My version of chicken fajita wraps

Shocked myself at seeing I've not posted approaching a year! I'm going to forget some of the stuff I've come up with, that's for sure. No pics on this one, kinda forgot before we gobbled it. It was deemed tasty though!

• 2 chicken quarters (thigh/drumstick)
• 1 medium mild green pepper sliced
• 1 medium mild red pepper sliced
• 1 small onion sliced

Throw that all in a cast iron pan or glass dish and get it in the oven at 350. Then start making the sauce:

• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
• 1 TB your favorite taco or chili seasoning ( I use Spanish Gardens Taco Seasoning)

Pour about half of it over the chicken & veggies and keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. I cooked my chicken for roughly an hour. When the chicken is done, take it out and pick off the meat. Put the rest of the sauce in the pan and let it go while you pick so it warms up. Wrap up in flour tortillas with sour cream and taco sauce and enjoy! Super easy and not many ingredients!

It's bacon day....

Easily the most excited I've been about my meat in a long time. Yesterday we had some friends over and the timing was right, I was smoking a pulled pork and had the apple wood and hickory at hand, perfect time to smoke my bacon!!!

Smoked:

Slicing:

Well looky there, it a bacon!

Sliced:

Cooking:

And done!

I little salty, and I'm not getting much from the maple syrup I used, but this is attempt #1 and I know I'll be trying again!

Za!

Finally tried this and was pretty happy with the results.
Cody's dough recipe:

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1 1/2 cups very warm water
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 3/4 cup bread flour
1/2 cup semolina flour

dump all the dry crap in, dump the water in run through dough setting

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Use the bread maker for the dough, the hardest part was spreading it out so a somewhat uniform shape:

Did put a LOT of flour on the paddle to keep it from sticking. Used Classico spaghetti sauce (with mushrooms) and then of course lots of meat! Black olives, mmmm. I melted a little butter and brushed it on the crust edges, then sprinkled with garlic salt.

I used a pizza stone and had the oven on 450. Put some corn meal down to keep it from sticking and watched it carefully after about 12-14 minutes:

  The end result:

Burger, you tasty little thang

From the bottom up:

• Toasted Bun
• Mayo
• Sliced turkey ham
• Ketchup
• Burger over open coals with hickory wood
• Cheddar Cheese
• Burger repeat
• Pickles
• Ketchup
• Bacon
• Chili pepper
• S&P
• Bun

Yummy Ribs

There's really not much to say....

Finished product:

Dry Aged Prime Rib Roast

I've been a big fan of prime rib for years, and it's been our Christmas day meal for probably 10+ years now. I've done more experimenting in the past 2 years because the roasts have gotten as low as $2.98 a pound, and that's cheap! My traditional method has held firm, and that's covering with thyme, salt and strips of Farmland Cider House Bacon (thanks again Bill!).

I've learned a coupla things and will stick with that recipe, it's plain and simple, but the addition of rosemary and garlic is not a bad idea.

Another thing I'll always do is warm my meat up (snicker) before cooking. Never go from fridge to oven immediately, the lower and slower it can cook the better. I now take my prime rib out in the morning, maybe even the night before and let it get to room temperature.

I've not made up my mind if Select or Choice from the stores makes a difference, I'm a bit tainted cause a pricey piece from McGonigles in KC was a big disappointment, but that was years ago and not having the experience I do now, I think I overcooked it. I've gotten them from all over and have had good and bad, no rhyme or reason except that the more patient I am with cooking, the better it has seemed to be.

Another must is putting your plates in the oven and getting them warmed up. A medium rare prime rib won't have a lot of heat, and a cold plate will kill it. This also has another benefit, it finishes the cooking. I pull my roast when internally the probe says a mere 125 degrees, watching it like a hawk when it hits 115. Yup, check the Internet, that's classified as rare. Temperature will increase as it sits, and you MUST let it sit, at least 20 minutes. When you cut it, you may think it's not done cause of the color, but in my humble opinion, this is the best way. For someone who likes their steaks well done, order a pizza. This isn't for them.

This year, attempt #2 on dry aging. My buddy Brett prompted me to try this last February, and it was a success. Tender and tasty. Last Sunday I bought a Choice piece of meat, covered it in cheesecloth and plopped it in the fridge. Really that's all there is to it. You will want to cut off some of the fat and pieces that turn brown or funky on you, then proceed as normal, but it's as simple as letting it sit, changing the cloth a time or two. This will only be a 5 day age, in the future I will try a 14 day and see how it works. Day three seen below:

T-Day follow up

I'll probably do this EVERY year: Not snack, Not drink beer starting at noon.

When the bird was done, early since I used one of those covered pans, I hadn't had but a small stack and I was HUNGRY!

Everything turned out great, very happy meal this year. No more deep frying for me.

T-Day, anything new?

No new fangled ideas for me this year, actually going back a step and cooking the beast in a bag, like I did so many years ago. Still brining it, hopefully not too salty so the gravy won't suck, like this spell checker. (Sheesh!). Turkey, taters, gravy, Copes corn, cranberry junk, pie. One thing I have to figure out is how to not be literally full when I serve the bird. Seems like for years, by the time I'm sitting down, I'm already full. Anticlimactic!

Making tamales

I've never really thought much of them, but we'll see how homemade is:



I came up with the meat recipe pretty much on my own. I had a hunk of beef roast (they call it cross rib roast here, I think it's just Chuck roast, maybe a more fancy name), some homemade broth, a coupla dried peppers, garlic, some onions, a little celery, salt, typical Mexican spices and I decided to throw in a cinnamon stick. I simmered it for about 4 hours, and it was fork tender.

Yummy ribs, I must write down the recipe.....

I accidentally cooked some of the best ribs I've ever cooked this weekend. I say accidentally cause I didn't plan it, kinda half-assed monitored them, didn't use all my "tricks", tried a few things new and after it's all over.... I really should document what I do. Cause when you pull them off the grill and you get this remaining there, you know they're gonna be good:

Here they are plated. Those are onion rings from a home grown onion and our super special recipe. Nothing beats fresh deep fried!


Baby Back ribs, not country style or spare ribs. Baby backs are better meat, a more consistent row of meat, and tend to be more dark meat

Start them in the oven. Sure, you can do it on the grill, but you gotta be able to control the temperature. Low and slow. What I can't recall is 170 or 250 degrees.... Or how long. It was hours, was it 4? Or 6? I also blasted it on broil once with the bacon on top for more flavor.

Hold the sauce for now. Sauce has a lot of sugar in it, and sugar burns.

Get the grill ready, get it hot and let the temp drop to 250 or so.

I did dust them with a rub, something I made up a while back and think I wrote down somewhere. Lots of stuff in it.

I also swabbed it with apple sauce after a few hours of cooking.

After another hour or two, I laid a few strips of bacon on it, and one on either side to give it moisture and flavor.

When I put them on the grill, I throw some apple wood on the coals. In this case I used store bought, which is sadly like sawdust, but it smokes well. Other times I've soaked wood chunks.

By the time they're going on the grill, they're practically done, so keep the temperature down and take them off after an hour or so.

Wrapped up in aluminum foil and get the sides ready!

See why I need to write this down?

Ham, cheese & Egg cups

Try this!!! It's pretty dang easy, pretty tasty, and actually comes out kinda fancy looking! This is one of those dishes I'm going to make & serve at my pinball & dog themed Bed and Breakfast. Named Balls and Paws.... Nah....

• Thinly sliced ham (deli kind)
• Bread of whatever kind, I used hot dog buns!
• About 1 egg per large muffin tin you're going to fill, beaten.
  
• Cheese, I used grated cheddar and slices of Kraft Swiss
• Optional herb topping, I used Mexican oregano and seasoning salt

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Press 2-3 slices of the ham in to the muffin tin forming the cup. Stick in a few chunks of bread and cheese, cover it all with the eggs then top with more cheese. Sprinkle with whatever spices or herbs you like. Bake for about 15 minutes, keep your eye on them closely near the end.

Prepped:

Finished Product:

Thanksgiving's coming!

This year will be Thanksgiving #2 here in Reno/Sparks, and I'm looking forward to it! Last year I deep fried a turkey, my 2nd attempt I believe, and was so miffed about it I didn't blog. I overcooked it for one thing, but just overall it wasn't all that dang tasty like everyone raves about. Chicken on the other hand seem to be better, more juicy and tasty. Maybe it's the size of the bird, I think both times I had a 20lb plus creature.

This year I'm going back to traditional, brining it and doing it in the oven. The spread should include the standards and a few family items. Turkey, taters, cranberry sauce (I'm going non-canned this year), creamed sweet corn (PA Dutch style), dare I try home made buns?, gravy of course, and Tracy will make a pumpkin and probably another pie. Fun fun!

For the first time since we moved here and almost two years since we've seen them, my dad and step are coming to town. It'll be nice to see them, but I'm not exactly sure what to do with them while they're here.

Maybe we'll break out Twister....

Bacon & Eggs

How come you rarely hear about people eating soft boiled eggs, or poached? Even hard boiled is semi rare. "How ya want your eggs?" What are your choices? Well, eating out it's sunny side up, over-easy, scrambled, or what else? Are there other choices? Well done? I dunno. One of these days I'll ask for hard boiled at Denny's, think I'll get a blank stare? At least at home you can choose to add some fun in to the scrambly-ness, like cheese, garlic, ham etc. Or an omelet! There's a blank slate! My personal favorite there is just toasted garlic and a variety of cheeses, mmmm. Swiss, American and a surprise. Maybe some ham.

We all know the Internet is our friend, so a quick type in Google reveals baked, shirred, boiled (soft and hard), coddled, pickled, deviled, fried, poached, scrambled, and omelets. Seems like there should be more.

So today I made soft boiled eggs. They really truly just have a different taste & texture than fried. I really don't like the crunchy edges of fried eggs when they're done a little too long, and they gotta be runny. Soft boiled eggs are different, and I can't verbalize why. They remind me of Ma, who used to cook them for me when I was a kid. Maybe that's it.


Oops. Breaking one causes a mess:
Let it go though, it'll cook.


Yummy. Nice and warm with salt & pepper.
Here's an opinionated statement. I think the best way to cook bacon is to BAKE it. Surely that's where the name came from. But seriously, if you like limp greasy chewy bacon, don't try this, but if you've never tried this, give it a shot. If you don't have one of these racks, use that two part roaster pan that came with your oven, or risk it without. But by God PUT IT ON A PAN! Sorry....... Cook at about 300 degrees for about half an hour, but keep an eye on it, when it's done it tends to burn fast. Not only will your house smell like love (love smells like bacon), but you'll get nice and crispy tasty bacon strips that are perfect for breakfast, snacking on, dog treats, or sammiches!. Yum!!

Brisket leftovers - Z-Man sammiches

The main reason we cook brisket is to make Z-Man's, a sammich from Oklahoma Joe's in Kansas City. Pictures speak for themselves, tasty! Brisket, BBQ sauce, Provolone cheese (though we used Havarti this time) and onion rings all on a thick soft bun.

The Great Brisket Project 2008 Part II

Ah, it was a good one. Tracy claimed it was the best one yet. Here it is on the grill after about 4 hours:



Getting ready to pull it off, fork tender! It was on for about 8 hours, I used a remote digital thermometer until it got to about 188 degrees, fire was in the 250-300 degrees for most of the time.

It sat wrapped in foil for about 30 minutes before I cut it up. It was super moist and literally fell apart:

Here's dinner, plain and simple brisket, no sauce, and my favorite cheesy hash brown potatoes, thanks to my honey.

I chopped up the leftovers with a cleaver, mixed in all the fatty goodness with the crust & spices. Mmmmmmmm

Brisket.... Fire stated 7AM!

Using charcoal of course, adding some hickory (thanks Paul) and apple wood (thanks Pa).

The Great Brisket Project 2008 Part I

So it's been awhile since I made a nice falling apart brisket, and despite the crappy cool rainy weather, Memorial Day weekend is a good time. I bought a nine pound chunk (smallest they had) and have cut off about 4 pounds to make fresh ground beef, something Butchy told me about and another project for another day.... maybe tomorrow? I spiced up the bad boy, and have used "the tool" to tenderize it a bit. Spice rubs this time are a combo of KC Cowtown's "The Squeal" rub (kinda sweet, brown sugar a high ingredient; Thanks Joan!) and a semi local (Washington state) Johnny's Seasoning Salt (salty, peppery, garlicky). It'll sit until Sunday morning in the fridge, I hope to get it on bright and early before 8AM to give it a full 10 hours or more. Wish me luck.

Steak man, lovely fabulous steak....

I can't recall the times I've had this conversation, and I guess since I've done it so many times, it now amazes me when it still comes up. Here's the beef: Ribeye steaks, prime rib and standing rib roast are ALL the SAME MEAT! Meat I tell ya! Steak! I say this for no other reason than to just post this picture, freshly cut ribeyes, at a savings of $1.50 a pound and at the thickness I love!

Christmas is coming! Prime rib is on the radar!

Meatloaf and playing Hide The Sausage

Are there people that don't like meatloaf? Is it cause it was too dry or too much filler compared to the meat? Is the "right way" to have ketchup on the top that is cooked along with the loaf so that it kinda thickens up? Onions in it? (not me!). Tricks? Treats?

I like meatloaf and really have a bunch of "unique" things I do to make it all come together for me. I kinda have a written recipe thanks to my Pop, but really only use it as a guideline and mine is way off from his, trust me. First off, I use beef and ground sausage, usually half and half but at LEAST a good chunk of sausage. Second, I add a can of cream of mushroom soup in addition to eggs. Yeah, it's pretty wet. Lastly, I add a river of Mozzarella cheese in the middle plus more special surprises!

• 1.5 lb ground beef
• 1.0 lb ground sausage
• 2-3 eggs
• 1 can Cream Mushroom soup
• 1 cup or so shredded mozz cheese
• 1 cup or so bread crumbs, I use canned Italian variety
• spices of your choice and liking. Salt, pepper, celery seed, parsley, Italian blend

Pretty much mix it up and make a loaf! I usually have the bread crumbs on hand to adjust as needed, don't want it too soupy. I'll flatten mine out on a big cutting board then dump the cheese in the middle and kinda fold it up. It's not the easiest thing to do, kinda like playing darts with Jello. If you've not invested in a meatloaf pan, it's worth it. It's a two layer bread pan looking thing that has holes on the bottom for the grease to drip through. Cook for about 1 hour at 350, get your meat thermometer out and make sure it's in the 160 range. Undercooked sucks, trust me.

Here's the fun part! HIDE SOMETHING! It's not above me to sneak in things sitting in the fridge, or something getting a little stale in the cupboard. Years ago I was low on bread crumbs and used a bunch of crackers. What the heck, how about Cheetos's! I didn't smash them up, and the stark orange pieces was pretty funny looking, and tasted great! Somewhere along the line I added the cheese, man was THAT healthy! Then in another brilliant moment, how would Goldfish crackers look? Well, I can tell you it looks funny. This last one I made, I had a coupla hot dogs left, so what the heck right?

Jack's Stack BBQ ribs to go! And beans! And sauce!

Last week the doorbell rang. UPS had already delivered the one package I was expecting, so who could it be? A neighbor wanting to introduce themselves? NAH!!! It's another package!! My buddy Paul & Libby surprised me with a very unexpected gift from Jack's Stack that made my day (week, month, etc). What better gift to get than FOOD, and food from "home" too! It came packed in dry ice (which I failed to play with before it was gone), and in a nice styrofoam cooler stamped with Jack's Stack on it that certainly will be used a few times, what a bonus!




I expected it to be good, the beans were a no brainer, I've had them there and they're meaty, tangy and how could that get screwed up by time and shipping? The ribs though? I had expectations that they would be decent, but I wasn't sure if having them cooked, frozen and heated back up if they would be dry, plus I am picky about my ribs. These had a good chance of being good since they were pork ribs, and spare ribs at that. We ignored the directions about cutting them up in pieces before heating and just put the whole slab on a pan in the convection oven (a wonderful appliance). Tracy made some biscuits are we were set:

The first comment (Tracy) was the smokiness, it definitely had a great smell to it. Sat down and basically used a FORK to split them apart, I could tell they wuz gonna be tender!

Yummy! Look at this rib pull out, Zzzzipppp!!!

Tasty, meaty, very well done, and now I have a challenge. I think Tracy liked them better than my own! To qualify that, she liked them better than the LAST ones, which were pretty fatty.

Thanks again guys, you're the best!