a cream sauce of 1 cup sour cream, 3 Tbsp Salsa, zest and juice of 1 lime, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Add a little hot sauce (Cholula or other) if you like.
I have a good tartar sauce recipe tartar sauce recipe that I have not yet put on the website. But for me, with the grilled fish tacos, I much prefer straight salsa or this cream sauce.
Mix together cabbage and tomatoes, add a little onion if you want. Dress with some of the cream sauce if you like. Refrigerate both cabbage mix and cream sauce.
Prepare the tortillas by either
(1) Heating them up on a griddle (very healthy),
(2) Lightly frying them in canola oil, then resting on paper towels or hanging them in the oven over the oven rack (very awesome),
(3) Wrapping in a paper towel and microwaving for 30 seconds.
Cut up avocado into small slices.
Lay out prepared fish, cabbage salad, cut up avocados, lime slices, cream sauce, and hot sauce. Let people make their own and go to town!
I used to host Pasta Feeds before doing triathlons. (By “doing” I mean surviving. I didn’t care what place I finished but I did like that I could finish!) It was one of the only good reasons I had for doing triathlons! I usually finished in the top 10% in the swim, top half in the bike, and bottom 0.1% in the run. Oh well – At least I got to make Mom’s spaghetti sauce for my friends the night before.
I remember coming home from swim practice in high school and eating 4 helpings of this. Those were the days! This old fashioned hearty tomato sauce is simple to make. It can simmer all day and make the house smell wonderful. And it’s great with leftovers. Thanks Mom!
Ingredients
1 lb Ground BeefYou can also use Italian Sausage, or some combination of both.
1 Onion, chopped
1 Large Can Crushed Tomatoes (28 oz)
12 oz Tomato Paste
12 oz Water or Red Wine
6 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
2 tbsp Dried Parsley
0.50 tsp Fennel Seed (or pinch of ground fennel)*(You don't have to have this, but for me it's a really nice addition. Fennel is a key ingredient in most Italian sausages, and it blends in nicely to this sauce.)
Directions
Brown Ground Beef and onions together, adding garlic in the last two minutes. Drain, or for a little more flavor, just spoon out the excess fat.
Add everything together (Godfather style) and simmer for at least one hour.
We love steak in my house. Except for my lovely vegetarian wife. But she supports the three boys in the house in our passion for steak. So what cut is best?
According to Dawson, nothing beats a filet. It’s butter soft, not as fatty as ribeyes, and a perfect steak for home or the steakhouse.
Ryan and I both prefer ribeyes – the fat is much higher, and so is the flavor. To me, the bone in ribeye is the steak to order in a steakhouse, and nothing beats it.
If high quality New York steaks are on sale, it’s always a fantastic option. They are tougher than filets, but a little more flavorful.
People love Porterhouses, which are like a T-bone, with a New York on one side of the bone, and a filet on the other. To me, they are too hard too cook. Getting two different cuts to the perfect temperature is super challenging.
Finally, when I’m buying steak in the grocery store, a good grass-fed steak is always a great option, as it creates both great flavor and texture.
Ingredients
1 Steak, per person*
Soy Sauce
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Directions
Take it out of the fridge and let it sit at least 30 minutes. Don’t let it sit for hours – it’s unsafe.
Season with Soy Sauce To me, it’s more interesting that Worcestershire sauce
Season with Montreal Steak Seasoning. It’s the best. I cover mine with it, and sprinkle Dawson’s lightly. It has a Steak-au-poivre feel to it.
Cook it on the grill or on the Big Green Egg (Direct Cooking). No other way to do it. Get it hot – 400 to 500 degrees is great.
3 Minutes on each side, Rotate 90 degrees and cook 3 minutes on each side again (makes nice cross-hatch marks). I cook my steak until it’s 130 degrees. It’s a perfect medium rare.
Now, if you have a super thick steak – over 2″ thick, please see my recipe for Tomahawk Steaks. You are going to need to use some indirect heat.
Let sit for 3-5 minutes, then serve it up!
It’s easier than ever to add smoking to your outdoor cooking abilities. And with the right equipment, you don’t have to devote a whole day to the effort. I used to have to tend my $100 offset smoker every 30 minutes. It was tricky to keep the temperature right and the results were inconsistent. If you know this site, you know that I love my XL Big Green Egg. It holds the temperature like a champ, but it takes a little work to get it going, but once you do, it’s a rock and needs little to no attention. And the results are fantastic. But there are easier versions – the Traeger and its copycats are even easier. Plug it in, flip a switch, and you’re smoking. If you like smoke flavor, find your right fit and make it happen.
This is just like the Roasted Turkey recipe, but better. A real smoker is just like an oven. A lot of people believe in “low and slow,” where the temperature is 225 or 250, and it takes a long time. That’s a great strategy, but I like to smoke a turkey just like I do it in the oven. Same temp, same time, but a way different flavor.
Ingredients
1 cup BBQ Rub. Choose your favorite or go with my Arkibu Rub .
Directions
Instead of dry brining the turkey, rub the turkey with the BBQ rub. There’s plenty of salt in that to do the work. Let sit for 24 hours.
Instead of preparing the oven, prepare the smoker. For me – it’s the Big Green Egg. Use the same temp as the Roasted Turkey Recipe – 320 degrees. Apple wood chips are outstanding.
Add apple wood chips, and Smoke until the breast temperature reaches 165. There’s no basting.
It’s time to turk the cookie! That’s what my mom, the infamous “Gramma Sue” who is mentioned in so many of these recipes, would say every Thanksgiving morning. It was a mistake the first time, but she was kidding after. I think.
In our Thanksgivings, we do one smoked turkey and one roasted turkey. Jill, even those she’s vegetarian, loves cooking the roasted turkey, and it always comes out great each time. This is how we do it.
Ingredients
1 Turkey (16 – 22 pounds)
1 cup Butter (2 Sticks)
1 cup White Wine or Champagne
2 Onions
2 Oranges
1 tbsp Thyme
2 Stalks celery
1 tsp Black Pepper
8 Good Chicken Broth
Directions
Make sure the turkey is thawed!! To be safe, a frozen turkey should thaw for five days in the fridge.
If you have time, brine your turkey. It makes a big difference. I do a dry brine now. Here are the two ways you can brine:
If you have time. Do a three-day dry brine. It’s retty easy really. Take a combination of 2 Tbsp Kosher Salt and 1 tsp Herbs de Provence (or Italian Seasoning if you don’t have the French Stuff) for every five pounds of tukey. And rub the inside and outside of the turkey with the mixture. Put it in a turkey oven bag and keep it refrigerated for 3 days.
If you only have one day – Do an overnight soaking brine. My Aunt Catherine gave me this recipe. Add 1/2 cup salt and 1/4 cup sugar for every gallon of water. You can add lemon or orange slices if you like. She adds 4 cinnamon sticks and a handful of cloves. I don’t do that, but if that sounds good to you, go for it. In a large container, soak the turkey in the brine for at least one full day.
About an hour before you are ready to cook, take the brined turkey out of the fridge. Wash the turkey under running water. Take out the neck and giblets and reserve for broth.
Fill the cavity lightly (don’t stuff it) with a quartered onion, a cut up stick of butter, and some quartered oranges. Smear the turkey with softened butter, sprinkle top with salt and pepper, and cover with a cheesecloth. Yes, I know, it’s a lot of butter. It’s Thanksgiving – give yourself permission!
Preheat the oven to 300 (convection) or 325 (normal).
Make a mixture of the remainder of butter (melted) and the white wine or champagne. Use the cheap stuff! This is for basting.
Place in a Roasting Pan on a rack, and cook for 10-12 minutes per pounds.
Note – Time this out. For me – I plan on 12 minutes per pound (it is usually more like 10 in my oven) plus 30 minutes, and then it’s dinner time. So it you put a 20 pound bird in at 9:00 AM, it takes 240 minutes (4 hours) to cook, and I’m ready to serve any time from 1:30 to 2:30.
Baste the turkey every 30 minutes, using the wine/butter mixture at first, then using the turkey’s own drippings.
When the breast meat temp reaches 165, and/or the leg temp reaches 175, take the bird out, gently take off the cheesecloth, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes and for up to two hours. If you’re going to wait over an hour, cover loosely with foil.
Making the Gravy!
While the turkey is roasting, Put the neck and the giblets (my father-in will eat giblets all day) in a sauce pan with 6 cups of water, 2 celery stalks, 2 carrots, thyme, a bay leaf, black pepper, and you’re off. Cook for 2 hours, then strain.
Save the broth for the gravy. Cut up the neck meat for the gravy. We use just the neck meat and let my father-in-law take care of the giblets – not everybody likes them! Throw away everything else. Put the broth and meat aside for later.
After the turkey is done, take the bird out of the roaster and let it rest. Skim the fat off of the top of the turkey drippings. I cheat on this one. My in-laws gave me a “fat separator” that is very easy to use. I pour the broth into it, wait 5 minutes for it to separate, and pour the fatty drippings back into the pan.
Take the turkey pan with all of the fat-reduced drippings and place it on the stove. Heat, then slowly whisk or stir in 1 cup of flour, making a nice roux.
Note – If your roaster pan won’t go onto the stove, then use another pan. It’s no problem.
Slowly add the broth that you made, whisking or stirring it into the roux. Add extra broth if you need it until you have a thick, beautiful gravy. Taste and add salt if needed. Add the cut up giblets if you want. See thickening notes below.
The gravy is ready!
This is a beautiful dish for a crowd. Tender chicken, great italian red sauce, and tons of vegetables. It comes out looking like a million bucks! This recipe will serve at least 12. I use my turkey roasting pan as my cooking and serving dish for this recipe.
Ingredients
16 Chicken Thighs (Bone-In, Skin Removed)
28 oz Can Diced Tomatoes, Drained
14.50 oz Tomato Sauce
6 oz Tomato Paste
3 Onions, chopped
4 Green Peppers, seeded and chopped
2 Yellow Peppers, seeded and chopped
4 Carrots, chopped
1 Bunch of Celery, cleaned and chopped
3 Zucchini, chopped
3 Yellow (Summer) Squash, chopped
24 oz Flat Noodles
12 oz Red Wine
¼ cup Olive Oil
8 Cloves Garlic
⅓ cup Olive Oil
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Black Pepper
1.50 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
Directions
Chop all vegetables into small pieces.
Heat 1/2 of the Olive Oil in Large Saute Pan. Add all vegetables and saute for 10 minutes. Add Garlic for one minute. Set aside in separate bowl or plate. 10 Minutes
Add remainder of olive oil to saute pan and heat. Add chicken thighs, top side down, and brown for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Deglaze pan with red wine, scraping up all of the goodness. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and spices. If you’re not already cooking in the pan you’ll be baking in, transfer sauce to that pan.
Layer the chicken thighs, browned side up, in the pan, in the sauce. Layer all vegetables on top of that. Cover tightly with foil. At this point, you can set aside and refrigerate, or cook.
Cook, still covered with foil, at 325 (convection preferred) for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Add 15 minutes if you are taking it out of the fridge. 105 Minutes
