Not So Traditional Easter

     Entertaining at Easter is as big a chore as doing it at Christmas or Thanksgiving.  Yep, another holiday that centers it's self around the kitchen and the dinner table.  Not having much family left in the great state of California, it is up to the amazing friends to fill the spaces at my table.  This too can become problematic, especially if your friends are as busy and unpunctual as mine can be.  It can become very frustrating for a host to have spent many hours preparing a holiday meal only to scramble to find a way to keep it hot and looking fresh.  Solution?....   Picnic foods.  Yep, picnic foods are my new favorite holiday food.  Being able to prepare a "Holiday Spread" while at the same time not having to worry if the food just sits out on the counter until people are present and ready to eat can have some very fulfilling rewards.  Not only do you have the freedom from the kitchen to enjoy your guests, but the meal stays looking beautiful and delicious as it sits and waits it's turn for consumption.
    Yesterday, Easter Sunday, I put a great meal together in just 3 hours from shopping to plating.  2 if you take out the shopping.  The menu included;  Tangerine Glazed Chicken Thighs~Grilled French Potato Salad~Grilled Corn Salad with Blue Cheese and Cherry Tomatoes.  This was the first time that I had actually made the entire menu from one of my favorite Food Network shows, Boy Meets Grill.  Here are the links to the instructional videos and the recipes.

CHICKEN: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/tangerine-maple-glazed-chicken-thighs-and-drumsticks-recipe/index.html

GRILLED POTATO SALAD: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/french-style-grilled-potato-salad-recipe/index.html

GRILLED CORN SALAD: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/grilled-corn-and-tomato-sweet-onion-salad-with-fresh-basil-dressing-and-crumbled-blue-cheese-recipe/index.html

I hope everyone will give the corn salad a try, at least. All of the recipes in this episode are great, but the corn salad really stood out. Enjoy!

My Favorite Ramen Memories

     I will always remember my Grandmother, Lois, making Ramen Noodles for lunch when I was visiting her.  She would always make it just the way it says on the package.  When it was done she would put it into my soup bowl and ask if I wanted one or two ice cubes to cool it off.  We would enjoy our four cent package of noodles while Grammy watched her stories.
    While I still enjoy a 25 cent package of Ramen prepared this way, there are hundreds if not thousands of ways to prepare this simple noodle.   From salads to casseroles, Ramen is as diverse as rice or potatoes.  I have even used it died and as a garnish for beef and sea food.
     If you have never taken a look at the show Good Eats on the food network, I invite you to.  Alton Brown, the show's host, is a bit quirky but the information contained in the show is invaluable.  Not only does he prepare some really tasty dishes but he also takes you through the history of the recipe, chemical reactions that happen when the food is cooking and basically just about everything that you could possibly ever want to know about whatever food or recipe that is being featured that day.  That said;  the Ramen recipe that I present to you today comes from that very show.   This is, by all that is good in the world, my absolute favorite Ramen recipe!

     Ramen Shrimp Pouch

Ingredients

• 2 packages Ramen noodles
• 1/2 cup dried mushrooms, chopped
• 20 large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup sliced scallions
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup mirin
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons sesame oil
• Special equipment: 4 (18-inch) squares aluminum foil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Divide ramen noodles evenly in center of each of the 4 pieces of aluminum foil. Stack the following ingredients on top of noodles, in this order: mushrooms, shrimp, onions, scallions, red pepper flakes, and salt. Pull sides and corners of pouch up to form a small basket shape leaving an opening at the top to pour in liquid.

In small bowl, combine vegetable broth, mirin, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Distribute liquid evenly among packs. Press foil together, leaving a small opening to allow steam to escape. Place on cookie sheet and bake in oven for 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Makin Bacon or Your Hamburger Helper

I shop twice a month at my local butcher's store front.  I spend $75 on a meat package that comes with 2# thick sliced smoked bacon, 5# of ground beef 80/20, 5# chicken wings, 5# pork chops and my choice of 5# of NewYork or Rib Eye steaks.

That said, most of my dinners and lunches come from the base meats that I have here.  Also, instead of getting the wings this time, I had my butcher trade it for an equal value of Basa Fillets.  Turned out to be about 8 large fillets.

 Check to see if there are any butchers in your area.  I have noticed a significant savings over the grocery store and I am able to have the butcher cut my steaks and chops as thick as I like them.  Be picky when choosing a butcher.  Some of the places I have seen around Sacramento have been filthy and I wouldn't feed my dog of their cleanest surface.  Cleanliness is so important when it comes to the health of our food.  The butcher that I visit has the operation behind a glass wall so that the production of their products is visible by their patrons.

Ok, so, I have some left over bacon in the fridge and I want to make a great burger.  Oooo, I also have the jar of roasted red bell peppers.  This is going to be good.  Heat the grill.
1 # Ground beef~ Put it into a mixing bowl and add 3Tbs Worstishire Sauce, 2 Tbs A-1 Steak Sauce, 1 tsp Onion Powder and 1tsp Garlic Powder. Mix, mix, mix. 
Making patties; I like to make firm balls, about 3 to a pound of Ground Beef.  Next I take a gallon zip-lock bag and place one ball inside.  Now take the largest canned food item that you have in your pantry.  I like a nice big can of tomato or enchilada sauce for this.  Its easy, press down the ball a little, and then drop your can down firmly and as flatly as possible.  Open the bag, remove patty, repeat.  Now this is a great place to prepare condiments.  Get your tomatoes and your cheese sliced, wash your lettuce, cut some onions, bring out the Mayo, Mustard, Katsup or anything else you want to slap on the buns.  Oh, get the buns out, too.

I am just going to assume that everone knows how to grill a burger, so we will pick back up when the burgers are just about done.  Here is where we are going to make a little table on top of the burgers.  Take two slices of bacon and tear them in half.  In a lattice type pattern make a box shape, tucking one end of the bacon under the other.  Next, lay a nice piece of the red bells right on top of the bacon.  Just place a nice slice of cheese on top of that.  Here where you will want to put the buns on the grill.  Close the cover and let the cheese melt and the buns toast.  Keep an eye on the buns, though, they love to burn.

Mine is all done, so I am going to go take a big bite. 
Spaghetti, Revisited... Next time.

Hummus at Home

Hummus, a paste really.  But isn't it funny how baby food can taste so good.  I don't mean real baby food.  While I was sitting at the house, yesterday, feeling a little dredged down from all the corned beef. I thought, "I need something healthy to munch on that might soak up all of the bad cholesterol that I have been eating the last couple of days."

Hummus, in fact how about Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Hummus

1 14and1/2 ounce can Garbanzo Beans
2 ounces of Roasted Red Peppers out of an 8 ounce jar
3 large cloves of Garlic
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/2 tsp of Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Cumin

I bought a small food processor at walmart about a year ago. It was a 4 cup black and decker.  It cost me 10 bucks, and I have used it all of this time, mainly for this purpose, hummus.

So put the Garlic, Salt and Roasted Red Peppers in the food processor and blend until just coarse.  Next, add the Garbanzo Beans, Olice Oil and the Cumin.  Blend until smooth.  You may need to add a touch more Olive Oil, just to keep things blending until a smooth texture can be reached.

Oh, and save the rest of that jar of Roasted Red Peppers.  Were going to make a serious cheeseburger, next time.

$2 Worth of Butter or What to Make the Wife for Breakfast

Good morning, people.  So it is my wife and I's anniversary weekend.  Ah, yes, one year of marital bliss. (Has it been one year, already?)  So the question is; What shall we have for breakfast, to kick off this celebratory weekend?  Easy, Eggs Bennidict and Mamossas!

I'm gonna need some Champagne....
Oh, and orange juice! Mix 'em how you like 'em!
Next, Hollandaise Sauce.  Now, do I really want to melt down and clarify butter?  Hell no!  I'm supposed to be able to relax and have fun today, too.  So I say use the packet.  Besides, you save yourself about two cubes of butter, (or a half pound) anyway.  Okay, so lets talk about Canadian Bacon.
Personally I think it's just thin sliced, smoked ham.  And I like thick cut pieces for this dish.  Don't got any smoked ham?  How about just using some good ol' bacon??  I like it!! 
Something about poaching eggs.  I have poached eggs in a million places, but its always done the same way.  Pan, 4 cups water, salt and a touch of distilled white vinegar. Bring the pan to a simmer, then turn it down just a touch.  USE VERY FRESH EGGS> Crack your eggs seperately and one at a time into a small bowl.  Then pour each egg into the, JUST SIMMERING, water.  Let the egg coagulate.  When done, take it out with a plastic, slotted spoon.

Okay, so, Stacking order;  2 English muffins~toasted and buttered.
Ham, Bacon or Canadian Bacon (whatever floats your boat)
The Poached Eggs
The Hollandaise Sauce
Now, this is very important, dust a small amount of cayanne just the top of each egg.

Alrighty-then!  We need just a couple of sliced strawberries and a sliced banana in a bowl.  Put it all on a plate... And in my case, since the wifey is still sleeping, on a bed tray and WHALLLA!!!   Breakfast in bed ala Eggs Benidict, Fresh Fruit and Mamosas!!

Weekend night at home, wife is out.

So, as you know I have been feasting on a corned-beef I had left over from St. Patrick's day.  As I was sitting around this evening watching the latest "Dateline", I couldn't stop thinking about a Rueben.
Here's what I did;
Cut a french roll in half and broil until toasty. Meanwhile...
The Sauce..
1Tbs mayo
1tsp mustard
2tsp katsup
1Tbs sweet relish
Mix and set aside.
Sliced a dill pickle here. And took out my bread.
Thin slice the beef against the grain.  I used about 6 ounces.  Slather the bread with the sauce. Pile the beef on both sides. I did this on a baking sheet.  Top the beef with pickles here.  A bit of sour kraut and a thicker slice of swiss, back in the broiler.
I am so hungry for this shiz I'm just gonna switch the oven light on and watch the cheese melt.  It's the only way I can make sure it's perfectly browned, any ways.
A nice glass of lemon-ade... Good god, people, i'm all out of corned beef after I eat this. It won't be a year before I re-visit this holiday fave.

St. Patrick's Day or The Day After

What a morning...  If you are anything like me, you probably drank a few green beers last night.  Well sometimes that party-party lifestyle can mean a slow moving morning.  The good news is; a good ol' Irish hang-over remedy is just behind the refidgerator door.  Corned-beef Hash with a side of eggs!!

2 pans, one egg pan, one medium saute pan.
    Heat em up! 1/2 Tbs butter in the egg pan and 2Tbs veg oil in the saute.
1/2 medium onion. (sm dice) Throw into the saute pan.
2 boiled potatoes/per person (med dice) toss it in the saute pan.
1/4 lb cooked corned beef. (med dice)  also in the pan.
toss this in the pan and keep it cooking.  If you want toast push it down at this point.
crack 2 eggs and gently place them into the egg pan. Sizzle, Sizzle, Flip! 

Cook the tops of the eggs to your liking.
Hash should be looking pretty browned by now. 
Scoop some into a plate.  Pour the eggs on top, butter the toast.
Remember the OJ. 
Ahhh.  Now I gotta eat and go back to bed.