Yummy, But Not For The Heart Healthy

Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin!!!  This dish definitely should be listed on the top 10 list of Comfort Foods and on the top 10 list of Unhealthy Foods.  Not something the typical cook may cook on a regular basis, but great if you're having a large group of people over or if you're just craving comfort.  This dish is provided by Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman.  She offers up some really tasty, down home dishes that I think you'll like.  You can find her on the Food Network or you can follow her blog.

I made this dish over the weekend and I served it with several more unhealthy favorites a large New York Strip and a Caesar Salad.  Again, not something we do all the time, but occasionally it's OK.  Perhaps someone out there can lighten it up or make it more healthy, or just give it a try just as it is.  I don't think you will be disappointed.  Buen Appetito!!

Baked Buffalo Wings & Crispy Baked Frites

Friday nites after working all week are usually take out nite, but tonight I decided to do some baked buffalo wings and crispy baked frites (french fries).  Very simple, fairly healthy and tasty.  Start by preheating your oven to 425.  Take 2 sheet trays and lay a sheet of parchment paper over each for easy clean up.  What you'll need to make this Friday nite feast: 10 chicken wings, rinsed and drained and trimmed up.  The wing has three sections, the tip, mid section and drummette.  Lose the tip just by using a sharp chef knife to cut it off and then discard it.  Then you'll need to cut thru the joint of the drummette and mid wing section. Season them with salt and pepper and toss them with 1 tbs of olive oil, and place them on one of the sheet trays and set aside.  For the frites, you'll need 3 medium size russet potatoes peeled, sliced into 1/4" length pieces.  Soak the potatoes in cold water for about 30 minutes and rinse them.  After rinsing them, you'll need to pat them dry with some paper towels.  These steps help to remove some of the starch, which really helps crisping the frites while they bake.  You can season them with whatever you like.  I mixed 1 tsp hot hungarian paprika, 1/2 tsp granulated garlic and 1 tsp sea salt and 1/2 tsp pepper into a bowl with 1 tbs of olive oil.  I then tossed the potatoes in the mixture.  I placed the potatoes evenly on the sheet tray not touching each other.  Place both the sheet trays (frites and wings in your preheated oven and let them bake for about about 40 minutes.  Remove the trays from the oven.  For the buffalo sauce, you can make your own, but I really like Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce.  It's really hot and as good as any sauce that I've made from scratch.  Toss the wings in the sauce and set aside a little extra for dipping.  That's it!  Fresh, tasty, healthy and simple for a Friday nite or any nite of the week.  Enjoy!!

Pork Belly Anyone?

We made a trip to Jungle Jim's this weekend and I picked up a pork belly.  Like the name implies, it's the meat from the belly of the pig and it's very fatty.  I've never had it before, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  The recipe that I chose for the belly was one by Chef Anne Burrell,  Mustard Braised Pork Belly.  I think she's a very talented chef and I've made several of her dishes in the past.  Before I get into the recipe, the first thing you need to know about Pork Belly is that it has this really tough skin on it and it's very difficult to remove.  I Googled removing the skin and found a video on You Tube, but honestly, it wasn't very helpful.  I used 6 different knives trying to remove the skin and ended up butchering it pretty bad.  Anyway, if  you choose to do a pork belly definitely have your butcher remove the skin for you, you'll be glad that you did.  The good news about pork belly is that it's very inexpensive, only $10 for a 3 1/2 lb belly.
Chef Anne's recipe is very simple, but it will take you sometime.  You have to let it sit for 24 hours with a rub and the next day it will take you about 6 hours to braise.  The aroma in the kitchen and throughout the house was amazing and I was so excited about trying it.  So for the final step I put it under the broil for about 3 minutes to crisp up the fat layer.  It looked really yummy and smelled great.  But...it just oozed with fat.  The fat just coated my lips and the inside of my mouth.  Honestly, I've never experienced anything like it.  The meat under the fat layer was really tender, juicy and quite delicious.  But...it just oozed with fat.  I just don't think my palate is sophisticated enough for pork belly.  I'm glad that I experienced the pork belly, my next adventure will be foie gras.  Anyway, give pork belly a try and let me know what you think.

Happy New Year Pig and Peas

Traditionally in my family on New Year's Day my mom would make pulled pork, coleslaw and black eyed peas.  Supposedly if you consume pork and black eyed peas on New Year's Day you will be blessed with good fortune during the year.  I'm not sure if it's true, but I don't dare deviate from the tradition.  My dish today had 1/2 lb pulled pork (thawed), that I had  I pulled from the freezer that we had smoked back in the summer,  3 chorizo sausages (casing removed and broken into bite size pieces), 1 package of frozen black eyed peas, 1/2 of one red and green bell pepper chopped into small bite size pieces,  1 leek (cleaned well and sliced using only the white part, 3 cloves of garlic chopped, 1 tbsp of olive oil and S&P to taste.  I took a medium size dutch oven and heated my olive oil over med heat and added my veggies and cooked them until they were soft. I added the chorizo to the pot and let it brown, stirring frequently.  I added the peas and 2 cups of water to the pot and mixed it in, brought it to a boil and reduced the heat to med and cooked for about 15 minutes.  I added the smoked pulled pork and continued to simmer for another 10 minutes and seasoned with a little S&P.  I served this over brown rice and drizzled with a little Louisiana Habanero Hot Sauce.  Very simple, very yummy and can be served anytime of the year.  Enjoy!

Couscous with Italian Sausage

This dish is very similar to the Polenta dish I made a month or so ago, but I used the couscous instead.  Couscous is a rolled pasta that cooks very quickly by just adding boiling water to it.  I find that it's very versatile and can be used in many dishes.  I like to use it as a starch in Indian, Italian and Latin foods.  It's very common in Mediterranean and Moroccan dishes as well.  What I made tonight is very simple, quick, economical and yummy.  You will need 3 sweet Italian sausages (casing removed) and broken into bite size pieces, 1/2 of a red and green bell pepper med diced, 1/2 of a yellow onion med diced, 6 oz of button mushrooms thinly sliced, 4 garlic cloves chopped, 2 tbs of chopped flat leaf parsley, 2 tbs of olive oil, 1/4 - 1/2 C chicken broth, 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, S&P to taste,  parmigiano reggiano and couscous.  Add 2 tbs of the olive oil to med size skillet and heat over med heat.  Add all your vegetables and saute them, tossing them often for about 5-7 minutes and season with a little S&P.  Remove them from the skillet and add your sausage pieces and cook thru tossing periodically about 7-10 minutes.  While your sausage is cooking go ahead and cook your couscous following the directions on the package.  I made enough for 3 servings.  Add your vegetables back to the skillet with sausage add your chicken stock and red pepper flakes and let it simmer for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.  Once it's finished, remove from heat.  Fluff your couscous with a fork and serve into bowls with the sausage mixture.  Grate some fresh parmigiano reggiano over top and sprinkle with parsley.  Bon Appetit!

Christmas Eve Treats

We are planning on spending Christmas Eve with my in laws and I thought I would bring a simple appetizer and dessert.  The appetizers are from the Pioneer Woman.  I first heard of the Pioneer Woman watching a Bobby Flay Throw Down episode.  Her name is Ree Drummond and she lives with her family on a ranch somewhere, she does a food blog and with her win on Throw Down she now has a show on the Food Network Channel.  Anyway, I found this recipe by Googling bacon appetizers and she came up.  The recipe looked yummy and easy, so I thought I would give these Holiday Bacon Appetizers a try.  All you need are some club crackers, thinly sliced bacon and grated parmesan cheese. This recipe is very simple and they taste great, they're crunchy, savory and easy to eat.  I mean who doesn't love bacon?  but be prepared for a 2 hour bake time, so give yourself some time.

I was going to go to the Cheesecake Factory to buy one of their signature cheesecakes, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend close to $60 on a cheesecake, plus gas, plus dealing with the holiday shoppers.  I'm really not a baker and by no means does this dessert even compare to a Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake, but it saved me some $$, gas and time.  These Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars are from the Food Network kitchen and are very easy.   All you need for this recipe is a package of cream cheese, 1/2 C sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 C shredded coconut, and a roll of Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies.  Please keep in mind that these taste nothing like chocolate chip cookies or cheesecake, so if you're looking for something a little bit more special, don't make these.

Candied Pecans are also a great holiday treat and are pretty easy to do as well.  What you'll need is 1/2 C of corn syrup, 1 tbsp of unsalted butter, 1 lb of pecan halves, 1/2 C granulated sugar, 1tsp of cayenne, and 1 tsp salt.  Preheat you oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a small sauce pan heat your butter and corn syrup until butter is melted and gently stir.  Place your pecans in a large bowl and pour the butter corn syrup mixture over the pecans and mix with your hands or large spoons to coat all the pecans.  You might want to wear latex gloves since the mixture is very sticky.  Pour the pecans on your cookie sheet and spread them out evenly.  Bake them for about 15 minutes.  While those are baking mix the granulated sugar cayenne, and salt in a small bowl. Remove the nuts from the oven and place them in a large bowl.  Sprinkle the sugar, cayenne and salt over the nuts and gently mix with your hands or large spoons, be sure to use those gloves again.  That's all there is too it,  let them cool and put them in a zip lock bag or any tightly sealed container.  These will store in a cool place for several months.  They are great over salads or just by themselves.  Enjoy!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Beef Stroganoff

Hey!  I'm still here just so much has happened since my last post.  I have to say that "2011" hasn't been my best year,  but it could always  be worse I suppose.  No worries, I'm still cooking:>).  Tonight I made beef stroganoff from a Food Network Recipe.  I followed the recipe to a tee and you know what?  I don't like beef stroganoff.  I can't say that I had it before, so I really didn't know what to expect, but I don't like it. I don't think it was this particular recipe because I reviewed several and they were all pretty much the same.   I found it to be rather too boring and bland for my liking.  I like foods that add a punch and this just didn't do it for me.  Anyway, I'm sure that this dish is good eats for someone, but not me.  Oh, Will also thought it was just kind so-so.  Anyway, until next time Happy Holidays!  I'll be bringing a quick and easy appetizer and simple dessert next time, so stay tuned.