Mac N Cheese Please

What I use:

1# Tricolor Rotini
Bag Shredded Cheddar or other Cheese
1/2 Cup Whole Milk
2T Unsalted Butter
1/2# Roast Turkey Breast (leftovers or the handy kind ready done at the grocery store)
1 can Green Peas
4 Cloves Fresh Garlic
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Start off by cooking the Rotini & draining off the water. Toss in the butter, milk, garlic, peas & turkey and let that all warm up until the garlic softens. Then add back in the pasta. Toss it all around and slowly add the cheese until it thickens up into creamy goodness. Adjust seasonings.

So much better than the box and not really any more time. Also try tossing in some Sundried Tomatoes for a little zing. And maybe even a little fresh basil.

Revamp

I think the time has come for me to start adding pictures to these recipes so you can see that I actually make the things I write about. I can't really promise to do it every time, but I'm up for giving it a whirl and seeing what happens.

One Horrible Taste

I have to tell you that there isn't much that scares me as far as food goes. I'll eat anything on land or sea just to see what it's all about. OK maybe not anything, but here is a list of some of the tasty treats I have happily snacked on starting with buffalo testicles and moving on from there. To name a few: Cod Liver, Various Snakes, Gator, Every Kind of Conceivable Sushi, Kudu, Impala, Springbok, Water Buffalo, Wild Boar, Moose, Bear, Dove, Partridge, Snails, Grasshoppers, Live Eels, Pigeon, Squirrel, Lots of Glands, Brains, Kidneys, Organs Galore and plenty more I'd love to tell you about and am having a hard time pulling out of the ether right now. But hands down the absolute funky miserable taste is... Hold on, let me tell you how this all began.

We were out doing a little quick fix shopping earlier since the boy is spending the night with his grandparents. In the process, the wife lets me know that she would like to join some co-workers for a night on the town. I heartily encouraged her and made preparations for a manly alone night with a low-effort-not-so-healthy dinner and a few cocktails while vegetating to the television. I was basically psyched. It has been a long week. I set my sights on some hot italian sausage burgers, Pringles & to top it off something. I don't know what, so in a fit of absolute stupidity I see Blue Diamond Almonds in the BOLD Maui Onion & Garlic Flavor and I think to myself that, "Hey, I like almonds. I'm BOLD, and I like flavor. Maui seems like a nice place, I bet they grow some fine tasting onions. And Garlic is a man's best friend, especially when paired with the salt on an almond." Or so one would think.

So far I have gargled with mouthwash, brushed my teeth twice and now, began to attempt to drown the taste with a drink or two. Nothing works. My mouth is consumed by the worst taste known to man and it will not leave. There is nothing to compare it to unless you are capable of licking yourself like a dog. That, I'm strictly guessing here might come close to the misery my taste buds are currently suffering. I may never recover.

Take my advice, "DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PUT A BLUE DIAMOND ALMONDS BOLD MAUI ONION & GARLIC NUT IN YOUR MOUTH! YOU WILL REGRET IT FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER!" I'm starting to wonder if pulling my own trigger and vomiting might make the agony subside, but I think it will only make it worse. Damn you Blue Diamond Almonds!

Simple, Fresh Pasta

This is one of my son's favorite things to eat. It's quick, easy, and a flavor explosion.

What you need:

1 Medium - Large Tomato - Diced into 1/4" pieces
1/2 Diced Yellow Onion
3 Cloves Fresh Garlic - Minced
1 Red Pepper - Diced
1/4 Cup White Wine
2T Butter
1t Grated Lemon Rind
Fresh Chopped Basil to Taste
Salt & Pepper as Desired
4C Cooked Rotini

Toss Onions, Garlic, & Red Pepper in a Saute pan over medium heat with a smidge of olive oil. Saute until the onions become transluscent and toss in the Tomato & Lemon Rind. Let it all cook until the Tomato visibly softens up. Now toss in the Wine followed by the Butter & Basil. Let all of that work together for a minute or two, then drop in your pasta and toss continuously. Add Salt & Pepper as you wish and serve. Also works well with shrimp or chicken. Try with freshly shredded Pecorino Romano. Also works well with a nice Sangiovese or Pinot Grigio.

Happy Eating!

The One & Only Sloppy Joe Casserole

I came up with this one the other day while bottom surfing through our nearly empty fridge and let me tell you it was a winner on the first night and great for lunches at the office.

You will need:

1.5 - 2# Ground Beef
1 Diced Yellow Onion
1 Diced Green Pepper
3tsp Dark Chili Powder
2tsp Granulated Onion
2tsp Granulated Garlic
Salt & Pepper to Taste

1 Can Tomato Sauce 8 oz
4T Worchestershire Sauce
2T Molasses
1T Cheap Yellow Mustard
1T Brown Sugar

1/2# Pasta (You Pick the Shape)
8oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese

And This is How You Do It:

Saute the Beef, Onions, & Peppers until the vegetables are soft and the beef is cooked through. Toss in the seasonings and bring the heat down a little bit. Stir repeatedly until the seasonings are dispersed throughout the meat and veg. At the same time go ahead and get the pasta cooked off. I don't think this needs a lot of explanation other than: think as salty as seawater.

Add in the Wet Ingredients (Tomato Sauce, Worchestershire, Mustard & Molasses) plus the Brown Sugar and Stir thoroughly. Then reduce the heat a little more until everything thickens up a bit. Be sure to stir occasionally to make sure nothing sticks and burns.

Fill an oven safe pan 1/2 up with cooked pasta. I use an 8-inch round. Cover Pasta with the Sloppy Joe Mix & cover with the Shredded Cheddar. Pop into a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until there is a nice golden sheen on the cheese.

Dig in and Enjoy!

No Clue

Don't know why, but I haven't been able to log in to Blogger for the past many days. If I hadn't gotten in this time, I worry that I would have just moved on to something else and let this blog die on the vine. After all, that seems to be hov most of these things end up. Luckily for me I'm right in this time.

This weekend we're doing the service side of a wedding. That involves us providing the service personnel in the way of bartenders, servers and kitchen monkeys, but the food is already there and ready to go. Not so bad. There's no shopping or prep lists to do. The downside is that the money doesn't hold a candle to what we normally would make.

Also, in my time away I have had the chance to compile some solid family friendly recipes, so check back tomorrow for the sublime secret of Sloppy Joe Casserole.

WoW! Catering

So I haven't put up a new post here in a while. For some reason I have had a hard time logging in to Blogger from my desk at work. In general I do my cooking posts during lunch, but haven't been able to for some reason. Most likely it has to do with the computer system we have there. It is really piss poor for a huge corporation. I mean, I use the internet all day to check out various information about the companies I am reporting on and the system screws the pooch over and over again.

Lucky for me there is no catering to be done this weekend. The wedding on Saturday pretty much put me out of it for the past three days. My fingers have been locking up just like my last days in the kitchen. I don't know the exact reason, but I can't grip/hold on to things like I should. It just straight up hurts. I love cooking so much, but I just cannot do it physically anymore. I suppose it is because of my commitment to cooking and how I would work as many hours in a day that it would take to get the job done. I would pull 14 hour days when I was in my early teens and eventually you have to pay the piper. To tell the truth it really makes me sad. I miss the kitchen. In a kitchen there is something new everyday. You learn something and continually adapt. You become better or you become lazy. I'm sure I have done both. While I was burning out, my work was probably pretty bad compared to a few and still better than most, but there were many years in there where I pushed myself as hard as I could to evolve as a chef. So now, I'm evolved and physically useless. Hoorah for me.