Simply Cooking with Mark McRoy

07/24/2023

12/15/2020

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03/18/2020

Bolognese Sauce
This is Italian for meat sauce. I made this last weekend for some company and it was wonderful. I used it to make some “pasta less” lasagna. Like I said it was incredible. Let’s get started with the sauce and then we can build the lasagna. This time we will have three
"Stuff you need” list so read them all before you head to the store. I’m doing this b/c you can make the sauce and serve it over pasta or veggies or let it stand alone. What you don’t eat freeze it and save until you have a long day and want something special for dinner and don’t feel like cooking. This ain’t your first rodeo, you know how it works.

Stuff we need.
One lb low fat hamburger
One lb seasoned Italian sausage. Johnsonville has a very good skinless sausage. I stayed away from breakfast sausage b/c I am going for low fat. If you can only find it in links use a good knife and carefully skin those puppies.
Four to six strips of thick cut bacon. Stay away from maple or sage or any of that flavored stuff.
One chopped onion.
Half cup chopped celery
Half cup chopped carrots. Yes, I said carrots.
One cup bone broth. Chicken. If you can’t find this use low sodium.
One cup white wine. Pinot Grigio. I used a sweet white, feel free to substitute a rich red if you prefer, you know rich reds.
One 28 ounce can of plum tomatoes.
One can of Rotel tomatoes
One small can of tomato sauce. Six ounce will be fine.
One garlic clove or a tsp of minced garlic
Olive oil
Good salt
Good fresh pepper

Let’s get started.
Using your 3 ½ quart cast iron sauce pot place on your back burner with medium heat. Open and drain your plum and Rotel tomatoes, add your tomato sauce and stir. Leave it alone and it will be fine.
Dice your veggies. Onion, carrots and mushrooms.
In your cast iron skillet brown your hamburger seasoning with lite salt and pepper only. When brown add to sauce. Do the same thing with the sausage. Add to the sauce.
Leave the grease from the sausage in the skillet. Add your bacon add your onions and carrots, stir over low heat until bacon is crisp, and onions and carrots are wilted. You guessed it. Add to the sauce.
In the same skillet add your mushrooms, celery and wine and chicken broth and garlic. Bring this to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Let this reduce for let’s say thirty minutes, a low boil will be fine. Add to the sauce and reduce heat to low and allow to cook for two to three hours. “Don’t over cook your sauce. You Southerners always overcook your vegetables.” You have to hear that with an Italian N.J. accent from my friend Lou Lardaro, it adds to the recipe. Lou’s wife Vita is probably the single best cook on the planet next to my mother. Hey Juney.

Let’s prepare the eggplant.
Stuff you need.
Three eggplant. About six by three.
One stick butter
Four ounces olive oil. Not virgin.
Pink or kosher salt

Place your oven on broil. Peal your eggplant and cut top to bottom about a half an inch thick. Melt your butter and add your olive oil and mix. Place your egg plant on a cookie sheet and brush with your butter and oil mixture. Very lightly salt this and place in your oven on the middle rack. You need the salt, it will take away any bitter flavor associated with egg plant. Keep an eye on it. If your oven runs hot it will brown and we don’t want that. Just allow it to wilt. Remove from oven and flip the eggplant butter the other side lightly salt and repeat. When both sides are wilted place on a plate and repeat until all your little eggplants are wilted. As a reward eat one slice of the eggplant. It will knock your socks off. Reset your oven to 350.

Lasagna
Stuff you need.
Twenty-four ounces of cottage cheese.
Twelve ounces of sharp cheese. Grated
Six or eight ounces of mozzarella cheese. Grated
Four ounces of fresh parmesan. Grated
Two eggs. Beaten

Let’s get started.
Mix your cottage cheese and beaten eggs. Feel free to add a tsp of Texas Pete. In your favorite casserole dish, 12x9 will be fine, metal or Pyrex, layer your eggplant. Cut to fit if necessary. It’s not that big of a deal just place one layer in the dish. Spoon the cottage cheese over the eggplant. Cover this with you Bolognese and top with a layer of sharp cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan. Repeat. Eggplant, cottage cheese, Bolognese and assorted cheeses. Place in preheated oven for thirty minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for ten minutes and serve hot.
This is so stinkin’ good. Thank you for following me on FB. Please feel free to comment, yes even you Ernie Napolitani.
God Bless You All.

02/28/2020

Ever one loves a steak. Ok, there maybe a Bernie Sanders supporter out there who prefers kale chips but most of us really like beef. I had some friends over this weekend and wanted something good, so I served twice baked potatoes, grilled asparagus and two-inch rib eyes. We had a mango cobbler for dessert, but I’ll post that one later.
Let’s face it a rib eye is great as is. Salt and pepper and a hot grill. Still I wanted something special, so I used portobello mushrooms and rosemary to coat the steaks and then topped it with a tomato and caper relish. “Oh my!” I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s make the relish and put it aside.

Tomato Caper Relish
Stuff you need.
Two tbl spoons of good salt. Kosher, Himalayan or Sea salt. They are all good.
One garlic clove. Or one tbl spoon of minced garlic. Minced will work but fresh is always better.
One pint of grape tomatoes. Recently I’ve found the assorted grape tomatoes, red, yellow, orange and dark red, they’re almost black. These things are great. I’ll eat them for snacks while watching TV or reading. Anyway, if you see these buy them and give them a try. Oh yeah, the recipe. Wash and quarter these.
One half cup of garlic stuffed olives. Quartered. You may want some extra b/c you are going to eat these while doing you prep work.
One half head chopped cilantro. Every store has this fresh so don’t use dried. It cost two bucks. The steaks are going to run you 13.00 each so live a little and buy the good herbs and enjoy your meal.
Four ounces of capers. Drain these.
Zest from a lime.
Juice from the same lime.
Two ounces of chopped jalapeno. This is about three regular size peppers. Two big ones. One can if you fear cutting up fresh jalapeno, I just like fresh.
One tsp dried oregano
Four two-inch steaks. I like a rib eye if you like a strip or a fillet feel free.
Two tsp cumin
One tbl spoon fresh black pepper.

Let’s get started.
At least an hour ahead.
Peal your garlic clove and smash with the flat side of your knife. A garlic press will work too, but so many people don’t have one. Mix your salt, cumin and garlic together in a bowl. Add your diced tomatoes, chopped olives and chopped cilantro, and an ounce of olive oil, lime juice, zest, jalapenos, capers. Mix that puppy up. Set aside.

Steak topping.
At least two hours ahead.
Stuff you need.
One cup of Soy Sauce
One-ounce good salt
One-ounce fresh pepper
Two tbl spoons freshly chopped rosemary
One-ounce olive oil. Seriously who measures olive oil?
One and half cups or one pack of baby portobella mushrooms. Just use the caps, discard the stems.

Take your knife and scrape your steak, you will remove the excess fat and blood that has settled on your beef from the packaging. Salt and pepper and garlic salt to taste. I would recommend very light; you have the relish and the mushrooms so there is a lot of stuff going on and the salt and pepper should be subtle. Place your steaks in a zip lock and put enough soy to coat the steaks. Try to get the air out the bag. Let the steaks sit for a minimum of two hours at room temperature flipping occasionally so both sides are coated. Concerning the soy there are many brands and some are low sodium. Use the low sodium. You want to control the salt not some guy in a factory trying to make his product have a longer shelf life.

Using your food processer grind your mushroom caps into a paste. Add your fresh rosemary and black pepper and fold together. If you want spicy use crushed red pepper instead of black, it’s all good, just remember a little crushed red pepper goes along way.
Pre heat your grill to about 350.

Remove your steaks from the bags and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub the mushroom and rosemary on the steaks. Both sides.
Place your steak on the grill. I like mine rare, but these are Fred Flintstone steaks so eight minutes per side should do. Flip only once. If you prefer medium, try ten minutes per side. Keep an eye on these so they don’t burn. If you like your steak “well done” please stop reading and just go to McDonald’s.
Ok, the steak is done. Remove from the grill and allow to rest for ten minutes. Place on your plate and top with your relish and serve. Best darn steak you will ever have.

The twice baked potatoes are great, and I’ll post that recipe later along with the mango cobbler. Thank you as always for following me on FB.
Enjoy and God Bless you all.

10/15/2019

Lemon Chicken Thighs
This is great and it only takes one dish to prepare. What else? Your cast iron skillet. Chicken thighs are dark meat, so they are juicy and tasty. My father always ordered dark meat when eating chicken or turkey. It’s probably why he enjoyed duck so much. Different story for a different time. Miss you Dad.
We are leaving the skin on and it is so crispy when you add the lemon vinaigrette it will be hard to keep your socks on.
Shall we begin?

Stuff you need
Four chicken thighs. This feeds four by the way. Leave the skin on. I will have to try this with duck now I think about it. Hello Carl or Westcourt.
Good salt. Kosher or Pink Himalayan
Aleppo pepper. This is in your spice section at your favorite store. It is used a lot in Korean dishes. Be careful! If you think Mexican food is hot with jalapeño try some Korean Kimchi some time. Great flavor but a little goes a long way. “If” you are sensitive to hot food or if you’re just a wimp feel free to substitute black pepper or even paprika.
Four garlic cloves, or four tsp of minced garlic. Branch out if using minced garlic try the roasted, it is wonderful.
Two pretty lemons cut in half. Side to side, not top to bottom, you have been doing this long enough folks, I shouldn’t have to tell you this.
Two tbl spoons of fresh honey. Fiddlers is the best. You can find at the museum downtown.
Good olive oil. Virgin or better.
Quarter cup white wine vinegar. I cannot tell the difference, so I buy the cheapest one, there are a dozen different brands at most stores.

Let’s get started.
Preheat your oven to 400. Dry your chicken with paper towel and throw away the paper. Salt and pepper to taste. Use light salt because Kosher and Himalayan salt both go a long way as far as flavor. We already talked about the pepper. Go lite on it. Place the seasoned chicken in a large zip lock bag with the vinegar. Push out the air and make sure all the chicken is coated with vinegar. Now stick it in the fridge for no less than an hour.

Now remove the chicken from the bag and dry a second time. The dryer you get it the crispier it will be. Crispy is what we are going for.

In your dry skillet over medium heat place your chicken skin side down. Don’t move or flip it for about four minutes. Cooking the skin, you can thank me later. Continue to cook until pretty and brown, not more than ten minutes but not less than seven. Add your garlic and move to the oven. You did preheat it like I said? Bake skin side up for another ten minutes. Use your meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh. When it’s done remove the chicken to a plate.

Place your skillet back on the stove over medium heat and place your lemon halves cut side down in the pan until the lemon is charred on the edges. Five minutes tops. Place the lemon and garlic on the plate with the chicken. Let cool.

Juice your lemon halves into a small bowl and add garlic, honey and pepper. Whisk it together adding all the juice from the chicken. Add a little vinaigrette maybe a tsp and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon a bit on the chicken, skin side up. And use what is left for dipping. You will love this.

I hope you are all well, thank you for the kind notes asking me to post more recipes. Thank you to those who told me to get off my lazy rear and get back to work. I have such a diverse group of friends. Yes, I am truly blessed. I love you all.

I have already eaten this, but I wanted to post it while I had time. I am making it again Friday night and serving with an orzo, lemon and artichoke salad with grilled asparagus. I’ll add pictures than.

God Bless each and every one of you.

07/16/2019

This is a great recipe for a hot afternoon and you’re looking for something sweet to drink while relaxing. I’ve been told it works well while sitting at the beach too. I wouldn’t know because I am a pasty Scot and do not go to the beach for fear of turning into a lobster. Different story for another time.
This is grilled fruit Sangria. Oh yes! You’re going to love it.
Stuff you need.
Coconut oil for grilling
Two ripe peaches. Remove the pit and cut in half
Two plums. Same directions as the peaches
One nectarine. You guessed it. Remove the pit and cut in half
About a dozen or so real cherries. Cut six in half and remove the seed. Save the rest for garnish.
One big bottle of sweet red wine. 750 ml bottle
Half cup of good orange juice. I like no pulp but feel free to improvise.
Quarter cup good brandy.
Quarter cup simple syrup.

Let’s get started.
I like using my cast iron skillet, but you can use your grill if you wish. Grease your skillet or grill with coconut oil and heat to medium. Place your peaches, plums, and nectarine in the pan and grill until well wilted or slightly charred. Ten minutes or less, flip them once. Remove and let cool. Now dice them into small squares about a half to three quarters of an inch.
Now place all your charred fruit in a pitcher and crush the fruit. Use a spoon or a potato masher, just break it up. Add your wine, brandy, orange juice and syrup. Stir and chill for an hour or more and let the flavors come together. This will be the last time you buy sangria. Fill a glass with ice add your sangria and enjoy. Monday I’ll post a grilled cheese taco recipe. These two will go together so well.
Have a great week everyone. Thank you for following me on FB and please keep all the comments coming. I enjoy your advice, it’s always nice to hear your ideas and thoughts.
God Bless you All.

06/06/2019

Pork Burgers
Third time is the charm, I hope. I say that because I have tried to post this twice before and when none of you respond I go and check and well “shazam” there is no post.
I would like to take a minute to wish my wonderful mother “Happy Birthday!” For those of you who enjoy these post June is responsible. She gave me my love for cooking and she is also the one who was patient enough to teach me most of the things I share. Of all my many blessings, next to being a Christian, mom is my biggest one. She also has a lot to do with my religious beliefs so I guess I should thank her for that as well. I can remember her reading Bible stories to my brothers and me as children. I continued this with my child, and she will now read Bible stories to her son every night. A great family tradition. One I highly recommend.
This is the recipe that goes with the Sweet and spicy cole slaw from last week. Or the week before. Whatever. These burgers are wonderful and with the slaw this is a stand-alone meal, let’s keep it low carb so no buns or fries or chips. If you need something else, I suggest sliced tomatoes and cucumbers or some fresh squash. Grilled watermelon is pretty sporty too. Focus Mark, Pork Burgers.
Stuff you need
Two pounds ground pork. This is getting easier to find. If it is not with the pork chops and ham, ask your butcher for help.
One good size garlic clove or two tbl spoons of minced garlic.
One tbl spoon Sriracha sauce. Feel free to substitute Texas Pete of Frank’s if you don’t have sriracha but use sriracha if you can. It has a different taste and texture than regular hot sauce. Do not be scared of the hot sauce. One tbl spoon in two pounds of meat is not hot. It is flavorful.
One tbl spoon sesame oil
One tbl spoon Sweet chili sauce
½ tsp fish oil
One bundle of finely chopped cilantro. No stems. Leaves only
Good salt to taste. Go easy on the salt, this recipe has so many different flavors you don’t want to overpower them with salt. Even good salt.
Fresh black pepper to taste. As with the salt go easy.
One tbl spoon olive oil
Let’s get started.
In a large bowl place, your seasonings and sauces and cilantro. Add the pork and mix using your hands. I know it’s squishy. When the ingredients are mixed stop. Be careful not to work the pork too much. This will break down the fat and the meat and destroy the texture. Now form six balls of meat about the same size. They should be about six ounces a piece and that will be just fine. Flatten these out to about ¾ of an inch thick. In the center of each patty dimple the meat with your thumb. This will keep the burger from inflating while cooking. BTW it works with beef or turkey burgers as well.
On the grill or in your skillet over medium heat cook your patties four or five minutes on each side. Flip only once. My friend ,the Smoke King, Joe Metz smoked his burgers for fourteen minutes and they were incredible. After these are cooked remove from heat and let rest for seven minutes. If you insist on serving on a bun pick up some onion rolls. Split them and toast with butter and garlic powder. Top with fresh Parmesan for the minute before removing from the oven. Top with some thinly sliced red onion and sweet pickles. Darn now I am hungry.
This is great recipe and a wonderful alternative to beef. Just something to change things up. If you are packing this for a picnic or a trip to the beach remember the slaw contains mayo so keep a lot of ice on it. Nothing says fun like a trip to the E.R. after eating mayo on a three-digit South Carolina summer day.

As always thank you so much for keeping up with me on F.B. Also please keep the suggestions and comments coming.
God Bless you all and have a great summer.

05/27/2019

I'm starting this off with the cole slaw. I like cole slaw and I'm writing, so there. I will follow it up with Pork burgers tomorrow so stay tuned you are going to love this.

Spicy Cole Slaw. (yum!)
Stuff you need.
Half a cup of mayonnaise. Dukes, like you had to ask. Still you can use Duke's low cal or their olive oil spread to cut the calories. There is so much other stuff going in here you can get away without using the real Dukes, just don't make a habit of it.
One tbl spoon rice vinegar. I like the roasted garlic.
One tbl spoon sweet chili sauce
One tbl spoon Sriracha sauce.
Two bags of Angel Hair slaw, the bag without the carrots.
Three or four finely chopped pencil onions
One finely chopped shallot
Pink salt to taste
Fresh pepper to taste

Toss all this in a bowl and mix well. Cover and place in the fridge. It will last for three days, like that's going to happen.

Enjoy! We will get started on the pork burgers in the morning. The rest of your Memorial Day is out there so go spend it with someone you love. God bless all the brave men and woman who gave so much for this wonderful country. I pray that we are worthy of their sacrifice.

05/13/2019

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful ladies who have made us all the people we are. June McRoy you have done so much for me and my brothers. Now you step up and make a powerful impact on my daughter and my grandson. God really knew what he was doing when he made mothers. I can not even think of where I would be or who I would be without this wonderful lady in my life. I thank God for you everyday. One day a year is not enough to pay tribute to you. I love you mom.
Thank you for letting me get that off my chest.

Now for the cooking part. Folks I love a Boston Butt, they are delicious and inexpensive and so versatile. My go to B.B. is dry rub, quartered onion and a cup of Shealy's Vinegar and Pepper sauce. Crock pot and eight hours later you have a great dinner. Easy and oh so good. This one I saw and had to try it. So good I made it twice this weekend. One for my guest, they went home and made it today for thier family. It's so good. You use orange juice and lime juice and , sorry I'm getting ahead of myself.

Orange and pork burritos
Plan ahead. We need to let this cook for eight or ten hours so start in the morning or put it on the night before. Your home will smell great either way. You're welcome.

Stuff you need.
One Boston Butt. Four to six pounds will fit in your standard crock pot. Cut that big slab of fat off and trim as much fat off as you can without destroying the meat.
Four tbl spoons good salt. You know me I like pink Himalayan but kosher or sea salt work well too. Seperate it two and two.
Two tbl spoons brown sugar. I like dark.
One half stick of fresh cinnamon. I use my zester.
One tbl spoon chili pepper
Zest from one orange. Just the zest don't go down into the white part.
One cup fresh orange juice. See, you get to use the entire orange.
One bunch of fresh Oregano. Remove the stems and chop very fine. You should have a couple of ounces. Three ounces will not hurt
Two ounces lime juice.Fresh is always better but bottled will work.
Six garlic cloves or four tbl spoons of minced garlic.

Let's get started.
Trim your pork and rub with two tbl spoons of salt and allow to rest at room temperature while we make the rub.

The rub.
Simple, mix your chopped oregano, salt, orange zest. cinnamon, chili pepper and garlic.You can make this the night before if you are going to cook in the morning. Just cover it before you put it in the fridge. This is so good I am going to try this rub on chicken and fish. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Now rub your mix on the pork, place the pork in your crock pot. Add your orange juice and lime juice. Cover and set on high and allow to cook for eight hours. After eight hours The bone should pull out easily. If not reduce heat and allow to cook for two more hours. Do not remove from crock. Using forks shread the meat. Leave it in the juice for flavor.
Build your burrito. I am going to follow this with a couple of garnishes that will set this off like nothing you've ever eaten before. Pickled onions. "Oh My!"
Stay tuned.
Thank you all for following me on F.B.. Go tell your mother you love her and thank God in heaven that he gave her to you.
God Bless

05/04/2019

"Cream of Asparagus Soup"
Oh my goodness, this stuff is great.
This is so good and with asparagus in season now is the time to try.
This recipe serves four, easy as an appetizer or as a main dish. What the heck save the leftovers and eat them with a sandwich later in the week. It doesn't matter, it is wonderful and you will love every drop. Simple, fast and easy. Try to keep up.

Stuff you need.
Two pounds of aspargus. Or two bundles, who cares?
One large onion, Diced. Vidalia is best.
Butter. Start with a stick, you will not use it all but it is better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
One table spoon minced garlic.
Three cups of no sodium chicken broth.
Half cup heavy cream.
Half cup white wine.
Two ounces fresh lemon juice. About a half a lemon plus the zest.
Salt and pepper to taste. Good salt, good pepper.
Two tbl spoons Texas Pete.
Two tbl spoons of A/P Adluh flour.

Let's get started.
Use your heavy pot. The big one, six or eight qt.
Cut an inch off the bottom of the asparagus. Now cut the tops off ten or twelve of the asparagus spears, set aside. We will use them later. Now chop the remaining asparagus. Make it small so it will cook down and brake up faster.
Over medium heat melt your butter, two tbl spoons, more if you like it. It will add to the flavor, add your chopped asparagus and stir until it wilts. Now add your onion and stir until it wilts.
Now we are cooking.
Your onion and asparagus are braking down. When it starts to brake down add your flour and stir. Ok let's add the white wine and stir. Doesn't that smell wonderful? Make sure your flour is dissolved. Add three cups of broth and stir, increase heat to medium high cover and allow to simmer. If you want your soup thicker only add two cups of broth. Three works well for me but hey, it is your soup. Let this cook for fifteen minutes. Turn off the heat. Allow to cool uncovered for fifteen minutes.
Add Texas Pete.
Add cream, and stir
Cut lemon in half. Zest and juice. Add both to soup.
Ok, this stuff is still hot, right? Well DUH! If you have a food processor use that, if not use your blender. Carefully add a cup or two to your processor and pure'e. Return to pot. Repeat process until entire recipe is pure'ed.
Now you are done and it is wonderful. Heat .
The asparagus tops? No I did not forget. In your cast iron skillet melt one tbl spoon of butter. Add your spear tops and salt. When it begins to wilt remove from heat and set aside. Ready to eat?
Place this wonderful soup in a bowl , top with freshly grated parmesan and your grilled asparagus tips and serve. Honestly you will go back to this recipe over and over again. It is fast, easy and delicious. I served mine with an Italian bread cut thin, painted with olive oil and topped with oregano, basil and parmesan and toasted under a broiler. Heck the bread was wonderful.
Have a great weekend, thank you for following me on F.B. and for all the wonderful comments.
God Bless you all.