Author: Jim Cofer

I found this recipe on the back of a bag of Mahatma Rice back in the mid-1980s. It’s a good thing that I wrote it down, because it doesn’t appear anywhere on Mahatma’s online recipe archive! It’s quick, easy and delicious. Although the “German-ness” of this dish is slightly suspect, you do get a great taste of German cuisine with this dish. Plus – like most of my other favorite dishes – it only requires one skillet!  You can’t go wrong there!

Ingredients:

1 lb. bratwurst, weißwurst, bäuernwurst (or other German-style sausage)
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup sauerkraut
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked rice
2 teaspoons mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon caraway seed
Pepper (to taste)
Nutmeg (to taste)

Hardware:

1 knife
1 cutting board
1 skillet
1 large spoon
1 meat thermometer

The first thing you need to do is determine if the sausages you’re using are raw pork or are fully-cooked. Look carefully at the wrapper the sausages came in – if the package says “fully cooked” or “heat and eat”, you’ll only need to heat them enough to “crisp” the casings. If you DO NOT see those words, you must assume that they contain raw pork! Raw pork sausages will take at least 15 minutes to cook – make sure that they get to at least 160° before you add the remaining ingredients. Also, fully-cooked sausages can be easily sliced before heating; if you’re using these, go ahead and cut sausage against the bias into one-inch slices before cooking. If you’re using raw sausages, don’t try to slice them until after they’re done cooking – otherwise you’ll have a mess on your hands! Let them cook and cool off a bit before slicing them!

1) Brown sausage in skillet, making sure to follow the advice above.

2) Add the onion and garlic to the sausages, sautéing a couple of minutes until crisp.

3) Stir in all other ingredients, bringing to a boil. Cover, simmering at low heat for around thirty minutes.

I am *not* a fan of “honey mustard” anything. I think this is because most commercial honey mustard sauces taste more like corn syrup than either honey or mustard. But this dish is the exception. I was looking for something quick and easy and came across this recipe – which doesn’t get much quicker or simpler. But I ended up being blown away by how good a real homemade honey mustard sauce tastes! Even if you think you don’t like honey mustard, this dish will make a believer out of you!

Ingredients:

1lb. chicken thighs or breasts
Honey
Wholegrain mustard (it must be wholegrain)
Salt
Pepper

Hardware:

1 small bowl
1 spoon
1 measuring cup
1 brush
1 8″x8″ glass baking dish
Cooking spray

1) Preheat oven to 350F and lightly spray baking dish with cooking spray.

2) Trim excess fat off chicken, then place in the baking dish.

3) Mix 1/2 cup mustard and 1/2 cup honey in a small bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.

4) Gently brush mixture over the chicken.

5) Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160F.

6) Baste occasionally with sauce from pan.

7) Spoon sauce from dish over the chicken before serving.

Coca Cola is ubiquitous here in the South. Not only is a refreshing drink, it shows up in desserts (Coke floats, Coca Cola cakes) and even main dishes like the one below. Pork chops cooked in Coca Cola, ketchup and brown sugar end up tasting a lot like slow-cooked Carolina barbeque. In fact, the sauce that ends up in the pan when this dish is done is just heavenly! And it only takes around 10 minutes of prep time to put this together!

Ingredients:

4 thick-cut pork chops
Ketchup
Coca Cola
Brown sugar

Hardware:

1 small bowl
1 spoon
1 measuring cup
1 8″x8″ glass baking dish

1) Preheat oven to 350F.

2) Place the pork chops in the baking dish.

3) Mix 1/2 cup ketchup and 1/2 cup Coca Cola in a small bowl.

4) Pour Coca Cola\ketchup mixture over the chops.

5) Sprinkle a handful of brown sugar over the chops.

6) Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160F.

7) Spoon sauce from dish over the chops before serving.

Got some leftover chops? Put ’em over fried rice and pour remaining sauce over them for a delicious “quasi-Polynesian” treat!

My hunny makes these awesome cheese biscuits for family gatherings and parties. The amazing thing about them is that there are any left to take to the party after she’s done making them! Lisa and I both wait near the oven and greedily munch these things up by the handful when they’re done!

Ingredients:

1 lb. grated cheese
1 lb. softened butter
3 cups flour
¼ tbsp. salt
cayenne pepper (to taste)
A splash of milk (see below)

Hardware:

1 large mixing bowl
Parchment paper
Cookie sheet(s)

1) Preheat oven to 425F.

2) Mix all ingredients (except the milk) together, but don’t over-mix. Once you’ve done so, you’ll probably find that the mixture is too dry to make any kind of “dough”. If so, add tiny amounts of milk – a little as you possibly can – until the mixture holds together.

3) Place parchment on a cookie sheet, then put the biscuits on them. You can simply spoon them on the paper one at a time, or you can cut the corner off a Ziploc bag and pipe the dough into lengths if you wanna get all fancy.

4) Bake at 425 for about 8 minutes.

If you like seafood, you’ll love this dip! It’s been a hit at family functions and Super Bowl parties for years!

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
2 (8 ounce) cans minced clams, drained
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 (1 pound) loaf round sourdough bread

Hardware:

1 mixing bowl
1 knife
1 spatula *or* latex gloves (see below)

1) Preheat oven to 350F.

2) In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, green onions, clams and lemon juice.

3) Cut the top out of the bread and hollow the bread out.

4) Pour the clam mixture into the bread bowl. You can use a spatula for this, but I prefer just using my hands, as I can easily mold the cream cheese mixture to fit all the nooks and crannies of the bread. I also prefer wearing latex gloves when doing this – not only is it more sanitary, it’s just less messy for me when I wear the gloves!

5) Place the top back on the bread bowl and bake for 60 minutes.

6) Serve with the bread you removed from the loaf when hollowing it out.

Leave it to the Scots to take something somewhat healthy – the hardboiled egg – and make it as unhealthy as possible! Having said that, if you’ve never had a Scotch Egg, you’ve just GOTTA try one… they’re absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:

1 pound bulk pork sausage
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon grated onion (or onion powder)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 hard-cooked eggs (shelled)
1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs

Hardware:

1 bowl
1 glass baking dish

1) Preheat oven to 350F.

2) Combine sausage, parsley, onion, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well.

3) Divide sausage mixture into 4 portions; shape into patties.

4) Place one egg atop each patty, shaping the sausage mixture around egg till completely covered.

5) Roll each sausage-covered egg in breadcrumbs.

6) Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Although this dish was probably invented for luaus and summertime backyard barbeques, the great taste and awesome aroma of this dish will be appreciated at parties year ’round!

I found a version of the recipe below on the Internet. One cool thing about it is that it uses frozen meatballs, whereas just about every other recipe I could find uses fresh meatballs. I don’t know about you, but the thought of making 70 or 80 meatballs by hand is simply too much. On the other hand, if you want to make it all from scratch, you can – just find a good meatball recipe and combine it with this.

Also, this recipe is very flexible. You can make it the day before and reheat it on the stovetop or in a slow cooker, you can make it several hours beforehand and let the Crock Pot do all the work for you… or you could even make it straightaway for your guests! Just be sure to have lots of toothpicks – these meatballs will be POPULAR!

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