Freestyle Friday

One of my favorite shows on Food Network, and quite possibly one of my favorite shows of all time, is Chopped. If you're not familiar with the show, there are four contestants and each have a basket filled with secret ingredients. They are required to make an appetizer, entree and dessert course, and each round someone gets eliminated. It's super suspenseful and super entertaining and I just can't get enough of it. If you are just as excited as I am now, you can watch Chopped every Tuesday night at 10 PM on the Food Network! ( I should be their spokesperson). 

Elise's Shepard's Pie

Anyway, Tuesday night, Scott and I got to have a Chopped of our own...at least I felt that way. Being two college students on a limited budget, with a limited pantry, we put our heads together and came up with a pretty delicious end result. Our "secret" ingredients that night were instant mashed potatoes, ground sausage, a frozen bag of veggies, and croutons. With those ingredients we came up with one delicious Shepard's pie! 

Shepard's pie is usually a layer of meat and vegetables and a layer of creamy mashed potatoes, but I was assigned the position of sous chef Tuesday evening, so the creation of our dinner was up to Scott. I was assigned crust duty. Here is an easy Shepard's pie recipe you can follow, but basically, if you have the four ingredients I mentioned earlier, you're good to go! 

Here are the five simple steps Scott and I stuck to:

• Heat the ground meat and vegetables through to a golden brown.
• Prepare instant mashed potatoes according to package. 
• Spoon everything into a greased baking dish (you don't need pretty layers).
• Crush and season croutons, and sprinkle on top of mixture.
• Bake for about 10-15 min on 350. (We cut the time in half because everything was basically cooked already)

Me and Scott's Shepard pie

Shepard's pie and Garlic bread

My helpful tip to you, don't drink and make a crouton crumble at the same time! If you're like me, you'll absentmindedly add salt, garlic salt, and bacon bits to the mixture because you're too preoccupied with the way your Shocktop Raspberry Wheat beer tastes. SODIUM OVERLOAD!

Do you have any spur of the moment, out of the box recipes that you're proud of? Do you have any "Chopped" moments?

4th of July Follow-Up

First off, I would like to start by saying that I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe fourth of July! I know I sure did! Aside from the fireworks, I had a quiet fourth, complete with a perfect alternative dinner to the usual grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. If you're looking for a twist on the traditional, or your grill is broken beyond all repair, I have the recipe for you...

BBQ Pulled Pork!!

Scott suggested the idea, so I got to searching the Web for the perfect recipe. The best way to have a relaxing and stress free holiday is to break out the slow cooker. Get up early and try this recipe because it's definitely worth it! Instead of reading the entire page, I really found the pictures helpful. Just remember, all you need is:

• salt & pepper
• rib rub (or any meat rub)
• 1 - 2 onions (depending on their size)
• a few cloves of garlic
• BBQ sauce
• a slow cooker
• water
• liquid smoke (I used worcestershire sauce)

...and most importantly, 8 hours! Different recipes told me different times, but eight seemed to be the average. Just season your meat, season your vegetables, cover everything with water, and eight hours later you have pulled pork! Once you strain everything, mix in the BBQ sauce and you've got a great alternative to any grilling shenanigans. 

I think my favorite part of the meal was the pasta salad. A few nights prior to the fourth, Mom made a warm pasta salad tossed in some oil, garlic and herbs. It's amazing what you can do with some ingenuity and some Italian dressing. I kept the pasta cold, tossed it in some Italian dressing, salt, pepper; threw in some diced red peppers...and BAM! I had to steal Emeril's classic line, because the pasta salad was just so darn creative and delicious, if I do say so myself!

What are some of your tricks to transforming left overs? What dinners did you prepare to celebrate the fourth? Do you have any creative alternatives to hamburgers and hot dogs, and outdoor grilling?