June 25, 2017

Jambalaya, the sequel

I first made Jambalaya, based on an Emeril recipe, 8 years ago. I learned a couple things since then, and this is a much better version. Note, the various meats, and even most veggies, can be swapped with others or eliminated, and you’ll still get a tasty rice dish. Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour Ingredients: 3 chicken thighs, cut into 1″ chunks 1lb andouille sausage, bias sliced in 1/2″ chunks 1lb other sausage of your choice (I used spicy portuguese for this batch), also bias sliced into 1/2″ chunks 3 slices of bacon (or bacon ends), cut into 1-2″ chunks 2 stalks of celery, chopped 1 large onion (2 cups), chopped 1 red bell pepper, rough chopped 1 green bell pepper, rough chopped 2 tablespoons Kaydub’s Cajun Blend, or if you don’t have all those ingredients, as many of these as you have: 1 tablespoon paprika 2 teaspoons chile powder 2 teaspoons thyme 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional, use more or less depending on your tastes) 1 ~10oz can chopped chiles (I used hatch green chilies) 1 ~16oz can diced tomatoes 1 ~12oz can chicken broth 1-1/2 cups long grain rice Directions:

May 6, 2017

Slow Cooker Carnitas

Ingredients: 2 pounds pork butt (shoulder) (2-1/2 pounds if bone in) 2 Tablespoons bacon fat (optional) 1 teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons oregano 2 teaspoons ancho chili powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper 2 oranges 1 lime 1 large onion 4 cloves of garlic (or more!) Directions: Coat bottom of slow cooker with bacon fat (optional) Trim fat, and cut pork into 2" cubes Cut onion into 8 slices Cut 1 orange into 4 slices Cut lime into 4 slices Peel and crush garlic cloves Mix dry ingredients Fill bottom of slow cooker with meat Sprinkle half the dry spices on the meat If necessary add remaining meat, sprnkle with spices Put onion, garlic, orange and lime slices on the meat Sprinkle remaining dry ingredients on top Squeeze the juice from the 2nd orange over the food Cook for 8-10 hours on low, or 4- -6 hours on high Remove meat to a cutting board, shred with two forks Strain liquid into a saucepan, reduce liquid by half Place shredded pork on a cookie sheet Drizzle reduced sauce over shredded meat Brown under broiler for about 4 minutes, flip meat, broil for about 4 more minutes until brown Serve up on tacos, burritos, enchiladas, on a plate with your favorite side dishes

April 14, 2017

Sous Vide Cooking Times

Just a cheat sheet for me, since I often forget the min/max/temp for a particular meat I often Sous Vide.Time at temp assumes food has reached that temperature. Add at least an hour for frozen, and 30 minutes for refrigerated, depending on the thickness of the meat being cooked. You can also quickly defrost frozen meat by setting the temp to zero and putting the whole thing in the fridge for an hour or two (or maybe 4 if it’s a pork butt).

March 19, 2017

Great Balls of Fire

Can prepare this so many ways, and customize it to your heat tolerance. Think of it as round chicken wings. Ingredients: Meatballs: 2 lbs ground chicken (or turkey) 2 eggs 1 cup Panko crumbs 1 Tbsp garlic powder 2 tsp onion powder 2 tsp paprika (hot Hungarian paprika is my favorite) 1 tsp ground pepper 2 tsp cayenne pepper – optional, if you like things really spicy) Sauce: 1 cup Franks red hot (I buy it by the gallon these days) 2/3 cup brown sugar OR 1/2 cup brown sugar plus 2 Tbsp molasses – for a little more complex sweetness 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (adds a nice bite, and another slight sweetness) 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes – optional, and you can add more if you want Other heat boosting sauce additions (Dave’s Insanity, cayenne pepper, diced habaneros, for instance) – optional Directions:

January 26, 2017

Tom Yum Soup (with variations)

Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 1 hours Yield: 6 servings Make with chicken, shrimp, or no meat (can substitute tofu, if desired). If you use coconut milk and chicken, this is very similar to Tom Khaa Gai Ingredients Optional protein: 1 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts and/or 12 medium shrimp (or 18, depending on size so each serving gets an even number of shrimp) 1/2 package of tofu, in 1/2 cubes (if not using meat) 10 kaffir lime leaves, hand torn down the middle 2″ piece of galangal or ginger, sliced (rough slice so they’re easy to identify and remove) 8 oz shiitake, straw, oyster, or maitake mushrooms, sliced 2-4 stalks of lemongrass (tough outer layers removed), sliced into 2-4″ pieces 4 cloves of garlic, minced A handful of cherry tomatoes (optional) 6 cups chicken broth 1 13.

January 26, 2017

Mongolian Beef (slow cooker)

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 4 hours Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 1 pound flank steak or tri-tip, cut in thin strips on the bias 1/4 cup cornstarch 2 tablespoons olive oil 3/4 cup soy sauce 3/4 cup water 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1″ thin sliced or minced fresh ginger 1 cup grated carrot 3 scallions, chopped (for garnish) Orange zest (optional) Sesame seeds Directions Take thin cut steak, coat with cornstarch in a bowl or ziplock bag Put all ingredients, except meat, in slow cooker.

January 4, 2017

Spicy Hoisin sauce

I used this with crab, but the sauce would go great on chicken, beef, or veggies. 4 Tbsp Hoisin sauce 3 Tbsp olive oil 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup white wine 2 Tbsp Sriracha sauce 1 tsp sesame oil Add all ingredients to a saucepan, warm through. Add to dish, stir together to coat.

December 18, 2016

Potato, kale and sausage soup, Pressure Cooked

Looked for something like this online, didn’t find any I was crazy about, so I made this up. It was really good! Prep time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes Ingredients: 3 medium potatoes (I used yukon gold) 2 large carrots 1 small, or 1/2 large onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, diced 1 tsp rosemary 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp basil 1-2 dried hot peppers (optional) 1 bunch kale, chopped 1 sausage sliced very thinly (I used a hot Portuguese Linguiça) 4-6 cups of chicken broth (depending on how much soup you want) Directions:

December 8, 2016

Asian Style Wings, pressure cooked

Note, this even works with frozen wings. I used the exact same recipe with wings frozen solid, and they came out fully cooked and separated, just took longer to do the pressurization, which the Instant Pot took care of. Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 2 pounds chicken wings, cut into segments Instant pot broth: 2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce 2 Tbsp Soy sauce 2 Tbsp Sriracha sauce 2 tsp garlic powder, or 2 cloves garlic 2 tsp ginger powder, or 1 tsp grated ginger 1-1/2 cups chicken broth Sauce: 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp) Soy sauce 1/2 cup (6 Tbsp) Hoisin sauce (This is 1/2 the 8.

September 16, 2016

No prep spicy chicken

Three ingredients. Total prep time is opening the package/jar/can. Toss in a crock pot, deliciousness comes out the other side! Prep time: 1 minute Cooking time: 4-8 hours Ingredients: 1 pound deboned deskinned chicken thights or breasts 1 jar good quality chunky salsa (pick your heat level) 1 can black or pinto beans Directions: Put chicken in the bottom of the crock pot Empty the jar of salsa on top Cook for 4 hours on high, or 7-8 on low Shred the chicken (using two forks).