One Pot Tacos
One pot tacos? Cooking Dude’s latest invention! This will work with the Ninja Foodi and probably most air fryers. Sorry, Instant Pot can’t do this. The other night I wanted some homemade tacos, but it was only for me, and it seemed like a lot of work for only a couple...
Ninja Foodi makes Cooking Dude’s Meatloaf
I decided to use the Ninja Foodi’s Air Crisp (air fryer) feature to brown a meatloaf that had cooked in it in the Pressure Cooker mode. I figured it would take much less time than baking in an oven, would drain itself of the fat, and would make cleanup much easier. I...
Taquitos (Rolled Tacos)
This has to be one of the biggest hits of any easy meal I fix. For starters, the refried beans are usually left over from another meal, and the salad and taquitos themselves fix up in a jiffy. Taquitos are usually served with guacamole, and making that is also fast...
Tamale Pie
Out here in the Southwest, a good tamale pie is about as good a cozy winter dish you can find. Although delicious year-round, it always seems to hit the spot when it's cold and rainy outside. Served with a warm buttered tortilla, its flavorful filling and crunchy corn...
Tamale Casserole
This is similar to a tamale pie, but a LOT easier. In fact, I used to make this is huge batches to take to corporate parties, and it was always a big hit. This is proof that yummy doesn't mean difficult. The main tool needed here is a can opener. You also need a...
Tacos
Taco night is always popular at our house. They aren't much work, and they are always fun to make and to eat. We usually use ground beef in our tacos, but there's no reason not to use chicken, pork, fish, shrimp, or just beans if you want to. Sometimes the taco's...
Steak Frites
Here's my favorite French bistro dish. And you can do it at home very easily. The name means steak and fries. (In French, French fries are pomme frites. Now pomme by itself means apple, and this is not fried apples. Potatoes are pommes du terre, or apples of the...
Sausage and Sauerkraut
I always think of sausage and sauerkraut as German food, but this particular recipe comes from the Alsace region of France. So if you want to impress your guests, call this dish Saucisse avec Choucroute. In the photo you see how I served it with Bratwurst, but it is...
Salisbury Steak
Salisbury steak is a fancy name for hamburger patty, and of course there's nothing wrong with frying a patty for dinner. Cheaper than steak and plenty tasty. So if you don't want to get fancy like this recipe, just season a patty (using 85% lean beef) with garlic salt...
Chipotle Short Ribs
This is without a doubt the family's favorite short rib recipe. I think I could make it several times a week without any complaints. And it's special enough for company. This recipe will serve four or five, so if you need to increase it, it's easy to do. Chipotle...
Prime Rib
This beef rib roast, although commonly called Prime Rib, is not usually of Prime quality unless you're eating in a restaurant. But Choice Rib doesn't sound as good, and why quibble with tradition? Anyway, it's formal name is Standing Rib Roast. Yes, you can roast a...
Spicy Wine Pot Roast
This has been a favorite family recipe since my kids were little. And they still make it today for their families. It was originally a Crock Pot recipe, and most of the time we still make it that way. But what if you don't have a Crock Pot? Well, I'm happy to report...
New York Steak Arrachera
Arrachera is a delicious Mexican steak made from skirt steak. But the Arrachera marinade was so good that I decided to try it on a New York steak, barbeque it, and see what the family thought. Well, it was a big hit, so I think it deserves a spot on Cooking Dude. You...
New York Steak (New York Strip)
As I have mentioned elsewhere, the New York steak is our favorite compromise of the best steaks. The filet is more tender but with less flavor, and rib eye steaks are more flavorful but with more waste. The New York cut wins by being second in every category. But we...
Navajo Fry Bread and Tacos
I first had Navajo Fry Bread, often called Indian Fry Bread, along with steak, pinto beans, and salad at a dinner at the Kowboy Kountry Klub in Flagstaff, Arizona back when I was a kid. We just tore pieces off the bread and ate it like rolls. It was very tasty, and...
Meat Loaf
Without exception, when I announce I am making meat loaf for dinner there are cheers all around. Far from being an unappetizing budget dish, a good meatloaf is a first class dish in itself. I know that good meat loaf doesn't just happen. There are hundreds of lousy...
Lasagna
Lasagna is always a crowd-pleaser, and this recipe, from my sister-in-law Sherry, is about the best. Buy either dried lasagna noodles or the newer pre-cooked version. If you use dried, boil them according to the package directions and set them aside to assemble the...
Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet
Here's an adaptation from a recipe I saw in Taste of Home, a publication I recommend highly. It's an easy comfort dish, especially good when the weather's bleak, and contains a complete meal: meat, potatoes, and vegetables. I modified the procedure a little bit,...
Easy Beef Stew
We don't wait for St. Patrick's day around here to have corned beef and cabbage. It is certainly one of the easiest and tastiest meal you can fix. It is also useful if you have company over, because it will feed 6-8 people, and maybe even then provide some leftovers....
Corned Beef Hash
I usually make corned beef hash out of leftover corned beef, but if you need to make a huge amount for a crowd, you obviously can start from scratch. As you can see below, I start with roughly equal volumes of potatoes, beef, and onion. This is a pretty simple...
Corned Beef & Cabbage
We don't wait for St. Patrick's day around here to have corned beef and cabbage. It is certainly one of the easiest and tastiest meal you can fix. It is also useful if you have company over, because it will feed 6-8 people, and maybe even then provide some leftovers....
Cincinnati Chili and Hot Links
Cincinnati chili is unlike any other chili. For one thing, it is usually served with spaghetti. For another, it is ordered and served several "ways". For example, the chili by itself is "one way chili". With spaghetti, it is "two way" chili. And by adding cheese,...
Chicken Fried Steak
Whether it's a truck stop in Texas or the Denny's down the street, chicken fried steak is a taste treat that's hard to beat. It's got to be the most flavorful way to fix an inexpensive cut of beef, and as a bonus you get delicious milk gravy that goes over potatoes or...
Chipotle Short Ribs
This is without a doubt the family's favorite short rib recipe. I think I could make it several times a week without any complaints. And it's special enough for company. This recipe will serve four or five, so if you need to increase it, it's easy to do. Chipotle...
Chili Con Carne
We're all in agreement here at home. This chili is the best. But I'm going to give you some options depending on how much time and effort you want to spend making the chili. But either way, I'm sure you'll agree that this is very good chili. (Notice that the fruit...
Carne Asada and Carne Asada Tacos
Carne asada tacos are a delicious, and somewhat special, departure from our normal taco night. In this case, carne asada is used as the meat for the filling, and either corn or flour tortillas, either soft or fried, can be used for the shell. The photo above shows a...
Stuffed Bell Peppers
Here's one of the family's favorite comfort foods. But it's important to make them correctly, or they may wind up a tasteless pasty or greasy mess. Like meatloaf, there are many more bad recipes out there than good ones. This one is great, and even if you don't think...
Beef Stroganoff
This is a delicious but fairly simple recipe that you can use for either steak or hamburger. Either way it tastes great, and, particularly using steak, makes a great company dish. This recipe is a little unusual for Stroganoff, because it uses some tomato sauce. I...
Hot Dogs
I don't care what anyone says, hot dogs are definitely not just for kids. Ballparks get rated for their dogs, and this morning there was a list of local golf courses, and in addition to all the other ratings, there was a rating of their hot dogs! Count me in as a hot...
Cheeseburgers
My favorite sandwich in the whole world is the cheeseburger. And I've eaten them (or variations) all over the world, and some are definitely much better than others. Anybody can make a cheeseburger, you say? Well, yes, but not necessarily a good one. Some of the most...