Back on track

Well, it's just about time to dust off the old keyboard and start up the blog again.

Stay tuned...

Drumsticks

I just ate two.

Spicy Seafood Goodness!

johnny k's corner



Hello, Kiddies! This first post will be my attempt to introduce you to the spicy goodness that comes from the Gulf Coast region of the U.S. of A. This region is roughly considered to be everything that borders the Gulf of Mexico, but I want to focus on the foods that come out of the New Orleans-area and the Mississippi and Alabama gulf coasts. One thing you must understand about people down here, be they Creole, Cajun or just good ole rednecks: if you can drag it out of the water, we will eat it. If you coat it with something really spicy, even better. If you do the first two steps and then fry it... look out baby!

Last night, I came up with a tasty little casserole that's quick and easy. I made enough for two. You can double it for more people. Here's the recipe:

Spicy Cheesy Crabmeat Casserole
1/2 box Seashell Pasta, cooked and drained.
1/2 cup Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing (i used Ken's Steakhouse brand)
1 can medium pitted black olives, drained.
1 can real crab meat (or 1 cup fresh lump crabmeat, if you can get it).
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (more if you like it spicy)
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese.
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella/cheddar cheese
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground marjoram (or oregano)
1/2 tsp Tony Chacere's Creole Seasoning (or Creole Crack, as i call it).

-Prepare the pasta according to the box. Drain very well.
-Put the pasta in a casserole dish and drizzle with the olive oil, then stir.
-Mix in all ingredients except the cheddar/mozzarella cheese.
-Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.
-Eat it up. I totally pulled this recipe out of my rear, from stuff that happened to be in the pantry. I do this often -- somtimes it's just o.k. Sometimes it rocks the house. This one rocks!

Next up: my very own Red Beans and Rice recipe that will leave you smiling, all the way to the bathroom. Spicy good!!

Better Blog, New Cookware.

So I've enlisted the help of a couple of friends and we're going to try and get the blog rolling again.
For now it'll stay the same format, but we're working on a new look and possibly a new name.

In other news, we bought new cookware today. At 50% off, it was hard not to!

It's Rachael Ray's (Yum-O!) Hard-Anodized Cookware, in a ten-piece set.

All I've used it for so far was to heat up some soup, but it did a bang-up job of that. We'll keep you posted as we use it more.

Queso Fundido

Queso Fundido

1 cup white wine
1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 pound Monterey Jack, grated
1/2 pound goat cheese crumbled
2 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 pound Spanish chorizo, grilled and finely diced
6 cloves roasted garlic, smashed to a paste
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Bring the wine to a simmer in a double boiler. Add the mozzarella and Jack cheese and stir until melted. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 5 minutes. Place in a fondue pot and serve with flour tortillas and blue corn chips.

BACON GOOD FOR YOU!

Bacon Good For You, Reports Best Scientist Ever

ROCHESTER, MN-Bacon, long believed to contribute to heart disease and obesity, possesses significant health benefits, according to a study released Monday by Dr.

Pizza Sandwich

I ate a pizza sandwich for lunch.

The Ground Meat Cookbook - 204 Intriguing Recipes

The Ground Meat Cookbook - 204 Intriguing Recipes

Deep Dish Pizza

IMG_2038
Originally uploaded by bobloblaw.

We tested out our new deep dish pizza stone this evening and it works just dandy.

Sarah made some whole wheat pizza dough this afternoon which was ready for me when I got home.
One batch is good for two pizzas as well, so we've already got enough for another pizza sitting in the freezer for another day!


I started by rolling out the crust and emptying it into the new dish. I slightly greased the dish with pam, too.
I then added a layer of fresh minced garlic and a thin layer of pizza sauce.
Ok, I just lied. I used some basil & tomato pasta sauce as that's all we had.
Then I added chopped mushrooms, red peppers and ham.
Then I topped off the whole thing with a mixture of shredded mozzarella, shredded cheddar, parmesan and a bunch of italian spices.
Next stop was the oven!

18 or so minutes after being in the 425 degree oven, it was done!

It could have used just a few more minutes in the oven, but overall it was great.

Pea Soup

I made some pea soup tonight for the first time in quite a while. It was awesome.

poutine

One of the best foods ever thought up is poutine. I can't remember if I've already blogged about it, but that doesn't matter. It's easily a food worthy of more than one blog.

Over at the wikipedia, they describe it as:

Poutine (pronounced, roughly, poo-tin, or peuh-tsin) is a popular junk food snack consisting of french fries topped with fresh cheese curds and covered with hot gravy.

While I admit it's not the most appealing food ever made visually, it certainly tastes like heaven.

I should blog more

I really should be blogging more. I'll do my best to post new stuff soon. If you've got any special requests, please let me know.

Cheers,

Darell

this is what Darell dreams about at night

Someone with a big stomach and an even bigger deathwish just made and consumed a monstrous sandwich packing almost 30,000 calories.

Here's the breakdown:

Food	Calories
Fried Mushrooms – 15	450
Bacon – 14 pieces	990
Onion rings – 18	1140
Ground Beef – 1/4 lb.	293
Corndogs – 2	540
Swiss Cheese – 4 slices	425
Provolone Cheese – 4 slices	397
Cheddar Cheese – 4 slices	455
Sliced Ham – 1/4 lb.	184
Sliced Turkey – 1/4 lb.	181
Pastrami – 1/4 lb.	394
Sliced Roast Beef – 1/4 lb.	200
Bratwurst – 1	510
Braunschweiger – 1/4 lb.	580
Wheat Bread – 1 lb.	1030
Lettuce – 1/2 head	25
Feta Cheese – 4 oz.	350
Italian Salad Dressing – 6 oz.	480
Oregeno – 50 grams	438
Salt & Pepper – 50 grams	0
Butter – 1/2 lb.	1600
Parmesan Cheese – 100 grams	465
Canola Oil – 154 Tbsp.	18,432
Total	29,559

Hey, at least it's got lettuce on it. That makes it kind of good for you, right???

Full account here.

buffets

I went to a buffet a few weeks ago and they had tons and tons of good stuff.

They also had a "kids section" which had hot dogs, mini-hamburgers, pizza pops and lots of other fun stuff.

How much is your blog worth?

My blog is worth $2,822.70.
How much is your blog worth?

With a name like Birria, it's got to be good.

birria

So it's no secret that I have a serious addiction to Mexican food. It's also not that surprising, seeing as I was born and raised in San Diego. But in the last couple of years, I've really tried to combine my love of Mex with my love of cooking. But, like so many ethnic cuisines, making a dish that tastes truly authentic can be a real challenge.

About a year ago, my family and I went to a birthday party for a little girl that lived on our street. The family is from Mexico, and every time we'd go over there, the smells from the kitchen would make me drool more than my 7 month old son. On this day, while the kids ate cake and sandwiches, Maria served up for the adults the most amazing birria I'd ever had. Birria is essentially Mexican pot roast. Same cut of meat, same cooking style, but thousands of miles away from the comfort food that I grew up eating. Believe me, you've never had pot roast like this.

Birria (Mexican potroast)

Note: There are no spice measurements, as Maria doesn't measure, and does it all by instinct. When I make this, I use about 1-2 tablespoons of each.

- 2-3 lbs. chuck roast (or carne pescueso)
- 2-3 guallilo chiles (I've also used ancho, pequin, and New Mexican chiles, or a combo of multiple types. Have fun with it, but just watch the heat. A great guide to dried chiles can be found here.)
- cumin seed
- black pepper
- thyme
- mexican oregano
- 4 large garlic cloves
- .5 inch peeled ginger
- pinch of salt
- 2-3 bay leaves
- .5 cup fruit vinegar (apple cider vinegar will also work great)

1. Remove stems and seeds from chiles. Cover with hot water and let sit for half an hour.
2. Into a food processor, add rehydrated chiles (skins removed, if possible), garlic, cumin, black pepper, thyme, oregano, salt and ginger. Process with just enough of the chile water to make a thick paste.
3. Put meat into a slow cooker and liberally coat with the spice paste. Add the bay leaves and vinegar and enough water to create an inch of liquid in the pot (you don't need too much liquid; the meat will make and release quite a bit as it cooks).
4. Cook on high for an hour or two (until the liquid is near boiling) and then turn heat to low. Cook forever (or at least, 4-6 more hours). The longer it cooks, the more tender the meat will be.

To serve, use two forks to partially shred the meat into big chunks. Dish up meat into bowls with generous amounts of the cooking liquid. Serve with diced white onion, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, hot sauce and fresh corn or flour tortillas.

Note: if you don't have a slow cooker, heat the meat and liquid in a Dutch oven on a stovetop over medium-high heat until the liquid is near boiling. Then put the pot, covered with foil, into 350 degree oven for 2-4 hours.

Pizza Fork and Cutter

Check out this awesome gadget.



You can order it here.

Kraft Pizza

IMG_1688
Originally uploaded by bobloblaw.

The make your own Kraft pizzas are good when you add extras onto them. We used pepperoni (cut thick at the deli counter), green peppers and cheddar, mozzarella and asiago cheeses.

yummy!

another tasty blog

2 matt blogs in one day!!! Can you believe it?!?

Well, I just came across this link, and it was too good not to share.


the Chippie!!!

Now this is a blog that I can really get behind. Good stuff.

Chicken Stackers

the final product!
Originally uploaded by matt.

This dish was the product of one of those "what do I have in the house that I can throw together into some semblance of an edible meal" times. Luckily, the final product was not only edible, but so good that it has been added to my permanent repertoire.

Directions:
I like to use boneless chicken breasts, as they're the easiest to stack upon. I also cut them in half to maximize the chicken to toppings ratio. I marinate the chicken in an olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper marinade (a good balsamic dressing works well, too). While the chicken is marinading, I grill up some thinly sliced eggplant brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with s&p. Then, I grill up the chicken to the point where it's just underdone.

Now it's time to stack. I've experimented with some different toppings, but this is my favorite combo.

In order, from bottom to top:
- chicken
- eggplant
- fresh basil
- roasted red pepper
- thick slice of mozzarella cheese
- tomato slice

After you've assembled your stackers, you can put them back on the grill, but be careful! In the interest of time, I usually use jarred red peppers, and they tend to be a bit oily. Oily middle stacker component = slippery sliding stacker mess waiting to happen. An easier solution is to just assemble your stackers on a jelly roll pan and then throw them under the broiler for a couple of minutes. Everything is cooked, you just want to heat them up and melt the cheese.

Enjoy!

Sarah cooks too!

IMG_1637
Originally uploaded by bobloblaw.

Yup. We're pretty lucky around here in that both of us like to cook.

Here's some pics of the meatloaf as well as the chicken pot pie that Sarah has made lately.

The (First) Really Big Cook-Off

Tonite, we took part in The (First) Really Big Cook-Off. The idea is great and simple, a recipe is posted and everyone makes it. Then the results will be compiled and posted. It will be neat to see how different and yet similar everyone's turned out.

This was a really cool experience as this was something that I never would have tried without the encouragement of this event, and I'm darn glad I did.

Here's the recipe I followed:

Ravioli with Potato, Watercress and Cheese
Serves 4-6

Make a point of using 2 delicious, contrasting cheeses, for example a strong cheese like Gorgonzola or a creamy taleggio and a hard cheese such as pecorino or Parmesan.

6 sheets fresh pasta (cut out into 36 circles or squares, or use 36 wonton wrappers)
2 pounds all-purpose potatoes
4 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
4 or 5 good handfuls watercress, large stalks removed, plus extra for garnish
1/4 cup butter
10 - 12 oz. cheese, extra for garnish
Grated nutmeg, to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash and peel the potatoes, put them into well-salted, boiling water with the garlic and cook until the potatoes are just tender (it is very important not to under- or overcook them). Drain them and let them sit for about 5 minutes to enable the excess water to evaporate (if you overcook them or don't drain them correctly they'll be too moist and your filling will be too wet).

Sarah and I went grocery shopping this afternoon and got all the stuff. We ended up switching the watercress for arugula, as that's all we could find and went with ricotta and asiago cheeses.

Making the ravioli was much easier than I would have thought (especially using the won ton wrappers) and we'll certainly be trying this with other ingredients in the future.

I made the first ravioli. Here's a pic of it with the top off.

All you do then is moisten the edges with the egg wash and top it with another won ton wrapper.

Sarah was so into it that she made way more raviolies than me in the end.

Here's a picture of the end result.

Steak

IMG_1458
Originally uploaded by bobloblaw.

While we were on vacation, we cooked up some super tasty steaks the one night.

Extra special thanks to my awesome in-laws, Vic and Anne, who picked them out for us!

Fresh Approach Cooking: The (First) Really Big Cook-Off

Thanks to the people over at Fresh Approach Cooking, I will be participating in The (First) Really Big Cook-Off!

The idea is simple, a recipe is posted and everyone makes the same thing, sending in their submissions. It should be neat to see how similar, yet different the results are. I'll post up mine when I male it.

where matt?

Matt had gone missing.

He was last seen going into a 7-11.

Upcoming IFOCE events

Here's a list of some upcoming IFOCE events

GoldenPalace.com World Grilled Cheese Eating Championship Circuit
15 Event Circuit throughout the U.S.
$1,750 in prize money is up for grabs at each circuit event. There will be $20,000 in prize money given out at the end of the circuit.
Must be 18 or over.
Register and view at http://www.ifoce.com/goldenpalace.php.

Bluffs Run Casino World Smoked Pork Eating Championship
Sunday, August 21 at 1pm
Council Bluffs, IA
Must be 21 or over. $3,750 in cash prizes.
Register at http://www.ifoce.com/contests.php.

Midway Slots World Crabcake Eating Championship
Sunday, August 21 at 1pm
Delaware State Fairgrounds, Harrington, DE
Must be 21 or over. $5,000 in cash prizes.
Register at http://www.ifoce.com/contests.php.

New Jersey Tomato Festival Pizza Eating Championship
Sunday, August 21 at 1pm
Camden Waterfront, NJ
Must be 18 or over. $1,000 in cash and prizes.
Register at http://www.ifoce.com/contests.php.

National Buffalo Wing Festival
Dunn Tire Park, Buffalo, NY
Must be 18 or over.
Buffalo Resident Wing Eating Championship, Friday, Sept. 2
U.S. Buffalo Wing Eating Championship, Saturday, Sept. 3
Buffalo Buffet Bowl Eating Championship, Sunday, Sept. 4
Register at http://www.ifoce.com/contests.php.

Waffle House World Waffle-Eating Championship
Sunday, Sept. 4
Last Blast of Summer Festival at Stone Mountain Park, Atlanta, GA
Must be 18 or over. $7,500 in prize money
Register at http://www.ifoce.com/contests.php.

Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship Circuit
Starts Labor Day in Chattanooga, TN, with $22,500 in cash prizes given at the final championship event. Registration will be posted soon.

Strawberry milk sausage sales set to sizzle

Here's a link to a article about a new food product available in Japan. The first paragraph really tells the story.

In a bid to boost declining sales of fish-meat sausages, Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. (Nissui) has come up with a new flavor designed specifically to attract children -- strawberry milk.

I can't wait until these are available domestically. Nothing says "new and improved fish-meat sausages" quite like "we've added strawberries and milk."

Sriracha

Sriracha

Sriracha is my favourite hot sauce by far. No matter what other ones I try, I always come back to it. It's so good that it could make a paint sandwich taste good!
Here's how they describe it on Huy Fong's website:

Sriracha is made from sun ripen chilies which are ground into a smooth paste along with garlic and packaged in a convenient squeeze bottle. It is excellent in soups, sauces, pastas, pizzas, hot dogs, hamburgers, chowmein or on anything else to give it a delicious, spicy taste. Like all our sauces, we use only the highest quality ingredients and never any artificial colors or flavorings.
Available in 17 oz. and 28 oz. bottles.

Their chili garlic sauce is also fantastic.

Blog on vacation

Hi everyone!

Sorry about the lack of updates, but I've been (and still am) on vacation. There's been some good eats already--both home-cooked and at restaurants--so I'm going to post a HUGE update when I get back. The only concession to that is that I still have to be able to reach the keyboard over my gut, which may or may not be possible.

In the meantime, Matt is still around (I think) and maybe he'll post something good!

Cheers,

Darell

Porta-Pizza

Are you ever stuck in traffic on your way home from work when you're struck with an uncontrollable urge for fresh baked pizza? Or maybe the drive home from the supermarket is unbearable knowing that you've got a bag full of DiGiornos, and there's nothing you can do with them for a full TEN MINUTES! Or perhaps you like to go camping, where you can get away from the pressures of the big city, yet still like to retain your connection to the comforts of your kitchen.

Well, friends, we finally have an answer to our prayers.

The In-Car Pizza Oven



If I could only find some way to legally mount a keg-erator in my trunk, along with this, I may never leave my car again.

(Note: the staff of darell eats reminds you to drive responsibly.)

Hungry-Man

Just for fun, I tried Swanson's Hungry-Man Sports Grill Buffalo Style Chicken Strips for lunch.

According to their website, the meal is described as:

Tantalizing chicken breast strips coated in a floured Buffalo style seasoning with a side of French fries, corn and a heavenly Duncan Hines brownie for dessert.

Overall, the meal was ok, but I'm not sure the word "tantalizing" is what I would use to describe the chicken. Maybe "extruded" or "whitish-brown" would be better descriptors. "Salty" would be a good overall summary of the meal as it's left me unquenchably thirsty.

I think it'll be a while before I get another one of these, but for five bucks, it was alright I guess.

thank heaven for 7-11

First some background: my wife and kids are out of town for a couple of weeks. I normally do most of the cooking in the house, but since they've been gone, I haven't been inspired to do much kitchen wizardry for my sole benefit. So as a result, I've been eating out a lot more, and when I do eat at home, it's nothing special (read: crap). Another side effect of my psuedo-bachelorhood has been more late nights out, going to see bands, hanging out at the neighborhood bar, etc.

I posted this on a messageboard last night:

"So I have this thing....

When I go out drinking (which I did tonight), I usually end up with the drunk hungries by the time that I get home. If I'm in my neighborhood, and unsupervised, I get this great idea to walk over to 7-11 and get nachos. Packaged chips, machine spewed cheesefood and pseudo-chili topped with room temp jalapenos, and I'm alright.

I just made that mistake, like I've done so many times before. Why do I do this? I know that tomorrow will be hell on earth (or at least, hell in the can).

Why does everything wrong seem so right?"

Well, I didn't need any precognition skills to know that I would wake up today, having my innards feel like a 5 year old can of cuitlacoche. What surprised me, however, were the responses that I got to my post (including some from our host from the Great White North, darell). Praise upon praise was given to that inner city oasis, that neon beacon of hope in the midst of urban blight. Yes, my friends, regular people like to eat at 7-11. All sorts of advice was given, from the proper way to make nachos (chips - cheese - chips - cheese - other toppings of choice), to the other gastronomical delights housed within the fluorescent escape from reality.

I've always been an advocate of hair of the dog, but seeing as I couldn't knock back a shot or two during work hours, I decided to return to the scene of last night's food crime.

Lunch consisted of:
- nachos (done "lasagne-style" per the recommendation of the Canucks)
- a Monterey Jack taquito
- an orange creme Slurpee

I ate the taquito on the way home, and it was indeed quite tasty and not nearly as vile as I was expecting. The fact that they had about ten different varieties (including Buffalo chicken!!!) means nothing but good things for me. My nachos were good. The layered preparation gave the maximum cheese to chip ratio. So much, in fact, that I had cheese to spare when the chips were gone. Unfortunately, I consumed so much cheesefood that my body started rebelling against it. Where I normally would have been scraping cheese remnants out with my fingers, I had to quickly toss the container, as the smell was beginning to unnerve me. My saving grace was the Slurpee. It provided the perfect counterpart to the nachos. The cool to it's hot. The sweet to it's spicy. The ice to it's...... corn?

I'm just glad that I was alone for the experience. Eating nachos alone is like eating bbq ribs alone. You can throw all propriety out the window and have at it, no holds barred. By the time I was done, I had cheese all over my face, and nearly up to my wrist. Later, I did find a spot of cheese on my earlobe. I'm not quite sure how it got there, but I did black out for a little while during my meal, so anything's possible.

I'm going out again tonight.... wish me luck.

Alton Brown

What else can I say? Alton Brown is probably the coolest guy in food tv. If you haven't heard of him, he's the host of Good Eats, one of my favourite television shows (food-related or not), ever.
When I grow up, I'll be happy if I am 1/100th as smart as Alton. But let's face the facts here, he's good at science and I suck at science. Oh well.
Check out Alton's personal website by clicking here.