Griff's Creole Stuffed Bell Peppers

Those of you who have received my recipes for any length of time know that I love to cook from scratch. I even mix my own spice mixes and meat rubs, instead of buying the pre-mixed ones (I save a lot of money doing that, too!). However, there is another side of me that likes to put together something once in awhile that is quick and easy. Yes, sometimes I like to put together a "Rachael Ray" type meal--something that has layers and layers of flavor, but does not require hours and hours of prep time. Awhile back I thought it would be great to substitute Zatarain's® jambalaya mix for plain white rice in a stuffed pepper recipe. This idea developed it into what I would have to say is one of the best recipes I've ever come up with! Here it is:

Ingredients:

8 to 10 green bell peppers
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 lb. ground sausage (mild Italian is good)
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 (8 oz.) package Zatarain's® New Orleans Style Jambalaya Mix
1 cup ketchup
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 tsp. Louisiana hot pepper sauce
1/4 tsp. celery salt

Instructions:

Cut the tops off the green peppers and remove seeds and membranes from peppers. Chop from the edges of the tops of the peppers until you have 1 cup of chopped pepper. In a large saucepan or skillet, heat the canola oil. Add the sausage and ground beef and break up thoroughly while browning (and mix together well). When the meat is fairly well browned, add the chopped pepper, onion and celery. Keep stirring over medium heat until veggies start to become tender. Add 2.5 cups of water and the Zatarain's® jambalaya mix. Keep stirring. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand. Refrigerate this mixture a few hours before stuffing peppers. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set the peppers in large casserole and/or a deep baking dish (or dishes). With a spoon, fill each pepper with the jambalaya mixture. Pack down the mixture pretty well and fill so that mixture is level
with the top edge of each pepper. (Depending on the size of the bell peppers, the mixture should fill 8 to 10 peppers.) In a 2-cup measuring cup or a bowl, thoroughly mix the ketchup, the tomato sauce, the pepper sauce and the celery salt. Scoop this mixture equally over the top of the mixture in the peppers. Cover (aluminum foil makes a fine cover) and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. These peppers taste great served with a side salad and French rolls!

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Griff's American Grilled Ribs

Here is a recipe I created after doing a lot of research. I wanted to produce ribs which were tender, with a great dry rub and a tangy barbeque sauce. I wanted layer upon layer of flavor. I wanted an outdoor barbeque flavor, but something I could do in the oven and just finish on the grill. I put it to the test, and it passed with flying colors! This recipe will require a bit more work than many of my recipes, because there are three separate things going on: the dry rub, the braising liquid and the barbeque sauce. But you won't need a fancy smoker--just your oven and a grill (preferably a charcoal grill). And you can even skip the grill part if you want and just finish them in the oven. I think you'll be pleased with the fruit of your labor!

Ingredients:

3 slabs (or about 8.5 lb.) pork back (or baby back) ribs
5 tbsp. Griff's American Dry Rub (see below)
1 (12 oz.) bottle beer
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cloves minced garlic
6 tbsp. brown sugar
1 batch Griff's American Lemon BBQ Sauce (see below)

Instructions:

Place each slab of ribs on its own sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil (shiny side down). Make sure there is enough foil in each sheet to completely wrap around each slab. Sprinkle each slab on both sides with Griff's American Dry Rub (about 1 tbsp. per slab). Rub into the meat and wrap the foil over top of meat and fold the end pieces of foil over the top of each slab. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.

In a medium bowl, mix the beer, the soy sauce, the brown sugar and the mixed garlic together well. This will be the braising liquid. Cover and refrigerate until using. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Put the braising liquid into a microwaveable dish and heat in microwave oven on high for one minute. Take one of the slabs out of the refrigerator and place (while still wrapped in foil) on yet another large piece of foil (large enough to completely wrap around the slab). Make sure the foil that covers the slab is crimped tight on the top, and open up an end. Pour 1/3 of your braising liquid in the end, and holding that end up a bit, gently rock and turn the slab so that the braising liquid swishes all around it. (I learned that trick from Alton Brown!) Fold the end back up over the top of the slab. Fold the second sheet of foil up over the slab like you did with the first to assure that there will be no leaks. Repeat the procedure with the other slabs. Place the slabs directly on oven rack and braise for 3 hours.

Now you can prepare Griff's American Lemon BBQ Sauce according to the instructions below. If you're using a charcoal grill to finish (and I hope you are), get the fire going about a half hour before the three hours of braising is finished. Remove the ribs from the oven and let stand a few minutes. Then with gloves to protect your hands from heat, remove the slabs from the foil and place on hot grill. Sprinkle the top of each slab with about 1 tsp. of Griff's American Dry Rub. With a basting brush, paint on a generous amount of the lemon bbq sauce. Grill for only a few minutes until the surface of the ribs get a bit crispy and the edges darken. Flip and repeat the dry rub, bbq sauce and grilling procedure. Remove from grill, put on platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to stand at room temperature about 10 minutes before eating. Serves from four to six.

Griff's American Dry Rub

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. Lawry's® seasoned pepper (or black pepper)
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. thyme leaves
1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions:

Mix these ingredients together in a small bowl. Save in an empty spice container and rub and/or sprinkle on anything you grill!

Griff's American Lemon BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. Louisiana hot sauce

Instructions:

Mix these ingredients together in a small saucepan and slowly bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens a bit. Remove from heat and let stand.

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Griff's "Killianized" Steak

I've been grilling just about every week during the summer as the grocery stores have been running some excellent sales on rib eye and some other cuts. I've really become fond of steaks marinated with beer as one of the marinade ingredients. Different kinds of beer add some truly interesting layers of flavor to steaks on the grill. Here is a recent number I put together using George Killian's® Irish Red beer...

Ingredients:

4 rib eye steaks
1 (12 oz.) bottle George Killian's® Irish Red beer
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. Lawry’s® seasoned pepper (or black pepper)

Instructions:

Tenderize steaks by piercing repeatedly with a fork. Combine all other ingredients in a a large measuring cup and mix thoroughly with a spoon. Place steaks in a large food storage bag placed in a large bowl. Pour the marinade into the bag, seal and refrigerate for at least two hours, turning the steaks several times. Grill steaks to preference.