Category: Food

When I was a kid, I loved clam chip dip – you know, the stuff they sold in the dairy case at the grocery store right next to the French onion and ranch dips. For whatever reason – increasing cost, decreased demand, or both – it simply disappeared from store shelves… I haven’t seen it in ages.

The other day I went on a nostalgia trip and tracked down a recipe online. After some tweaking, I’ve come up with a recipe that’s not exactly like the stuff I remember from childhood… but it’s pretty close:

Ingredients:

1 6oz. can chopped or minced clams
1 16oz. container sour cream
1 package soup mix (see below)
Fresh or bottled lemon juice

Hardware:

1 container (with lid)
1 spoon

1) Pour or spoon the sour cream into your container.

2) Add the soup mix.

3) Open the can of clams and drain the juice into the empty sour cream container (do not throw away yet!)

4) Add the clams to the dip and mix well.

5) Add a small amount of the reserved clam juice to the dip and mix well. You want to add enough to give the dip a clam taste throughout, but not enough to make the dip runny. I use about half the reserved juice, but that’s just me.

6) Add enough lemon juice to “brighten” the flavor of the dip. This is around half of a fresh lemon, or a couple of squirts of ReaLemon.

7) Cover and chill for several hours before serving.

As far as the “soup mix” goes, I use the “Savory Herb with Garlic” style from Lipton’s “Recipe Secrets” line. Plain old onion soup mix will work in a pinch, but I like the garlicky taste the Recipe Secrets mix gives the dip.

The missus and I were at Walmart this evening, stocking up on some groceries. Imagine my joy when I turned down the cookie aisle and saw these sitting on the shelf:

Yes, folks, Mallomars are in stock at your local Walmart!

If you’ve never had one before, a Mallomar is a graham cracker cookie with marshmallow on top, all encased in a dark chocolate coating. It’s similar to the Moon Pie, a longtime Southern favorite. In fact, both of these delicious treats were introduced in the same year: 1913. But where Moon Pies are more like a “sandwich”, Mallomars are more like cookies. Delicious cookies.

Because they melt so easily, Nabisco only makes them in the cooler months between October and April. Folks have been known to stock up on them late in the winter so as to have a “spring supply” of ’em. And for some reason, Mallomars are really popular in New York: around 70% of all Mallomars are purchased in the New York metropolitan area.

Similar cookies are also popular in Europe. In the German-speaking areas of Switzerland, the local version of the cookies are called Mohrenköpfe (Moor’s heads)!

I’ll make no apologies for it: I love to eat, and I love to eat junk food. Now, I don’t eat Twinkies every day of my life, and although my dinners are typically heavy on the animal protein, I usually at least try to throw a couple of vegetables in the mix. But when it comes time to eat crap – like, I dunno… at a state fair or something – I can throw down like there’s no tomorrow.

The 2008 Texas State Fair is over now, but thanks to a foodie website I was able to pull up the fair’s menu. And my God… it almost makes me quiver just reading it! Here are some of the highlights:

Chicken Fried Bacon – Thick and peppery Farm Pac® bacon is seasoned, double-dipped in a special batter and breading and deep-fried. Served with a creamy side of ranch or honey mustard sauce.   Served at  N30 located on Nimitz at MLK. Winner of Best Taste in the Big Tex Choice Awards competition.

Fried Banana Split – A mixture of banana and honey peanut butter is rolled in balls, battered and deep-fried and topped with assorted, delicious fixings, including powdered sugar, caramel and chocolate syrups, chopped peanuts, whipped cream and banana split flavored ice cream bites then fittingly crowned with the traditional cherry.  Served at the Auto Grill inside the Automobile Building. Winner of Most Creative in the Big Tex Choice Awards competition.

Texas Fried Jelly Belly Beans – Jelly Belly Beans are rolled in funnel cake batter and fried to a crunch.  People can share the treat with friends and try to guess the flavors before biting down.  Enjoy at the Granny’s Funnel Cake stand C6 at the south side of the Coliseum and at Rico’s Burgers, stand C7, behind Gateway Pavilion. Finalist in the Big Tex Choice Awards competition.

Continue reading “God Bless Texas!”

With the economy in the tank, many of us are looking for ways to cut back. Groceries are a huge expense, and any way you can save a few dollars at the local megamart is always appreciated, right?

Lately I’ve been on a “leg quarters” kick. Our local Bi-Lo runs leg quarters on sale every couple of weeks for something like 59¢ a pound. I was therefore able to buy a giant 10-pound tray of them for less than $6. The only problem is… what to do with them? Sure, they taste great when cooked on the grill and slathered in BBQ sauce… but now it’s getting too cool to grill.

I stumbled across this recipe yesterday. It is, quite possibly, the EASIEST recipe I’ve ever found. It’s so easy, in fact, that I was deeply skeptical of it. But you know what? I tried it out and it was pretty damn good! What’s more, it makes the entire house smell like a Chinese restaurant! Try it out and tell me what you think!

Ingredients

1 chicken leg quarter per person
Garlic powder (not garlic salt)
Soy sauce

Hardware

1 glass baking dish

All you’ve gotta do is preheat your oven to 350F, put the leg quarter(s) in a glass baking dish, sprinkle liberally with garlic powder, then drizzle around 1 tablespoon of soy sauce per leg quarter over the chicken. Bake uncovered for around 35 minutes until the skin is crispy and delicious!

As I said, I was suspicious of this recipe when I first saw it. “Doesn’t it need some Five Spice Powder? Or some mustard powder? Or something?” But then I read the comments and saw everyone raving about it. You can always tweak the recipe if you want, but it tastes pretty good as-is!

I have a confession to make: I love Chef Boyardee Pizza Kits. They come in a box that contains pizza crust mix, pizza sauce (with or without pepperoni), and some Parmesan cheese. All for just $2.37! You just add some warm water to the pizza crust mix, mix it up, let it rise, put the dough in a pan, add the sauce, sprinkle on the cheese, and in 16-20 minutes you have pizza!

Look, I don’t like the pizza kits because of their kick-ass taste. I like them because they remind me of my childhood. My mom loved buying the kits, because they meant that she’d have the night off in the kitchen. As kids, my sister and I loved them because they were fun to make. And that’s really the gist of it: making pizza at home is fun! Buy one of those kits sometimes – they’re fun to put together… and when you’re done, you have pizza!

Another reason I love the kits so much is that they kicked off my love of homemade pizza. I used to make pizza at home a lot. New York pizzas. Chicago pizzas. Pizzas that creatively used leftovers. Pizzas that cost me $50 in ingredients. You name it, I did it. Especially after I turned 21 and found an awesome recipe for Sam Adams Pizza Crust (2 c flour, 1 c whole wheat flour, 1 T baking powder, 12 oz Samuel Adams Boston Lager).

Even if you don’t buy a kit or become a home pizza baking fanatic, pizza is easy to make at home and cheap, too! Just remember to follow the path of Zen:

THE CRUST

The crust is the most important part of the pizza. Seriously. Don’t skimp on this step, as having a good crust is the heart of a good pizza.

Continue reading “The Zen of Homemade Pizza”

OK, so by now I’m sure you’ve seen the Budweiser American Ale commercials on TV. Lisa and I had company last night, and I picked up a sixer of these just for kicks. I tried it… and, for the most part, I liked it.

American Ale is AB’s first attempt at a genuine push for an ale on the market. They’ve given it the honored Budweiser name instead of pawning it off on their off-brands like Rolling Rock or Michelob. And they’ve advertised the hell out of this stuff. Will American Ale be able to take on Boston Brewing, to say nothing of the Sierra Navadas of the world?

Well, here’s the thing: compared to even Sam Adams Boston Ale, American Ale just isn’t that interesting. It tastes… pretty good, just “less” of an ale. As Budweiser is the vanilla definition of a lager, so too is American Ale a bland ale. But it is an ale, which is a plus over lagers in my book. Even a bad ale is better than most good lagers to my taste, so… the more the merrier, I say!

If American Ale isn’t the most interesting ale at first glance, it is surprisingly drinkable. After the first one, the second and third became much more enjoyable. If you’re drinking for quantity and not quality, but you’d still like something with a little class and taste… American Ale is for you.

But now… there’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room: AB’s insanely large distribution system. Unlike Bass, which is touch-and-go as far as finding it on tap in a lot of places, AB products are sold almost everywhere. AB could snap their fingers and make American Ale appear almost anywhere they wanted. Which is intriguing. If I found myself in a bar that only has Heineken and Corona as imports (you know the places), American Ale would be a good second choice.

I don’t see myself turning away from PBR, but if my local is out of Pabst, American Ale would be a good choice as a replacement. It’s lawnmower beer, really… it’s it’s a decent one!

Man, I’m hungry! No wait – make that hungry… no- make it hungry! You know what would make my hunger go away? This:

Personally, I’d go for a 3×2 animal style extra toast with some well done fries (see here). I tell ya though… I’m almost hungry enough to eat this:

Sigh. Too bad we don’t have any In and Outs here on the east coast. That’d really hit the spot right now!

On a recent vacation, I picked up a pack of these:

Yes – they’re deep fried peanuts! Basically, you take raw peanuts in the shell and cook them in peanut oil for 8-10 minutes, then sprinkle them with salt. They’re absolutely delicious! They taste like your basic roasted peanut, but have a hint of that that nice “fried” taste that satisfies so well by hitting every single one of those umami taste buds on the way down.

Even cooler: you can eat the shell, too! Deep frying tenderizes the shells and infuses them with a delicious peanutty taste! So you just pop the whole thing in your mouth and enjoy some deep fried goodness! Still, many might find the shells a bit too… fiborous for comfort.

Deep fried peanuts are delicious… if not cardiologist-approved!

Loose Meat Sandwiches (also known as Maid-Rites, after the restaurant chain that made them popular) are a delicious treat from the American Midwest. They’re like a Sloppy Joe without the sauce, and they’re one of the easiest sandwiches in the world to make.

In fact, they’re so easy to make that I won’t even bother making a traditional numbered list for the steps:

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs. ground beef
1 small to medium onion, chopped
1 can Campbell’s Chicken Gumbo soup
Pickle chips (optional)
Bread

Hardware:

1 knife (to cut the onion)
1 large skillet

Simply brown the ground beef with the chopped onion, then drain off the excess fat. Return the skillet to the burner and add the can of soup (DO NOT ADD WATER!). Stir well and simmer over medium-low heat for 5-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place heaping amounts of the meat mixture on the bread and top with pickle chips.

CONSIDERATIONS:

Meat: This sandwich became popular due to the high-quality meat available almost anywhere in the Midwest. While your average grocery store ground beef will do, for best results try it with ground sirloin from a quality butcher. The difference will be amazing!

Sauce: The meat should be dry in appearance, and not make the bread instantly soggy. If you pick up the sandwich and sauce gushes everywhere, you either added water to the mixture or haven’t cooked it long enough.

Bread: Loose Meat Sandwiches are traditionally served on regular hamburger buns, although almost any type of sandwich bread will do: Kaiser rolls, onion rolls, baguettes… even plain white bread. If you’re using plain old sandwich bread, you’ll find that it works better if the bread is toasted.

Scaling: It’s hard to say exactly how many sandwiches the above recipe will make, as it depends on how much meat the diners prefer, as well as what type of bread you’re using. You can scale this base recipe up as much as you want, however.

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

Now this is my all-time favorite macaroni and cheese recipe… and with good reason! It costs like… $25 to make this dish from scratch, but Good Lord… is it worth it! The recipe is available all over the Internet and is usually attributed to singer Patti LaBelle. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I don’t care… It’s just good!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound elbow macaroni
8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Muenster cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mild Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup (8 ounces) Velveeta, cut into small cubes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Hardware:

1 2-quart casserole dish (deep)
1 large pot
1 large saucepan
1 large bowl
1 colander or strainer
Cooking spray or butter

1) Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly butter or spray a deep 2 1/2-quart casserole.

2) Bring the large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the oil, then the elbow macaroni, and cook until the macaroni is just tender, about 7 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain well. Return to the cooking pot.

3) In a small saucepan, melt eight tablespoons of the butter. Stir into the macaroni.

4) In a large bowl, mix the Muenster, mild and sharp Cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheeses.

5) To the macaroni, add the half-and-half, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese mixture, the cubed Velveeta and the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the buttered casserole.

6) Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2-cup of shredded cheese and dot with the remaining one tablespoon of butter.

7) Bake until it’s bubbling around the edges, about 35 minutes.