Damn Good Food

My Current Deep Dish Pizza

2012-01-08T10:34:00.001-06:00

Long time readers of the site have seen my recipe evolve over the years. I haven't made an update in some time and I've been making this same pizza for about three years with good results.

How to make Bacon

2012-01-07T06:20:00.001-06:00

I started the bacon for the year yesterday!

Grilled Peanut Butter, Banana and Srirach Sandwiches

2012-01-02T17:24:00.001-06:00

Ahh, what a tasty treat.

Italian Beef Sandwiches - completely homemade

2012-01-02T15:24:00.000-06:00

Here is my method for making the great Chicago classic - Italian Beef Sandwiches. Everything is covered, from making the bread to the giardiniera.

Lentil Soup

2011-12-30T17:19:00.003-06:00

Here is a tasty version of lentil soup. Lentils cook up a lot quicker than beans. The trick with this soup is adding the veggies and spices right at the end just before serving. You want the aroma of the spices to still be very present.

Kurt's Famous Diet Coke with Lime

2011-12-27T09:12:00.001-06:00

My cousin Kurt has a neat method of flavoring diet Coke with lime. Enjoy!

Christmas Eve - Chili and Cinnamon Rolls

2011-12-26T06:23:00.002-06:00

The chili/cinnamon roll combo started in the public schools in northwest Iowa. On Fridays you either got tacos with cinnamon rolls or chili with cinnamon rolls. The rolls were made right in the schools typically and were delicious. Add to the combo two other very positive things - it was Friday and it was the only day of the week where chocolate milk was served - and you've got very powerful comfort food.

My wife and I have had a tradition of chili and cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve since we got married. Here is how I make the chili. The emphasis is on subtle flavors.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T05:32:00.002-06:00

Hello! Its been a long time since I've posted an update. I've been traveling around the world learning all sorts of new things and eating all sorts of weird foods. I've also transitioned from primarily written pieces to primarily video. I have a few to show now.

This first video is on how to make a Japanese dish called Jingisukan. It is a stir fry style dish but very different from the typical ones I get in rural Iowa. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

How to make Jingisukan

Sausage Jambalaya

2010-08-01T13:42:00.004-05:00

I played drums at Blues Under the Trees Yesterday. One of the caterers was a guy named Jesse James. I think he is headquartered out of Des Moines. He had a great Cajun catering operation set up. I sampled a lot of his food and it was all great. I decided to try my hand at one of the best things he made - Sausage Jambalaya.

Sausage Jambalaya

1 14 oz sausage ring, either smoked sausage or Andouille. Think Hillshire Farms
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup finely diced celery
1/4 cup finely diced green pepper
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (fresh)
1 cup tomato sauce
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups rice
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the green pepper, onion and celery in a little butter. When the vegies are soft, remove from the pan. Brown the sausage and cut up into slices. Return the vegies to the pot and dump in the tomato, the tomato sauce and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Add in the rice, reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook until liquid is absorbed. You can make this a little ahead and warm it up in the oven before serving.

You might also consider adding some heat - either cayenne pepper or hot sauce but tonight I cooked this for my grandmother so I made it safe for the elderly.

Goulash Soup

2010-07-27T16:37:00.003-05:00

One of my current favorite soups is goulash soup. There are tons and tons of recipe for goulash and goulash soup. I like this one because it is very kid friendly and easy to make.

I first had this soup at a restaurant in Fort Dodge called Olde Boston's. I stopped in for a business lunch one day this Spring. I wasn't all that hungry so I ordered the soup of the day. I found myself wanting another bowl, but by the time I was able to order another the soup was gone. This is not Olde Boston's recipe. I couldn't bribe the waiter for the recipe. Instead I spent several months reverse engineering the soup and I think I am pretty close. Try it yourself if you are hungry for some tasty soup!

Goulash Soup

1/2 pound hamburger
1/4 c diced onion
1/4 c diced green pepper
1/4 c celery, finely chopped
26 oz can tomato soup
26 oz can water
2 t paprika
1/4 t pepper
2 t salt
3/4 cup elbow macaroni, dry

Brown hamburger, onions, green pepper and celery until vegies are soft. Dump in the rest of the ingredients except for the macaroni. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add in the dry macaroni noodles and simmer until noodles are soft. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Haitian Egg Sandwich

2010-04-01T06:52:00.009-05:00

In Port Au Prince there is a hospital called CDTI. Across from the hospital's main entrance there is a lady who makes egg sandwiches. She has all of the ingredients on a little table. She has a gas powered burner and a wok.

I heard about her well before I was even in country. Her sandwiches are famous, so needless to say I paid close attention to what she was doing. Here is a photo of her finished product:

I have recreated the process at home.

Take some thinly sliced onions, finely diced green pepper and some thinly sliced garlic and saute in butter until nice and soft. Then add some thin wedges of tomato and some finely sliced green onion and cook until tomatoes are just starting to soften.

Remove onion mixture from pan and fry some meat. She used sliced up salami of some sort and some pieces of dried fish. I found some ham in the fridge so that is what I used.

Remove ham from pan and scramble some eggs with a little salt and pepper. Return meat and vegies to the pan and stir up.

Slice a small loaf of soft French bread lengthwise. For my sandwich I used a loaf of homemade Cuban Bread. Spread mayo and ketchup on the roll.

Fill with egg mixture and serve hot. It would be best to have a bottle of hot sauce handy.

Haitian Steak Sandwich

2010-03-30T06:34:00.010-05:00

Its been a while since I've posted. I've been concentrating on other projects so I am saving posts here for the really special foods.

I just got back from Haiti. There is a restaurant called Epi d'Or that I called the Haitian Subway.

In reality, it is much more than a Subway. They serve sandwiches but they also serve cakes, pastries, pizza and beer. I went to two different Epi d'Ors in Haiti and both had heavily armed guards standing outside.

On the last night I was in Haiti our group split a 'steak sandwich.' It is Haiti in a microcosm. There is no steak in this steak sandwich. Just like when you order a turkey sandwich, you get ham and they call it turkey. Its all good.

It was so delicious (maybe because I had been living on rice and beans for a week) that I decided to dissect it for home consumption.

As you can see from the photo, it consists of ground beef, onions, and white cheese. The beef was seasoned with a tiny bit of oregano, pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, and tomato sauce. The hogie roll was your typical loaf of Haitian bread, which is a lot like French bread and very similar to my recipe for Cuban bread, only shaped more like a baguette. The outer crust was soft.

To make it at home you have to get 1/2 pound of ground beef and brown it in some water. I used water because the particles in the sandwich were very fine. If you use 2 forks to mash up the meat in the water, it will end up with a very fine texture.

To the meat add: 1 t salt, 8 oz tomato sauce, 1/2 t oregano leaves, 1/2 t ground pepper, 1 clove garlic (minced) and 1/4 t cayenne pepper. If you like it really spicy, add more cayenne. I had to leave it out because I was sharing the sandwich with a 1 year old and a 5 year old.

Bring the mixture to a brisk simmer and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is mostly gone.

Meanwhile carmelize some onions.

Slice the top of a loaf of French bread down the middle and scoop out most of the white bread. Drop some provolone cheese in the bottom and sprinkle the onions over.

Place your meat filling on top of the cheese and onions. Wrap the roll in tin foil and place in the oven at 300 or so for a few minutes until its nice and warm.

My sandwich had the right flavor but I had to change the ratio of meat to onions a little bit. My brother also shared the sandwich and he hates onions. The next time I make it, I will put WAY less meat in the sandwich and WAY more onions.

Hot Giardiniera

2009-10-31T08:59:00.002-05:00

If you're going to go to the trouble of making your own Italian Beef, the chances are there won't be any decent giardiniera anywhere near you. Its easy enough to make and even better than the storebought stuff.

Hot Giardiniera

There is no set amount for all of these vegies. You have to add an amount that looks right to you. Also you can add other vegies as you wish.

Cauliflower
onion
celery
carrot
red bell pepper

Combine the above ingredients in a bowl and add enough water to cover. Add salt. For every 2 cups of water, add 1/4 cup salt. Cover the bowl and let sit for 24 hours. Drain the water and wash the salt water off the vegies. Dump vegies into a bowl and add:

capers
green olives with pimento
sport peppers (substitute jalapenos)
pepperoncini peppers
fresh ground black pepper
red pepper flakes
oregano leafs

Place into a jar and add an equal amount of white vinegar and olive oil, enough to submerge the whole mess.

Italian Beef

2009-10-30T12:30:00.005-05:00

When I lived in Chicago, one of my favorite things to get was an Italian Beef sandwich. I've lived a lot of places and no one outside of Chicago seems to understand the sandwich. I decided to do a little research to come up with a version I could make at home.

Italian Beef

2.5 pounds bottom round roast
1 quart beef broth
leaf oregano
leaf basil
4 cloves garlic
pepper
sliced onion

Rub the outside of the roast with oregano and basil and pepper. Brown on all 4 sides in a Dutch oven. When browned, remove pan from heat. Make a layer of sliced onion in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Place the roast on top. Add in garlic and beef broth. Roast uncovered in the oven at 300 until the beef reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees. Remove from the oven, wrap in foil, and cool to room temperature. Strain the juice from the Dutch oven and set it aside.

When cooled to room temperature, slice the meat thin using a meat slicer. A knife just isn't going to get the job done for you. Reheat the meat in the reserved broth. To serve, place in a crusty Italian roll. Either serve the broth on the side or ladle some broth over the whole mess, or do it like I like, dip the whole mess into the broth. I like mine with a link of Italian sausage and hot giardiniera on the top. MMM.

Pork Bomb

2009-08-18T09:15:00.003-05:00

The Pork Bomb - a photo essay!

Cuban Bread

2009-07-29T09:28:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite things to eat is a Cuban Sandwich. Finding the proper bread in the middle of Iowa is a bit of a problem. Here is a recipe and instructions for Cuban bread that makes exactly what I had in Miami.

Pan Cubano
4 cups (17 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) shortening; or 3 tablespoons fresh lard, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) water

Pour water into a mixer. Add yeast and sugar and let sit a few minutes until bubbly. Next add the rest of the ingredients and mix into a dough. Using the dough hook, knead 15 minutes at medium speed. Separate into two balls, cover, and let rest 30 minutes.

Next stretch each dough ball out and roll flat into a long, 1/4 inch thick oval. Roll the edges of the oval inward like you would if you were folding a letter. Seal the seam on the bottom. The finished product should look long like a roll of French or Italian bread but flat instead of round.

Cover and let rise 60 minutes. Slash the top of each piece of dough lengthwise. Mist with a spray bottle. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

Hoagie Rolls

2009-07-22T08:16:00.007-05:00

One nice thing about knowing how to cook and bake is that if you can't get what you want at the store or at a restaurant, you can make it! The problem with rural Iowa is that you can't get good hoagie buns. Problem solved. This recipe comes from the website Pizza Maker's Quarterly.

Hoagie Rolls

1-1/8 cup water
1-5/8 tsp Salt
3-3/8 tsp Sugar
1-2/3 Tbl Olive Oil
16 oz Strong Bread Flour or Hi-Gluten Flour
2-1/2 tsp Yeast

Adjust water temperature to approximately 70F and add to the mixing bowl. Add the flour and all of the remaining ingredients. Using a dough hook, mix at low speed for four minutes, then at medium speed for about 15 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and fairly well developed. Target dough temperature is 80F. After mixing, scale the dough into 3.5 ounce pieces and form into balls, allow the dough balls to rest on a floured bench top for 20 to 30 minutes, then roll out to form a thin sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Roll the sheeted dough piece (jelly roll fashion) to form a small loaf about seven inches long. Place each formed loaf/roll onto a lightly oiled sheet pan with the seam side down to prevent the dough from becoming unwrapped during proofing. Be sure to separate the individual dough pieces by about 2 inches to prevent them from baking together
Place the rolls on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to proof for 45 to 60 minutes. Using a razor blade, make a slit along the entire top of each roll about 3/16 to 1/4 inch deep, lightly mist the rolls with water and bake at 425F for about 20 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly browned. Remove the rolls from the pans soon after baking and allow to cool on wire screens or racks. As soon as the rolls have cooled to an internal temperature of 100F they can be placed into cardboard boxes lined with an approved, polyethylene bag and sealed closed for storage. The rolls can be kept for 3 to 4 days at room temperature.

You can always make bigger or smaller rolls if you need to. For those who are interested, here is the baker's formula:

Flour 100%
Salt 2.0%
Sugar 3.0%
Oil 5.0%
Yeast 3.5%
Water 57%

They go great in cheese steaks!

Summer Break and Italian Salad Dressing

2009-07-16T18:06:00.002-05:00

DGF is on a little bit of a summer break. Here is a pretty good recipe for Italian Salad Dressing to tide you over until fall.

DGF's Italian Salad Dressing

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C olive oil
5 T red wine vinegar
1 t onion powder
1/2 t celery seed
1/4 t oregano
1/4 t basil
1/4 t thyme
1/4 t celery salt
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/2 t black pepper
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
2 T corn syrup
2 t Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake.

Taco Tico Meat

2009-05-24T18:26:00.003-05:00

Everyone who grew up in a town with a Taco Tico will understand why I would go to the trouble to duplicate the meat. I've tried this before but recently I had a couple breakthroughs in Tico meat technology. I was at a graduation recently where the host bought 60 pounds of Tico meat and had it in a big vat. I got to see it in bulk up close and that really helped. The other thing I did was buy a Tico burger and bring it home for dissection. Here are the results:

There were 2 surprising conclusions from my dissection.
1) There is oatmeal in the meat.
2) There are NO onions in the meat.

Aside from that, one thing that I noticed was that the meat was pretty silky and gooey. It made me think that there was cream of mushroom soup or something in the mix, but there wasn't. I'll explain below. The other thing to notice about the meat is that it was broken up into very fine particles. I got pretty darn close with my attempt tonight. I got the color, texture and taste close enough that I couldn't tell the difference.

Taco Tico Meat
1 pound hamburger
1 cup water
1/3 cup oatmeal, briefly pulsed in the coffee grinder
2 T butter
1 t chili powder
1/4 t pepper
1/8th t MSG
1 t onion salt
1/2 t garlic salt
1/4 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1 t vinegar

To get the meat into really fine particles, put water and meat in the bottom of a skillet and stir up using a fork and a potato masher. Keep going until it is really well broken up. Next add the rest of the ingredients and brown the meat. As you simmer it the meat will get a little soupy and gooey like this:

Keep simmering, uncovered, until the meat is nice and thick like this:

Enjoy it in tacos or burritos or sanchos!

Pad Thai

2009-05-24T10:06:00.004-05:00

I found an amazing video on preparing pad Thai.

The video shows a lady on a boat in Thailand. On the boat she has a little gas powered burner, a wok and an assortment of ingredients. We have been long time fans of pad Thai. I wanted to make her exact version but I lacked a few ingredients. I couldn't find any tamarind sauce. I used to have a bottle but it got thrown out for the move. I couldn't find any palm sugar either. Also I don't like fish sauce. I made something similar last night to go with Hawaiian Pork Chops.

Pad Thai

Sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T oil
4 T brown sugar
1 T brown bean sauce
1 T red curry paste
2 T soy sauce
a squirt of ketchup
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/2 cup water

Briefly saute garlic in oil. Add the red curry paste and cook for a couple minutes. Drop in the rest of the ingredients and simmer until sauce thickens.

I also made some red tofu. To make that, cut firm tofu into chunks. Place in a bowl with a little water. Add a few drops of red food coloring and let soak until the pieces are nice and red.

Other ingredients you will need:
peanut oil
finely chopped red onion
Cooked rice noodles
bean sprouts
2 eggs
chopped peanuts
chopped green onions
chopped chives
lime slices

Heat peanut oil in a wok. Drop in tofu and fry briefly. Drop in 2 eggs and scramble. Add noodles and sauce. Stir until noodles are well coated. Next add half of your peanuts, half of the green onions, all of the chives and all of the red onions. Stir until well combined. Place into a bowl.

To serve, top the noodles with the remaining bean sprouts, green onions and peanuts. Squeeze a little lime juice over the top. Serve a few lime slices with the noodles.

Hawaiian Pork Chops

2009-05-24T09:55:00.003-05:00

It is perfect grilling weather in Iowa. The best pork on earth can be found in Iowa. Last night I bought big thick pork loin chops for $1.50 a piece! They were so tender and delicious it was unbelievable. Here is a good recipe to change things up a bit.

Hawaiian Pork Chops
Makes enough for 4 chops

Sauce

1/4 cup ketchup
2 T soy sauce
2 T brown sugar
1 T vegetable oil
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced ginger
1 T lime juice
1/4 t red pepper flakes

Briefly saute garlic and ginger in oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Simmer long enough to completely dissolve brown sugar.

To grill the chops, mound all of the coals on one side of the grill. Sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper. Briefly sear the pork chops on each side over the hot coals. Move chops over to the side of the grill with no coals. Brush sauce on each side of each pork chop. Continue to grill on the cool side of the grill until chops reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Meanwhile, roast a couple red peppers on the grill over the hot coals. When the skins are blackened, remove the skins and cut into slices. Briefly grill a few slices of pineapple. Chop up a few cashews.

To serve, put the pineapple slices on a platter. Place the pork chops on top of the pineapple. Top the chops with red pepper slices, chopped green onions and the cashews.

Arroz con Pollo

2009-05-14T11:50:00.007-05:00

We have been watching the TV show Dexter recently. There is a lot of Cuban food featured, because the show is set in Miami. When we went down the the Keys, we ate a ton of Cuban food. We liked it so much that we found a little cookbook in a gift shop called Cuban Home Cooking.

Most of the recipes I have for Cuban food come from that book.

Anyway Arroz con Pollo was mentioned in an episode of Dexter so we decided to make some up. I modified the recipe in Cuban Home Cooking just a tiny bit.

Arroz con Pollo

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut up into pieces
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, diced
1 lemon, cut into slices
1/2 cup frozen peas
olive oil
14 oz can chicken broth
1/4 cup cooking sherry
Cuban yellow food coloring or saffron
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground black pepper
1/2 t oregano
Beer
3 cups water
salt to taste
1 1/2 cups rice

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven. Drop in chicken pieces and brown on all sides. Remove to a plate. Saute the onion, pepper, and garlic in the oil until soft. Add the diced tomato and cook for a couple minutes. Return the chicken to the pot. Add the wine, broth, cumin, organo, pepper and yellow food coloring or saffron. How much of the coloring is a matter of taste and judgment. It also depends on your particular brand of coloring. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes.

Next remove the chicken briefly. Add enough beer to the pot to make about 5 cups of liquid. Add the rice to the pot and stir. Bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the pot, reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is tender. You may need to add more beer or water to the pot to get the rice right. When the rice is right, taste and add salt as needed. Stir in the green peas and cook until heated through.

Serve on a plate with chicken on top of rice. Squeeze a little lemon juice over and serve with a fresh lemon slice on the side.

Braised Short Ribs in a Non-Scary Mole

2009-05-05T12:22:00.009-05:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo! What is a scary mole? Well, I am the king of scary moles. A scary mole is one that is made correctly, with all kinds of flavor and spice, but served incorrectly to a Tex-Mex lover. Those big full flavored moles are not for the uninitiated.

I decided to combine one of my favorite cooking methods, braising, with one of my favorite sauces - mole.

Braised Short Ribs in a Non-Scary Mole

You will need about 3 pounds of beef ribs. Have the butcher cut them in half if you can. You will also need some dried New Mexico Chilies. These are red in color and milder than other chilies.

You need to take the stems off the chilies and pull the seeds out. The place a layer of chilies, 1/2 of an onion, and a few cloves of garlic in the bottom of your braising vessel. Drop in a handful of peanuts.

Add in 1/2 t oregano, 1 t cumin and 1/2 t pepper.

Brown your ribs briefly and place on top of the chilies. Add water to almost cover the ribs. Place into a 275 degree oven with the lid of the vessel just barely cracked. Braise for 2 1/2 hours. At the end of cooking take most of the chilies and place them into a blender. Add 1 cup of the cooking liquid and blend. Now add water, a little at a time, to make the sauce smoother and less thick. Remove the ribs from the pot and put on a plate. Clean the pot the rest of the way out and put the ribs back into the pot. Now take your sauce in the blender and strain it really well through one of those wire mesh strainers. This will remove all of the little particles of chili shell that didn't quite get softened and blended. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt as needed. Pour the sauce back into the pot with the ribs. At this point you need to put it back into the oven, covered, so that the sauce warms up. This is a good time to get everything ready to serve and eat appetizers etc.

Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup

2009-04-16T11:26:00.002-05:00

We recently ate at Chili's. I've only eaten there twice, but the chicken enchilada soup is really tasty. Here is a version you can make at home.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

The secret here is the addition of masa harina -- a corn flour that you will find in your supermarket near the other flours, or in the Mexican food section.

Makes approx. 12 servings

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 lb. of chicken breast fillets (approx. 3 fillets)
1/2 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, pressed
7 cups chicken broth
1 cup masa harina
1 cups water
1 cup enchilada sauce (Old El Paso makes an excellent one)
16 ounces Velveeta
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Garnish
shredded cheddar cheese
crumbled corn tortilla chips

1. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add chicken breasts to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes per side. Set chicken aside.
2. Add onions and garlic to pot and sauté over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until onions begin to become translucent. Add chicken broth.
3. Combine masa harina with 1 cups of water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended. Add masa mixture to pot with onions, garlic and broth.
4. Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices to pot and bring mixture to a boil.
5. Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot. Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick.
6. Serve soup in cups or bowls, and garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled corn tortilla chips.

Asparagus Tips Braised in Butter

2009-04-16T10:47:00.001-05:00

Asparagus Tips Braised in Butter

From Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

Start by selecting 1 bunch of relatively thin spears of asparagus. Wash thoroughly in cold water. Drain. Remove the tough butt ends by gently bending each spear until it snaps into two pieces. Discard the tough end. Remove the scales starting just below the tip portion of the spear using a sharp paring knife or a vegetable peeler with a serrated blade. Line up spears, tips together. Cut tip ends in equal lengths of 1 ½ to 2 inches and tie into 2 inch diameter bundles. Leave a few of the tips loose so you can test the doneness of the asparagus as it is cooking by sampling a piece. Dice the remaining portions into ½ inch pieces.

Prepare a large pot of rapidly boiling generously salted water. The more water the better because it will more rapidly return to a boil once the vegetables have been added. The French method of preparing green vegetables starts with blanching. This will produce a cooked vegetable that retains it’s color, texture and firmness or crunch. Rapidly boil the diced asparagus pieces for about 4-5 minutes. Add the bundled tips and continue to boil 5-8 minutes more. Immediately drain and place into a large bowl of very cold water. This will stop the cooking process.

At this point the asparagus can be patted dry and placed in a covered bowl in the refrigerator to be completed later OR proceed to the next step.

Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.

Butter a casserole dish and arrange the diced asparagus in the bottom. Place the bundles of tips on top and cut the strings. Fan them out so that they are visually appealing. Melt a few tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the asparagus. Season with salt and pepper and cover with a piece of waxed paper cut to the shape of the dish.

Place the casserole on the stovetop and heat it briefly, then cover and place in the oven on the middle rack for about 10-15 minutes or until the asparagus is heated through. Serve immediately.

Green Beans

2009-04-16T10:46:00.002-05:00

I bought my wife Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking for her birthday. It was a great investment. Everything she has made from there has been absolutely splendid.

Haricots Verts à la Maître d’ Hôtel – Buttered Green Beans with lemon juice and parsley

Recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Serves 6-8

3 lbs. hot, blanched green beans

A wide, heavy bottomed, enameled sauce pan or skillet

Salt and Pepper

6-8 T softened butter cut into 4 pieces

2-3 tsp. lemon juice

3 T minced parsley

Snap the tip ends of the beans and remove the strings. Wash in very hot water immediately before cooking. Blanch in a large kettle of rapidly boiling, salted water (1 ½ tsp. per quart of water.) Boil them until almost tender and drain immediately. Turn them into the skillet or pan and heat them 2-3 minutes over medium hot heat to evaporate their moisture. Do not stir them, flip the pan. Toss briefly again with the salt, pepper and a piece of the butter. Add the rest of the butter, alternating with a few drops of lemon juice. Taste for seasoning. Turn into the vegetable dish, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

* If you wish to blanche the beans ahead of time, run cold water over the beans for 3-4 minutes after draining.

Huevos A La Cubana

2009-04-13T18:49:00.003-05:00

I was listening to NPR the other day and the Splendid Table came on. It is usually a pretty good show. This time they had a guy from Spain who recently released a cookbook on Spanish food in an American Kitchen. I haven't seen the book myself so I won't link to it. Anyway, he was saying that one of the all time favorite Spanish home cooking foods is Huevos A La Cubana, or eggs, Cuban Style. Cuba was a colony of Spain and the dish originated there and was brought back to Spain. He described it as eggs fried in olive oil until the edges just start to turn crispy. These are served with white rice and a tomato sauce. He also said that fried bananas are often included.

I looked all over the internet for a good recipe but I couldn't find one that tripped my trigger. I decided to make my own, based on his description.

Tomato Sauce

4 plum tomatoes, peeled and seeded
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
olive oil

Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Drop in garlic and saute until just softening. Add in the tomatoes. Use a potato masher to mash them up a bit. Cover the pan, reduce heat and cook until tomatoes are nice and soft. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Rice

1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups water
2 T butter
3 t chicken bouillon granules

Dump everything into a rice steamer and go.

All you have to do now is fry the slices of banana in a little peanut oil and fry your eggs in olive oil.

Soup Nazi Mulligatawny (Indian) Soup

2009-04-08T18:12:00.002-05:00

I've been making this soup for a while. The recipe is all over the internet and I think it originated at topsecretrecipes.com. The guy describes making a pilgrimage to Soup Kitchen International in NYC. I myself have made a couple trips there. The soup nazi has since opened a chain of restaurants called the Original Soup Man. Looking at the nutritional information on most of his soups, I believe I have discovered an error in the original topsecretrecipes.com recipe. Most of his soups call for parsnips. If you look at the original recipe, he calls for 2 potatoes and 3 tablespoons of sugar. I suspect that the recipe should have 1 potato, 1 parsnip and no sugar. The parsnips will look identical to potatoes in the soup and will add the sweetness to replace the sugar. Anyway here is my version for a pot of soup.

Soup Nazi Mulligatawny (Indian) Soup

1 quart chicken broth with enough water added to add a little volume to the pot
1 potato, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1/3 cup corn
1/3 cup cashews
1/3 cup shelled pistachios
1 parsnip, peeled and sliced
1/3 eggplant, peeled and cubed
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 roasted red pepper, chopped up (roast under the broiler for a bit)
pepper
1 t curry powder and more to taste
1/2 t marjoram
pinch nutmeg
1/2 t thyme
1 bay leaf
a little fresh parsley added at the end before serving

Combine all ingredients in a pot except parsley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered for 3 1/2 hours. You may need to add water occasionally, but at the end of cooking you want the soup to be as thick as thick chili. Add the parsley just at the end before serving. You likely will not need to add any salt to the soup.

Crab Cakes, Glorious Crab Cakes!

2009-04-07T08:43:00.002-05:00

Hy Vee had snow crab legs on sale the other day. I couldn't resist. Unfortunately it is very difficult to get good crab cakes in the Midwest so you need to make your own. Seriously they aren't hard at all. You can use canned crab or if you can find it fresh crab.

Crab Cakes, Glorious Crab Cakes!

A dollop of mayonnaise
a thin squirt of mustard
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
some finely chopped green onions
1 beaten egg
a little lemon juice
a few cloves of garlic, pressed
a little salt and pepper
a little celery salt
some bread crumbs (the bread crumbs in the can work best)
a little bit of paprika to sprinkle the finished patties

Don't make them too watery. These need to be fried in peanut oil over medium heat and then blotted to degrease before serving.

I found this video very helpful.

Here they are in all their glory!

Cabbage Rolls

2009-04-07T08:37:00.003-05:00

I made up some tasty cabbage rolls the other day. I found a video particularly useful in how to prepare these little devils.

Actually, that guy's food blog is pretty incredible.
I changed his recipe a little. I used pork instead of veal and I used tomato soup instead of broth.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

1 large green cabbage
1 pound ground chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
3/4 cup raw minute rice
1 stick butter
1 bunch Italian parsley
1 yellow onion
1 egg
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp salt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 family sized can of Campbell's tomato soup
1 cup water
1 can crushed tomatoes (28oz)

For directions, watch the video.
*Should cook for 2 hours at 350 degrees F., but check after an hour and add more water if they seem to dry)

Jeff B's Spicy Southwest Soup

2009-03-30T08:00:00.003-05:00

Last night we had company over for pizza. I made up a pot of soup and a salad to go with. I got the recipe for the soup from Jeff B, the drummer in our band. I had to change some things from his recipe subject to availability but he says that substitutions are OK. For one thing, I added a chipotle pepper for spiciness and to add a little bit of smokey flavor.

Jeff B's Spicy Southwest Soup

1 pound chicken
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1 can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed up by hand
1 can diced green chilis
1 quart chicken broth
2 t basil
1 t cumin
2 t chili powder
1 chipotle pepper, diced up
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup rice

1) In your soup pot, brown the chicken in a little olive oil and set aside to cool.
2) Add onions, red pepper and garlic to the pot and saute until just beginning to soften.
3) Dice the chicken up.
4) Dump everything else into the pot except the rice.
5) Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the vegies are softening but still have a little crispness to them.
6) Add the rice and simmer another 15 minutes until the rice is soft.

DO NOT overcook the soup. You want the vegies to have just a little crispness to them when you serve the soup. I sprinkled a little shredded cheddar cheese over the top.

Schlotzky's Bread

2009-03-17T11:26:00.004-05:00

I just love Schlotzky's sandwiches. The problem is that there really aren't any within 300 miles of me. I did some research and found a clone recipe for the bread on the internet. I changed it just a touch by adding a little olive oil. Delicious!

Schlotzsky's Deli Bread (clone)

1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 package yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1 T olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups bread flour (all-purpose will work)
Cornmeal

Stir water, sugar and yeast together and set aside.

Dissolve baking soda in 1/2 tablespoon warm water in medium bowl. Add warm milk, salt and 1 cup flour; beat till smooth. Beat in yeast mixture and remaining flour and oil (batter will be thick and sticky, but not as thick as normal bread batter).

Oil a 9 inch cake pan and dust with cornmeal. Pour dough into pan, cover and let rise for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and bake for 20 minutes till golden. Cool 1 hour and cut in 4ths.

Deep Dish with a little Semolina in the dough

2009-03-17T11:23:00.004-05:00

I got the recipe for this off of pizzamaking.com. It is a pretty typical deep dish recipe but the twist is that the dough is 20% semolina flour. It is super tasty.

Deep Dish with a little Semolina

240 G all purpose flour
60 G semolina flour
155 G water
1/2 package yeast
20 g olive oil
61 g corn oil
3 g butter
5 g sugar
2 g salt

The best thing I've eaten all year

2009-03-17T11:21:00.001-05:00

From the winter 2009 issue of Cooks Magazine

1, 3 ½ -4 pound boneless pork butt roast trimmed and cut into large chunks

Salt and Pepper

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 large leek, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and cleaned, sliced ¼ inch thick and rinsed well

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (about 1 T)

3 T all purpose flour

1 cup brandy

3 cups chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1 large fennel bulb, stalks trimmed, cored and cut into ½ inch thick strips
* To core slice in half lengthwise and cut out the hard core at the end of the bulb.

6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup pitted prunes, halved

2 T minced fresh parsley

1 T juice from a lemon

Heat oven to 325 degrees with the rack in the lower-middle position. Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 T oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat and sear pork, cooking until pork is browned on all sides (5-7 minutes.) You may need to do this in 2 batches. Remove pork from pan and set aside. Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and return heat to medium until simmering. Add leek and 1 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until wilted and lightly browned. Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds more until fragrant. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden. The next step is to add the brandy. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WHEN ADDING THE BRANDY. TURN OFF THE HEAT OR THE VAPORS WILL IGNITE AND A HUGE FIRE BALL WILL COME OUT OF YOUR POT. Slowly whisk in the brandy, scraping up all browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Gradually whisk in the broth until smooth and bring to a simmer.

Return the pork to the pan, add the bay leaves, cover and place in the oven for 1 hour. Stir in the fennel and carrots and continue to cook in the oven, covered, until the meat is just tender (about 45 minutes more.) Remove the bay leaves, add the cream and prunes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over buttered egg noodles.

Frehch Pork Stew

Cast Iron Stuff

2009-03-07T10:36:00.001-06:00

Someone recently asked me for advice on a cast iron skillet. Here is what I recommend:

Lid

and

Lodge Logic 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet

Tom Hudson's Leeks

2009-01-28T19:19:00.003-06:00

A long time ago I read the complete selection of Hemingway short stories. One of them had a main character named Tom Hudson. He mentioned in the story that he ate a lot of boiled leeks. I decided to try my hand at them. Both of us were extremely surprised by by the results. Very tasty indeed.

Trim leaks and wash real well. Drop into boiling salted water. Boil for 10 to 15 minutes until white parts are tender. Remove from water and plunge into an ice water bath. Dry with paper towels, slice in half lengthwise. Make a dressing of 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 clove garlic pressed and 1 T red wine vinegar. Sprinkle dressing over leeks. Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper and freshly grated Parmesan.

One thing you could do different is after slicing in half lengthwise, cut into bite sized pieces.

Spanish Rice

2009-01-28T19:16:00.002-06:00

Oh My gosh I'm so far behind on my blog. Last week I was looking for something tasty to make with my homemade bacon and I decided on Spanish Rice. Click on the link for the recipe. This and my mother's ham fried rice we some of the only meals I remember from Texas. I was very young at the time. The other meals I remember were associated with very bad memories and involved a stinky house and fish.

January Thaw

2009-01-15T18:19:00.004-06:00

This temperature is ridiculous. I forgot what it was like to live in a climate with below 0 temps. I decided to warm things up a bit with some Cuban food.

Here is a recipe for Cuban Pork Roast.

What could make your kitchen smell better than roasting pork?

Here is a tasty recipe for black beans.

Cuban Black Beans
14 oz bag black beans, soaked overnight
1 ham hock
2 quarts water
1/2 onion, diced
1 T minced garlic
2 t cumin
1 t oregano
1 bay leaf
salt to taste

Boil ham hock in water. WHen ham is falling off bone, remove from pot, shred up ham and add back to pot. Add in diced onion and garlic. Dump everything else in and simmer, covered until beans are nice and soft. Then add:
3 T cider vinegar
1/4 cup sherry

Serve with yellow rice.

I also made some yellow rice...I Dutched it up a bit by adding peas, bacon, onion and pimento.

Dutched Up Yellow Rice

1/2 onion, diced
1/2 T garlic, minced
4 oz pimentos
olive oil

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add pimentos then add:

1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups water
1/2 cup yellow peas
Cuban Yellow Spice mix
1/2 t paprika

Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until water absorbed. Remove from heat. Keep covered and let sit for about 10 minutes. Salt to taste.

If you wish, you can serve with Rum Runners.

1 shot rum
1 shot banana schnopps
1 shot blackberry brandy
1 shot Rose's sweetened lime juice
1 shot grenadine

Blend above with ice until smooth.

Corned Beef into Reubens

2009-01-13T21:36:00.001-06:00

Some of my home cured corned beef made its way into Reuben sandwiches.

There just isn't anything quite like home cured corned beef.

Home Cured Bacon Part 2

2009-01-13T21:29:00.003-06:00

After a week of curing, its time to check your bacon packages. You have to squeeze each package. The bacon should feel firm, not squishy. If it is squishy it isn't done yet and it can remain in the cure for another 2 days. Mine was done at 7 days. The first thing you do is take the pork belly and wash it really well in cold water. Then you pat it dry with paper towels. Next you need to roast it on a rack in the oven. It can't be set right on the cookie sheet because it won't roast as evenly. It is roasted at 200 degrees for about 2 hours or until the temperature of the meat measures 150. It is very important to roast it at the right temperature to 150 degrees.

Once it is done, take it out of the oven and cool it in the fridge. For processing, cut the layer of skin off using a very sharp knife. Then cut the meat into bacon strips.

The strips can then be vacuum packed and frozen.

Don't waste anything. The little ends that can't be cut into strips can be cut up into bacon bits. I have a lot of recipes that call for crumbled bacon. These little bits will be perfect. Besides, this makes extraordinary bacon and you will kick yourself later if you throw anything out.

Home cured bacon is like homemade butter. You just can't get that flavor anywhere else.

Fried Egg Sandwiches

2009-01-08T14:43:00.002-06:00

Here is a very tasty combination for you:

Shown on the sandwich is my favorite on a fried egg sandwich: Picklelilly!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

2009-01-03T06:09:00.003-06:00

My corned beef finished its beefing. For the Outback Bowl I went over to Easy E and NJ's house. We had a nice dinner of corned beef and cabbage. Its pretty easy so E liked it. I never had this particular dish growing up but we had a version of it made with ham called New England Boiled Dinner.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Cover your corned beef with water in a big pot. Cut a carrot up into big chunks and toss in the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 1 hour. Meanwhile quarter some red potatoes. Drop them in when the hour boil is up. Cut up a head of cabbage into wedges. After the potatoes have boiled 15 minutes put the cabbage on top. Simmer, covered until cabbage is nice and tender.

Remove cabbage and place into a serving dish with the carrot. Top with sliced corned beef.

Place the potatoes in another bowl. Drop in a stick of melted butter. Add a little parsley and some garlic salt and stir. Serve it up nice and hot.

Bacon Step 1

2009-01-03T05:53:00.003-06:00

I bought a whole raw pork belly from the Niman Ranch. It has quite an interesting history, but the long and short of it is that it is a cooperative of family farms. I got the idea and instructions for making bacon from the book Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing.

You need 2 things that you might not have on hand if you want to make your own bacon - pink salt and a hog belly. I could not find any butchers locally who could order me a hog belly so I was out of luck there. The Niman Ranch is probably the next best thing, as the pigs come from family farms, many of them in Iowa. One farm in Iowa is famous for letting the pigs tear around and chase each other. They have huge wallows and sit in there all day making a big stink. I hope my hog belly came from that farm. The pink salt you can buy from Sausagemaker.com under the name instacure 1.

Basic Dry Cure

1 pound kosher salt
8 ounces sugar
2 ounces pink salt

To cure the bacon pour a little of the dry cure onto a cookie sheet. You will have to cut your pork belly into pieces with nice square ends. Don't throw away the trimmings. Those can be made into lardons for braising. Plop the piece of pork belly down into the salt and coat all sides.

Next package it in ziplock bags or in foodsaver bags.

Put it in the fridge for at least 7 days. This time of year is great because I can put it in the garage and it is the perfect temperature. You're supposed to turn it over every now and again to redistribute the juices. At 7 days you're supposed to poke the hog belly with a finger. If it isn't firm you need to let it sit longer. I'll post again with the next steps.

Niman Ranch Pork Belly

2008-12-31T15:55:00.002-06:00

Look what came in the mail today.

That is a Niman Ranch Pork Belly. I've got big plans for it. Details to follow.

Corned Beef Part 2

2008-12-31T08:21:00.005-06:00

I took the beef out of its brine today. I decided to cut it into meal sized portions and package them for later use. The first thing you have to do is wash the brine off the meat. Then you need to dry it real well with paper towels.

Next cut the beef into meal sized portions. For us that is about a pound or so.

Next package them for the freezer. I think the best way to do this is with a vacuum sealer like a FoodSaver.

We got enough for 4 good sized meals. I packaged 2 pieces pretty square in shape with more meat than fat. I plan to use those to make deli style corned beef.

Flemish Wise Men - Vlaamse Wijze

2008-12-28T18:03:00.003-06:00

I got this from one of my all time favorite cookbooks called Let's Go Dutch. We are all feeling a little under the weather so we wanted something not too spicy. Also we wanted something that would warm up the house a bit when it cooked. My wife found this great recipe for what is essentially beefsteaks braised in beer. It is served over fried cabbage and with a gravy made of the braising liquid.

As frequent readers of this site know, I am a huge fan of braising. Using this cooking method you can take an almost inedible and tough cut of meat and turn it into a delicacy. Tonight's dish was no exception. She bought the most garbagepail cut of meat and it was as good as a $100 steak. I modified the recipe just a touch to make it more consistent with good braising technique. This is cooked at low heat on the stovetop so it really isn't an oven braise.

Flemish Wise Men - Vlaamse Wijze

1 1/2 pounds very cheap beef steaks like sirloin
salt and pepper to sprinkle on steaks
4 T butter
50/50 mix of beer and beef broth - about 3 cups - enough to cover the meat halfway.
1 bouquet garni (see below)

a bed of fried cabbage with a few caraway seeds sprinkle in at the end

Trim the steaks of all fat and sprinkle each with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a skillet with a tightly fitting lid. Brown the steaks on each side briefly. Next pour in enough of the beer/broth mixture to halfway cover the steaks.

Next prepare the bouquet garni by tying a string around a couple of stalks of celery from the very top part of the plant (leaves and all), a bay leaf and a few sprigs of parsley.

Drop the bouquet in the pan. Place the lid on the pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Do not let it boil. Braise for about 2 hours.

Remove steaks from pot and place on a bed of fried cabbage seasoned with a sprinkle of caraway seeds. Make a gravy out of the pan juices by combining 2 T flour with 1/4 cup of water. Stir this mixture into 1 cup of the juices from the pan. Heat until the mixture thickens. Pour the gravy over the steaks and cabbage.

Serve with pan fried potatoes.

Here is a link to some great music to listen to while preparing your fancy feast!

Amazon.com Widgets

A few German Mixed Drinks

2008-12-28T14:45:00.006-06:00

I have to say I am a huge fan of the Youtube video series Germany Vs. USA. Its really quite extraordinary. One of the videos is on drinks.

Spezi
50/50 mixture of Fanta and Coke

We haven't tried that yet. I don't have any Coke or Fanta on hand.

Radler
A 50/50 mixture of beer and Sprite.

We were expecting this to be gross but we both loved it. It is a lot like ginger ale only much tastier and five times as naughty.

Apfelschorle
Mixture of apple juice and sparkling water.

This is very tasty. Not quite as sweet or strong as straight apple juice. It was a very refreshing drink. Highly recommended.

And this one is something I read about when making hard cider:

Apfelwine mit Sprite
Take hard cider and mix it with Sprite.

This was an extremely enjoyable drink. It was nice and refreshing and not too alcoholic. I used NJ cider #2 so there was an extreme amount of apply goodness.

Bratkartoffeln, German Fried Potatoes

2008-12-28T13:17:00.004-06:00

I am a huge fan of fried potatoes. My wife made a Dutch dish tonight that calls for fried potatoes. I decided to see how the Germans would do it. In my research I came across a video on the subject.

Interesting side note:
When I watched this video I found out about a product I did not know existed - smoked salt. I am planning on making some in the very near future, perhaps when I smoke my home cured bacon. Here is a guide on how to do it:
Smoked Salt Guide

Bratkartoffeln, German Fried Potatoes
Peel several potatoes, enough to feed however many people you plan to feed. Boil the potatoes whole until they are soft. Cool and slice into thin slices. Meanwhile fry some strips of smoked bacon in a pan. How many strips you ask?

Enough so that the crumbled result will be proportional to the amount of potatoes you are cooking. It is a question of aesthetics. Leave the bacon grease in the pan. Cool and crumble the bacon. Next dice up some onion, again, an amount proportional to the amount of potatoes you will be serving. Saute the onion in the bacon grease. Remove onion from pan, leaving as much grease behind as possible.

Add butter to what is left of the bacon grease. Next fry/brown the potato slices in the pan. When they are browning a bit, add the bacon and onion back to the pan and cook a little more. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper to taste!

Serve nice and hot and tasty!

Hot Ham and Cheese

2008-12-28T13:13:00.003-06:00

When I was growing up the public school system always served hot ham and cheese sandwiches. I couldn't stand them because they weren't any good. Hows that for some circular reasoning?

I decided to make my own version with leftover Christmas ham, Swiss cheese, rye bread, an egg and some butter. I'll show the photos, you figure out how to do it.

Dutch Split Pea Soup

2008-12-26T15:04:00.005-06:00

I am a huge fan of split pea soup. The Dutch are particularly well known for split pea soup. I have the bone and some of the meat from an entire ham that we made on Christmas Eve. I decided to make use of part of the bone today. I got the following recipe from the book Let's Go Dutch. I had to modify it just a little based on available ingredients.

Dutch Split Pea Soup

2 1/2 cups dried green peas
3 quarts water
1 ham hock
2 bay leaves
salt to taste
3 leeks, chopped
2 stalks, chopped
1 onion, diced
1/2 pound sausage of some sort (Jimmy Dean works well)
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
pepper to taste

Bring peas, ham hock, and bay leaves to a boil in water. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and simmer for about 2 hours.

Remove hock from the soup and pick off bits of meat. Dump meat, cooked sausage, onions, celery, leeks and parsley back to the soup. Simmer, uncovered about 20 minutes or until vegies are nice and soft. Add more water if needed. Taste. Add salt and pepper as needed.

It really is a waste to have a ham and throw away the bone. You can make so many delicious things with a ham bone. You'll have to invest in a good heavy cleaver though. That bone is tough.

I tried to use my deer saw but it wasn't stout enough. That cleaver made quick work of separating the bone into smaller pieces for the freezer.

Ye Olde Christmas Ham

2008-12-26T08:39:00.004-06:00

For Christmas Dinner we had ham. I found some great videos on how to best do it. To summarize:

1) put the ham in a roasting pan and make a tent of tin foil over the top. Bake at 250 for 3 to 4 hours.
2) Rub ham with Dijon mustard, then brown sugar. Next spray with a little bourbon. Finally rub again with ground up ginger snaps.
3) Glaze rubbed ham in oven at 350, uncovered, for an hour.

The best thing about ham is that the leftovers make great dishes, perhaps even better than turkey!

If you wish to watch the original videos, go to youtube and do a search for Alton Brown Ham.

Home Cured Corned Beef

2008-12-24T08:29:00.003-06:00

I am in the process of curing some corned beef at home. I got the idea one day when I was looking through the grocery store for some corned beef. For whatever reason, the corned beef around here sucks. I can do it better.

I did some research and found the book Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing. This book is a Revelation and I have many, many plans after reading it.

To home cure corned beef you are going to need a few things. First, you will need a well marbled brisket. These should be available at the grocery store. If not you can always order one from a butcher. I bought mine at Fareway.

The other thing you will need that is not immediately available is some pink salt. It is a salt for curing that contains sodium nitrite or some such thing. It is pink in color. I bought mine from Sausagemaker.com under the trade name Instacure #1. You will also need some pickling spice from the grocery store or you can make your own like I did.

First you have to make the brine for the corning of the naughty beef. You will want to make this up in a container large enough to hold your particular cut of beef. This recipe for brine makes enough for a 5 pound slice.

Brine
1 gallon water
2 cups kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 ounce (5 t) pink salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T pickling spice

Combine all the ingredients in your pan and heat until salt dissolves.

Cool to room temperature and drop in the beef. Weight down the beef with a plate to keep it submerged. Refrigerate for 5 days.

Mine is in the fridge now. I'll finish the recipe when I am on the next step.

Puff Pastry Cheese Twists

2008-12-24T08:17:00.004-06:00

I got this recipe from the Emeril cookbook Emeril's Delmonico. I had to modify it a little.

Puff Pastry Cheese Twists
Thaw some puff pastry dough and roll it out on a floured counter until it is about 12X18 inches.

Beat 1 egg with 1 T water. Brush the dough with the egg wash. Sprinkle 1/2 of the dough with a little Greek seasoning or seasoned salt. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Fold dough in half and roll with a rolling pin lightly to seal. Cut into 1/2 inch strips. Twist it up a few times and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes, until puffed and a little brown.

Twice Baked Potatoes

2008-12-24T08:10:00.002-06:00

This is my version of the all-time classic. I add cream cheese.

Twice Baked Potatoes
8 potatoes, fully baked
1 cup sour cream
1 t garlic salt
6 ounces cream cheese
a little paprika

Slice the top off of each potato and scoop out the inside, leaving a nice thin shell behind.

Dump the potato insides and all the rest of the ingredients (except the paprika) into a mixer. Mix until smooth. You might have to add a little milk. Pack the potato mixture back into the potato shells. Sprinkle with paprika.

Return to oven and bake at 425 until lightly browned on top.

The Infidel

2008-12-24T08:06:00.002-06:00

The other night I made a pretty tasty pizza. Its components violate the taboos of several major religions - thus you can be sure it is a real crowd pleaser!

To make it, just make some Gino's East Pizza and top it with sausage, ham and bacon.

Devils on Horseback

2008-12-24T08:01:00.003-06:00

One of my new favorite appetizers is an ancient one - Devils on Horseback. I have a somewhat simplified version.

Devils on Horseback

Slice strips of bacon in half. Wrap a piece of bacon around a fig and skewer with a toothpick.

Bake at 400 until bacon is done.

Baked Bratwurst, Swedish Style

2008-12-20T11:20:00.006-06:00

I got this recipe from The German Cookbook.

I modified it a little to make it tastier.

Baked Bratwurst, Swedish Style

2 1/2 pounds potatoes
1/2 cup butter
1 cup cream
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese
8 brats
Dijon mustard
2 to 3 T crushed saltine crackers

Peel potatoes and slice very thin. Soak in cold water for 10 minutes. Make a layer of potato slices in the bottom of of a buttered baking dish. Top each layer with salt, pepper and grated cheese. Dot generously with butter. The top layer should be sprinkled with salt, pepper and cheese and dotted with butter. Whisk together 1 T Dijon with 1 cup cream. Pour cream mixture over potatoes.

Bake, uncovered, on the middle rack at 450 for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile boil the sausages for 5 minutes in some beer. Cut lengthwise down the center of each brat and fill the gash with mustard. Place sausages on top of potatoes. Brush sausages with a little melted butter. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Sprinkle cracker crumbs over sausages and potatoes. Bake uncovered at 450 until potatoes are soft and sausages are nicely browned. It takes between 30 and 40 minutes or so.

It was really nice to have something so tasty in the dead of winter. Having the oven on made our house nice and toasty.

Avocado with Vinegar Dressing

2008-12-20T11:16:00.003-06:00

Another recipe from the Hemingway cookbook. This is a tasty appetizer and it is even better in the middle of winter. It helps take your mind off the crummy weather.

Avocado with Vinegar Dressing

2 avocados
lime juice
6 T olive oil
1 T white vinegar
1 T wine vinegar
salt

Cut avocados in half and remove pit. Sprinkle with lime juice. Whisk togetther olive oil, vinegar and salt. Fill the hollows with dressing.

Hemingway's Artichoke Vinaigrette

2008-12-20T10:45:00.008-06:00

I got this tasty recipe from The Hemingway Cookbook.

Vinaigrette

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup wine vinegar
salt
pepper
2 cloves garlic

Whisk ingredients together 2 hours before serving so that the flavors can steep.

Artichokes

4 artichokes
4 lemon slices
2 T lemon juice

Clean artichokes by plunging them repeatedly, upside down, into cold water. Cut the stems off, leaving a flat bottom. Break off any tough bottom leaves. Cut off the top 1/3 of the artichoke and trim the top 1/4 inch off the remaining leaves with scissors. Rub all cut surfaces with lemon slice. To prevent discoloration, tie a slice of lemon to the bottom with a piece of kitchen string.

Bring a large pot of water, salted with lemon juice added, to a boil. Add the artichokes and boil for 30 minutes. Drain upside down in a colander, untie and remove the lemon slices and rinse the artichokes in cold water. When cooled, open them slightly, remove the very thin center leaves, and scoop out the choke with a spoon. Serve whole, one per person, with vinaigrette for dipping the leaves.

I actually like this lady's method of preparing artichokes better.

It takes a LONG time to cook artichokes, at least the flywalk ones I can get up here in the middle of winter.

Blackberry Cobbler

2008-12-20T10:28:00.005-06:00

I made a cobbler based roughly on a video I found on Youtube.

I changed it by using canned blackberries and I lowered the baking temperature to 375.

Blackberry Cobbler

filling: two 14 oz cans blackberries in syrup, drained
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar

Bring to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to a simmer. Meanwhile combine the following ingredients in a bowl:

3 T flour
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg

Dump the contents of the bowl into the filling and stir until thickened.

Pour the filling into a cast iron skillet.

Make a batter out of:
1 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
3/4 cup milk

Drizzle batter over the top of the filling.

Place into 375 degree oven and bake until top is browned. Serve with ice cream.

Our little one wanted a cookie for desert until I told her that the cobbler came with ice cream. Then she found out she really likes cobbler.

It was nice to have the oven on because our town is getting killed by snow.

Parker House Rolls

2008-12-17T16:26:00.005-06:00

I was looking around and found the original recipe for Parker House Rolls. We made them and they were pretty tasty. I used them as buns for some tasty Crabby Patties.

Parker House Rolls

6 cups all-purpose flour (about)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages active dry yeast
1 cup margarine or butter (2 sticks), softened
1 large egg

In a large bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast; add 1/2 cup margarine or butter (1 stick). With mixer at low speed, gradually pour 2 cups hot tap water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F.) into dry ingredients. Add egg; increase speed to medium; beat 2 minutes, scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in 3/4 cup flour or enough to make a thick batter; continue beating 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. With spoon, stir in enough additional flour (about 2 1/2 cups) to make a soft dough.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, working in more flour (about 1/2 cup) while kneading. Shape dough into a ball and place in greased large bowl, turning over so that top of dough is greased. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place (80 to 85 degrees F.) until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. (Dough is doubled when 2 fingers pressed into dough leave a dent.)
Punch down dough by pushing down the center or dough with fist, then pushing edges of dough into center. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead lightly to make smooth ball, cover with bowl for 15 minutes, and let dough rest.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In 17 1/4-inch by 11 1/2-inch roasting pan, over low heat, melt remaining 1/2 cup margarine or butter; tilt pan to grease bottom.
On lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll dough 1/2 inch thick. With floured 2 3/4-inch round cutter, cut dough into circles. Holding dough circle by the edge, dip both sides into melted margarine or butter pan; fold in half. Arrange folded dough in rows in pans, each nearly touching the other. Cover pan with towel; let dough rise in warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.
Bake rolls for 15 to 18 minutes until browned.

7 Layer Bars

2008-12-16T19:07:00.001-06:00

Seven Layer Bars

1 ¼ c crushed graham crackers
1 stick butter
1 c chocolate chips
1 c butterscotch chips
1 c coconut
½ c nuts
1 c eagle brand milk (evaporated?)

Melt butter and poor into a 9X13 inch pan. Stir in graham cracker crumbs and pack down. Sprinkle chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and nuts. Poor milk over top. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

Seven Layer Bars

Chicken Okra Gumbo File

2008-12-16T18:50:00.003-06:00

Its so darned cold up here! I haven't been this cold since at least 1997, my last year in Iowa City. If I remember right those last couple years in Iowa City were warmer. From there I went to Chicago and it was sheer bliss in comparison to Fort Dodge weather. Honestly, this is the coldest, crappiest weather out there.

To warm up, I decided on some gumbo.

Chicken Okra Gumbo File

1/2 pound chicken
14 oz can okra, drained
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
oil
1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
1 t thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 t black pepper
1 quart chicken broth
1 tomato, diced
1 t gumbo file (optional, you probably can't find it. I had to go to New Orleans for mine.)

Brown chicken in oil and remove from pan. The consensus for the ideal gumbo pot is a cast iron Dutch oven. Next drop in the onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic. Saute gently until starting to turn translucent. Meanwhile back at the ranch, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour to the butter and stir frequently over medium heat until the mixture turns dark brown. Add the flour/butter mixture to the onions/celery/green pepper/garlic and stir. Cube the chicken and add it back to the pan. Add the chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for about 1 hour until thickened. Add the tomatoes and continue to simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Finally add the okra and cook for a couple minutes until heated through. Turn off the heat. Add the gumbo file if you have it and stir. Serve over rice with a nice roll to mop up the naughty juices. Be sure to serve with some hot sauce.

Deer Hunting

2008-12-16T11:15:00.006-06:00

Last Saturday morning I got up bright and early and went out deer hunting.

Mostly what you do is a lot of standing around waiting for people to make up their minds about stuff.

I got my deer in some woods over by Woolstock. It was on our second drive, 2 hours after we started. I got him with my pistol. I paced off the shot and it was 30 paces, however that translates into distance.

He was what is called a button buck. He is a little on the small side but he ended up being the perfect size because I don't have a deep freeze. He is currently at Sawyer's Meats in Fort Dodge being processed.

After that hunt I switched guns and roles. For the first 2 pushes I was acting as a walker. I prefer that role. On the third hunt I switched to my shotgun and they wanted me to be a blocker. I set up next to the river in a line of guys.

We were a party of 14 so there were 14 deer tags. I decided to keep my first deer but I contributed everything else to the pot. Some of the hunters were not the best shots but since they helped with the hunt they also get a deer if possible.

After sitting there a while 3 deer ran at me single file down the creek bed. I shot the first 1 and the other 2 broke left. I got 1 of them right after they broke. The final one ran to my left and past me. I got him while he was broadside to me. I contributed all 3 to the pot.

We made 1 more hunt that day but didn't see any more deer.

On Sunday we still had 5 tags to fill so I went out and helped all day. It was bitterly cold. We hunted all of the places where deer like to go when it is cold and snowing and we had no luck.

Since there are still 5 tags unfilled the group is planning to go out next weekend. If they actually go I will probably go along for the hunt.

Winter Weather

2008-12-16T10:56:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we woke up and there was ice on the inside of our windows. The kitchen curtains were frozen to the windows. Today it is snowing like crazy. I went out for a run this morning because the weather is supposed to stink for the rest of the week.

Baked Pork Chops with Rice Hotdish

2008-12-10T08:42:00.005-06:00

I got this recipe from a Home-Published cookbook. I bought the book from Chef Julie who bought it from her friend Millie, who wrote the cookbook. There are tons and tons of recipes in there and I am just beginning to work through it.

I modified the recipe just a little.

Baked Pork Chops with Rice Hotdish

3-6 pork chops
2 T oil
1 box Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
4 oz can sliced mushrooms
1 green pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T soy sauce
1 T Dijon Mustard
Water to make 3 cups

You can use up to 6 pork chops but there are only 3 people eating solid food in my house. 3 pork chops work real well to make a Dutch oven hotdish. Sear each pork chop in a little olive oil in a Dutch oven. Meanwhile combine the juice from the mushrooms with water to make 3 cups liquid. Add soy sauce, garlic, Dijon, soup mix and seasoning from the Uncle Ben's. When pork chops are done turn the heat off and dump the liquid mixture into the Dutch oven. Use a spatula to scrape up the porky goodness. Add the rice and green pepper. Top with the pork chops. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Next remove the lid and bake about 10 minutes until the liquid thickens up.

Asiago Chicken Bake

2008-12-09T17:09:00.002-06:00

One of the nurses that I work with is a fan of the site and sent me a recipe. We tried it tonight and it was delicious. I have included her recipe below. Unfortunately I could not get a few of the ingredients in Humboldt. I substituted bacon for proscuitto. Instead of shrimp I added a saute of shallots, mushrooms, a leek and pimentos. I pretty much followed the recipe otherwise.

Asiago Chicken Bake

Ingredients:

Sauce:
3 T. butter
3 T. Marsala Wine
1 C. grated Asiago Cheese
1/2 C. chicken broth
1 T. Dijon mustard
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
2 T. minced garlic
2 C. heavy cream
1/2 C. milk
1 T. cornstarch
2 t. minced fresh rosemary
1/2 t. fresh thyme

12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 skinless chicken breasts

1/2 C. (2 oz) thick sliced smoked prosciutto chopped

1 pound penne rigate pasta

Topping: 3 T. grated asiago cheese
1 1/2 t. paprika

Prepare BBQ grill to high.
Prepare sauce: Melt butter over med/low heat. Add Garlic and sweat for about 5 min. Be sure it doesn't brown. Add Marsala wine and cook for 5 min. Add remaining ingredients and whisk til smooth. Bring to simmer for 10 min. Cover and remove from heat.
Cook pasta til tender but not "al dente". Drain and set aside.
Pound thick end of chicken breast to make uniform thickness. Skewer shrimp. Rub both with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill chicken 5-6 min. per side. Grill shrimp 2 min per side. Cube chicken.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Combine all ingredients in l3 x 9 casserole dish. Top with topping and bake for 10-12 min.

Our little one even liked it!

Pork Braised in Beer

2008-12-09T08:28:00.002-06:00

This past Sunday I made pork braised in beer. It is really simple and super tasty. This time I lowered the temperature to 250 and left the lid cracked. I think that is the secret to braising. Lower temperature and a slightly cracked lid. The meat must not boil. This pork was extremely tasty and fall apart tender.

Pork Braised in Beer
3 pound pork, cut into fist size pieces
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, unmolested.
seasoned salt
pepper
beer
olive oil
bacon grease

1)Heat a skillet until nice and hot. Add in the oil. Drop in the beef chunks and sear really well all over. Put on a plate and set aside. Season with seasoned salt.
2) Add the onions and carrots to the pan and saute until carmelized.
3) Get a cooking vessel with a tight fitting lid that is just slightly bigger than the meat you intend to cook. Preheat oven to 250. Brush bacon grease (or butter) on the inside of the cooking vessel. Put the cloves of garlic on the bottom and a little pepper.
4) When onions and carrots are carmelized ad a little beer to the pan and use it to deglaze all the nice bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour the liquid, onions and carrots into the cooking vessel.
5) Add the chunks of beef on top of the vegies. Pour beer into the vessel until it comes about halfway up the beef.
6) Place a lid on the braising vessel. Leave it slightly cracked Bake at 250 for several hours, basting some of the pan juices on top of the meat occasionally.
7) When the cooking is done, remove the meat to a platter. Strain the pan juices. Degrease the juices by spooning off the fat. When this is done you can either thicken the juices to make a gravy or serve it as is over the top of the meat.

To make a gravy take 1 cup of the pan juices and place into a saucepan. Measure out 1/4 cup water. Add 2 T flour and stir until there are no lumps. Add to the saucepan. Heat to boiling and cook until thickened to the right consistency.

How to build a deer hoist

2008-12-09T08:09:00.004-06:00

This coming weekend is the start of my deer season. It has been forever since I went hunting so it has taken quite a bit of doing to get ready. After you shoot your deer you have to hang it up to skin it and to get it off the ground while you are waiting to get it into the butcher. You don't need anything fancy to get it done.

The best thing to do is make a pulley system. The one I made is fairly simple. The reason you would want to make a pulley system is that you can lift more weight with less work.

In a system of a single rope and pulleys, when friction is neglected, the mechanical advantage gained can be calculated by counting the number of rope lengths exerting force on the load. Since the tension in each rope length is equal to the force exerted on the free end of the rope, the mechanical advantage is simply equal to the number of ropes pulling on the load. For example, in the diagram below, there is one rope attached to the load, and 2 rope lengths extending from the pulley attached to the load, for a total of 3 ropes supporting it. If the force applied to the free end of the rope is 10 lb, each of these rope lengths will exert a force of 10 lb. on the load, for a total of 30 lb. So the mechanical advantage is 3.

In my system, there are only 2 rope lengths attached to the load so the mechanical advantage is 2. In other words, I will only have to pull 50 pounds to lift a 100 pound deer.

Here is your shopping list:
2 pulleys rated to at least 125 pounds
rope
2 screws with eyes on the end to support the system
2 carabiners
1 gambrel

The other thing that would be nice is a cleat to tie your rope off.

Just make sure to bring a drill to drill pilot holes for the eye screws.

Dinner Rolls

2008-12-07T12:37:00.002-06:00

Making dinner rolls isn't hard but it requires some planning to get them done on time. This is a pretty standard recipe for rolls.

Dinner Rolls

Mix 1/4 cup water with 1 package yeast. Let sit for a while.

Heat 1 cup milk on the stove briefly. Add 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 t salt.
Cool until lukewarm.

Add about 3 1/2 cups flour, 1 egg and yeast mixture. Kneed with the Kitchen Aid until it looks right - about 10 minutes.

Let dough rise, covered, until doubled in size. Separate into rolls and place in a baking dish. Cover and let rise until they are touching and about the size you want them to be when they are done baking.

Bake at 375 until top is browned. Be careful because the tendency is to under cook the rolls and have raw dough at the bottom.

Marv's Cream Style Corn with Brocoli

2008-12-07T12:22:00.003-06:00

This is a really tasty hotdish originated by my wife's maternal grandfather. He was an exceptional cook and this recipe proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Marv’s Cream Style Corn and Broccoli Hot Dish

2 boxes frozen broccoli, thawed, (substitute 1 head of broccoli, steamed lightly)
Butter
Slices of American cheese
Salt and pepper

Corn Sauce
½ cup crushed saltines
1 can cream style corn
1 small jar pimentos
½ onion, finely diced
Salt and pepper
½ cup milk

More crushed saltines for topping

Butter a 9X13 inch or similar baking dish. Place broccoli in the bottom and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut up a little butter into small cubes and drop cubes over broccoli.

Next place a layer of cheese slices.

Mix together the corn sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the top of the broccoli and cheese. Top with more crushed saltines.

Bake at 350 until bubbly and the top is starting to brown a little.

Chicken Noodle Hot Dish

2008-12-06T08:16:00.002-06:00

We were hungry for another casserole last night. I decided to try my hand at chicken and noodles. The result was pretty tasty. I looked at about 25 recipes for chicken and noodles and I based my own recipe on the better parts of each.

Chicken Noodle Hot Dish

2 bone in chicken breasts
1 t thyme
1 t basil
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 stalks celery, chopped up
1 green pepper, diced
4 oz jar of pimentos
1 leek, sliced up
1 can cream of mushroom soup (Lutheran Binder)
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cups of reserved broth from chicken
1 pound noodles (I used spaghetti)
2 cups cheddar cheese

Boil the chicken breasts in a pot holding enough water to cook the noodles. Add the thyme, basil and bay leaves to the water. You will need to boil it about 45 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove the chicken from the pot to cool. Reserve 2 cups of liquid from the pot. Boil the noodles in the chicken broth you just created. You are looking for noodles that are al dente.

Briefly saute the onion, celery, green pepper and garlic. Pick the chicken from the bones. Dump 1 cup of the cheddar cheese into a baking pan. Dump in the rest of the ingredients. Add the 2 cups of the reserved chicken broth. Top with the remaining cheddar cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 until everything is thickened up, bubbling and the cheese is melted. It will take at least 1/2 hour.

Slinging the 870

2008-12-06T07:13:00.014-06:00

This morning I mounted a sling on the ol' 870. I have a Remington 870 Express Magnum. I purchased an Unkle Mike's Swivel Set for an 870 Express. I also bought a B-Square swivel mounting kit from Cabelas.

The first step is to set up a makeshift gun bench if you don't have one already.

It doesn't have to be bomb proof. I wanted something that wouldn't mark up my table so I used a board, a vice and a Quick Grip clamp. I suppose I should have a dedicated workbench but we don't have room.

The next step is to secure your gun in the vice without marking it up. I also padded the stock where it contact the table. You don't have to screw things in too tight, just enough to snugly hold the barrel.

Next you need to mount the drill guide on the stock. The B-Square guide automatically puts the hole at 2.5" from the butt plate. 2.5" from the butt plate is where Remington recommends putting the swivel screw. Put the drill bit in the guide to make sure that everything is midline and vertical.

Next drill a 5/32" pilot hole using the drill bit provided in the kit.

The next step is to use the countersink provided in the kit to drill a 7/32" hole and countersink a little recess into the wood.

When the bit started on this hole it flaked off a tiny piece of wood from around the hole. Oh well. I guess if it was anything other than a hundred dollar gun, I would have sent it off to a professional gunsmith to have the sling mounted. It is a microscopic defect that is covered by the sling mount.

I have confirmed by direct knowledge that the local gunsmith is unreliable. I placed a large order at his sporting goods store several years ago and returned 2 weeks later. As it turned out he never sent in the order. "I got too busy" was his excuse. Unfortunately I had a hunt 3 days later so I had to drive all over the state getting the parts I needed. I'm sorry jerkoff, but if you can't handle placing an order, you are not to be trusted with my shotgun or with any future business.

The next step is to place the swivel screw. Coat the threads with a little Linseed oil.

The holes on the screw need to be perpendicular to the stock. You may have to use the countersink to go just a little further into the wood.

Next mount the rear clip.

The front peg is a lot easier to install. All you have to do is unscrew the cap on the front of the magazine and screw in the cap provided with the kit.

Install the front clip.

I bought an old school Remington leather sling from Cabelas. Now I am ready to head into the woods!

Corny Corn Bread

2008-12-03T08:13:00.000-06:00

I recently found a good recipe for corn bread in Cook's Illustrated. It is pretty tasty and goes very well with chili.

Corny Corn Bread

1 ½ cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 t baking powder
¼ t baking soda
¾ t salt
¼ cup brown sugar
¾ cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
8 T butter, melted

1) Heat oven to 400 with rack in the middle.
2) Grease an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan.
3) Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
4) Blend the brown sugar, corn, buttermilk and eggs until well combined.
5) Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and dump in the wet ingredients.
6) Fold the mixture until just combined. Add melted butter and fold until dry ingredients are just moistened.
7) Pour into the greased baking dish. Bake uncovered until nice and brown and a toothpick comes out clean. About 25 to 35 minutes.

Deer Season

2008-12-02T09:31:00.004-06:00

I am planning on hunting with a group of guys for the 2nd Iowa shotgun deer season. I have a Remington 870 Express Magnum equipped with a fully rifled slug barrel. This is the gun that I lent to my friend Marky Mark. He shot a wild boar with it. I have some improvements planned before the season starts.

Yesterday I went to the courthouse and switched my Kentucky license to an Iowa license. Then I went to Shopper's Supply and got a hunting license and a deer tag. I also bought some Winchester Sabot slugs.

I took some of them out last night for a test firing. They shot pretty well out of my gun. They have a vicious kick though. My shoulder is bruised this morning.

My next project is to mount a sling on the shotgun. I considered bringing it to a gunsmith to have it done. Here are the problems with this approach. First, how can I possibly trust someone I don't know to modify my shotgun and do it correctly? Second, who knows how long it will take some yahoo to do it? Good men are incredibly rare in all fields nowadays. It is highly unlikely that there would be a reliable gunsmith in this area who will do the job right and get it done in a reasonable amount of time. By reasonable I mean before the season starts. All things considered I decided to learn how to do it myself and buy the correct tools for the job. I will have coverage of the installation when the tools arrive.

Chef Julie's Turkey Enchiladas

2008-12-01T17:29:00.002-06:00

We did a fried turkey for a ton of people so we only had a few bits of left over turkey. I made them into Chef Julie's Chicken Enchiladas, only instead of chicken I used turkey. You should check out the original recipe here.

Dutch Fried Rice

2008-12-01T17:27:00.003-06:00

Tonight we made one of my all time favorite dishes - Dutch Fried Rice. You may remember the original post with recipe here.

I'm still madly in love with this dish. It also goes by the name Nasi Goreng. Here is a photo of the batch we made last night.

Don't forget to serve with a fried egg on top!

Einstein Special

2008-11-30T19:43:00.003-06:00

I was watching this great special on Einstein earlier tonight. I have seen bits and pieces of it a couple times. Be sure to turn into it on History Channel if you get a chance.

In other news, a bald eagle flew up like 5 feet from my head today while running. It was the first time I have ever seen once so close.

Wierd Al

2008-11-29T08:40:00.002-06:00

What do Michael P. Fay, Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan and John Wayne Bobbit have in common?

They all made it into a Weird Al Video! Click for details.

Italian Tater Tot Hotdish

2008-11-25T17:15:00.010-06:00

Who says tater tot casserole or hotdish has to have cream of mushroom soup and hamburger? I have been thinking of experimenting with tater tot hot dish lately. This is effort #1. I decided to try giving it an Italian flair.

Italian Tater Tot Hotdish

1 pound hot Italian sausage, rolled into balls and browned
1 onion, diced and sauteed
1 red pepper, diced and sauteed
32 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, pressed
olive oil
1 t oregano
1 t basil
crushed red pepper flakes
salt
pepper
1 small can sliced mushrooms
1 package tater tots
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
a little cream

Put some olive oil in the bottom of a sauce pan. Saute the garlic in the olive oil. Add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Crush with a potato masher. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Dump tomatoes into a blender and blend until smooth. Return to sauce pan along with meat, spices and mushroom. Add a little cream to make a pink sauce. Simmer until it thickens a little.

Spread a little olive oil around a 9X13 inch baking pan. Pour the meat sauce into the baking pan and sprinkle with sauteed onion and red pepper.

Spread 2 cups cheese over the sauce.

Top with tots.

Bake in the oven at 350 for 1 hour.

Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Chuck Roast Braised in Beer

2008-11-24T16:53:00.008-06:00

One of the most underrated cooking methods is braising. I like braising because it has the same goal as smoking. The goal is to take a nasty cheap cut of meat and turn it into something tasty. Smoking does it by cooking at a low temperature, between 200 and 210, for many hours. The connective tissue and fat renders away over time, leaving a supremely tender piece of meat behind.

Braising does the same thing, only in less time (I think). The idea with braising is to moist cook meat at a temperature between 200 and 210. Typically this is done in an oven at 300. The meat is seared and placed in a tightly fitting container with a cover, some liquid and some tasty vegetables. The container should just be slightly bigger than the meat you are going to cook.

I heard an article on braising on NPR about a week ago. The guy who was their food scientist said that you should have the cover of the cooking vessel slightly cracked. This is in sharp contrast to every other source I have read on braising. The reason, he says, for leaving the lid cracked is so that the liquid in the pot does not boil.

If it is boiling it technically is not slow cooking at 210 it is at 226 or whatever the boiling point of your liquid happens to be. It is something to think about. The guy sounded very bright. I am planning on ordering a few books of his. I'll let you know.

Braising meat is the perfect thing to do in your kitchen on a cold day. Your kitchen will be nice and warm and smell wonderful. I got this recipe from an unlikely source - GQ Magazine. I only say that it is an unlikely source because you would not think of a men's fashion magazine as a source for a good recipe. In fact, I have gotten several wonderful recipes from GQ. I modified it a little bit to be more in line with the classic French braising method.

Chuck Roast Braised in Beer
3 pound chuck roast, cut into fist size pieces
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, unmolested.
seasoned salt
pepper
beer
olive oil
bacon grease

1)Heat a skillet until nice and hot. Add in the oil. Drop in the beef chunks and sear really well all over. Put on a plate and set aside. Season with seasoned salt.

2) Add the onions and carrots to the pan and saute until carmelized.

3) Get a cooking vessel with a tight fitting lid that is just slightly bigger than the meat you intend to cook. Preheat oven to 300. Brush bacon grease on the inside of the cooking vessel. Put the cloves of garlic on the bottom and a little pepper.

4) When onions and carrots are carmelized ad a little beer to the pan and use it to deglaze all the nice bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour the liquid, onions and carrots into the cooking vessel.

5) Add the chunks of beef on top of the vegies. Pour beer into the vessel until it comes about halfway up the beef.

6) Place a tightly covered lid on the vessel. (controversial, see above) Bake at 300 for several hours, basting some of the pan juices on top of the meat occasionally.

7) When the cooking is done, remove the meat to a platter. Strain the pan juices. Degrease the juices by spooning off the fat. When this is done you can either thicken the juices to make a gravy or serve it as is over the top of the meat.

Degreasing is easy. Pour the strained juices into a cup.

Pull the grease off using a spoon.

To make a gravy take 1 cup of the pan juices and place into a saucepan. Measure out 1/4 cup water. Add 2 T flour and stir until there are no lumps. Add to the saucepan. Heat to boiling and cook until thickened to the right consistency.

We served ours with baked sweet potatoes and some tasty sweet corn.

Chicken-Sausage Gumbo

2008-11-22T09:22:00.004-06:00

I threw some Polish Sausage on the smoker last week while I was making my pulled pork. Smoked sausage is delicious and one the best things to eat smoked sausage in is gumbo.

Gumbo is called a soup but to me it is more of a stew, served over rice. One of the key features of a gumbo is that it is thickened with a roux.

For some reason, people think roux is hard to make. It is very easy. I found a video that explains making a roux pretty well.

I modified a recipe from the book Tom Fitzmorris's New Orleans Food: More than 225 of the City's Best Recipes to Cook at Home. My naughty wife doesn't like andouille sausage so I made it with smoked Polish sausage instead.

Chicken-Sausage Gumbo

1 pound chicken
vegetable oil
1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
parsley
1 quart chicken broth
1 T salt
1 t pepper
1 t Tabasco
2 bay leaves
1/4 t thyme
1/2 pound smoked sausage
2 green onions, chopped
a little File powder if you have it

Cut chicken up into pieces and brown in oil. Remove the chicken from the pan and melt butter in the pan. Stir in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture turns brown. Next add onions, garlic and pepper. Saute until onions start to turn clear. Dump everything into the pot except the sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for an hour. Add in the sausage and simmer for another 1/2 to 1 hour. It should be nice and thick like a stew. Add water as needed if it gets too thick. Add a dash of File powder at the very end. NOT TOO MUCH. Garnish with green onion and serve over white rice.

And So It Begins ...

2008-11-22T09:16:00.002-06:00

Does anyone else think it is too early for this?

Pork Smoked!

2008-11-22T09:10:00.002-06:00

Last week I used some of my walnut to smoke up some pork shoulder. Unfortunately, Hy Vee only had boneless pork shoulder.

The trick to smoking with hardwood instead of charcoal is to have a separate fire burning. When the hardwood is burnt down to coals, transfer the coals to the smoker. If you try to burn the wood in the smoker it will be way too smokey and your meat will taste like an ashtray.

I smoked at 200 degrees for about 14 hours to get some really tasty pork!

Woodcutting trip to Ledyard

2008-11-17T11:41:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I went up to Ledyard for some serious woodcutting. I needed to get some wood for my smoker and for the outdoor fireplace. Fortunately, Our Man In The Field knew where there were some downed trees. I drove right up and got to work.

I cut up some black walnut and split it. It took me an hour and a half to cut and split enough wood to fill my pickup. Meanwhile, Our Man in the Field was out chopping corn stalks.

That thing he is pulling has whirling blades. He can do 6 rows at a time. The next step will be to come through with a special plow and a slight angle to the existing rows.
I checked on the corn bin and it is plenty full. Our Man in the Field is drying his corn. He estimates that he might sell next July.

All of his corn and beans are in for the year. All that remains is some field work.

I got a nice full load of wood and then cruised to the Old Man in the Field's house for lunch.

We had some tasty meatballs that were a mix between pork and hamburger. They were accompanied by coleslaw, potatoes, green beans and buns.

The Old Man in the Field told a story about when they were kids some hobos used to come through. Back then there was a railroad branch that went to Elmore and Bancroft with a stop in Ledyard. He said his mom would feed them a really nice lunch. In return they would chop wood. I wondered if the house was extra toasty if they were burning "hobo-chopped-wood." He said that he thought the house was indeed warmer with hobo-chopped-wood. I thought it would make a good marketing scheme, much like organic or free-range.

He said if you were nice to a hobo, the hobo would likely make a special secret mark on the post to your driveway. If another hobo came along he would spy that mark and go in for a nice meal.

World's Greatest Sandwich

2008-11-14T14:08:00.003-06:00

I was in the mood for a good sandwich the other night so I did a google search for world's greatest sandwich. Someone actually has made a video and claimed to be the inventor of "The World's Greatest Sandwich." It is basically a BLT with a fried egg and a piece of cheese on it. Readers may remember that I wrote about BLT's with a fried egg a while ago. I guess the sandwich made an appearance in the movie Spanglish. The way they made the sandwich in the movie is as follows:

Spread mayo on a piece of really good toasted bread. Lay a few tomato slices on top of the mayo. Salt the tomatoes a little bit, then lay 4 strips of fried bacon on top. Next lay a piece of lettuce on the bacon. Add a nice fried egg on top of the lettuce. Take the other piece of toasted bread and put 2 slices of Monterrey Jack cheese on it. Place briefly under the broiler to melt the cheese. Finish off your sandwich by dropping the cheesed bread on top of the egg. Slice and serve.

Tasty Hamburger Hotdish

2008-11-12T08:57:00.007-06:00

It is getting to be casserole weather. Casseroles are a very important part of Midwestern Cuisine. People in my neck of the woods also call it hotdish weather.

Wikipedia has this to say about hotdish:

Hotdish is any of a variety of baked, casserole dishes popular in the Midwestern United States, and especially in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, northern Iowa, and western Wisconsin. It consists of a starch, a meat, and a canned vegetable, mixed together with canned soup, which serves as a binding ingredient.

Hotdishes are filling, convenient, easy to make, and well-suited for family reunions, church suppers, and potlucks, where they may be paired with pan-baked cookies known as bars.

We have been making this particular hotdish for many years. I have tailored the recipe more to our tastes. We especially like extra sauce so the dish starts out pretty saucy. It is great warmed up the next day too. I like mine served with a little hot sauce.

Tasty Hamburger Hotdish

1 lb hamburger ½ cup celery, diced
1 c macaroni (uncooked) 1 small onion, diced
2 cans tomato soup ½ t basil
2 cans cheese soup 1 t sugar
½ c green pepper salt to taste
Pepper
A layer of cheese

Brown beef and drain off fat. Add ½ cup water. Mix hamburger and rest of ingredients together and place in a dutch oven or similar baking container. Taste the sauce and add salt as needed until it is super tasty. Bake covered at 375 for 1 hour. Remove lid and put a layer of cheese on top. continue baking until cheese is nice and melted.

And here it is the next day. The sauce has thickened quite a bit, hence the reason for double sauce.

It really does go pretty well with a cookie or two.

Spare Rib Challenge

2008-11-11T09:16:00.003-06:00

I love ribs and all types of pork. It is getting a little too cold out for me to throw ribs on the smoker too many more times. In order to continue enjoying ribs over the winter I have decided to have a little spare rib challenge. The first 2 contestants were Sylvia's World Famous Talked About Spare Ribs and the Chinese Spare Ribs from Potsticker Chronicles. You can see each recipe below or just click on the links above.

It was a fierce competition and both recipes produced awesome spare ribs. The Chinese Spare Ribs were sweet with a little bit of smokiness. The sauce was complex and delicious. There are notes of ginger, garlic, honey and sesame that blend perfectly for a tasty sauce.

The Sylvia's were spicy but they weren't hot like I was expecting. They were tangy and fall-off-the-bone tender. I think the real trick to these ribs is that they are braised in vinegar. The sauce has a hint of celery and lemon. It has the perfect balance between hot, sweet and sour.

It was a tough competition with fierce competitors. There was, however, a clear winner. The Sylvia's World Famous Talked About Spareribs lived up to the name. I plan on making these all winter long. If you have a spare rib recipe for me to try, email it to plasticsmatch@hotmail.com.

Sylvia's World Famous Talked About Spare Ribs

2008-11-11T08:49:00.004-06:00

I decided to make Sylvia's World Famous Talked About Spare Ribs for my Spare Rib Challenge. Sylvia's is a Soul Food restaurant in Harlem that I have eaten at a few times. The most surprising thing about eating there is that the food tastes almost identical to what my mom and grandmother make. You can read all about soul food here. I bought the cookbook Sylvia's Soul Food for the recipes.

Sylvia's World Famous Talked About Spare Ribs

2 slabs spare ribs
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
2 to 3 cups of vinegar
"BBQ Sauce" (see recipe below)

Cut the slabs of ribs down to size to fit in a baking dish. Rub with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Dump enough vinegar in the baking dish to almost cover the ribs. Cover the container tightly and bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 1 hour. At the 1/2 hour mark, turn the ribs over.

After they have braised in the vinegar for an hour, remove them from the vinegar and place on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 450 until they start to crisp up and brown, about 1/2 hour.

Next brush the ribs well with BBQ Sauce (recipe below). Reduce heat of oven to 400 and bake, uncovered. Brush a couple more times with sauce. During the last 20 minutes to not brush again so that the sauce glazes a bit.

Sylvia's BBQ Sauce

This isn't BBQ sauce like you are thinking. I would put this more as a North or South Carolina sauce. You are thinking of a ketchup based Kansas City BBQ sauce. The Kansas sauces won't work on these ribs. You have to use Sylvia's Sauce.

16 ounce Red Devil Hot sauce
2 1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 small onion, sliced
1 small stalk celery, sliced
3 cups tomato puree
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 lemon, sliced

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat up. Do not let the sauce simmer or boil or you will ruin it. Let the sauce cook a few minutes until the onions and celery soften. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature. Strain the sauce and store in a jar.

Chinese BBQ Spare Ribs

2008-11-11T08:38:00.002-06:00

I decided to make these Chinese BBQ Spare Ribs for my spare rib challenge. I modified the recipe from my favorite Chinese cookbook Potsticker Chronicles: America's Favorite Chinese Recipes

Chinese BBQ Spare Ribs

3 pounds spare ribs
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 T cooking sherry
2 T sesame oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup minced ginger
2 T sugar
1 T fresh ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk. Pour the sauce over the ribs and marinate for 8 hours to overnight. Turn the ribs over a few times. Grill briefly on a grill with high heat to get a little char going. Put the ribs in a baking dish and put into the oven uncovered at 375 degrees. Bake, turning occasionally and marinating often until done. Don't marinate in the last 20 minutes.

Homemade Applesauce

2008-11-11T08:25:00.001-06:00

Its the season to make some applesauce and apple butter. Watch the stores for deals on apples. I made up a big batch of sauce yesterday. I like a nice mix of apples to make an interesting flavor. I also like to run the cooked sauce through a strainer for a nice smooth texture. If you like chunky applesauce more power to you. Chunky applesauce is easier because there is one less step.

Homemade Applesauce

1 pound of a mix of different apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
2 T brandy

Add everything except the brandy to a pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Remove the lid and mash a little with a potato masher. Continue to simmer, uncovered, until sauce thickens up. Add the brandy and cook 1 more minute.

If you have more than a pound of apples you can just multiply the recipe.

Tailgate Penn State Victory!

2008-11-11T08:21:00.001-06:00

We had a nice tailgate last Saturday at the game. I made up a batch of chili using the turkey fryer.

Airplane Trip

2008-11-04T06:28:00.003-06:00

My pilot friend came up last Saturday for a visit. We had Humboldt Cheese Steaks for lunch. He road the Triumph around a little bit and then I got to go for a plane ride. I got some pretty neat photos.

On our way back to Humboldt we spotted an eagle below us.

Here he is a little closer.

My Carved Pumpkin

2008-10-31T20:58:00.003-05:00

Does it resemble something familiar?

You'd be surprised how many people have absolutely no idea what either of those photos are.

Big Lebowski Pancakes

2008-10-31T06:11:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite movies is The Big Lebowski. There is a scene where the German Nihilists stop at Dinah's Original Pancake & Chicken House. One orders "ze pigs in ze blankets." The other orders "ze lingonberry pancakes."

The only hard part about making lingonberry pancakes is finding the lingonberries. I found mine in a specialty food store in Des Moines. I have also seen them in various World Market stores. In a pinch you could order your lingonberries from Amazon.com

The next step is making really good pancakes. You can use my recipe if you like.

Big Lebowski Pancakes

2 eggs
2 T vegetable oil
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup flour
2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
4 t sugar
1 t salt

1) Whisk eggs, oil, butter and buttermilk in a bowl.
2) Stir in the rest of the dry ingredients. Leave a few lumps.
3) Cook pancakes in a tiny bit of bacon grease.

To serve, put 2 pancakes on a plate. Put a little dab of lingonberries over the top and finish with a dab of whipped cream.

The Music of Harvest and Ledyard

2008-10-27T18:36:00.000-05:00

While we were in the combine, Our Man In the Field flipped on KNUJ 860 AM, a station out of New Ulm. They had some absolutely delicious polka music. The best thing is that you can listen online if you so desire. You know that my computer has been tuned to KNUJ.NET all day long!

Fall Photo Series #7

2008-10-27T14:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went up to Ledyard to take some photos of the fall corn harvest. Before we went out we had a delicious lunch of roast beef, with potatoes and carrots, gravy, cole slaw, bread and butter, and apple crisp for desert.

It was so windy that we had to wait for a break in the wind to open the huge doors on the machine shed to get the combine out. A quick inspection revealed it was in good working order.

I rode for a few passes in the cab.

Our Man In The Field kept a sharp eye on the ground. You have to constantly adjust the height of the picker so that it doesn't run into the ground. You also have to adjust the speed almost constantly so that the picker doesn't get behind. Thank goodness for the hydrostatic drive.

What wasn't obvious to me before actually participating in the harvest is that the combine is just the eagle of the harvest. There are lots and lots of field mice running around making things work. The entire time the combine is running, another tractor needs to be hauling grain away from the field. Here one is sneaking up behind us, piloted by none other than the Old Man In The Field.

If you want to shoot a lot of pheasants, stand at the end of the row as the combine comes out. Oftentimes a pheasant will fly out.

At the end of each row the combine has to dump corn into wagons.

This process goes surprisingly quickly. (Yes that is Buzzy's Farm in the background, and yes that is productive work going on in the foreground.)

It takes about 3 passes through that particular section of the field to fill a 275 bushel wagon. Once it is full, the wagon is hooked to a tractor and pulled over to the elevator.

You have to regulate the corn flow coming out of the wagon by turning a wheel that opens a door. You can't have too much or the auger will overflow. You can't have too little either, or the auger will shake and cause damage over time.

You have to watch carefully so that the wagon doesn't empty and leave the auger with no corn. If there is no corn and the auger is running it will vibrate and cause more wear and tear. A hint that the wagon is getting low is that corn husks and cobs will start coming out of the wagon. The lighter stuff is on top after all.

We worked about 4 1/2 hours and got 8 wagonloads of corn into the bin. All were pleased. For dinner we had some tasty chili and a sampling of my homebrews.

Oklahoma Joe's Fries

2008-10-24T09:51:00.004-05:00

I have a few favorites for BBQ in Kansas City. My top 2 favorites are Oklahoma Joe's and Arthur Bryant's. Arthur Bryant's is kind of a hole in the wall place off of Brooklyn avenue. They have a saltier sauce that I like really well. Oklahoma Joe's was in a gas station up by KU where I did my general surgery. The first time I had Oklahoma Joe's I was on an ER rotation as an intern. The fries were delicious! One of the ER nurses went so far as to call the cocaine fries. I toiled away for a long time to figure out how they were doing it. I finally figured it out. Every time I have served these fries there has been a mass gobbling. It is easy to make them.

Step 1

Coat some french fries in milk real quick and move them to another bowl.

Step 2

Sprinkle dry Ranch Dressing mix over the fries.

Step 3

Fry the seasoned fries and let cool a little.

Step 4
Devour. WARNING: DO NOT POUR ANY TYPE OF CHEESE SAUCE OVER THESE FRIES. THEY WILL BECOME DANGEROUSLY TASTY AND YOUR HEAD WILL EXPLODE.

Fall Photo Series #6

2008-10-23T12:08:00.001-05:00

I pass a neat little farm on the way to town every day. I decided to take 2 photos of it in different conditions.

Ploughman's Lunch

2008-10-23T10:55:00.002-05:00

Today I had a classic of the English Pubs - a ploughman's lunch. They are easy to put together. All you need is a hunk of bread, some butter, a hunk of cheese, a pickle or 2, and maybe some carrots, vegetables or a half an apple.