The Great BFO Food, Recipe, & Eating Thread

[The Marshall Plan]

Had some great results in the kitchen this morning:

Dinner: Started a chuck roast in the slow cooker with an onion soup packet, beef broth and a beef base Better Than Bouillon.

The real winner was this:

Rescue Dog and I made bacon again. This time I kept the bacon grease in the skillet and cooked 2.5 pounds of ground beef in it to have on hand for whatever. Turned out great.

[southdakbearfan]

Just finished smoking 220lbs of pork butts for my daughters wedding reception. 3 smokers and a pellet grill going for 3 days in a row.

Dedicated smokers definitely get a better smoke than the pellet grill, but I added a smoke tube and filled it with pellets under the grate, lit the end and let it smolder through. That improved the smoke on the pellet grill.

The whole operation was this.

40” masterbuilt digital electric
30” masterbuilt digital electric
30” charbroil digital electric
Oklahoma Joes Rider DLX pellet grill.

Hickory chips and traeger completion blend pellets for the smoke. Special rib rub.

Smoke at 225 until internal hits 165, then spritz, wrap, up temp to 275 until internal is 205. Let rest 90 minutes then pull.

That might be the best wedding food I've heard of.

Congrats on your daughter's wedding.

It was a labor of love I guess. Meat went over terrific. Had boatloads of fresh cut pineapple, strawberries, grapes, watermelon and potato salad. Of course lots of beer, water, drinks.

[dplank]

Had some great results in the kitchen this morning:

Dinner: Started a chuck roast in the slow cooker with an onion soup packet, beef broth and a beef base Better Than Bouillon.

The real winner was this:

Rescue Dog and I made bacon again. This time I kept the bacon grease in the skillet and cooked 2.5 pounds of ground beef in it to have on hand for whatever. Turned out great.

Thank you for rescuing TMP, I rescued this fine fellow from a puppy mill raid in Ohio. Meet Bernie!

[Otis Day]

Had some great results in the kitchen this morning:

Dinner: Started a chuck roast in the slow cooker with an onion soup packet, beef broth and a beef base Better Than Bouillon.

The real winner was this:

Rescue Dog and I made bacon again. This time I kept the bacon grease in the skillet and cooked 2.5 pounds of ground beef in it to have on hand for whatever. Turned out great.

DAMN!!!! Why have I never thought of this? Thanks for the pointer. Definitely doing this tonight as we fried up some bacon yesterday. Had eggs in the fat this morning.

[dplank]

Another good use for that is potatoes. I'd cook a pound of bacon and crumble it up, set aside, keep the grease. Then dice up potatoes into bite sized pieces and fill up a grill friendly stoneware / lasagna size dish with the potatoes, rough cut onions and peppers, then drizzle the bacon grease over it and top with the crumbled bacon. Grill for 45 minutes or so and just glorious. It's one of the few things I miss since giving up Pork.

[The Marshall Plan]

Had some great results in the kitchen this morning:

Dinner: Started a chuck roast in the slow cooker with an onion soup packet, beef broth and a beef base Better Than Bouillon.

The real winner was this:

Rescue Dog and I made bacon again. This time I kept the bacon grease in the skillet and cooked 2.5 pounds of ground beef in it to have on hand for whatever. Turned out great.

Thank you for rescuing TMP, I rescued this fine fellow from a puppy mill raid in Ohio. Meet Bernie!

Tell Bernie that Uncle Marshall says he’s awesome.

Rescue Dog (Chop) has such a different personality. He’s thankful and appreciative of things. He’s just different. He likes hanging out. He genuinely misses us when we leave the house. He’s glued to us for the rest of the day. He watches movies with us.

He’s a male Rott that is my wife’s dog technically. We got him a solid 20 pounds underweight. You could see the ribs through the fur. He was kept in a crate a lot so he had behavior issues (high energy and a bit out of control) for a while. Never aggressive.

My wife worked with him and turned him around. Took a class. Gave lessons at home. Got him a bunch of toys in the backyard and just let him run around.

Now he knows what the packages for bacon, deli meat and cheese look like. He knows Starbucks gives him a Pup Cup. He’s become the Gym Dog and hangs with us while we lift. Chop is the man.

[The Marshall Plan]

Another good use for that is potatoes. I'd cook a pound of bacon and crumble it up, set aside, keep the grease. Then dice up potatoes into bite sized pieces and fill up a grill friendly stoneware / lasagna size dish with the potatoes, rough cut onions and peppers, then drizzle the bacon grease over it and top with the crumbled bacon. Grill for 45 minutes or so and just glorious. It's one of the few things I miss since giving up Pork.

This is good information. I’m going to modify this to add bacon fat to homemade mashed potatoes.

@Otis Day and @dplank Maybe bacon needs it’s own thread? Lol.

Do you guys have Mariano’s by you? They sell flavored bacon there.

[Otis Day]

I have fried potatoes in bacon grease on a regular basis. Growing up my mom always had a cast iron skillet full of bacon grease sitting in the oven. When the oven had to be used, she took the grease out and put it on the counter. Not sure how sanitary it was but I am still living so it must not have been too bad. I know people that add bacon grease to their potato salad.

I like adding bacon to my mac n cheese. Might have to go at lunch and fry some more eggs in that grease.

[southdakbearfan]

Everything is better with bacon!

[wab]

We have a little mexican market that sells bacon grease by the tub. It's a nice no-mess solution because we use it in a lot of stuff.

[Otis Day]

My kids bought me a Pit Boss Smoker (probably the smallest one) for my bday. I have take in on some trial runs the past week. Smoked a chicken, grilled some burgers and did a pork butt yesterday. The chicken turned out really well. I was hoping I would be able to beer can it on this smoker but it was too short. The burgers, they were all right. I will stick to charcoal and gas for burgers and steak.

The pork butt turned out great. I didn't a different method (for me). I did a 5 hr recipe instead of the lower slower method. It worked out well and made great pulled pork enchiladas.

3 hrs at 300. Take pork off and do a double layer of aluminum foil. Place back on the smoker for 2 hrs. Remove, let rest for about 30 minutes. It was tasty. Used Pecan pellets.

[southdakbearfan]

So when I get bored I look for something different to try, so I picked up an Al pastor skewer. I bought a cheap chuck roast, sliced it thin and then marinated it in fajita seasoning overnight.

Sliced peppers and onions, and then alternated layers on the vertical skewer and then put it all into the smoker, using hickory for smoking. Once smoked sliced it thin to go in the tortillas. It was fantastic.

[dplank]

That looks amazing !

[southdakbearfan]

That looks amazing !

Turned out great for just a stab in the dark attempt. Sliced it thin right off the skewer, good smoke flavor but not overpowering, fresh salsa to go with and everyone’s favorite fajita toppings.

[The Marshall Plan]

Stumbled across the Primal Kitchen brand of products.

Their unsweetened ketchup and Chipotle Lime Mayo with Avocado are both great.

[Boris13c]

I am curious why some people just won't deal with leftovers ... perfectly good food that some simply don't want to be bothered with ... I think one of the issues is folks are expecting to be able to just microwave their leftovers and it will magically be the same as it was in the restaurant, and that doesn't necessarily work ... I tend to use the leftovers simply as a base to make a new meal ... leftover meat gets chopped or shredded ... leftover veggies get blended with a touch of heavy cream and then mixed in with some rice or mashed potatoes ... and as long as you have flour tortillas and cheese on hand, you always have a perfect base to put your leftovers in ... leftovers can be a nice base to start a fresh meal from with a little creativity ... plus I hate wasting food

so how about the rest of you? do you get creative with leftovers? just nuke 'em and consume? not bother?

[Otis Day]

Leftovers from a restaruant meal do not exist with me. If I am paying for the meal, it will be gone before I leave the place. Pizza is a little different. I always ordered the bigger size to have leftovers. Leftover pizza goes in the air fryer. My wife tends to bring home LOs. I agree with the meat, it will usually become some type of quesadilla.

[wab]

My wife won’t eat leftovers unless it’s pizza or chili.

[The Marshall Plan]

I am curious why some people just won't deal with leftovers ... perfectly good food that some simply don't want to be bothered with ... I think one of the issues is folks are expecting to be able to just microwave their leftovers and it will magically be the same as it was in the restaurant, and that doesn't necessarily work ... I tend to use the leftovers simply as a base to make a new meal ... leftover meat gets chopped or shredded ... leftover veggies get blended with a touch of heavy cream and then mixed in with some rice or mashed potatoes ... and as long as you have flour tortillas and cheese on hand, you always have a perfect base to put your leftovers in ... leftovers can be a nice base to start a fresh meal from with a little creativity ... plus I hate wasting food

so how about the rest of you? do you get creative with leftovers? just nuke 'em and consume? not bother?

My grandmother was an off the boat immigrant from Germany who would grow up during the Great Depression and then raise a family during World War II.

She would bring home everything from the restaurant including the bread and cracker packets.

Nothing was ever wasted. She also hoarded things that were "luxury" items during the Great Depression. Various paper products. Cosmetics. Stuff like that.

I absolutely loved that woman and still visit her grave multiple times per year. She taught this to me. I still bring home the bread (not cracker packets) every time.

So our leftovers are consumed and usually as-is. If I make a 4 pound roast, even if there are only 2 adults in the home, I've got my lunches or snacks set. Fish doesn't keep well as a leftover so I only buy enough for one meal. Everything else is bought in bigger quantities and then my lunches or snacks are set. I'd rather snack on pork chops or ground beef (I cook 2 pounds of extra lean ground beef every week for snacks/meals.) than bullshit like potato chips.

[Atkins&Rebel]

For some meals, it tastes better after a night in the fridge. Almost any soup or chili does, after it has time. But any pot roast kind of meal and most pasta bakes do as well.
But besides that, there are a few meals that I really enjoy that the rest of my family just tolerates. So I will make a few things in bulk and freeze the leftovers.

The store down the road advertised fresh Kielbasa for this weekend, so I called them up and asked to have 20lbs packaged for me to pick up.
Going to make a few batches of sauerkraut, onion, potato and Kielbasa all baked together.
We'll eat 1-2 meals out of it, then I have these glass freezer containers to portion out the rest and be able to pull a meal out and eat whenever I want.
Not sure where hunting camp is going to be this year, so I want to have food ready, even if I'm just sitting in my back yard.

[The Marshall Plan]

Just wanna drop an honorable mention to perhaps the greatest leftover of all time.

Chinese food.

[The Marshall Plan]

This is the weirdest thing. I love making tender chuck roasts in the crock pot. I do it every week. I’ve tried all different kinds of variations.

The one I just made was as simple as it gets. Four pound tender chuck roast. Some beef broth that gets up to almost half the depth of the roast. A spoonful of the Beef Base flavor of Better Than Bouillon.

Low for six or seven hours. Thats it.

Best damn roast I’ve made. TBH I don’t think I’ve ever made a bad one even though I’ve tried who knows how many different variations. But the simplest one has been the best one.

[Grizzled]

This is the weirdest thing. I love making tender chuck roasts in the crock pot. I do it every week. I’ve tried all different kinds of variations.

The one I just made was as simple as it gets. Four pound tender chuck roast. Some beef broth that gets up to almost half the depth of the roast. A spoonful of the Beef Base flavor of Better Than Bouillon.

Low for six or seven hours. Thats it.

Best damn roast I’ve made. TBH I don’t think I’ve ever made a bad one even though I’ve tried who knows how many different variations. But the simplest one has been the best one.

Can't disagree although I usually add only about 1/2 cup of liquid to cook. I like to throw in carrots, potatoes,and near the end, some canned navy beans.

[The Marshall Plan]

This is the weirdest thing. I love making tender chuck roasts in the crock pot. I do it every week. I’ve tried all different kinds of variations.

The one I just made was as simple as it gets. Four pound tender chuck roast. Some beef broth that gets up to almost half the depth of the roast. A spoonful of the Beef Base flavor of Better Than Bouillon.

Low for six or seven hours. Thats it.

Best damn roast I’ve made. TBH I don’t think I’ve ever made a bad one even though I’ve tried who knows how many different variations. But the simplest one has been the best one.

Can't disagree although I usually add only about 1/2 cup of liquid to cook. I like to throw in carrots, potatoes,and near the end, some canned navy beans.

That's good advice on the beans. I've never tried that.

I'll make fajitas from it by putting in chopped onions, red, green, and yellow peppers along with a fajita seasoning packet.

Then one that's almost like a stew, but not as much fluid, with chopped onions, green peppers, a beef and onion seasoning packet.

Another with sweet potatoes.

Those Better Than Bouillon jars work really well. Beef Base and Seasoned Vegetable Base are the two I use.

[Grizzled]

Can't disagree although I usually add only about 1/2 cup of liquid to cook. I like to throw in carrots, potatoes,and near the end, some canned navy beans.

That's good advice on the beans. I've never tried that.

I'll make fajitas from it by putting in chopped onions, red, green, and yellow peppers along with a fajita seasoning packet.

Then one that's almost like a stew, but not as much fluid, with chopped onions, green peppers, a beef and onion seasoning packet.

Another with sweet potatoes.

Those Better Than Bouillon jars work really well. Beef Base and Seasoned Vegetable Base are the two I use.

Great advice on throwing the leftovers in a tortilla although leftovers from that meal are rare in my house. I've done the pot roast with sweet potatoes rather than regular ones, really delicious.

[wab]

I made some ribs yesterday… I made way too much

[Otis Day]

This is the weirdest thing. I love making tender chuck roasts in the crock pot. I do it every week. I’ve tried all different kinds of variations.

The one I just made was as simple as it gets. Four pound tender chuck roast. Some beef broth that gets up to almost half the depth of the roast. A spoonful of the Beef Base flavor of Better Than Bouillon.

Low for six or seven hours. Thats it.

Best damn roast I’ve made. TBH I don’t think I’ve ever made a bad one even though I’ve tried who knows how many different variations. But the simplest one has been the best one.

I don't know what it is but I do not like roasts in the crock pot. I use an old dutch over type of pan with cover and put mine in the over all day. I also do the veggies in there with some beef broth.

[Atkins&Rebel]

This is the weirdest thing. I love making tender chuck roasts in the crock pot. I do it every week. I’ve tried all different kinds of variations.

The one I just made was as simple as it gets. Four pound tender chuck roast. Some beef broth that gets up to almost half the depth of the roast. A spoonful of the Beef Base flavor of Better Than Bouillon.

Low for six or seven hours. Thats it.

Best damn roast I’ve made. TBH I don’t think I’ve ever made a bad one even though I’ve tried who knows how many different variations. But the simplest one has been the best one.

I don't know what it is but I do not like roasts in the crock pot. I use an old dutch over type of pan with cover and put mine in the over all day. I also do the veggies in there with some beef broth.

The crock pot tends to diminish the taste of the seasoning because of the time involved in the slow cook.
I like the dutch oven as well, but just threw a 5lb chuck roast in an open roasting pan with a bunch of spuds, carrots, onions, celery and just enough water to get 1/2 way up the veggies. Gonna let the meat juice drip down and see how much extra fluid (if any) I need at 3 hours. Might add a bullion cube if needed at that time.

[wab]

I don't know what it is but I do not like roasts in the crock pot. I use an old dutch over type of pan with cover and put mine in the over all day. I also do the veggies in there with some beef broth.

The crock pot tends to diminish the taste of the seasoning because of the time involved in the slow cook.
I like the dutch oven as well, but just threw a 5lb chuck roast in an open roasting pan with a bunch of spuds, carrots, onions, celery and just enough water to get 1/2 way up the veggies. Gonna let the meat juice drip down and see how much extra fluid (if any) I need at 3 hours. Might add a bullion cube if needed at that time.

This is why if you are doing it in the crock pot you add the seasoning at the end. Roast in broth to start, veggies (and more broth if needed) halfway through, seasoning an hour or so before it's done.

[dplank]

Warning - healthy food alert...

I've been utterly addicted to Avocado Toast lately. I get this Nature's Own Keto Bread, 35 cal per slice, toast up 2 slices. Mash up one Hass Avocado and mix in just a touch of Everything Bagel seasoning, and spread a generous layer on top of the toast. Then I switch it up every other day, one day I'll fry two eggs and lay them on top, the next day I'll put a slice of tomato on top instead.

I do this about 10:30/11 AM every day, and it holds me all the way to dinner cause it's high fiber. Between this and 3 HIIT workouts a week, and 3 light jogs a week, I'm feeling tip top!