August 11, 2012

Spiral cut grilled sausage

A simple twist on a griling staple. These have turned out to be a favorite at all my bbq’s this year. The concept and execution are both amazingly simple. All you do is slice a spiral the length of a sausage prior to grilling. An easy way to do that is to put the sausage on the end of a cutting board closest to you. Here’s a walkthrough, adjust the method to whatever makes you most comfortable.

July 13, 2012

Bacon baked beans

I used to make “baked beans” by buying a can of Bush’s baked beans, and adding some BBQ sauce and some beer, and cooking it for an hour or so. Granted, that’s pretty good, but now that I’m not afraid to branch out a bit, this is way better. Ingredients: 1/2 yellow onion, chopped 1/2 bell pepper, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped Optional: 2 jalapenos (or Habaeros), chopped 5 16 oz cans pinto beans (I look for beans that are just beans & water) 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce 1/2 cup of catsup 1/4 cup of cider vinegar 1/2 cup of your favorite beer A couple Tablespoons of dijon, to taste 3 Tablespoons of brown sugar 8 or so slices of thick cut bacon, cut into 1-2″ pieces Directions:

April 15, 2012

Jalapeños of Fire

I love grilled stuffed jalapeños, but I’m a spice lover, and stuffed jalapeños just aren’t spicy. First, you take a jalapeño, which for me is a really mild pepper to begin with, then you take out the seeds and membrane, removing 90% of the heat. Then, you stuff it with fat, like cheese and bacon as I did here, which cuts the heat, and you either roast them, or bread and fry them, taking away more heat, and what you have is a tasty, but not spicy, treat.

April 14, 2012

Hot Chili Dog

A great combination of a couple other recipies I just tried, had to share that the combination is awesome! Ingredients: 4 Tablespoons Tsaketa Hot Sauce 4 Tablespoons Four Meat Chili con Carne 1 Ounce shredded cheese (I like Tillimook extra sharp cheddar) 1 Miller hotdog 1 Large hotdog shaped bun Directions: Grill hotdog or put over open flames until crispy on the outside. I mean, really, how else would you cook it?

April 14, 2012

Four by Four Chili con Carne

4 meats, 4 peppers. Feel free to add/remove any of the meats, except, probably, the chuck… Ingredients: 2 lbs chuck roast, cut into 1″ cubes 1 pound chorizo 1/2 pound spicy italian sausage 3 strips of bacon 5 jalapeno peppers, deseeded and finely diced 5 serrano peppers, deseeded and finely diced 3 habanero peppers, deseeded and finely diced 2 anaheim peppers, deseeded and finely diced 5 garlic cloves (or more if you want!

April 14, 2012

Tsaketa Hot Sauce

Based this almost exactly on NadiaG’s recipe from Bitchin Kitchen. Only real changes are that I added serrano peppers for a second kind of heat. Will try with some ghost pepper next time around. Also this is a bit of a blend of how Nadia made it on the Cooking Channel TV episode, vs. the somewhat more complex recipe on the website. I should note that I absolutely love really hot food, but if you do use sliced but not seeded habeneros, make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

March 10, 2012

The Melting Pot Speakeasy

The second time I went to The Melting Pot, we got there a little early, so we went to the bar. We were greeted by a sportily dressed, and very pleasant bartender, John. Little did we know we were in for a treat. John is a purveyor of pre-prohibition era drinks, which are enjoying a resurgence as of late. A Mixologist., in current parlance, although John tells me he’s a bartender, and that anyone who needs a more elevated title is forgetting that the customer is what matters.

February 26, 2012

Home Dry-Aged Ribeye

My first home dry aged roast. The sample I cooked up was spectacular. Fork tender, complex, intense flavor. Here’s what I did… Bought a whole USDA Prime Ribeye. You need a large piece of meat, I tried dry aging individual steaks, but you can’t leave them in for 2 weeks, you’ll loose too much material, and end up with an amuse-bouche. Ribeye is my favorite steak, there’s enough fat to keep the steak tender when searing, and for my palette it just has the richest flavor.

February 11, 2012

Grilled Cheese ala Pelly

My friend Sean (aka Pelly) casually posted a picture of a “mini grilled cheese” some time ago. I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. I love grilled cheese sandwiches, but let’s face it, butter, cheese, bread. You gotta run a small marathon after eating one to pay for the fat and calories. But mini griled cheese? Genius. Make these for a party (or a late night snack, or a mid-day snack, or whatever), one sandwich is maybe two bites of a full-sized sandwich.

January 21, 2012

Crab Von Helsing

Crab in garlic sauce. Not some wimpy garlic sauce, mind you, but one suitable to ward off creatures of the night. And, as an experiment, I made this with no butter, and no oil. A low calorie, low-fat sauce, if you’re looking for something like that. Ingredients: 2 Dungeness Crab, cooked 2 cups of peeled and minced garlic (you may want to use a food processor for this) 1/2 onion, chopped or minced 2 cups of soy sauce 1 cup of water 4 Tbsp dried hot pepper powder/flakes 2 Tbsp ginger powder, or 2″ of chopped fresh ginger Directions: