Spaghetti Squash! In The Kitchen With Jorj

Spaghetti Squash! In The Kitchen With Jorj

by | Jul 26, 2022 | Canvas & Cuisine, Fruit, Seafood, Side Dish, Summer, Vegetarian

Spaghetti Squash Recipes by Jorj Morgan

Join Jorj In The Kitchen!

Make spaghetti squash my way with two versatile recipes!

Join me in the kitchen as I make macaroni magic with a spaghetti squash twist!

You’ll love my approach to making versatile dinner ideas with summer squash that is fully flavorful and family approved!

Watch Jorj In The Kitchen on YouTube

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Cajun Spaghetti Squash Boat With Shrimp

The Art of The Fresh Market

Grab the book that contains my favorite travel adventures, with inspired original artwork by artist Susan Fazio.

Canvas & Cuisine

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New Year, Old Friends and the Birth of This Book

Fry Day, My Way: Make Duck Fat Fries Easy

Fry Day, My Way: Make Duck Fat Fries Easy

by | Jul 13, 2022 | Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Side Dish, Snack, Summer

Make fries at home with this easy French Fry recipe that calls for a secret ingredient: Duck fat!

I LOVE French fries.

I love fries whether they come supersized from that drive-thru joint on the corner or truffled from that upscale restaurant calling them frites.

I love fries smothered in ketchup or piled high with chili and cheese. I love fries alongside a burger or in a basket with fried shrimp. I just love fries!

I make fries at home, fry them twice as preferred and even serve them with my homemade ketchup.

However, the one thing I haven’t tried was to fry them in duck fat.

Why duck fat? Well, when I researched duck fat, some believe it to be a better-for-you fat than other animal fats like lard.

But, since I don’t use lard to fry, I don’t see this as a huge benefit. Then I read that frying in duck fat produces a crispier fry. Well, you had me at crispy!

So, I gave it a try and darn if it isn’t true. 

You can render the fat from duck and store it in the fridge.

Or you can buy a jar or two of duck fat right from the grocery shelf.

The fat is clean and clear when cooking and afterward. The fries are less greasy, crisp on the outside and moist on the inside.

These fries hold up; rigid and perfect for dipping.

In honor of National French Fry Day, I encourage you to cook up a batch of fries…and then eat a bunch for me!

A Fry Above All Others: Jorj’s Duck Fat Fries

Servings

A Crowd

Ready In:

30 Minutes ‘Til Ready

Good For:

Appetizer, Snack, Side

For Fries:

2 large Idaho potatoes, scrubbed

Duck fat for frying

For ketchup:

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste 

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 

¼ teaspoon ground mustard 

¼ teaspoon cinnamon 

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice 

¼ teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for fries 

¼ teaspoon coarse black pepper

Tried it? Tag it!

I would love to see what you did with this recipe.  Share your creation by tagging #inthekitchenwithjorj and with Scrumptious Possibilities With Jorj, my free private home cooking group.

Peel the potato and cut it into 4 planks. Cut each plank into 4 strips. Place the strips into a bowl of cold water for at least 30 minutes. This removes some of the starch. Alternately, you can leave the peel on. It’s a more rustic fry this way. And you can cut it into thinner strips for a skinnier fry. It’s YOUR choice.

For the ketchup, whisk together tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, mustard, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice in a small pan over low heat. Pour in ¼ cup water. Whisk until smooth. Cook until the sugar melts and the ketchup is warmed through, about 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside and let the flavors blend at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight. The longer it sits, the better your ketchup.

Transfer the potato strips to paper toweling and blot dry. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Pour enough olive oil to come ⅓-inch up the side of the skillet. Use a candy thermometer to heat the oil to 325°. Place some of the potatoes into the oil and cook until just beginning to turn golden, about 5 minutes. This will cook the inside of the potato. Do this in batches so you do not crowd the skillet. Transfer the potato strips to a cooking sheet lined with paper towels. You can pre-cook the fries in advance and finish the frying just before mealtime.

Increase the temperature until the oil reaches 375°. Place the pre-cooked potato strips into the hot oil. Cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer the fries to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Season with a generous sprinkle of coarse salt.

Serve your French fries with ketchup to dip!

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Say Cheese! In The Kitchen With Jorj

Say Cheese! In The Kitchen With Jorj

by | Jun 1, 2022 | Appetizer, Lunch, Party, Recipes, Sandwiches, Seasonal, Side Dish, Snack, Summer

Join Jorj In The Kitchen!

Ready to make a deliciously decadent buffet of cheesy goodness?

Join me in the kitchen and learn how to make magnificent meals that build upon one of my favorite things…CHEESE!

This decadent and well-deserved spread is perfect for your more indulgent Summer menus, with a wonderful pimento cheese twist.

From deviled eggs to really good turkey burgers, there’s a little something for every picnic basket for days to come!

Watch Jorj In The Kitchen on YouTube

Pimento Cheese with Seasoned Crackers

Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwiches with Bacon and Berry Jam

Crack Crackers

Really Good Turkey Burgers Sliders with Crispy Shallots and Pimento Cheese

Ham and Turkey Roll-Ups with Pimento Cheese

Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs

The Art of The Fresh Market

Grab the book that contains my favorite travel adventures, with inspired original artwork by artist Susan Fazio.

Canvas & Cuisine

Buy On Amazon
Where To Buy Local
New Year, Old Friends and the Birth of This Book

Grillin’ and Chillin’ This Memorial Day Weekend

Grillin’ and Chillin’ This Memorial Day Weekend

by | May 26, 2022 | Dinner, Holiday, Lunch, Parties, Party, Seasonal, Side Dish, Sunday Best Dishes, Vegetarian

Strawberry Recipes for Desserts

Make and take this effortless side, or get it going while your main course is on the grill or stovetop! It’s all about grilling and chilling this Memorial Day Weekend.

Whether it’s burgers, brats, ribs, or steaks, the sides are just as important as the main course when you’re planning your Memorial Day bash.

There’s lots of planning and lots of dishes to prepare. Here’s a way for you to make things just a little bit easier on yourself this year. 

Start with grilled veggies!

Any veggie will work here. My favorites are thick asparagus spears, bell peppers, red onions, zucchini and yellow squash, eggplant and portobello mushrooms. 

For the asparagus, break off the tough ends and trim. For the mushrooms remove the cap and inner gills. Slice the eggplant and red onion into ½-inch circles. Cut the squash diagonally into ½-inch ovals.

As you slice your veggies lay them onto a baking sheet. You can use parchment paper to layer everything on top of each other. Brush both sides with vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Now you are ready to grill.

Use an open flame or your trusty grill pan to cook each slice turning once so that you have grill marks on both sides.

Make sure you do not over-cook. You want firm veggies, not mushy ones. Remember things keep on cooking after you remove them from the heat.

Transfer the veggies from the grill to the baking sheet. You can cook these the day before your barbecue. Cool to room temperature and cover with plastic wrap. Chill ‘til you are ready to serve. 

 

how to make easy grilled veggies for memorial day

Now, here is where we get creative!

1: Layer the veggies onto a platter. Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Shave thin slices of Parmesan cheese over top and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

2: Stack the veggies, beginning with eggplant and layering from largest slices to smallest. Layer in a slice or two of mozzarella cheese and add a few leaves of fresh basil on the top. Drizzle with olive oil.

3: Layer the veggies onto a platter and add slices of tomato and watermelon. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out circles of the watermelon that are about the same size as the tomato slices. Add a sprinkling of blue cheese and drizzle with balsamic reduction.  

4: Chop the veggies into similar size pieces and stir into rice for grilled veggie pilaf.

5:  Slice the veggies into thin strips and pair them with your grilled beef or chicken for fajitas, enchiladas, or quesadillas.

The secret here is that you can grill the veggies in advance and with little effort assemble the dish while the main course is sitting on the grill. What a great plan!

Want more? Watch me prepare asparagus, three ways!

Stop Food Waste With These Recipe Remixes

Stop Food Waste With These Recipe Remixes

by | Apr 27, 2022 | Beef, Cake, Chicken, Dessert, Fish, Pork, Recipes, Rice, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetarian

Stop Food Waste Leftover Remix

Make Earth Day every day in your kitchen! Take the pledge to stop food waste with my best tips for reusing produce and remixing leftovers! #StopFoodWaste

Stop Food Waste Day was first introduced in 2017, and this years marks the fifth year of inspiring action around food waste reduction.

Who even knew this was a THING?  

 I discovered very early in the family kitchen that fruits and veggies lingering a little too long must be given a new lease on life! And that leftovers getting too comfortable on the fridge shelf demand an encore.

In honor of Stop Food Waste Day and the innovation and creativity in reducing one’s food waste impact, here’s Jorj’s list of what to do with leftovers.

I thank my grandma’s for the training on this one.

EGGS 

Don’t throw away left over scrambled eggs. Use them in tomorrows egg sandwich or burrito.

WAFFLES

Cut leftovers into chunks and toast them in the oven with a bit of cinnamon and sugar. Now you have waffle croutons for your ice cream dessert.

PANCAKES

Slather left over pancakes with cream cheese or peanut butter. Roll up and place into a baking dish. Douse with syrup and bake until warmed through. Pancake roll-ups for breakfast!

SALAD

Leftover salad with dressing is not as good as it is the first day, but it will work on sandwiches and subs. However, leftover everyTHING will make a great salad. Look in the back of your fridge’s veggie drawer and use those ingredients to doctor up your everyday garden salad. Carrots, fennel, radishes, cukes, peppers, cauliflower… these all work. Look into your jars too. Pickles, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives are perfect additions. Don’t forget the cheese. Salads are a perfect dish to avoid food waste!

CHEESE

I’ve written about cheese about a hundred times. But here are some highlight dishes that are perfect for your leftover cheese: grilled cheese, cheese spread, hot cheese dip, cheesy deviled eggs, cheese-filled omelets, veggies in melty cheese sauce.

NOODLES

Leftover pasta is my go-to thing for that morning-after breakfast. But left over noodles are great for reinvention. Leftover Alfredo pasta top pork cutlets and sauteed eggplant for an inspirational mid-week dish. Stuff some leftover mac ‘n cheese into your next roast beef panini sandwich. And don’t forget spaghetti pie, noodles in casseroles and pasta turned into frittatas.

CHICKEN

Besides chicken salad there’s chicken quesadilla, chicken soups, chicken casserole, chicken burritos, chicken hash, chicken pot pie…… this one’s easy.

FISH

Salmon and tuna turn into salmon and tuna salad with just a couple of additions. Other left over fish can be turned into croquettes, chowders and spring rolls.

BEEF

Leftovers work perfectly in fajitas, cheese-steak subs, stuffed peppers, open face steak sandwiches on Texas toast, quick beef stew and beef and potato hash.

PORK

Shred leftover pork and douse in barbecue sauce for a pulled pork sandwich. 

VEGGIES

I challenge you to give me ANY veggie and I will give you three ways to repurpose the leftovers. These will all revolve around soups, stews, quesadillas, cheese spreads, hot cheese dips, salads, croquettes, veggie bread puddings, veggie filled omelets, casseroles, veggies with pasta, veggie enchiladas, stuffed peppers, hash, veggie pies…. Get the idea?

DESSERTS

Whether you have leftover cake, pie or cookies you can use these to create a crispy topping for ice cream, a base for bread pudding, a fruit crumble and a layer or two for your favorite parfait.

I think you have the picture. (I also think I watch too much CHOPPED!) 

Now, let’s hear what THING you can create with your everyday leftovers.

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Beer Battered Fried Things for National Beer Day!

Beer Battered Fried Things for National Beer Day!

by | Apr 6, 2022 | Appetizer, Parties, Party, Recipes, Side Dish, Spring, Sunday Best Dishes

Beer brings best friends together in the backyard! Serve these fried things up with beer batter and be the hit of the backyard party this National Beer Day.

Frying things is FUN.

Frying things and then eating those fried things with a cold, crisp brew is even more FUN!

If you want some real FUN, invite your pals to a backyard barbecue and fry things in a beer batter and then toast the pals with a chilled cold one.

Yes…that works.

You can use this batter for other things like shrimp, pickles, mushrooms and cauliflower.

Everything tastes better when it’s battered in beer and fried in hot oil.

In honor of National Beer Day, here’s my take on big, fat, puffy fried onion rings with a really yummy sauce.

Beer Battered Fried Onion Rings
With Spicy Dipping Sauce

These fried onion rings are a perfect pass around, backyard appy! The dipping sauce is reminiscent of that Aussie-style dish. (You know the one I’m talking about…) In early summer markets, you’ll find smaller, tender spring onions with white or purple bulbs.  You can use the same technique described here to fry up these babies. They turn into crispy, golden strings which you can mound on top of your favorite burger. It’s all yummy!

Serves:

A  Crowd

Ready In:

30 – 45 minutes

Ingredients

For Onions

2 large white sweet onions, cut into ¼-inch slices

2 cups buttermilk


For Dipping Sauce:

½ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon ground oregano

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

2 or more drops hot pepper sauce

For the batter:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup rice flour

2 cups club soda

1 (12-ounce) bottle beer

For dredging:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon chili powder

For big finish:

Vegetable oil for frying

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Flaky salt (like sea salt)

Directions

Separate the onion rings and place into a shallow bowl or baking dish. Cover with buttermilk pushing the rings down into the liquid while you get everything else ready to go.

Whisk together mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish, paprika and oregano. Season with some of the salt and pepper. Stir in as much hot sauce as you like. Pour the dipping sauce into a bowl.

Whisk together 1 cup all-purpose flour with 1 cup rice flour in a shallow bowl or baking dish. Stir in the club soda and beer. 

Place the remaining 2 cups all-purpose flour into a shallow baking dish. Whisk in chili powder and season generously with salt and pepper.

Heat about 3-inches of vegetable oil in a deep, large pot over medium-high heat to 350°. The vegetable oil should come no higher than one third up the side of the pot. Once you add the onion rings, the oil will bubble up. The temperature of the oil will go down when you add battered onion rings and then come up again as they cook. I use a candy thermometer to make sure that the temperature is hot before I add more onion rings to the oil.

Lift an onion ring out of the buttermilk and shake off the extra liquid. Dredge into the seasoned flour and then dip into the beer batter, again shaking off the excess liquid. Place the battered onion ring into the hot oil. Continue this process to fry several rings at a time, being careful not to place too many into the oil at the same time. You want them to swim freely as they fry. Use a slotted spoon or spider strainer to turn the rings in the oil until golden brown on both sides, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the rings to a paper towel lined baking sheet.

Continue with the remaining rings until there are none left. Once you remove the onion rings from the oil, immediately sprinkle with parsley and flakey salt.

Serve with dipping sauce.

Cook’s Tip

For a really FUN presentation at your next barbecue, serve these onion rings right out of the fryer and onto a foot-long wooden dowel mounted onto a wooden block. You won’t find this in the restaurant supply store. Instead, you’ll have to get your best DIY buddy to make them for you. Your friends will love plucking a puffy onion ring right off the stick.

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7 Cookbooks and Counting!
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