Happy Mardi Gras!

New Orleans Muffuletta, one of the favorite sandwiches of Mardi Gras. 
This is my contribution to the Tastemade Mardi Gras collaboration.

Ingredients:
1 lg loaf of ciabatta bread
 Italian olive salad
1/4 lb smoked ham
1/4 lb Genoa salami
1/4 lb mortadella
1/4 lb mozzarella cheese slices

Other contributers:
SmokyRibs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohS2C__0Gg0&feature=youtu.be
James Strange: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lokQaHmN8-E&feature=youtu.be
Haniela's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_72sRy7xxzM
Tom's Test Kitchen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBEGOgQrYKw&feature=youtu.be
PescaFoodie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTj6BijtA2o
TheVegetarianBaker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW7Pyhadgpk

Chicken and Lil Smokey Sausage Soup

Chicken and Lil Smokey Sausage Soup
 Felt like making soup on a cold damp day, I saw the  little smokey cocktail wieners and thought I'd try them  with chicken. It turned out really good but I should  have trusted my instinct and used only 1 cup of pasta.

 Ingredients:
 2 lbs chicken thighs
 2 tbsp vegetable oil
 1 pkg Lil' Smokey beef cocktail wieners
 1 onion, minced
 1 c pasta, salad macaroni
 1 10 oz can of Rotel tomatoes and green chilis
 1 packet Goya Sazon (coriander & Annatto)
 48 oz chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Tom's Test Kitchen http://www.youtube.com/user/tdjtx

This is Pugsly watching the sunset.

Greek Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

1 seedless cucumber
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1/2 red onion
1 tomato
1 tsp mediterranean oregano
1/2 container of crumbled feta cheese
2 tbls olive oil
1 tbls lemon juice
salt to taste

Directions

Roughly chop the veggies and place in a bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and toss well to combine. Add the feta cheese and mix well. Chill for a couple of hours before serving.

How to insert an image in a blog post

A friend of mine who is new to blogging asked me how to insert an image into her blog posts. I thought the easiest way to show her was to make a quick tutorial of how to do it.

Giardiniara

I really like giardiniara but have never been satisfied with the jarred store bought brands.
Recently on the Food Channel I watched a new show called "Sandwich King". They made
Chicago style Italian Beef sandwiches topped with a homemade giardiniara. It looked so good
that I had to give it a try, so here it is.

Ingredients

1/4 c salt (I prefer sea salt but you could use regular table salt)
1 c diced carrots (3 medium sized carrots)
1 c small cauliflower florets
2 diced and seeded jalapenos (leave the seeds if you like it hotter)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 rib of minced celery
1 diced red bell pepper
2 c canola oil
1 tbsp oregano

Directions

Dissolve the salt in 2 cups of water. Add the carrots, cauliflower, jalapenos, garlic, and
bell pepper and stir well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Drain and
rinse the veggies to remove the excess salt then place in a clean bowl. Pour the canola
oil in and mix well. Cover again with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two days then
place in a clean air tight jar. It should keep well in the fridge for at least 2 to 3 weeks,
that is unless you eat it all within the first week.

Thai Red Curry Wings

Here is my take on Thai Red Curry Chicken Wings.

2 lbs chicken wings
5 tbsp unsalted butter
1 rounded tbsp Thai red curry paste
1/4 c honey
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Combine all of the ingredients, except the wings, in a sauce pan and heat to
boil, stirring. Remove from heat. Bake wings in a 425 degree oven, fatty skin side
down, for 20 minutes. Turn wings over and bake for another 20 minutes then
place them under the broiler for a few minutes to crispen them up. Toss wings
with the sauce and let rest for 5 minutes then toss again, coating them twice.
Enjoy.

Salsa Saturday 040911

Here is my salsa review for Salsa Saturday April 9th 2011. My current favorite is Santitos Medium Spicy, for a medium it has a really nice after burn. They make a spicier one which I will try. It contains bell peppers which give it a very nice flavor along with the serrano peppers. I love thin salsas like this, it's great on tacos or with just chips. The HEB Smoky Citrus is pretty good but the liquid smoke is too over powering, it does have a nice after burn and the lemon and lime really add to the flavor. Both are relatively inexpensive, under $4.

Tasso Stuffed Jalapenos

Here is a Texas favorite with a Cajun twist. I don't have an actual recipe for this, I tend to make these up as I go. Recently I made some Tasso ham which is a spicy Cajun smoked pork. I've been on a stuffed jalapeno kick and thought this would be tasty. If you don't have Tasso ham you could just use your favorite smoked ham. Be careful because once you start making these you will become addicted. The jalapenos aren't really that spicy once you remove the seeds and membrane.

Spicy Beer Cheese!

I grew up in Kentucky and later moved to New York, I currently live in Texas. There are many foods I loved from both areas that are not available here in Texas so I've had to figure out how to make them. I remember when we first moved here we couldn't find a decent bagel so I made my own. Here is a favorite from Kentucky, beer cheese. I don't think this is known outside of the state, you can buy it in the grocery stores there. Here's my take on beer cheese. It's a spicy and tasty cheese spread that goes well with crackers, pretzels or celery sticks.

Ingredients:

2 cups finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup flat beer (Open the beer, stir to remove bubbles.) you might not use it all
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp ground red pepper
½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce (Frank's)
¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp horseradish
saltine crackers
pretzel sticks
celery sticks



Directions:

Add 2 cups shredded cheese, garlic, ground red pepper, hot pepper sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to a food processor and mix until somewhat combined. Slowly pour in ¼ cup beer, and continue to mix with the food processor until creamy. Check the consistency of your beer cheese spread. If it is very stiff, blend in more beer, just a little at a time, until a smooth consistency.

Sabrett's Onion Sauce

Sabrett hot dogs are a New York City specialty. You can get these dogs at push carts all around the city.
One of the favorite toppings is a sweet and tangy onion sauce. I wanted to make this sauce so I looked around on the web and found several "clone recipes", here is one that I came up with based on a few that sounded good.

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large sweet onion, 4 cups copped
3 cups water
1 tbsp corn starch, dissolved in a little cold water
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper, or more if you like it spicy
1/4 cup white vinegar

Directions
Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat and add the onions, saute for about 5 minutes until onions are tender but not caramelized. Add the brown sugar, tomato paste, salt and red pepper. Stir and cook for a few minutes to cook off the raw taste of the tomato paste. Add the water and vinegar and simmer for 1 hour. Add the cornstarch while stirring. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, once thickened spoon onion sauce over hot dog with spicy brown mustard.

NY Style Cheese Cake

Ingredients 

for the crust
3/4 c flour
3 tbls sugar
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
6 tbls unsalted butter
1 slightly beaten egg yoke
1/4 tsp vanilla

for the filling
3 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 tbls flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 egg yoke
1/4 c milk

To prepare the crust, combine 3/4 c flour, 3 tbls sugar, and 1/2 tsp lemon juice.
Cut the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly. Cut in the egg yoke and 1/4 tsp vanilla.
Pat 1/3 of the dough onto the bottom of an 8" cheese cake pan or springform pan.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 7 minutes until golden brown; cool.
Attach the bottom to pan and pat remaining dough onto the sides to a height of 1 1/2 inches.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp
vanilla. Mix the 1 c sugar with the 2 tbls flour and 1/4 tsp salt and slowly add to the cream cheese mixture.
Add the 2 eggs and 1 egg yoke all at once and mix well. Add the 1/4 c milk mix until well combined.

Pour filling into crust lined pan and bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes then reduce the oven
to 300 and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.
Let cool then chill for a couple of hours before eating.

Here's a video showing just how to make the best cheese cake you will ever eat.

Salsa Saturday from Oct 09 2010

I kept hearing commercials on the radio for this local Austin salsa so I thought I'd give it a try. It's a fresh salsa
called Ana's Salsa. It's available in the Austin area at HEB, you will find it in the refrigerated produce section.
I first tried the medium hot version and didn't like it at all, too much of a raw onion and garlic flavor. I decided to give the mild version a chance and it was really good. It's made with Serrano peppers instead of Jalapenos, which I really like. The mild version didn't have the harsh raw onion and garlic flavor, very fresh tasting.

Salsa Saturday from May 15, 2010

I started uploading salsa Saturday videos to youtube back in May. Basically to keep track of the ones I liked and the ones I didn't. Here is the first one. Reviewed are three jarred salsas, Absolutely Picante, Hot On The Red, and San Antonio Farms. I'm not sure about the availability of these around the county. My favorite here is the San Antonio Farms, ironically it's made in Ohio.

Coffee Plants

This is one of two coffee plants I bought earlier this year. Originally they were on the front porch in direct sunlight. I had to move them to the back patio with filtered sunlight. They were getting burned up in the direct sun. Since moving they have much more new growth. They get watered every other day and fed with every other week with Medina Hasta Gro. It's a great organic fertilizer, I use it on my tomatoes and peppers as well.  It will be several years before these plants start producing fruit. In the mean time they are very attractive plants and look nice on the patio.

Enjoying this mornings coffee

Enjoying some fresh roasted Ethiopia Organic Yirga Cheffe, Koke Coop this morning. This was roasted to a City+ and it tastes wonderful. I'm drinking this from a vintage 1970's FireKing coffee mug. If you ever see these at garage sales or thrift stores pick them up, they are worth a lot of money.

Dylan's AirSpeed shoe commercial

This is a video we shot the other day for Dylan's shoe sponsor AirSpeed. They sent him a newly released style of shoes and wanted him to shoot some pictures and video. He directed and edited it, I was the cameraman. He recently started his dream job, working at a local skateboard shop. Enjoy!

"The Sherwood" Commercial from Dylan Jones on Vimeo.

Latest coffee roast

Lately I have been roasting a "Kenya Nyeri AA Kiamabara" variety and have been enjoying it. This weekend I roasted a "Kenya Kirinyaga Karani Peaberry" and it's really good. Both are a wet processed bean and both were roasted to a full city roast. I'm still using the vintage Poppery hot air popcorn popper. I find that just using 2/3 cup is the best amount to roast, and that I need to let the popper cool down completely before roasting more. I think I have the roasting process down now, for the roast I like, which is the lighter full city. It's kind of a look, listen, smell kind of process. I stop the roast at around 455 degrees, just as it starts smoking a little. Then dump it into the cooler. It's best to let it air-out for 24 hours, but it's best to let it air-out for 2 days.

Latest coffee roast

I've recently been drinking a new variety, Colombia Gaitania "Los Pijaos de Tolima". I roasted it in the popcorn popper to a Full City roast. It took several cups to get my taste buds used to it. I've had other Colombians that I really liked so I figured why not give this one a try. It wasn't bad, the taste was pretty decent but I don't think I'd order it again. I have a Kenya Nyeri AA Kiamabara that I'm going to roast today. The African varieties have been my favorites, I hope this one can be added to my list.

Ring Bologna - locally made

I haven't been updating this blog with new coffee info because I can't seem to switch varieties. I really like the Ethiopian and Kenyan varieties that I've already blogged about. Switching from coffee for a bit, I wanted to mention something that I picked up recently. It's a locally made ring bologna from the Taylor Meat Company. I've always wanted to visit them, Taylor is only 15 miles from where I live. They are open until 5:30 during the week, Saturdays they close at 12:30. I could never make it over there on Saturday before they closed. Last week I happened to be running an errand that would take me straight through Taylor, I just had to stop. I've had their hotdogs and loved them, HEB used to carry them but not anymore. I wanted to try the ring bologna and their fresh beef sausage. I picked up 2 pounds of hotdogs, a pound of sausage, and a package of ring bologna. We had the hotdogs for dinner that night. Today I cut into the bologna and had it with the traditional saltine cracker and hot sauce. It was so good, I could have easily eaten half of the ring but didn't.