Ok, we’re going to mix it up a bit this week, and a recipe that you can either do in a pot on the stovetop, or in your slow cooker. And if you are feeling a little bit adventurous, then you can try my bison stew.
You may not find a lot of bison meat in the counter at your local supermarket. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to believe that some supermarkets even had the bison code programmed into the sticker machine that they label the weighed meat with. BUT, if after speaking to the meat manager at your local supermarket and you still can’t get it, you can visit your local tried and true butcher, and there is an excellent chance that if they don’t have some, they could get it for you.
Bison meat is very lean. It is a low fat meat that is quite dense and it has a sweetness to it that you’ll only understand once you eat it. Bison is not a wild animal and thus does not taste wild. Because there is very little marbling of this meat, it needs to be cooked low and slow, or it will be tough and dry. This makes for a great stew meat. Bison is also is rich in vitamins and nutrients, and because of the very low fat, and low cholesterol nature of bison meat, it is becoming more and more of a popular choice for diabetics.
To make the stew, you’ll need:
2lbs of bison meat (cubed)
½ cup of white wine
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 potatoes cubed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 ribs of celery chopped
½ of a rutabaga cubed
1 jalepeno pepper diced
1 bay leaf
Dredge Mix (1 cup flour, 1 tsp seasoned salt, 1 tsp oregano)
Salt and pepper to taste

Dredge meat in seasoned flour and brown in a frying pan with a little oil. Transfer the meat to a large pot or slow cooker, and add the rest of the ingredients with enough water to cover everything. Simmer for 2 hours on low or 10 hours in the slow cooker. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve with a nice loaf of crusty bread or some delicious warm baking powder biscuits. And if you simply can’t find any bison at your local butcher, or you don’t have the nerve for it, you can do the exact same recipe with some nice, safe stewing beef that will absolutely be available in the counter, neatly wrapped and labelled at your local supermarket!

Enjoy!

We had the whole crew in on Mother’s day this year, my parents, my brother and sister and their families, and needless to say we had a feast! Herb chicken seared and grilled to perfection, garlic mashed potatoes, baked beans, salads, cherry cheesecake, and the main meat on the table was BBQ pork side ribs, smoked over LIVE hickory wood. They turned out really well, but the finishing touch was the BBQ sauce. I have my own special blend that I use for ribs and chicken, and I’m going to share it with you today!

What you’ll need;

1 cup of any standard BBQ sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cups maple syrup. (You can use artificial table syrup, but if you can get authentic real maple syrup, it makes the sauce WAY better)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tsp mustard powder
2 cloves garlic (chopped fine)
4 dashes of worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp Clubhouse brand “Sweet Chili and Peppers” spice mix

Combine all ingredients in a pot on the stove and bring up the heat while whisking. Don’t let it get too hot as all of the sugar in the mix will burn. You just want to let the heat come up and allow the ingredients to mix well. Once everything is combined, allow it to cool off a bit. You will notice the consistency will still be a bit runny. That is how it should be. When you are finishing off your meat on the grill, apply sauce then. Every 90 seconds, paint another layer of sauce on. If you like your chicken and ribs saucy, layer it on! You’ll notice now that the sauce is thick and sticky, and extra good! Reserve any leftover sauce for dipping at the table.

If you want to impress your company at your next backyard BBQ, lay a little of this sauce on them, and you’ll become a legendary grilling hero!

Enjoy,

On this show every week I try and bring you recipes that are easy to make, taste great, and fall not into the “gourmet cooking” category, but rather the “home cooked” or “comfort food” style that everyday people can enjoy. While it’s nice to watch some of the amazing dishes that they make on some of the food shows, the chances of any of us actually making them after a day at work, or getting some of the complicated steps in order are slim. Today’s recipe I think is a CLASSIC home-cooked meal that everyone can enjoy.

First, I need to give credit where credit is due. This is NOT my creation, but rather a dish that is credited to my wife’s great grandmother. I’m sure that it was passed down to her from her great grandmother too. When we make it, we call it, “Nanny’s Spaghetti” after her.

If you are the type who makes spaghetti by boiling the noodles, and then dumping a can of thick sauce into it, you should know that this dish is going to look and taste a lot simpler than what you are used to. The biggest factor here is the salt content. In a standard can of pasta sauce, there is almost 1200 mg of sodium per cup of sauce! All you are tasting is the salt. In this recipe, all you will taste is the delicious flavours of the ingredients.

What you need:

The Sauce:

3 Cans of whole peeled tomatoes. Use fresh locally grown tomatoes when available for an even fresher taste. (Make sure that they are good and ripe)

2 large sweet onions diced

1 cup of loosely packed fresh chopped basil

1 clove of garlic diced

1 Tsp salt

1 tbsp pepper

The Meatballs:

1 lb of medium ground beef

1 lb of ground pork

2 small finely diced onions

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp pepper

In a roaster or other large oven friendly pot, add your three cans of tomatoes. Chop them up a bit. Rinse out the cans with water and add that to the pot. (You only want a little bit, perhaps half a can of water in total.) Add the diced sweet onion, garlic, salt, pepper and the fresh basil. (Mix it up and throw it in the oven at 400 F.

Mix up the meatball ingredients in a bowl, and using your hands form small 1 ½ inch diameter meatballs. In a hot skillet, brown the meatballs on all sides, then add to the sauce pot.

Bake the meatballs and sauce for about 20 minutes at 400 F. During that time, boil your spaghetti noodles. 1 standard box will be what you need. I recommend Barilla no 7 noodles (they come in the blue box) but you can use whatever you have on hand. Boil noodles for approximately 7 minutes, drain the water, and add to the sauce pot in the oven. Mix all ingredients well, and allow it to bake for another 15-20 minutes.

Serve with some nice fresh bread!

This is a classic baked spaghetti, very simple, not heavy, easy to make, and you will actually get to taste ALL of the flavours in this dish, rather than having bit after bite of salty pasta sauce.

Enjoy!