S'mores cupcakes. From scratch. Aside from the stickiness of making marshmallow cream, I'd say it was an epic win all around.
Made this recipe out of one of the loins of my deer: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Sweet-Bacon-Wrapped-Venison-Tenderloin-139664 My GOD it was good. Any fancy restaurant types know what else I could pair with this food wise when I make my next one?
Was craving a burger yesterday yet wanted to be a bit healthier, decided to try to make a decent turkey burger. Found a recipe that used 1.25 pounds of ground turkey, 1 cup of ricotta cheese, a pinch of salt, some pepper, 2 Tbsp each of both Worcestershire and dijon mustard. Makes 4 burgers. Ended up tasting pretty good. Very much like a normal burger. The ricotta added some good fat and kept it pretty juicy, where the Worcestershire and dijon added needed flavor. My only complaint was that it started to crumble a bit on the grill. It needs a bit of a binder. To keep it healthy, I'm thinking of adding just a little bit of either breadcrumbs or egg whites. I will say that this is the first turkey burger that I've either made or had that wasn't absolutely flavorless and a waste of time or that didn't just completely taste like meatloaf on a bun. It truly tasted like a nice burger.
wood-grilled halibut tonight tasted excellent: cedar plank soaked for an hour in a combination of orange and cranberry juice Then I basted the fish heavily and frequently with a mixture of (to taste): light rum mint leaves orange juice cranberry juice lemon juice cayenne pepper It took forever to cook, but it was delicious.
Smoking a pork butt for 10 hours on Sunday while the parents and in-laws are in town. I'll brine it overnight on Saturday and start smoking it at 8 am. A combination of yellow mustard and bbq seasoning while I smoke it at 225 with cherry wood always produces an orgasmic pulled pork
Today I made corn bread, and learned that substituting butter for margarine when the recipe calls for butter AND margarine does not work very well. So it did not turn out as corn bread, but I think I invented the butter loaf, which is delicious only if you want to have an immediate coronary.
I have been buying steaks when they are on sale in a multi-pack, vacuum packing them individually and then freezing. When I'm ready for a steak I let it defrost in the fridge for a day. A couple of times I have gotten busy and left the steaks for about 3-5 days. When I take them out they have grey areas and an off smell. I have been throwing them out because they smell weird (I've never had food poisoning in my life and am really cautious with my food) but I was watching Good Eats today and it basically said what I was doing was wet-aging them. Is that what I'm doing, and are the steaks fine to eat?
Despite being frozen, the fat content of beef, poultry and fish will still turn rancid after a while. Thing is, there is still bacteria and the like in the product, and freezing only slows down the spoilage. It's doesn't stop it completely. Wet-aging, and dry-aging for that matter, is done by the butchers and the companies that sell the product, unless you purchase an animal right off a farm like I often do. Wet-aging is essentially vacuum-packing the meat to retain moisture and cut down wait times on production, since dry-aging takes so much longer. Dry-aging is hanging a large cut, either a whole or a primal cut, out to dry for 28 days at very specific temperatures while controlling the movement of air around the carcass. This has two greatly beneficial effects. One, the moisture from the muscle evaporates, giving a much stronger and concentrated beef taste. Two, the enzymes in the muscle break down the connective tissue making it more tender. This also makes the removal of silverskin (heavy connective tissue) much easier when cleaning and prepping filet mignon. Downsides to this method are vastly increased prep times, and loss of product since you have to trim a large amount of the carcess afterwards. Heh, went on a bit of a spiel there, eh? Anyways, I wouldn't eat anything that smells off coming out of the freezer.
While trying to think of something good to make for dinner to go along with watching game 4 I found this. I think I gained 5lbs just reading the recipe. Looks good but, hellooooooooooooooooo Fatty. If anyone is brave enough to make it please let me know how it is so I can live vicariously through you. Thanks! Sopapilla Cheesecake Serves 12. 2 cans of cresent rolls 2 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened 2 cups sugar 1 tsp. vanilla (Mexican vanilla, if you have it) 1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick) 2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest Line the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish with 1 can of biscuits. Biscuit dough can be stretched a bit to cover the bottom of the dish, if you roll it out with a rolling pin the pre cut lines will disappear. Set aside 1/2 cup of sugar. Whip cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest. Spread this over the biscuit layer in the dish. Use the remaining can of biscuits to spread out over the top layer. Pour melted butter over the top and sprinkle cinnamon and remaining sugar over the top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
I made this Taco Dip a couple of days ago; it's made of bean dip, sour cream, taco seasoning, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, salsa and tortilla chips. It tastes goddamn delicious.
So I just decided since I cook so often and I know a bunch of my guy friends cant cook for shit I would start a blog. The Idea is to make meals that will be appealing and satisfying to a man, yet set the mood for a lady as if she were having a nicer upscale dinner. A way to cheap out, yet impressing a woman at the same time since it looks like it took lots of effort and thought. Tell me what you think. I just started it about an hour ago, i hope to have 12 of my meals up by Sunday. <a class="postlink" href="http://cookingwithbrasky.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://cookingwithbrasky.blogspot.com/</a>
I buy steaks in bulk from a butcher shop and do the same thing but I used a deep freezer and if I take a steak out I'm eating it that day. If it's gray and smelly I wouldn't risk it. There are some marinades that actually speed up decomposition as well so if you're leaving the meat thawed in one of those for a few days you might be in for a world of hurt.
I've dry aged my own rib roasts from the supermarket before and it always turns out great. You just need to dedicate some space in the fridge to it, and make sure the meat is wrapped in fresh towels, and raised above the surface of the container. I've done this for up to three weeks, and it makes a huge difference. Keep the fridge around 37 deg F and you should be ok. The meat comes out with a bit of grey, and dried texture on the outside, but I would never say it smelled 'rancid'. From there you can just cut off your own steaks or make a whole rib roast.
This might not totally fit because it's a recipe I got off of Campbell's Kitchen- but seriously, it's one of the simplest most delicious things i've ever tasted!!! http://www.campbellskitchen.com/Rec...cipesResult.aspx?SearchType=1&q=hamburger+pie The trick is to season the meat yourself.. Garlic powder & Seasonall work the best as far as I have tasted, and instead of regular croissants, use the butter flavor. SO GOOD! You won't regret it. I'm more of a baker than a cooker, if that counts for this thread i'm more than happy to share my custom chewy cookie recipes. Sinful and amazing.
I accidentally discovered an awesome steak marinade. I do pretty much all of my cooking to-taste (that is, I don't have set measurements) so I can't tell you for certain how much of what to put in. It consists of A1 Steak sauce, butter, salt, and pepper. You mix that all together in a Ziploc bag and let it set over-night. Some things I've discovered through trial and error [*] Melt the butter. It has to be melted entirely. If the butter is even just softened, it will harden back up when you put it in the fridge. Then you get these weird butter nuggets that don't melt on the grill and it makes the meat taste gritty. [*]The A1 has to be cold. The combination of cold A1 and warm butter makes it soak into the meat better [*]Make sure to press all of the air out of the bag before putting it in the fridge. If there is air, it won't soak into the meat. [*]After zipping it all up, massage the marinade into the meat through the bag. This not only soaks up the flavor, but tenderizes the meat. This tip, obviously, is if you don't have a meat tenderizer. [*]This marinade is best for grilling or cooking the steak in a pan. For some reason, it comes out too rough if you do it in the broiler. [*]This works pretty well as a quick marinade as well. The marinade starts to really sink in within the first hour or so. I suggest doing it overnight, but it taste pretty good within the first hour.
Food Porn of the Day: Sorry I've been slacking on the FP posts but I've been working with another chef to come up with a menu for his new restaurant. Here is a keeper from the upcoming menu: Poached Nova Scotia Lobster with Spring Carrots, Ginger, and Vadouvan Granola The lobster is slow poached in olive oil which keeps the meat nice and juicy. We mixed Vadovan spice with granola to give this an elegant and distinct flavor.
I had a brief PM exchange with lust4life earlier in regard to Dutch Babies AKA German Pancakes. They are so easy and cheap to make it's ridiculous. I figured I'd share with everyone what I did with him. 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup milk 2 eggs butter Preheat oven to 425-450 (hot). Drop 2 TBSP butter into a glass (or Pyrex) pie pan and put in the oven, middle rack. Beat the flour, milk and eggs, on full blast, moving the beater back and forth so as to incorporate air into the mixture. Once the oven has preheated, remove the pan (HOT SHIT!!!) and pour the mixture into the pan. Bake for 15-20 mins. until the edges are golden brown. During this baking time tell everyone no stomping, slamming or any of that business. Remove from the oven. I loosen the underside with a spatula, it normally has one spot that is stuck and put onto a plate. I top with butter, syrup, lemon juice and powdered sugar and serve with bacon. The salty crunch of the bacon plays a great contrast to the sweetness of the pancake. People top them with everything though from sour cream and fresh fruit to peanutbutter and syrup. There are many recipes online that differ from this one. I got this one from one of my GF's MIL. After making them a couple times I altered it slightly. This portion is perfect for the pan size and will serve one or two people, with a side of somekind. The finished product. Mine are smaller and honed for a smaller serving so as to fit in the pie pan and serve one, or two, with a side of somekind as I mentioned above. Enjoy.
I've been dabbling recently with a few things. I started making things because I had a huge fucking bag of limes and didn't feel like making mojitos all week. Chili Lime Pasta Serves 4 Ingredients Half a box of linguine 2/3 of a red, yellow or orange bell pepper, diced 1 chili pepper, diced Half an onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, diced Half of a large tomato, diced 2 limes, zested and reserved for squeezing half of a small container of crab meat (optional, one ear's worth of corn) Parmesan cheese, for topping Salt and pepper, to taste Olive oil Method Boil pasta, get strainer read Set large sautee pan on medium heat and add olive oil when hot. Sweat down the onion and garlic with some salt. After 1-2 minutes, add peppers (both bell and chili). Drain pasta when cooked to al dente. Then, add crab and let the meat flake. If necessary, add more olive oil until glossy. Add tomatoes, lime juice and zest. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and grate parmesan over dish. Serve hot. Honey lime dip 2 heaping spoons of sour cream 1 heaping spoons of mayo drizzle honey to taste Juice of 2 limes Add some chili powder to get a nice flecked appearance salt and pepper to taste Serve with sweet potato fries. My friends have used it as a bread dip or as a "summer hollandaise" when eating asparagus.
Here is a recipe I found in a cooking mag over 10 years ago that is easy and delicious, makes a great lunch, dinner side dish, or your contribution to a summer cookout. I brought it to a BBQ a few weeks ago and have gotten several texts asking for the recipe, so thought I'd share it here as well. Enjoy. Tuna Pasta Salad 1 lb. tubular pasta (ziti, etc., but bowties work, too) 1/2 cup veggie or olive oil 1/2 cup lemon juice Your favorite hot sauce to taste 4 tsp. sugar 2 tsp. Italian seasoning 2 tsp. seasoned salt (celery salt works well, too) 2 cans tuna, drained and well-flaked 2 2.25 oz. cans sliced back olives 1/2 cup sliced scallions 1/2 red + 1/2 yellow bell peppers, chopped (rough or fine, your preference) 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half (or, 2 large tomatoes, diced) I find it best to make this in a tupperware or rubbermaid container/bowl with a tight-sealing lid, especially if bringing to a party. Cook pasta per directions. While the pasta cooks, mix oil, lemon juice, sugar, seasoned salt, Italian seasoning and hot sauce in the container/bowl, whisking well. Do this several times until all ingredients are well incorporated. Cut up the veggies. Once pasta is done, drain it and pour it into container/bowl, seal, and shake it vigorously so that pasta is completely covered in the dressing. Using a large spatula, stir and fold the pasta to be sure that all the dressing is incorporated and none is just sitting at the bottom of the bowl/container (if you're using a bowl without a lid, obviously mix and fold for this whole process). Add tuna, folding in until well incorporated. Add peppers, folding in etc., repeat with olives, then scallions, then tomatoes. Cover and chill completely (preferably overnight). Give it one more mix prior to serving. The dressing recipe is the original, but I've altered the veggie content, so you can use/delete to your taste. You can also substitute canned salmon for the tuna (or use leftover salmon, leftover chicken, etc.--whatever floats your boat).
I made Buffalo Chicken Burgers this week. Outrageously good. I actually ground my chicken, but if you find ground chicken on sale, have at it. 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, ground in food processor until fine 4 tbsp melted butter 4 tbsp Tobasco or whatever hot sauce you prefer 2 tbsp brown sugar (Mr. Pink likes his buffalo sauce a little sweet, if you're not a fan, omit) 2 handfuls panko (I didn't measure, just poured until the consistency was right) 1 celery stalk, chopped into small pieces Sprinkle of: paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, black pepper Stir together better, hot sauce and brown sugar. Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl and form into a ball. If the mixture is too runny and won't form into a ball, add more panko. Form four patties. Place burgers in fridge for at least an hour. Grill for 5 minutes on each side. Before serving, I slathered the burgers in blue cheese dressing. I used potato buns, which were really good, but if you have a bun preference, use whatever you like. As a side dish I made garlic fingerling potatoes. Easy as hell - chop 1 pound fingerlings, place in a bowl with 3 tbsp olive oil, 3 chopped garlic cloves and salt and pepper. Mix...place on baking sheet lined w/aluminum foil. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Easy cleanup. I've also made these fried - the recipe is the same except after taking them out of the fridge, they were rolled in egg and breaded with plain white breadcrumbs. And then fried in canola oil. Heart stopping but good.