Loaded Potato Olés

From the double pork rollup to ribs that get rubbed and cooked for hours, we enjoy a good cooking challenge that takes lots of effort and provides a good reward. Sometimes though, you've got to enjoy something that comes together easily, doesn't take a whole lot of preparation, and is just plain old "fast food" style fun.

With that in mind, we recently decided to put together our own version of a Taco John's favorite by making the Six-Seven-Eight version of loaded potato olés.

For this easy-yet-awesome dinner, you'll need:

• Frozen hash brown patties (of course you can shred potatoes, form them into patties, and then fry or bake them yourself, but we're going for quick and easy here!)
• ½ pound ground beef (or whichever ground meat you prefer for tacos – chicken, turkey, or chorizo also work great)
• Your preferred taco seasoning packet
• 1 can nacho cheese sauce (if you'd rather make your own cheese sauce, check out our roasted pepper queso recipe here)
• 1 can black olives
• 1 bunch green onions, diced
• 1 can refried beans
• ½ cup jarred jalapenos (because they aren't cooked, jarred actually works better here than fresh)
• Mexican crumbling cheese (usually found in the specialty section of the store and not with the regular block cheese)
• Sour cream
• Guacamole (see recipe below)

This comes together very easily, mostly being a heat-and-assemble meal. Just cook your beef with whatever taco-style seasonings you like, then heat up the refried beans and cheese.

I've mentioned this before, but it's absolutely worth saying again and again - don't buy store guacamole! The cheap dip kind isn't any good, and the fresher kind that's mostly avocado will run you $5 or $6. For less than that you can make your own, and your homemade version will be better than the best the store has to offer.

For the guacamole you'll need:

• Two avocados
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 serrano pepper, diced (alternatively use jalapeno, or for a less spicy taste anaheim)
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 3 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Remove the avocado's skin and pits and then mash them together with the lime juice and seasonings. Salt and pepper to taste and you've got restaurant quality guacamole!

While the beef is cooking and the guacamole is coming together, pop the hash brown patties in the oven. You could also sprinkle on some taco seasoning or seasoned salt for more flavor.

Once the hash browns are cooked through and the olives and green onions are sliced you're ready to put it all together. These can be as pretty or messy as you want - stacked tall or kept minimalist (can you guess which direction we like to go?).

Start with a layer of beans and meat, arrange the veggies, pour on the cheese, sprinkle on some of the Mexican crumbling cheese, and then spoon sour cream on one side and guacamole on the other.

Creamy Garlic Cabbage Rolls

Every year for our St. Patrick's Day meal we make Colcannon, but there's always extra cabbage left over needing to be used. We've tried tomato-sauce cabbage rolls before and weren't amazed by them, so this year we whipped up something different that turned out amazing!

For Creamy Garlic Cabbage Rolls you'll need:

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 a red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 white or yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 3 tbsp. green onion, chopped
• 1 slice of bacon per cabbage roll (5 – 6 for ½ pound pork)
• 1 medium head cabbage
• salt and pepper
• Progresso Garlic Recipe Starter (or any savory, garlic flavored cream-based sauce you prefer!)

We've been having a bunch of meals with Progresso's Recipe Starters lately (the basil one is also great), but unfortunately that's now coming to an end. The company just decided to switch its packaging from an 18 oz. can to a 9 oz. pouch - for about the same price! Since we're not keen on spending the same amount of money for half the sauce, we'll have to try making our own version for an upcoming blog.

For the rolls, first mix together the ground pork with all the vegetables (except the cabbage) and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in your preferred style of rice, but be sure to leave it uncooked - it will cook and plump up in the oven!

Carefully pull the top layer off the cabbage so you have one solid, unbroken piece. Repeat this process as many times for as many rolls you want to make. For only 1/2 pound of ground pork you'll get about 5 - 6, while for a full pound of pork you'll probably need between 10 - 12.

Place the cabbage layers into a pot of boiling water until they are softened, about 10 minutes. Carefully pull them out with tongs so they don't rip. Set a boiled piece of cabbage down and put a large spoonful of the pork mixture onto one side.

Grip the bottom edge of the cabbage and then roll it forward until you have something roughly egg roll shaped.

To make these more exciting (and hold them together without using toothpicks), we're going to wrap each roll in a piece of bacon!

Pour some of the recipe starter into the bottom of an oven-safe dish and then arrange each roll in the dish.

Pour the remainder of the garlic sauce on top and add any extra pepper you may want. You could also grate on a cheese such as Parmesan.

About an hour later in a 350 degree oven and you've got firm-yet-tender rolls wrapped in delicious bacon and topped in amazing savory sauce! Enjoy!

These are awesome as-is, but you could easily swap out the fillings with any number of meats (ground chicken would be great), veggies (try shredded carrots or broccoli!), and cheeses.

St. Patricks 2014: Irish Indoor Ribs

Somehow it's already been a year since we did the fabulous pork apple sirloin with homemade gouda bread for St. Patrick's 2013!

As the snows continue to fall in Montana we've been wishing it were grilling season already, so we decided to take a traditional grilling meat - pork ribs - and do an indoor oven version. There's two twists here though. First is that we're trying out rib tips for the first time ever, and second is a little Irish spin in honor the holiday. The full meal will be Rib tips marinated in Killians beer, with a side of colcannon (a traditional Irish potato dish).

Rib tips are different from standard ribs in that they have several small scale shaped bones at regular intervals, rather than large continuous bones, so they are actually easier to pull meat off or eat with a fork than to pick it straight up and go to town.

For the Irish Rib Tips you'll need:

• Half rack of pork rib tips (if you are feeding more than 2 or 3, do a full rack instead)
• Kosher salt
• Cracked black pepper
• about 3 tbsp. Honey
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ – ¾ bottle your preferred beer (for the Irish theme, we went with Killians Red. If you want a thicker, more dark flavor, use Guiness instead. For a fruity kick, go with )
• ¼ cup savory barbecue sauce (just enough to brush on the ribs)

To get these rib tips ready, we're going to marinate them for a few hours. First we season with salt and pepper.

Next up we're going to smother them in some honey, to make a sweet balance to the savory flavors.

Next we'll add in about 2/3rds of a bottle of beer and the apple cider vinegar - just enough to cover the ribs. After allowing the flavor to soak in, we're going to throw these in the oven at a low heat - 225 to 250 degrees - for several hours. This will allow for even cooking and ensure the meat doesn't dry out and get tough.

With only about 15 - 20 minutes left or cooking time, we're going to drain out the excess liquid from the pan and then brush these with a savory BBQ sauce. A hickory would be great, or any of our previous homemade versions (Root beer, coffee, and so on) would do as well. This time for convenience we went with a Jim Beam's bottled bacon BBQ sauce.

After rubbing they go back in the oven at a slightly higher heat to caramelize and get a little crispy, and they're done!

For the Colcannon you'll need:

• At least two pounds and up to six pounds red potatoes, skin on (for a more traditional mashed potato taste, go with peeled baking potatoes)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 medium sized head of cabbage, roughly chopped
• one bunch green onions
• ½ cup sour cream

We always find a way to work this traditional Irish side into our meal schedule in March. It's basically just a fun enhanced version of mashed potatoes. To get this going, boil potatoes as you normally would, and in the mean time melt about two tbsp. butter in a pan and then throw in the chopped cabbage and green onions.

After the potatoes are boiled and the veggies have softened, through it all together in a large mixing bowl.

Add in the butter and sour cream and mash it up. Here Megan is doing it by hand with a wooden spoon to help keep the shape, but if you are pressed for time an electric mixer works too.

Here's our prepared colcannon, ready to hit the plate!

Two rib tips and a hefty dollop of colcannon makes this St. Patrick's meal almost complete. Pop open a few more of the Killians and you're good to go!

Valentines and Birthday

Last month we showed the delicious Valentines Day bourbon marinated steaks we had for dinner, but I forgot to post this little gem: the heart shaped toads-in-a-whole Megan made us for breakfast!

After the failed horseradish vodka experiment we also went more simple with our drinks that night, trying out a few different ways to use Pinnacle's glorious caramel apple vodka. First up was a shot using brewed coffee, a bit of half and half, and a big splash of caramel apple vodka. It's an interesting combination that works, because it's a bit like having a caramel apple latte, just with an alcohol kick.

Keeping it even more simple is of course just the straight up ginger ale and vodka, with a slice of apple on the side.

Earlier this month I celebrated my 28th birthday, and of course on birthdays we try new recipes! I'm a big fan of fried chicken, so we went with a modified version of a recipe from Bobby Flay's Bar Americain restaurant, with an asparagus side inspired by Guy Fieri. Here's our base ingredients: buttermilk, flour, paprika, cayenne, and garlic and onion powder for the chicken, along with eggs, panko crumbs, and mayo for the asparagus.

First up we start the asparagus, which of course gets snapped off on the woody end, then we put together the mayo with an egg yolk and some salt and peper.

The asparagus is dredged in the mayo mixture, which is going to help the panko stick. The reason for the mayo and egg yolk is to give the asparagus a great flavor and a crunch with the panko, since these are going to be baked instead of fried.

Next they go in a bowl of panko crumbs until thoroughly coated.

We're setting them on an upside down grilling pan so heat can come from the underside as well as the top so we don't have to flip them over halfway through the cooking process.

Now it's time to coat the chicken, which will be a two part process: dredged in flour, dropped in the buttermilk, and then dredged in a second plate of flour for a double coating.

While the chicken is frying in oil on the stovetop, the asparagus is getting golden brown in the oven.

Here's our beautifully fried chicken tenders, crunchy baked asparagus, and a dollop of mashed potatoes, with a delicious beer to wash it all down.

Boysenberry Rolls and Ice Cream Cookie Dough Sandwiches

The focus of Six-Seven-Eight has always been on crazy breakfast, lunch, and dinner concoctions, which has left a void in the desert course!

Correcting that, lately we've tried out several new homemade baked treats. First we tried out a one-rise cinnamon roll recipe:

While these actually turned out pretty good, the texture wasn't quite what we were going for, so we decided to take the same basic recipe and try out something else with different ingredients on hand.

Here we've got our basic dough, but instead of rolling it out and cutting it up, we're draping part of it in a bread pan.

Next we spoon over a layer of homemade cream cheese frosting.

On top of the frosting we then drizzled boysenberry jam, which was heated up with butter.

See how the dough draping is shorter below? That's because we pulled a layer over, and then restarted the process, putting on more frosting and jam. This process is repeated three or four times until you have several delicious layers.

The rest of the dough is then carefully smoothed over the top, so we essentially have a loaf of awesome bread going on here.

Here it is out of the oven, waiting a few minutes to cool before we can dig in!

And here's a slice of that awesome boysenberry "roll," with all the layers showing.

That's not all we've been up to with desert lately though! For my birthday Megan was challenged to come up with something new and exciting, since cake is not my thing.

She's always having to bat my hand away from the cookie dough, which spurred her on to make cookie dough ice cream sandwiches - made with eggless cookie dough so it's safe to eat! Below you can see a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough she whipped up, along with some cookie dough ice cream.

To put this delicious dish together, set the layer of cookie dough in a small baking pan and then spoon in a layer of ice cream.

Carefully top the ice cream layer with another cookie dough sheet.

Set it in the freezer for a few hours, pull it out, and slice it up to get amazing ice cream sandwiches!

Here are a few we ate at my birthday party: