Ingredients
2 Ripe Mangos, diced
1/4 Sweet Onion, diced
4 Tablespoons Cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 jalapeno, finely diced
Juice of 1 Lime
Pince of Sea Salt

Purchased Pound Cake, sliced

Directions
Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir gently to combine. Chill for at least 20 minutes.

Slice pound cake and top with several spoonfuls of the mango salsa.

Watch the Making of the Veggie Burger

“Butter beans mashed and combined with onion, jalapeno pepper, bread crumbs, egg, and cheese, then shaped and fried into vegetarian burgers. I made this for lunch and was so blown away by how great they tasted, I had another one again for dinner.”
INGREDIENTS:
1 (15 ounce) can butter beans, drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper
1/2 cup Italian Style Bread Crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium bowl, mash butter beans. Mix in onion, jalapeno pepper, bread crumbs, egg, cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Divide into 4 equal parts, and shape into patties.
2. Fry on a hot skillet 3-4 minutes per side.
3. Assemble burger and dress with your favorite toppings.

It’s cold and rainy and I don’t want to go out today but I’m craving a chicken sandwich and then something just clicked inside my head.

“I AM THE IRON CHEF.”

I ran to the fridge, 2 chicken breasts, perfect. Leftover texas toast from breakfast. Dill pickles. Thinking. Thinking. Got it. I’ll make some Chick-Fil-J® Sandwiches.

Vegetable Oil
1 Egg
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Flour
3 Teaspoons Powdered Sugar
2 Teaspoons Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Salt (I used half Kosher salt and half Lawrys Seasoned Salt)
2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, halved and pounded thin
8 Slices of Bread
Butter
Dill Pickle Slices

Using a heaven bottom pan or a meat mallet, pound each half breast thin. For best results place the breast between two sheets of parchment paper.

Mix together the egg and milk and place the filets into the mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Mix together the Flour, Sugar, Pepper, and Salt.

After the filets have been in the milk mixture for 1 hour. Remove from mixture and dredge in flour.

If you are blessed with a deep frier, prep it for 375 degrees. If you are like me, I just as well pan fry, pre-heat oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.

Carefully place two filets into oil, remember to lay the filet in and let it slowly drop away from you. Cooking two at a time will insure the oil stays at a high temperature.

Cook for about 3-5 minutes per side, this will depend on how hot the oil is and how thin the filets are. Remove and set aside. Continue cooking the final two filets.

Butter one side of each slice of bread and place on a hot skillet. Toast until lightly brown and remove. Place several pickle slices on each piece of toast and top with hot chicken.

Enjoy!

This past weekend, we smoked 35 pounds of pork shoulder for a 100th birthday celebration. I covered half of the pork in a simple BBQ sauce and left the other half naked. The sauced pork went really fast. I think next time, I’ll sit out several BBQ sauces next to the naked version and allow guests to flavor as they wish.