Category: Food

Enjoy a twofer today: two recipes for macaroni and cheese!

This isn’t my favorite mac and cheese recipe, but it’s a close second. It uses blue cheese (along with sharp cheddar) to give the mac and cheese a complex, “adult” flavor.

It’s best to not skimp on the ingredients when making this dish. Since it’s designed to appeal to adult tastes, this mac and cheese would taste heavenly with crumbled Stilton and a fine sharp English cheddar. The packs of “regular” shredded cheddar and tubs of blue cheese in your grocer’s dairy counter will work OK… but the dish will not be nearly as good!

 

 

Ingredients:

1 pound elbow macaroni
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups whole milk
1 cup whipping cream
2 1/2 cups plus 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated and divided
2 cups blue cheese, crumbled

Hardware:

1 large skillet
1 large pot
1 13×9″ pan
1 colander or strainer
Cooking spray or butter

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13×9 baking pan using cooking spray (or butter if you really want to be naughty!)

2) Cook the macaroni per package directions. For best results, try to undercook the pasta just a wee bit, so that it’s still very much al dente. Drain and leave in strainer until the sauce is ready.

3) Melt the butter in the large skillet over medium heat. When almost completely melted, add the flour. Stir constantly to let the roux cook for several minutes (until the roux almost starts bubbling and no longer tastes like flour.

4) Gradually whisk in the milk and cream, and simmer until mixture thickens, whisking constantly.

5) Reduce heat to low and slowly add the 2 1/2 cups of grated cheddar and crumbled blue cheese. Whisk until cheese melts, about 2 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.

6) Add cooked pasta to sauce and mix well.

7) Transfer mixture to prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining cheddar.

8) Bake until golden brown on top and bubbling, around 25 minutes.

I’m a Southern boy at heart, and one of my favorite meals from childhood is country fried steak. Like many Southern dishes, country fried steak came about as a way to make something delicious out of inferior ingredients. Although cardiologists might shriek in horror at the fat content of this dish (and honestly, you just can’t eat country fried steak every day), it’s simply delicious… and cheap to make, too!

Ingredients:

Cube steak
1 cup flour
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne pepper (optional)
1 Egg
3 tablespoons milk

Hardware:

1 Ziploc bag
1 small bowl
2 shallow dishes or plates
1 deep skillet (cast iron preferred)

1) Put the flour in a Ziploc bag. Add the salt, pepper and cayenne to the flour. Seal the bag and shake vigorously to mix.

2) Crack the egg into a bowl and beat slightly. Add the milk, then continue beating until thoroughly mixed.

3) Put about an inch of vegetable oil in the cast iron skillet (you could always use lard or shortening for best taste, although this sends the fat and calorie content through the roof!). Heat the skillet over medium high heat until the oil is hot.

4) Dump the flour mixture and egg batter into separate dishes or plates.

5) Take one of the cube steaks and drag it through the flour to coat both sides, shaking off any excess flour. Dredge the steak in the egg mixture until coated on both sides, again shaking off any excess. Put the steak back in the flour to coat again, shaking off any excess flour.

6) Place steak in hot oil. Allow to cook 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

7) Repeat with additional cube steaks.

Country fried steak is always served smothered in gravy. You can make your own from the leftover oil and some flour, or you can just use powdered gravy mix. Opinions vary widely as to which gravy you should use. Some swear by a white gravy, but I prefer brown gravy. It’s honestly your call – there’s no “wrong” answer here.

You know how it is with Wikipedia: you go there for some specific thing, and the next thing you know you’ve spent hours looking at different pages. I went there recently looking for some information and I somehow ended up reading the entry for doner kebabs, which somehow led me to the entry on currywurst.

Currywurst is Germany’s most popular street food, especially in the cities of Berlin and Hamburg. It consists of slices of bratwurst topped with a tomato sauce that’s best described as “curry ketchup”. It might not sound that good at first, but trust me: it’s delicious. It’s also amazingly easy to make at home:

Ingedients:

2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
3 tablespoons chili sauce (or Sriracha hot sauce)
1 good-sized onion
3 tablespoons honey or sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic (diced)
1 tablespoon paprika
Curry powder to taste (I use 4 tablespoons)

1 pound bratwurst or sausage of your choice
1 beer (optional)
French fries (optional)

Hardware:

1 2qt. pot with lid
1 large cooking skillet
Cutting board
Tongs
Knife
Large spoon

1) Chop the onion and place into the 2qt. pot. Add the garlic and just enough oil to coat the mixture, then cook over medium heat until transparent, stirring frequently.

2) Add tomato sauce, chili or hot sauce, honey or sugar, black pepper, paprika and curry powder. You may defer adding the curry powder until the very end if you’re cooking for people with varying “spiciness thresholds”, although for best taste add it now. Stir well.

3) Bring the sauce almost to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4) While sauce is simmering, cook bratwurst according to package instructions. I prefer cooking the sausages in a pan in beer, but that’s just me.

5) When sausages are fully cooked, remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Then cut the sausages “on the slant” into bite-sized pieces. When done, add to currywurst sauce and stir.

6) Deep-fry some french fries. Put them on the side of a plate, then spoon the currywurst onto the plate. Eat the currywurst as-is, and use the currywurst sauce as a ketchup for the fries.

I have sort of a “love-hate” thing for celebrities.

On the one hand, the egalitarian streak in me thinks of them as regular people, just like you and me. This is why I get so bent out of shape when celebrities easily get out of legal trouble or go on TV to tell us who to vote for.

On the other hand, they are “America’s Royalty”, aren’t they? That’s why it’s just so hard for me to picture Tom Cruise popping a Lean Cuisine in the microwave, or Julia Roberts sorting through piles of “you’ve been pre-approved for a platinum Mastercard!” junk mail.

I guess the illusion of royalty is why I’m so fascinated by celebrity recipes. Again, celebs are just people, and like anyone else they had mothers who whipped up green bean casserole or beans and franks when they were kids. Maybe I secretly think that celebrities don’t eat. Maybe I think that every celebrity, no matter how d-list, has their own cooking staff. I don’t know… but the thought of Reese Witherspoon or Johnny Depp in the kitchen just strikes me as… odd.

That’s why I’m fascinated with this site, which has dozens of recipes culled from various celebrity cookbooks. Most of the “celebrities” featured on the site are from your parent’s (or grandparent’s) generation… and some of the recipe names just might crack you up – “Liberace’s Sticky Buns” and “Dinah Shore’s Red Snapper” come to mind – but there’s lots of great stuff to be had there. Even better: each recipe is available as a Microsoft Word file, so there’s no need to cut and paste!

Ever wanted to make tacos at home but found yourself without taco seasoning? Fear not – it’s dead simple to make taco seasoning at home! And you can even customize the mix to your tastes or health needs! Just start with my base recipe:

2 tablespoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

All you’ve gotta do is measure each ingredient and dump it into a Ziploc bag. Once you’ve gotten all the ingredients in, close the bag and shake vigorously to mix. The base recipe makes around 1 ounce, which is good for seasoning 1-1.5 pounds of ground beef. Just brown the beef, drain, add the dry mix and 3/4 cup water and stir well. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, stirring often, then switch heat to low and simmer for several minutes. You can also scale this recipe up and make a huge batch that’ll last for around 6 months in an airtight container.

You can, of course, easily tweak this recipe to your preferences. I like my tacos fiery, so I usually add an extra tablespoon of chili powder, a couple of tablespoons of Habanero Seasoning From Hell, and use 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt instead of 1 teaspoon of table salt (sea salt has a much more pronounced flavor than table salt, so you can use less).

You ever have one of those recipes or dinner ideas that just sits around in your mind for a couple of years before you actually get around to making it? Cap’n Crunch Chicken is one of those dishes for me. I vaguely recalled that one of those “celebrity restaurants” (Planet Hollywood?) used Cap’n Crunch to bread their chicken. But then Lisa mentioned something about it in, oh I dunno… 2003? 2004? Something like that. Well, I just filed the idea away until last week, when we were in the cereal aisle at the grocery store. I decided to pick up some Cap’n Crunch… mostly as a breakfast food, but also to make this dish. I can’t believe I waited that long… this chicken is delicious!

Ingredients:

2 cups of original Cap’n Crunch cereal
1 package of chicken breast tenderloins (or chicken breasts)
2 eggs
milk
1/2 cup flour
salt
pepper
cooking spray

Hardware:

1 baking dish\cookie sheet (if you’re baking the chicken)
2 large Ziploc bags
1 shallow dish
1 food processor

1) Preheat oven to 375F. You may opt to deep fry this dish instead of baking, however directions will be provided for baking only.

2) If using chicken breasts, cut off excess fat and cut the chicken into strips. If using breast tenderloins, trim any excess fat off them.

3) Put Cap’n Crunch into your food processor and process into a fine powder. Lisa has one of those small (1 cup capacity) food processors; I had to process the cereal in two batches, but it worked beautifully and was easier than dragging out the full-size food processor. When done, put cereal powder into one of the Ziploc bags.

4) Crack the eggs and place them in the shallow dish. Add a splash of milk and stir vigorously until the eggs are broken up and combined with milk.

5) Put flour in remaining Ziplock bag, along with a dash each of salt and pepper.

6) OPTIONAL: Line cookie sheet\baking dish with aluminum foil for easy clean up.

7) Spray cookie sheet\baking dish with cooking spray.

8) Place all of the chicken in Ziploc bag with flour. Seal bag and shake vigorously until all pieces are coated.

9) Remove chicken from flour bag one piece at at time. Shake off excess flour and dip into egg mixture, making sure to coat chicken completely. Then move chicken piece to Ziplock bag with Cap’n Crunch, seal the bag, and shake vigorously until chicken is coated with cereal powder. Remove chicken from Ziplock and place on the cookie sheet.

10) Repeat step 9 with remaining pieces of chicken.

11) Let the chicken sit on the cookie sheet at least 5 minutes before placing in oven (this will help the cereal coating “set” on the chicken.

12) Before placing chicken in oven, spray with a light coat of cooking spray (this promotes browning).

13) Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until chicken reaches 160F. For best results, remove chicken from oven and flip pieces over halfway through cooking time.

OK, this isn’t so much a “recipe” as it is “something I came up with one night”. But it tastes pretty darn good, if I do say so myself!

Ingredients

1 pack of Johnsonville Chorizo sausages
6 large tortillas
Guacamole (or fresh avocados)
Shredded pepper jack cheese
Garnish for tacos (shredded lettuce, onions, tomatoes, etc.)

Hardware

1 skillet
1 microwave
1 knife
Tongs
Paper towels

Note: I rarely mention recipe ingredients by brand name, but Johnsonville’s chorizo sausages are a must for this recipe. The Johnsonville sausages taste pretty good, and are pretty close to what you’d get from a Mexican butcher or specialty store. Also – and this is crucial – the Johnsonville sausages have edible casings, which is a bit of a rarity in the chorizo world. Most of the chorizos you see at your local MegaMart have plastic casings which must be removed before cooking… and also result in a cooked product that’s more like ground beef than a link sausage.

Also, feel free to use (or not use) any type of veggies you’d garnish a taco with. If you don’t like onions or lettuce… just don’t use them!

1) Cook the sausages in a pan per the instructions on the package.

2) While the sausages are cooking, chop any lettuce, onion or tomatoes you might wish to use. If you’re using fresh avocados, cut the avocado meat into long strips (like an apple wedge). Also, now’s the time to shred some cheese if you aren’t using the pre-shredded stuff.

3) Just before the sausages are done, place the tortillas in paper towels and microwave for 10-20 seconds, or whatever the package indicates.

4) Assemble the “hot dogs” by placing a chorizo in the middle of a warmed tortilla. Add guacamole\avocado, cheese and garnish, then roll up like a burrito. I prefer the “California method” (folding the right and left side over and rolling up the middle) over the “Texas method” (folding the bottom first, then the sides, which results in one open end) for these dogs.

Curry is one of my all-time favorite dishes. I simply cannot resist the exotic spices and silky texture. One of the main reasons I love London much is that curry is so ubiquitous there, one rarely has to walk more than 500 feet in any direction in order to get some curried goodness.

Sadly, a lot of Americans don’t eat curry. I think part of the reason might be because they don’t make it at home. I think they’re somehow under the impression that curries are too complex and too time-consuming to make in their own kitchens. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Curry is dead simple to make, and once you get the hang of it, you can make any curry in around 20 minutes. And in this post, I’ll show you how to do just that.

But first: a word about curry powder. The word “curry” is a rough translation for an Indian word for “sauce”. And just as there are hundreds of sauces in Western cuisine, there are just as many types of curry. In India, curry powder is usually made in the home. Each household might have their own special mix of spices, just as cooks in the Southern U.S. might have their own special blend of barbeque sauce. So there isn’t one single “type” of curry powder. Your local megamart might carry three of four types of curry powder or paste… so which one should you get? Well, there’s no rule about which powder goes with which meat, but as a general rule, I find that the darker the meat you use, the darker the curry powder you should use. So dark brown and deep red curry powders go well with beef or lamb, while yellow curries go better with chicken, shrimp or fish. If you local megamart only sells one type of curry powder, it’s probably “British style” and works best with beef or lamb.

Continue reading “How To Make A Curry”

This recipe is here just to give you the idea of making it. Honestly, there’s not much to it but you may never have thought about making this. Try it sometime, it’s heavenly!

Ingredients:

Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnuts (1 per sundae)
Your favorite ice cream
Magic Shell (or similar topping)
Cookies (optional, for garnish)

Hardware:

1 microwave
1 ice cream scoop
Plates to serve sundaes

Before you begin putting this delicious treat together you need to think about a couple of things. First of all, what flavor of ice cream will you use? While I’m partial to Ben and Jerry’s, you might not want to use a really complex flavor with this sundae. “Cookie Dough” ice cream might taste great by itself, but once you add the sweetness of the doughnut to the mix, it’s just too much. Try plain chocolate or vanilla or both, but not something with lots of flavors and “stuff” (cookie dough bits, brownie bits, nuts, etc.) in it. Also, consider how many sundaes you’re making. If making 2 or more sundaes, you might want to “pre-scoop” the ice cream and put it back in the freezer for a couple of minutes. Speed is of the essence with this dessert and you don’t want the doughnuts to cool off while you scoop the ice cream!

1) Scoop the ice cream and put it back in the freezer for a minute or two.  If you’re only making one sundae, you don’t have to “pre-scoop” the ice cream, but you will need to move quickly.

2) Place a Krispy Kreme on a plate and heat in microwave for 5-8 seconds or until hot.

3) Place scoop of ice cream on top of doughnut.

4) Add cookie or other garnish (if desired) then cover the ice cream with Magic Shell.  The Magic Shell won’t harden to the doughnut, so just aim for the ice cream!

5) Eat!

This classic British dessert is a perfect “comfort food”. Although a couple of the ingredients might be difficult to locate in some places, trust me – your efforts will be rewarded! I always get this dessert with the prix fixe menu at The Stockpot restaurant in London and have never been disappointed! Although the “crumble” part of this dish seems suspiciously like Grandma’s apple cobbler, it’s the custard that makes this dessert so sublime!

Crumble Ingredients:

2 apples (Bramley apples are preferred but Granny Smith apples will do)
½ cup self-rising flour
2 + 1 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 + 1 tablespoons demerara sugar (substitute brown or Turbinado sugar if necessary)
4 tablespoons butter
1 lemon (optional, but a good idea)

Continue reading “Apple Crumble!”