Beef Stew

Sorry for the lack of updates recently folks! It's been a busy holiday season, hopefully you had a wonderful Christmas!

On the colder evenings, I like to ladle up a hot bowl of hearty Beef Stew and some crackers.

First, the meat portion. I use the Stew, or chili meat from my local grocer, but if you want to use just about any cut of steak, go ahead. Cut it into 1 inch cubes and brown on all sides. It should take about 5-7 minutes.

Once that's done, add in your Crushed Tomatoes, cubed Potatoes, Pepper, Garlic powder, two Bay Leaves, Onion powder and Mixed Veggies.

Let this stew on medium low for about 30-45 minutes covered. Stir every few minutes, otherwise the bottom will scorch, and that's not tasty at all!

Test for tenderness of the Potatoes. Once they're fork tender you're good to go! You can add some salt in if you'd like, but oddly enough it tastes perfectly fine to me as is. Bust out some crackers and enjoy this 1 pot, hearty and easy dish!

1 lb Stew Meat or cubed Steak
1 pack frozen Mixed Veggies
3 Large Russet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Bay Leaves
1 can crushed Tomato
1 Tsp Garlic powder
1 Tsp Onion powder
1/2 Tsp ground Black Pepper

Brown Meat on medium in a large pot (5 quarts or so for space). Add remaining ingredients, lower heat to medium low, cover and stir every few minutes for 45 minutes. Test for Potato tenderness.

Lemon Potatoes

A few years back I had the opportunity to visit a restaurant in Houston called Niko Niko's, a greek place. I knew it would be good, as when I went at 8pm, it was dark and the line was out the door. I finally got to sample some of the food, and it was really very good and well worth the wait. I went back a few times before I moved, and I got, what they called "oven potatoes". I couldn't quite identify all of their ingredients, but I knew it was cooked in Lemon juice. It seems so odd to do this, but the subtle flavors were fantastic! I tried to recreate them, much to no avail but I did get close and make quite a good side dish in my experiments.


First, take some medium Potatoes and slice them in half only. Boil them separately for 10 minutes. We're not going for soft, just starting the process. We'll be roasting these, and to get them roasted all the way through the tops would burn if you're not really careful. Preheat your oven to 425F

Next, take your Lemons, roll them on the counter to break up more juice, and squeeze them into a 9 X 13 pan.

Don't worry about the seeds, you won't be eating them, so just squeeze with all your might into the pan. Add in about 2 tbsp of Olive Oil, 2 tsp Salt and 2 cups of water to the pan.

Once that's done, remove your par-boiled Potatoes from their other pot and place them into the dish. It should barely cover the tops of the potatoes.

Pop these in the oven for 30 minutes, checking on them occasionally. As the water boils down the tops of the potatoes will be exposed towards the end of the cooking process, crisping the tops, but not burning them.

This is the basic recipie, I've found that a bit of Rosemary or Oregano will add more depth, but really it's up to the individual.


3-4 medium russet Potatoes peeled and cut in half lenghtwise
2 medium Lemons
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Olive Oil
2 cups Water
1/2 tsp Oregano (optional)

Preheat oven to 425F. Peel and cut Potatoes lengthwise in half. Par-boil Potatoes for 10 minutes. Juice lemons in 9 X 13 pan, add water, Olive Oil, Salt and Oregano. Add Potatoes to 9 X 13 pan. Place in oven for 30 minutes, checking occasionally. Check with a fork to ensure the Potatoes are tender. Once Potatoes are done, remove from the oven, and serve.

From the Horses Mouth, Part 2: Thanksgiving Holidays!

As we approach the holidays, we all have a lot to be thankful for, including horses. I mentioned to Matt what we were having for Thanksgiving and he had a few requests which we obliged. Although he's thankful for his daily ration of hay, grain and whatever else he lays his eyes on thats green, leafy and stationary, he likes an occasional peppermint, carrot, or in this case plate of various goodies he's never tried before.

Happy Holidays, enjoy!

Coconut Chicken El Diablo!

Once you finish making and eating this dish, I think you'll agree that the title of this dish needs more "!" in it. I was down in south Texas a few years back and I wanted something spicy. Living in a college town at the time, I had access to huge portions of food at very cheap prices but little of it had any spice. Mostly mass produced food on the cheap for starving college kids. I went to the local market and came upon some Chipotle chilies. Basically they're smoked Jalapeno peppers, and the kind I picked up had them packed in Adobo sauce, a red spice sauce.

Now racking my brain, what would go good with these en masse that I could make? I wasn't about to put an entire can of this stuff on a burger, I may have wanted spicy but I wasn't THAT far gone. I decided on Chicken!

I took a couple of Chicken breasts and cut them into 1 inch squares and browned them in a pan with a little non stick spray and added the Chipotle peppers. It was exceptionally hot, delicious, and almost unbearable after 5 pieces of Chicken. Chipotle is one of those peppers that builds the more you eat on an almost exponential scale. I needed something to tame the heat somewhat so I could still enjoy my dish. My next trip to the store I wandered a bit further up the ethnic isle and noticed Coconut Milk in the Asian spice area. I pondered for a few moments, and picked up a can.

From here, I browned the chicken on all sides in a pan, turned down the heat to very low, just barely a simmer and added the Coconut Milk in, scraped the brown bits off of the bottom of the pan, and let it bubble for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, I added in... the peppers.

Tiny peppers of delicious death!

I added in a bit of salt, and about 2 tsp of Sugar to help bring out the flavor of the Coconut Milk. I let this bubble away for another 5 minutes and turned off the heat. My eyes weren't completely watering at this point, so I knew I had curbed the heat in the peppers. I didn't break or chop open the peppers in the container this time. The first time I did, and I paid for it later.

This dish is mildly sweet, Coconutty, and quite warm. If you're looking for a night of hot food, this will definitely slake your need for it. I highly recommend a bowl of ice cream nearby to cool your tongue, or perhaps a beer to help tone down the heat as you eat this. While not as hot as say, a habanero pepper, these pack enough of a punch for just about anyone who likes heat. If you're feeling bold, eat one of the peppers, just be careful as all the ones I've ever eaten out of the can are concentrated with heat and seeds. They are quite tasty!

1 can Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
2-3 Chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch squares
1 can Coconut Milk
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar

Brown cut Chicken on all sides on medium heat in a non stick, or non stick sprayed pan. Lower heat to lowest setting, add Coconut Milk and scrape all the brown bits off of the bottom of the pan, simmer 5 minutes. Add Chipotle peppers, Salt, and Sugar. Simmer another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve!

Mojitos!

Every once in a while I enjoy a nice cocktail in the evening. In the summer time I like a minty Mojito to cut the heat at the end of the day. I've had them in bars and I like them, so I decided to try and make it at home. In an experiment, I decided to combine ingredients so I didn't have to ready the mint, squeeze the lime ect. It turned out pretty well, so I'll share it here!

The first step is to make a simple syrup. There's all sorts of ways to make it, in a 1:1, 2:1, 1:2 ratio, and so on. All this means is a simple number of parts of Sugar to Water. I make mine in a 1:1 ratio, if you like yours less sweet, go for a 1:2 ratio.

Put your stove top to medium heat and stir constantly. In this early stage the Sugar will settle on the bottom and will scorch pretty easy. After about 4 minutes most of the Sugar will be dissolved in the water. Then we can move onto step 2.

Minty fresh!

This, is the Mint. Make sure there's no black leaves or discoloration on the Mint. Once you've determined the Mint is devoid of any blemishes, rinse and pat dry. Then step 3!

RAWR!

Crush said mint. This will bruise the Mint, and help extract the Mint flavor more easily. Just ball it up in your fist and toss the whole thing as is into the simple syrup. Then, step 4!

You've picked up some Limes, and they're looking pretty decent. If you want to, you can finely grate some of the green on the outside of the cleaned skins for some Lime oil in the mix. It's tasty, but you can omit this if you want. What we're looking for is on the inside of these green gems. They're small, but if the season is decent and you microwave (7 seconds on high ONLY) or the more physical rolling, you can get a LOT of juice out of these.

Just press firmly against the surface you're working with and roll back and forth several times. You'll feel the Lime is "squishier" to the touch. Cut in half and juice. Then step 5!

Add the juice to the Mint and syrup mix. At this point the mixture should be letting off a little steam. We're not looking for a boil, just a nice simmer. Let it simmer away for 8-10 minutes and sample with a spoon. If it's not minty enough, let it steep for another 5 minutes. Once that's done, you're ready to remove the mint from the syrup, and place in a container.

From there you can mix independently with some Club Soda, or add in your silver Rum directly to the container. Whichever way is your choice!


1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Water
1 package Mint (or a handful if you're growing it)
3 Limes

On medium heat in a sauce pan, combine Sugar and Water, stirring constantly for 4 minutes until Sugar and Water are completely incorporated. Clean Mint, crush and drop into syrup. Cut and juice Limes, add to the syrup. Steep for 8-10 minutes. Remove Mint from the syrup, and place syrup carefully in a pour-able container. Add alcohol of choice (silver Rum is recommended).

Hummus among us

I've read around for quite a while about something called Hummus. It sounds strange by name and looks pretty nondescript by itself. I'm not a huge fan of whole Chick Peas, but I wanted to give this a shot. After all, some of my favorite things I've tried were after taking a leap on a new idea. Lots of people wrinkle their nose at the idea, but have never tried Hummus, kinda like we were when we were kids. Broccoli? EWWWW!

I consulted a few folks that have had, or make their own Hummus for some ideas, did some searching and found a very good base that I cobbled together. This can be adjusted to your liking, but even this base is good by itself.

The ingredients! I have some Lemon juice (fresh lemons are better, but this was in the fridge and worked fine), Chick Peas (Garbanzo Beans), Salt, Pepper, Tahini (Sesame Seed paste), Olive Oil, Cumin, Garlic.

Hummus is about a nice balance. Each part helps compliment or balance with another ingredient. Drain the Chick Peas and put them into a blender or food processor, add in 2 heaping Tbsp of Tahini, 2 Tsp Olive Oil, 1/4 Tsp Pepper, 1/4 Tsp Cumin, 2 cloves Garlic, 1/4 cup Lemon juice (or 2 small juiced Lemons) and 1/4 Tsp Salt.

You will need to stop the blender or processor frequently to scrape down the sides and get the Chick Peas down into the blades to get this smooth. You will need to add some water, or more Lemon juice to help keep the process going. Use a little at a time to ensure your Hummus isn't watery.

I like to add in more Lemon juice than water as this works together, as I like a bit more of a sour tang to the dip. Also, as the dip is processing you can decide if you like a little more smoothness by adding more Olive Oil. It's a good oil for you, but I wouldn't go TOO nuts with it. Put in a little at a time like the water till you get to the consistency you want.

The dip looks pretty plain here, but I guarantee it's tasty! Packed with protein, fiber, and other nutrients just in the Chick Peas, this is a great dip to fill you up and keep you full for quite a while! You can sprinkle the dip with some Paprika, red peppers, Cayenne pepper, whatever you'd like to dress it up!

Now remember, this is a base dip. I've added more garlic, Cayenne pepper, whatever you'd like to the dip to adjust it to your tastes! I'm looking forward to finding some sun-dried Tomatoes to add into my next batch. This is traditionally eaten with Pita chips, but I've found Carrots and tortilla chips work great. Pretty much whatever you'd want to eat on a veggie or chip as a dip will work!


1 16oz can Chick Peas
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Pepper
1/4 cup Lemon juice
2 Tsp Olive Oil
1/4 Tsp Cumin
2 Tbsp Tahini
2 chopped cloves Garlic
Water as needed

Add all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blend and scrape down sides. Add Water or Lemon juice as needed to help blend or for taste.

Scotch Eggs

I saw a video a long time ago about an interesting dish called Scotch Eggs. At first I was wondering if they meant they were poached in Scotch whiskey? It seemed odd, so I watched and it wasn't at all what I originally thought.  I made a few the other night and decided to give them a taste. They're quite good, and darned near a delicious hand held whole breakfast. I couldn't find a way to incorporate the milk into the dish, so you'll have to supply your own glass of moo juice.


First, you'll want to hard boil your egg(s) and shell them. Just place however many eggs you want to convert into a pan with water covering the eggs, and boil them for 15-20 minutes. After that, cool the eggs until they're easily handled. Shell 'em. Then you'll want to pat them over with a little bit of flour. This helps the sausage stick to them.

The sausage I decided to use was some Jimmy Dean Sage, but if you have a personal favorite, go for it! Once the eggs were patted with flour and shaken to remove any excess flour, you pull off some sausage, a little larger than the size of each egg you will be working with. Press the sausage in your palm, almost like you're making a thin hamburger patty. Place the egg in the center of your sausage patty.

Gently work the sausage up, and over the egg. You want to work slowly on this, as the egg, while hard boiled, can still split open and ruin the process. Once you've worked the sausage around the egg, it should look like this:

From there, put the ball into an egg wash (1 egg with little milk, whipped together). Once the ball is coated in the egg wash, roll in some bread crumbs. I used plain crumbs, but if you want to flavor it up a bit with some Italian crumbs, go for it.

Now I did get a little creative and added something interesting in place of crumbs for one......

MAKE IT BACON BABY!

So yeah, I wrapped my hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, with crumbled bacon.

This looks dangerously delicious!

Normally these are fried. For me, the sausage (and the bacon one) were already screaming at my arteries. So I decided to bake them. Oven safe pan, 425F for 15 minutes.

Quite good, though I will admit I had 3 and they were tasty. I think next time I'll limit myself to one, as they are filling!



Eggs (your choice on how many to make)
Sausage
Bread Crumbs
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Milk