Summer Potato Salad

My mom has gotten me into eating food that's as fresh as possible - and I kinda like it. We got to the local Farmer's Market about every other week, buy local produce and dairy at the grocery store whenever possible, and Mom gets an order from something called Farm Fresh every other week.

Farm Fresh buys from local farms/food preparation places and delivers some great food to your doorstep however often you decide to pay for it. It's opened up our eyes to some great food possibilities and revealed to the family some new favorites. Occasionally, when Mom has leftovers (or things she's sure we'd enjoy) from Farm Fresh, she'll pass them along to my sister Emilee or myself.

Last weekend, Mom gave me a half a bag of small fingerling potatoes (I believe) and I decided to be a bit adventurous and craft my own little riff on a classic potato salad using whatever ingredients I happened to have around. I think I was successful!


I think this version is a great salute to the classic potato salad you know and love! The red wine vinegar and horseradish add a little bite, which balances nicely against the cooling sensation of the fresh dill (which I will be growing in my garden this summer!). With the weather warming up, what better time to try out this new take on a well-loved classic?

NOTE: I substituted red potatoes for the fingerling potatoes mentioned about for the second time I made this salad (which is what I based the recipe off of). Any small, thin-skinned potato will work fine, but if you like russets or yukon golds, you'll want to peel your taters first.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. medium to small red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces, skins on!
• 2 eggs, hard-boiled then chopped
  
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise (homemade is best)
• 1/4 c. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. prepared horseradish
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 1 dill pickle, finely chopped
• 2 green onions, finely sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 tbsp. fresh dill, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp. paprika
• - salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place potatoes in salted water and bring to boil. Cook until they are easily piercable with a fork (not quite fork-tender/mashed potato-stage - you want them just after al dente).
2. Drain water from potatoes and add to a large bowl. WHILE THE POTATOES ARE STILL WARM, add mayo, mustard, horseradish, and vinegar. Stir together until the potatoes are evenly coated. (If you like your potato salad wetter, add more mayo.)
3. Add eggs, celery, pickle, onion, and garlic and stir until everything is evenly incorporated.
4. Finish with dill, paprika, and salt & pepper, stirring after each to make sure everything is evenly distributed.
5. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or until ready to serve.

Serve chilled.

Serves: 3-5
Serving Suggestions: This salad is the perfect accompaniment to your favorite cookout foods - burgers, brats, hot dogs, barbecued chicken, ribs... whatever! Serve it cool on a hot summer day alongside your favorite grilled fare and a cool, refreshing glass of lemonade or beer (if you go in for that sort of thing).

Barbecued Chicken with Peach Barbecue Sauce

I was posting earlier today about some cooking I've done recently and mentioned some barbecued chicken I made earlier this week. My roommate Brett and his girlfriend Emily were over and we collectively decided to do some BBQ chicken. Part of that included me making a homemade barbecue sauce (the base recipe I've already posted here) and I recalled last weekend when I was over at mom and dad's eating a fresh peach. I had mentioned to my mom at the time that the peach would be a great additive for a barbecue sauce. So, I set about experimenting with my standard sauce and I was pretty pleased with the result (as was my super-picky roommate!). (Sorry, no pictures with this one. Didn't even think to take any!)

Peach Barbecued Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 5-6 chicken legs)
• kosher salt
• fresh-cracked pepper
• smoked paprika
• paprika
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• cumin
  
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• Peach Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows)
  

Directions:

1. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat.
   
2. Mix together equal amounts of the smoked paprika, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin (about a teaspoon each) with the cayenne pepper in a bowl. This is the dry rub that will cover each piece of chicken - if you don't think you'll have enough, double the recipe!
3. Season your chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, then rub the spice mixture onto both sides of the chicken.
4. Grill your chicken over medium-high heat, about three minutes per side. After your first flip, cover the just-grilled chicken with the peach barbecue sauce. Flip again and repeat.
5. Make sure you don't overcook your chicken; it'll dry out. One of the best things about barbecue chicken is the moist texture when it's cooked properly. When you can feel that the chicken in cooked through (and you can generally tell by how much give there is in the meat), take it off the grill. Also, make sure you let it rest awhile too; that'll keep the juices in the chicken, which also helps keep the meat moist.

Peach Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves (or one large clove), chopped
  
• olive oil
• pinch of kosher salt
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  
• 1 fresh peach, sliced or chopped
  
• 3 tbsp. light brown sugar
• 1 c. ketchup
• 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. dark molasses
• 2 tbsp. grade A light amber maple syrup (grade B syrup would be awesome, too!)
  
• 2 tbsp. peach jam
• 5-6 splashes of hot sauce (I like Frank's Redhot)

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, sautee onions and garlic in olive oil, seasoning with a pinch of kosher salt. When the onions and garlic start to soften, add the red wine vinegar and reduce by about a third.
2. Once the vinegar has reduced, add the peach and brown sugar, stir, and cook, uncovered, allowing the peaches to caramelize and soften a bit.
3. When the sugar has dissolved and the peaches have softened, add the ketchup, mustard, molasses, maple syrup, peach jam, and hot sauce. Stir together until well-blended and bring to a simmer on low heat, allowing all the flavors to marry together. (This can take anywhere from five minutes to a half an hour.)
   
4. Strain the sauce into another bowl through a strainer getting out as much sauce as possible, while leaving the onions, peaches, and garlic in the strainer.
5. Make sure you reserve some sauce to pour over the top of the chicken (as you don't want to reuse sauce you've spread over semi-raw chicken). It really adds to the sweetness of the dish!

Serves: 3 or 4
Serving Suggestions: When we had this the other night, we had some fresh Indiana buttered sweet corn on the cob, which turned out to be a great accompaniment! However, ANY typical BBQ side would work with this chicken - potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, cornbread, macaroni salad, or anything else you typically like to eat with BBQ! The sweetness of the sauce might be complimented by something sweet (like corn), tart (cucumber salad), or savory (baked beans). In terms of wine pairings (if you're into that stuff), nothing fits better with BBQ than a cold beer (summer ales would be best - Fat Tire, Oberon, etc.).

Eggs Benedict a la Foxy

Since school started up, I haven't had as much time for cooking as I might like. I've managed to do a few things (like an awesome BBQ chicken made with a homemade peach barbecue sauce), but one of the best times for me to get some cooking in is Saturday mornings when I wake up. (Sleeping in makes this meal "brunch" for me.) I love to eat breakfast, but I rarely have time to make it during the week... so Saturday is the BEST time to get the culinary juices flowing on the most important meal of the day!

NOTE: This is hardly a 'traditional' eggs benedict, but is just my own twist on a classic. To make a traditional benedict, replace two slices of bread with an English muffin and every couple of slices of bacon with Canadian bacon. However, I rarely have those ingredients on-hand, so I came up with this. Enjoy!

Eggs Benedict ala Foxy

Eggs Benedict
Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp. wine vinegar (I like the flavor of red wine.)
• kosher salt
• 4-8 strips of thick bacon
• 4 slices of wheat bread
• Holladaise Sauce (recipe below)
  
• parsley (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Put 2-3 inches of water in a large non-stick pot. Salt and bring the water to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, add vinegar to the water.
2. While waiting for your water to simmer, put your bacon in a nonstick skillet and cook until done. You'll want one or two pieces of bacon per piece of toast, so cook as many as it takes. (I go 'two-per', so I'd cook eight.)
   
3. Crack eggs into individual cups and gently lower them one at a time into the simmering water. Make sure you don't overcrowd the eggs in your pot!
4. Poach eggs in simmering water for 2-4 minutes until they reach your desired level of done-ness. (I like runny yolks, so I usually go 2-2.5 minutes.)
5. While eggs are poaching, pop your bread into the toaster and get it toasted to desired toasted-ness.
   
6. Remove eggs from the poach bath with a slotted spoon and place them on a texture-less rag or some paper towel in order to drain them.
7. Remove bacon from pan and drain the grease off on some paper towels. (Use different paper towels than the ones you drained the eggs on.)
8. Put two pieces of toast down on a plate. Put down one or two strips of bacon on each slice, then top with a poached egg. Drizzle the hollandaise over the whole thing and garnish with fresh-cracked pepper and some fresh parsley (if you want).
   

Hollandaise Sauce (recipe borrowed from Tyler Florence)
Ingredients:

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp. dry mustard (I like to use Colman's)
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1 c. butter, melted
• lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste
  

Directions:

1. Combine yolks, mustard, cayenne, and water in the blender. Then, with the blender still running, slowly add the melted butter until completely combined.
2. Turn blender off, then taste and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice as needed.
3. Keep warm while you poach your eggs. (I put it in a saucepan under low heat until the elements need to be brought together.)

Serves: 2 (or four if part of a breakfast smorgasbord)
Serving suggestions: This dish is certainly not a 'light' breakfast by any stretch of the imagination. A lot of the richness of this dish can be cut by serving it with some fresh fruit (in the summer, fresh peaches, melon, and berries work well; in the fall, apples, bananas, and grapes would be a good decision). Also, serving with orange juice is another great way to cut through the richness. If you're having this for brunch, you might replace the orange juice with a mimosa (if you're into that kinda thing).

Grilled Tuna Steaks with Grilled Asparagus and a Garlic-Dill Aioli

Summer, in my mind, is one of the best times of the year to cook! Herbs are growing fresh, al fresco dining is enjoyable, and grilling outside is not only a possibly, but practically a requirement! Some of my favorite meals are grillable, like the one I made tonight for my roommate and I. We had a "guys-night-in" and celebrated in the least masculine way I can think of - we ate fish and watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Still... I had fun anyway, and my roommate really seemed to enjoy his tuna steak!

Eating fish is just fantastic, particularly a hearty piece of fish like a tuna steak. It's not as fatty as beef and it contains a lot of Omega-3s. I'm not sure what those are, exactly, but I hear them mentioned by a lot of health nuts, so I assume they're good for you... At any rate, I thought this meal was a leaner alternative to a huge hunk of beef (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Grilled Tuna Steaks with Grilled Asparagus and a Garlic-Dill Aioli

Tuna Steaks
Ingredients:

• 2 tuna steaks (mine were pretty thick - probably at least half a pound each pre-cooking)
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
  

Directions:

1. Heat your grill to medium-low heat.
   
2. Season both sides of your tuna steak with salt and pepper. Also drizzle both sides with olive oil.
3. Cook on the grill until your tuna has a nice, firm outer texture. (Turn only once, if possible.) If it's good quality tuna (sushi-grade), you'll want it no doner than medium. For lesser quality, medium-well to well is probably okay.

After the first flip - doesn't that look scrumptious?!

Grilled Asparagus
Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of asparagus stalks (green or white, it doesn't matter)
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Wash your asparagus and remove the ends of the stalks, leaving the more tender top (spear) portions.
2. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.
3. Put out on the grill about the same time as your tuna steaks. If you have an upper section of your grill, go ahead and set the stalks up there. If not, find a non-hot spot on your grill. If all goes well, your asparagus and tuna should finish up right around the same time.

This has easily become my favorite way to prepare asparagus! It turns out so fantastic and has such a rustic look, flavor, and texture! YUM!

Garlic-Dill Aioli
Use this sauce as a substitute for traditional tartar sauce. It gives a very nice fresh flavor that I found preferable to tartar sauce, plus it also makes a really nice dressing for the asparagus!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup good mayonnaise (I like to make my own!)
• two cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
  
• juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Add the minced garlic, chopped dill, and lemon juice to the mayonnaise and stir until well combined. Make sure you taste-test it and add salt and pepper if you think you need them. You may also want to add more dill. (If you think you might want to add less dill, put in a smaller amount and test it. Cooking is ALL ABOUT the trial and error!)

VARIATION! If you really like a super-lemony flavor, add some fresh lemon zest to your aioli. Also, if you're not too keen on dill, this recipe would also work with finely chopped basil or tarragon.

I decided to get a little creative with plating (something I've never really tried before). This is how the final product turned out:

Note that I put a sprig of fresh parsley on top of the tuna as a garnish! Both that and the dill for the aioli came from my summer garden! I think the only thing this plate is missing is some more diverse color - something warm, like a red or a yellow. Perhaps some sauteed bell peppers? Something to consider...

Serves: 2 (for four, add two more tuna steaks and, perhaps, another pound of asparagus)
Serving Suggestions: I've pretty much prepared your whole meal for you this time. If you don't like asparagus, it might be nice to substitute a light salad made of colorful summer foods, like summer squash, zucchini, onions, and bell peppers, grilled, seasoned with salt and pepper, and drizzled with good extra virgin olive oil. You can, of course, substitute the aioli for regular tartar sauce (but where's the fun in that?!). Also, if you go in for that kind of thing, this dish would pair nicely with a robust red wine like a Pinot Noir or a dry white wine like a Chardonnay. But again, that's only if you go in for that kind of thing.
________

Watching Vicky Cristina Barcelona got me thinking about how much the summer weather makes me want to prepare something like a paella or some tapas and a pitcher of sangria. It makes me think about having some friends over this summer and just hang out, eat some good Spanish food and leisurely enjoy the pleasure of one another's company. No pressure to do anything but sit around and be incredibly chill. *Sigh* That would be awesome!

Any takers...? ;)

Easy Fettuccine with Fresh Herbs

I've been posting for the last couple of weeks about my garden and how well it's doing. While there will be another update on Saturday (count on it!), I wanted to showcase one of the dishes I've come up with using some of the fresh herbs from my garden! It's quick and easy and the perfect light meal for a summer day!

Easy Fettuccine with Fresh Herbs

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fettuccine*
• salt, to taste
  
• fresh parsley**
• fresh marjoram**
• fresh rosemary **
• fresh purple ruffles basil**
• fresh Thai basil**
• crushed red pepper flake (optional)
  
• extra virgin olive oil
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese

* Any 'ribbon' pasta (long, thin, flat noodle) should work fine here. Linguine is a good substitute. Spaghetti can work too if you don't have the others on hand.
** Substitutions can easily be made for any of the herbs. If you can't come across purple ruffles & Thai basil, plain ol' sweet basil will work okay. No marjoram? Use oregano. Amounts are up to the taste of the chef. I use a 2:1 purple to Thai basil ratio. Marjoram and rosemary can be overpowering, so you might want to use them sparingly.

Preparation:

1. Bring about five quarts of salted water to a boil. Add pasta when a rolling boil is reached. Prepare according to the instructions on the box (usually between 8-11 minutes).
2. While the pasta cooks, do a rough chop of your parsley, marjoram, and rosemary and a chiffonade of your basils. Set aside.
3. Once your pasta has reached al dente, drain it into a colander or strainer. DO NOT RINSE! This tends to give your pasta a slimy texture.
4. Plate your pasta. Grate some Parmesan cheese over the top and give it a little drizzle of olive oil. Finish with your herbs and red pepper flake (if using - I would highly recommend using it, as it adds a great spicy flavor).
5. Serve immediately!

Serves: 4 (6-8 as a side)
Sering Suggestions: Serve this great pasta as a side or as a main dish (a GREAT vegetarian entree). If serving as a side, this would go great with an herb-rubbed or grilled chicken (maybe finished with a little lemon). Also, serving it with some crusty Italian bread would be great to sop up some of the ambient oil and stray herbs left after the pasta is gone! If you're into the food-wine pairing, this dish would go great with a Chardonnay.

Herb-Crusted Grilled Chicken with Goat Cheese

My mom signed up for something called "Farm Fresh Delivery" in which local farmers deliver fresh and organic produce straight to your door. Again, being someone who likes food (and fresh food, I'm told tastes better), I decided to get in on that action! Among other things, I picked up the herbs and the cheese for this dish, which tasted absolutely fantastic!

I would recommend using fresh herbs here if possible, but dried herbs can work in a pinch. If you don't have these four, others can be substituted (like oregano, basil, or dill) so long as they're fragrant. They'll change the flavor of the chicken slightly, but I can't imagine it tasting too altogether bad!

Stephen's Herb-Crusted Grilled Chicken with Goat Cheese

Ingredients

• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt & pepper (to taste)
• fresh thyme,* finely chopped
  
• fresh marjoram,* finely chopped
  
• fresh sage,* finely chopped
  
• fresh rosemary,* finely chopped
  
• 4 oz. (give or take) of fresh goat cheese

* Add the herbs to your taste, but make sure you have enough to cover all three chicken breasts once finely chopped.

Preparation:

1. Season your chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.
2. Rub your chopped fresh herbs on both sides of the chicken breast until they are covered with the herbs.
3. Allow your chicken to sit out, covered, for about twenty minutes to allow the flavors time to meld into the bird.
4. Heat your grill to medium-high heat and, after the chicken has finished 'marinating' in its rub, throw it on the grill.
5. Slice your goat cheese into 1/2-1-inch rounds. After you have flipped your chicken (you should only have to do this once - about halfway through the cooking process), place one or two of the rounds on each chicken breast until the chicken has finished cooking. This will allow the goat cheese to get a soft and creamy texture (but not melt).
6. Remove from heat once finished and allow to rest for a minute or two before service. This allows the meat to stay juicy (since the juices won't come running out of it when you cut into it).

Serves: 3-4 (depending on how many chicken breasts you used)
Serving suggestions: This dish would go great with some grilled asparagus (in my mind, the perfect accoutrement to any meal) or a light mixed green salad. The flavors make it a perfect summer meal. Also, if you're into that sort of thing, this would be very well paired with a dry white wine like a Chardonnay or a Chablis (but only if you're into that sort of thing).

Insanely Easy Penne Sausage Alfredo

I got hungry tonight, but didn't really know what was around to eat. Rummaging around, I found a few things and decided to chuck 'em together and hope for the best. What came out was not too shabby. So I decided to post the recipe.

Stephen's Insanely Easy Penne Sausage Alfredo

Ingredients:

• Salt (to taste)
  
• 3/4 to 1 lb. penne pasta (Rotini or shell macaroni could work as well.)
  
• olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2-3 Italian-style sausages, sliced (I used some chicken sausage, which worked out great!)
• 1 jar prepared alfredo sauce (I used Bertolli brand)
• 2 tsp. red chili flake (or less, depending on your tastes)
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds (optional - for Emilee)
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• freshly ground black pepper (I like to use a lot but understand that not everyone likes that much pepper - so season it to your tastes.)
  
• 1/4 c. pasta water (reserved)
  
• Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Preparation:

1. Salt a pot of water and bring it up to a rolling boil. Add pasta. Cook according to the directions on the box.
2. Coat skillet/pan with olive oil and saute garlic until just browning.
3. Add sliced sausage and brown on each side. (If needed, add a bit of water to deglaze the pan.)
4. Add alfredo sauce and reduce heat. Add spices and allow the sauce to heat through and give the flavors a chance to marry together.
5. When pasta is just shy of al dente (still just a bit firm), reserve the 1/4 c. of pasta water and drain pasta. DO NOT RINSE! Add the pasta to the sauce and stir together. Add the pasta water as you combine to give the sauce and pasta a chance to bond together better.
6. Bring to the plate. Grate fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano onto the pasta. Garnish with some fresh parsley if you have some laying around.

Serves: 3 (or 2 hungry 20-something males)

• NOTE: To serve four, add another sausage and another 1/4 lb. of pasta. Everything else should be the same.
  

Enjoy!

A lot to be thankful for...

Tomorrow is one of my all-time favorite holidays. I love Thanksgiving. Maybe it's the time I get to spend with my wacky family. Maybe it's all the amazing food. Maybe it's that I don't have to go into work (okay... so it's DEFINITELY that).

Here are some of my favorite things about Thanksgiving.

1. The Food
You might say that the food makes the gathering. In a lot of ways, I'm inclined to agree. I'm a firm believer that good food can make a good conversation even better (and that bad food can have a negative effect on even a good conversation). That having been said, when the Foxworthys get together, we do it up right!

The owner of the house we inhabit gets turkey duty. That's just law. The rest of us compensate with the sides. By this point, we pretty much all have our respective assignments. My parents make a relish tray (which includes these awesome beef-and-cream-cheese roll-ups). Mom makes sausage stuffing. My cousin Sara brings the rolls. My Aunt Denise (when she comes) does the sweet potato casserole. My cousin Roberta makes the pies. Emilee does the green beans. And me? I get to do the smoked gouda mashed potatoes.

Lemme tell you about these beauties: a few years ago, I was watching Food Network with my dad and saw Emeril Lagasse (whom I can no longer stand - he annoys me) on TV prepping some mashed potatoes with melted gouda cheese in them. I turn to my dad and say something to the effect of, "Those look good. I think I'll make 'em for Thanksgiving this year." And I did. They were a hit (with most of the family anyway - my uncle Jack prefers the 'traditional' taters) and so I was delegated to making them every year. It really is something to look forward to for me - I really enjoy it! One year, I devised my own recipe for Loaded Mashed Potatoes, but it really didn't seem to have the same appeal as the smoked gouda taters. So, I continue on. The recipe for the Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes can be found by following that link. The Loaded Mashed recipe? Maybe I'll post it one of these days...

2. The Family
I love my family. If people think I'm crazy, they can spend an hour or so with my family and know that I come by it honestly. We all nuts! Combined with the fact that we're nuts is the fact that we're all great cooks. Seriously. Amazing. Perhaps this should be an addendum to the 'food' portion, but we just love to cook in our family. No joke. My grandfather, Joe Foxworthy, was a cook in the U.S. Navy for several years and he passed on his love for and knowledge of food to all of his kids, who have in turn passed it down to their kids. And, assuming I have any, I'll pass it on to my kids. If I have any.

But back to my family. We laugh. We bicker. We sing. We cook. We eat. We are friggin' merry. It's just not a holiday without the Foxworthy clan. S'just not.

3. The Picture
Ever since I was a kid, my mom has been taking pictures of me eating a turkey drumstick. And every year, I reserve one drumstick for myself and let everyone else fight it out for the other.

Actually, 'the picture' hasn't been a REGULAR thing... or, at least, it wasn't until about 1999 or 2000. At that point, Mom snapped a picture of me gnawing into a turkey leg while wearing a shirt that proudly proclaimed "BITE ME!" (it had a picture of a mosquito on it - get it?). Since then, the pic has become a staple. I don't think I have any copies from the last couple of years, but the below pics are from 2004 and 2005, respectively.

<-- Thanksgiving '04

Thanksgiving '05 -->

Well, gang, those are my top 3 favorite things about Thanksgiving. If I get around to it, I'll post tomorrow's picture up here so you can see it. Have a safe and happy holiday!

My Very Own BBQ Sauce Recipe

My grandparents came down this weekend and so I whipped up some of my homemade barbecue sauce for them to take back with them. It came highly recommended - my sister, who is pretty picky about what she eats (and is very selective about her barbecue sauces), really enjoys it. So, I thought I'd share the recipe with you. I find it works best when you smother it over leftover pot roast, but it also tastes good with grilled chicken.

Stephen's Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients*:

• 1 large shallot, finely chopped**
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped or thinly sliced
  
• extra virgin olive oil
  
• pinch of salt
  
• 2 c. ketchup
• 1/2-1 c. mustard (depending on how mustardy you want it)
  
• 2 tbsp. dark molasses
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. liquid smoke
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (I like Lea & Perrins)
• 3 splashes of hot sauce (optional - I like Frank's Red Hot)
  

Preparation:

1. In a small saucepan, saute shallot and garlic over medium-low heat until soft.
2. Once shallots and garlic are softened, add ketchup and mustard and stir everything together until it starts to bubble.
3. Add remaining ingredients, stirring after each addition.
4. Reduce to low heat and let simmer, covered, for a few minutes, then remove from heat. By now, it should be reddish-brown in color***. Let stand for a couple minutes before transporting to the fridge. (If you wanted to add pot roast, now would be a good time as it reheats the pot roast to eating temperature.) Ideally, you'll want this to cool to give the flavors time to marry together. Then, spread over grilled items or use as a dipping sauce!
   

* (Note: All the 'liquid' measurements - ketchup, mustard, liquid smoke, etc. - are estimates. This recipe can really be tailored to the individual tastes of the maker.)
** Feel free to substitute the shallot with a small onion. Works just as well.
*** For a darker, sweeter sauce, double the amount of dark molasses you use.

The Recipe That Never Followed

D'oh! Forgot I was gonna give you this recipe!

Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp

Ingredients:

• A couple pounds of 8-12 shrimp (You can get smaller sizes, but I've found bigger shrimp to work best. I also like to get the unpeeled shrimp from the seafood department and skin them all myself. Just a matter of preference, really.)
• A package of good quality bacon (I love to use Boar's Head bacon, which is smoked and thick, giving a great flavor to the shrimp. It's also organic. Huzzah! You'll want a 2:1 shrimp-to-bacon ratio - that is, two shrimp per strip of bacon. For smaller shrimp, I use a 3:1 ration.)
• Salt and pepper for seasoning

Preparation:

1. Peel and devein your shrimp, leaving the tail (for handling purposes).
2. Season your shrimp with salt and pepper (usually just on one side works for me).
3. Count out the amount of bacon you need based on number of shrimp. (Remember the 2:1 ratio. For one and a half pounds of 8-12 shrimp, I used nine pieces of bacon.)
4. Cut the bacon in half (or, if you're using smaller shrimp, in thirds).
5. Wrap the bacon strips around the seasoned shrimp, securing them with a toothpick.
6. Place the wrapped shrimp on a cookie sheet and under the broiler at about 350 degrees. Cook for about five minutes on each side (though larger shrimp may need to cook longer).
7. Serve on a platter with homemade cocktail sauce (recipe below).

Homemade Cocktail Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 c. ketchup
• 1/2 c. prepared horseradish (You can add more or less depending on how spicy you like it. I end up adding almost as much horseradish as I do ketchup!)
• 1 1/2 tsp. worchestershire sauce (I like Lea & Perrins.)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2-3 drops of hot sauce (I like to use Frank's Red Hot, but Tabasco, Louisiana, or Cholula would work just as well.)
• Salt and pepper for seasoning

Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients and stir together. Let sit in your refrigerator for an hour or two before serving to allow the flavors to come together.

Note: Make sure you taste your cocktail sauce for desired spice before serving. If you think a half-cup of horseradish is too much, start with a quarter cup and add more as needed. Tailor it to your tastes rather than mine. Me? I like it spicy... but not everyone else will necessarily.