Chef Andrew's WARNING!! Habañero Salsa

       I decided to post this one for my father-in-law, who is an avid hot sauce and salsa connoisseur, Moonius. I spent a few weeks working on a Habañero pepper salsa and I feel this is the best one. It starts a bit slow in the heat then it hits you hard. What is really nice about this salsa, is that it doesn't linger too long on your tongue and the taste brings you back for more torture.

Ingredients

5 Habañero Peppers; whole and stemmed

1 Red Bell Pepper; stemmed and seeded

6 Roma Tomatoes; cored

1 bunch Green Onions; no roots

2 ounces Apple Cider Vinegar

4 ounces Cilantro

1 ounce Olive Oil

1 tsp Agave Nectar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

       

       Take the Habañeros, Bell peppers, Tomatoes, Green onions and Apple Cider Vinegar and place them in a pot with water to cover the ingredients. Add a little salt to the water and bring to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes.

       Strain and discard all liquid. Place ingredients into a steep sided container and add the Cilantro, Olive Oil and Agave Nectar. Use an Immersion Blender to blend the ingredients into a chunky or smooth salsa, based on preference. Add Salt and Pepper to taste.

       If you do not have an Immersion Blender, a Food Processor will work just as well. Grab a bag of blue corn tortilla chips and enjoy a warm salsa or let the salsa chill and enjoy a cold and burning treat!

Shrimp & Andouille Gumbo Stew

   I have a bit of a treat for you today. My work place had a competition this week called a soup throw-down. To gear up for this, our bistro had a mini throw-down to pick a couple soups to enter. Out of the five soups offered by five different chefs, Chef Terri Bernstein and myself, were chosen to enter our soups into the throw-down where 11 different bistros would compete. I will be sharing the recipe for the soup I entered. 

   Also, just so I don't leave a cliffhanger, even though we entered great soups for our bistro, we did not place in the top three. Our Executive Chef did ask for us to keep the recipes on hand and make them as regular soups for our soup line. I am also hoping the Chef Terri will guest post her soup on here, but I still have to talk to her about that. 

   Here's a picture of our team before the presentations and tastings.

From left to right: Chef Andrew Bradford, Executive Chef Tom Scaramuzzo, Chef Terri Bernstein and Bistro Manager Carla Diaz.

The Recipe

   Here is the recipe and yes, this a Creole recipe, not a Cajun recipe, since it does use tomatoes. This recipe also yields a gallon or so of stew.

 Ingredients

1.5 ounces Bacon; small dice

4.5 ounces Andouille; halved & sliced bias

8 ounces Shrimp

.5 ounces Garlic; minced
5 ounces  Celery; small dice
7 ounces  Bell pepper; small dice
5.5 ounces Onions; small dice

2 ounces Sherry Vinegar

7 ounces Tomatoes; small dice
7 ounces Okra; 1/2 inch cross cut

6 ounces Butter

2 ounces Flour
1 Bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon Gumbo Filé Powder
2 teaspoons Cajun/Creole Seasoning
9 ounces Parboiled Rice
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1 ounce Beef Base
2 ounces Worcestershire
160 fluid ounces Water (20 cups)
Salt and Pepper to taste

   Directions

   Take the Rice and 16 ounces of the Water, along with the Turmeric and a little Salt and Pepper, and place into a pot and cover. Place onto the stove top on medium heat and cook until al dente, about 20 minutes.

   In sauté pan, melt 3 ounces of Butter and add the 2 ounces of flour as well as 1 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning, mix fully and toast over medium heat until the Roux becomes dark brown and smells like spicy peanut butter. Put aside until needed later.

   While the rice is cooking,  in a sauce pan or a stock pot, melt 3 ounces of Butter and then add the Bacon and Andouille. Let the Bacon render while the Andouille browns, stirring frequently. Add the Shrimp, Garlic, Celery, Bell pepper and Onions, and sweat until opaque. Add the Sherry Vinegar to deglaze the pan, then add the Tomatoes and Okra. Let gently simmer until Okra is tender and the ingredients take on a starchy look.

   Add the Bay Leaf, Gumbo Filé Powder and the last teaspoon of Cajun Seasoning, mix thoroughly. Add the Beef Base, the Worcestershire and the rest of the Water. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Add the Cajun Roux slowly until a nape coats the back of a spoon.  Add the Rice and make final adjustments to seasoning by adding Salt, Pepper and Cajun Seasoning to taste. 

   As a garnish topper, I made little square cornmeal fritters, topped with an andouille, bell pepper and onion salsa and a few shrimp that were marinaded in the salsa, as well as a couple green onion blossoms.

Here is a picture of how I set up my display table.

History

   Here are a few fun facts that I found while researching this recipe.

   The Cajun movement started in the 1700's as French settlers moved into Louisiana after being removed from the Acadia Region of Canada after a British conquest. At this point any person that immigrated into the Louisiana region was known as Cajun and any person born in the region was Creole, who were usually multiracial. Gumbo was popular from the very poor farmer/hunter all the way to the upper class officials, with each caste using very different ingredients. While the farmers could get access to rabbits, chicken and fish, the aristocrats had access to highly sought after exotic ingredients such as andouille sausage, Caribbean spices and Spanish saffron.

   Also while Cajuns used an oil and flour based roux, Creole gumbos used a butter and flour roux. This dish also combines many cultures to make a great dish. Africa, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Caribbean isles, France and Native American, all influence this dish, whether by ingredient or technique.

   Since a lot of immigrants seemed to be Catholics, Marde Gras was also started when people donning colorful masks and outfits went house to house or farm to farm, to ask and perform for ingredients for a collective gumbo pot, where at the end of the day everything would be tossed into the pot and turned into a gumbo. Fat Tuesday(Marde Gras) marked the beginning of Lent, when many Catholics would begin a fast at sundown, that would last until Good Friday.

   While most would say that a gumbo goes over rice, it was documented in the 1800's that poor farmers were pouring gumbo over a cornmeal mush. Since grits and polenta are very popular in the South it should not come as any surprise.

   Well, I hope you enjoyed this little journey to the deep South! Enjoy!

Calves' Liver with Almond Saffron Sauce

Today's recipe comes from one of my culinary classes and is something that I would have never caught myself eating. I walked into class that day thinking to myself that I did not want to eat liver, much less smell it. As I entered the classroom that day, I found a giant and I mean, GIANT, calf liver on the center work table, I was actually kind of amazed at how large a calf liver could be. 

Before I start the recipe, it should be noted that if a fresh liver is acquired, there is a thin membrane over the entire liver that must be carefully removed before preparations begin. With that said let the second course commence.

Ingredients
Serves 6

4 Tablespoons    Spanish Olive Oil
1 ounce              White Bread
2/3 cup               Blanched Almonds
2 cloves             Garlic, crushed
                         Saffron, a few strands
2/3 cup              Dry Sherry, or white wine will work in a pinch
                         Salt and Pepper
1 ¼ cup             Vegetable Stock
1 pound             Calves' Liver
                        All-purpose flour, for dusting
                        Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
                        Crusty bread for serving

Begin with making the sauce. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet. Tear the white bread into small pieces and add to the skillet along with the almonds. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the bread becomes golden brown. Stir the crushed garlic and sweat until the garlic is very fragrant. Add a few strands of saffron as well as the sherry to the skillet and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and add the vegetable stock. At this point a blender or immersion blender comes in handy. You want to blend the sauce into a smooth mixture. A food processor would also work but the mixture will not be as smooth.

Once done, set the sauce aside and dice the liver into large bite size pieces. Dust lightly with flour that has been seasoned generously with pepper. Heat the remaining oil in a clean skillet, then add the liver and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until firm and lightly browned. At this point the liver should not be thoroughly cooked. Once browned, add the sauce over the liver and reheat gently. Once at desired temperature, place onto a communal dish, top with the fresh parsley and then serve it warm, with the crusty bread!

While I might not eat this a lot, I will eat it while at any Spanish restaurant that features it as an appetizer. 

Here is a picture of my plates after all my work:

As you can see, the saffron brings out a lovely shade yellow as well as adding a unique flavor. I also plated an extra plate as an appetizer to get a different feel. Having liver prepared right is definitely a must if you do not like liver. The dynamic of the entire dish was well thought out and is a must taste even if you loathe liver.

Until next the next dish!

The Second Course!

Good day, everyone!

So it looks like I have about 20 blogs on draft that I never posted while going through culinary classes. I was so excited and thoroughly invested in my classes that I put this blog on the back burner. I honestly should not have done that but I have since finished and graduated and am now working as a Certified Gourmet Chef as well as running my own catering business. Now that everything has settled I will be revamping this blog. I plan on taking those 20 or so blogs, re-editing and posting them.

I am really excited to continue this blog. My time has leveled off and I will be cooking a lot more at home, practicing and polishing skills. My lovely wife has been eating my food and loving every minute of it...I think. (/snickers) Maybe I will also have her guest post once in a while.

Until next time, let your taste buds salivate!

Second Week of Classes

This week was great for classes.

On Monday, we prepped stocks and other items for the next day's class and practice knife skills.

It was a lot of fun.

Tuesday was great. We ran a banquet meal set up, with every class providing something.

My class provided the soup. White Bean Au Pistou. It was a delicious soup, starting with browning bacon, and sweating the celery, carrots and onions. Deglazing the pan with a bit of white wine, and adding tapioca flour. Adding 2 gallons of chicken stock, bringing to a boil. Salt, pepper and Worchestershire sauce to taste. Once a nice simmer is going and the beans a re soft, we added a little tomato pistou (a mix of tomatoes, garlic and basil) and used an immersion blender to thicken the soup a bit.

Topped with a sliced bagette crouton, a tomato-basil concasse and a freshly baked parmesan cheese crisp, it was very delicious. A nice hearty soup that is right for any occasion.

What a great week!

Philly Cheese Steak Wraps with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Philly Cheese Steak Wraps

Ingredients

32 ounces Thinly Sliced Angus Beef Sirloin Philly Steak
3 large Green Bell Pepper, sliced in strips
2 large Vidalia Onions, cut in half and sliced
2 or 3 Garlic cloves, minced with salt and EVOO
2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese
8 ounces Cream Cheese
8 ounces Butter
10- 12 inch flour tortillas
Macadamia Nut Oil with Chili and Lime
Salt
Pepper

Directions

Take a mixing bowl and add the cream cheese and the butter together and using a beater (electric would probably be best here since they will be pretty firm), beat for 2 minutes until they have combined evenly into a nice fluffy mixture. Set aside while you prepare the rest of your mise en place.

Heat a teaspoon of macadamia nut oil in a skillet and add onions and peppers. Cook veggies until tender. I like to seared a few until they are half blackened. Add salt and pepper to taste, if you like.

In a separate skillet or after the veggies are done, you can set them aside and use the same pan. if using a separate skillet then heat another teaspoon or two of the oil up.

If using the same pan as the veggies, pour a tablespoon or more of white wine vinegar into the pan and scrape the pan for any veggie particles left on the pan. Once you have a nice little sauce add your garlic. After the garlic has become tender and a little tan, toss in your philly steak and cook thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once all the cooked meat and veggies are done, you are ready to make some wraps!

Set up an easy assembly line of all your products and make sure you heat up the tortillas for easy folding.

Using a flexible spatula, spread some cream cheese butter mix on half a tortilla, stack on some meat. Not too much so as to prevent folding/rolling. Top with strips of onion and bell pepper, as well as some Mozzarella cheese.

Fold as you would a burrito, closing both ends.

Once all your wraps are folded, using a dry and clean flat skillet, or a panini sandwich press, heat your wraps until the tortilla is firm and a bit browned. This will melt all cheese and butter and spreading it through the meat and veggies.

After the browning, cut all the wraps in half with a diagonal cut and serve hot with a cold Raspberry Chipotle Sauce as a dip or drizzled on top.

Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons adobo sauce
12 ounces of fresh raspberries
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar

Directions

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in jalapenos; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix in the garlic, and adobo sauce and bring to a simmer. Stir the raspberries into the sauce and cook until soft, the raspberries should start falling apart, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, salt, brown sugar, and white sugar. Mix well. Simmer until thickened and reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Pour the sauce to a bowl and allow to cool overnight before serving.

Note:

A well-rounded partner for this meal is a dark green salad.

You can find a nice mixture of baby lettuces (Green Romaine, Red Romaine, Red Oak, Green Oak, Tango, Lolla Rossa, Red Leaf, Green Leaf), baby greens (Mizuna, Arugula, Tatsoi, Mache, Red Chard, Green Chard, Baby Spinach), Endive and Radicchio at any store, usually pre-packaged. Or you can just make your own mix from anything you prefer. Top the lettuce with mandarin oranges, brown sugar pecans and feta cheese. Using the Raspberry Chipotle Sauce as a dressing will take the flavors even further. Just make extra sauce!

Healthy Options:

Use fat free cream cheese.
Change the butter to any veggie spread.
Use whole wheat tortillas.
Try low fat mozzarella cheese.

Enjoy this great meal with friends and family!!




WARNING!!! WARNING!!!

Please be aware of friends and family's allergies. In this recipe, a nut oil was used. If there are people who are allergic to nuts, please use another type of oil, such as Olive Oil.

First Week Complete!

Well my first week of culinary classes is complete!

I am so thankful to my wife who let me start this course to my dream. My excitement when I got home tonight was so thorough that I was shaking! I can't wait to get into the meat of the courses and start my projects and get to know the other students.

My guinea pigs (wife, cousin and other friends) are also excited.

Since this was my introductory week, I don't have a lot of information to share, other than it was fun.

Tomorrow I will have a recipe up and next week I will have another post concerning the classes.

Enjoy your food!!

Culinary Classes!

Well this is it! I took the jump and applied for culinary classes and will be starting them January 17th, 2012. I am really excited. I honestly can't tell you how excited I really am.

I am also hoping that with these classes I will get new insight and will start this blog back up. While I think I was doing really well, I felt I was missing something. Along with the new start up, new recipes will come in. Not just the homemade recipes, but some exotic ones as well.

So Happy New Year!

Chapati: The Bread Spoon

Chapati is an unleavened (no yeast or baking powder) flat bread and a staple food among the people of East Africa, similar to the American Indian fry bread. Chapati is normally served with other foods like vegetable and meat dishes. Tearing off pieces of a chapati and using it to pick up other foods is the norm. Chapati is a bread and a utensil. I think it goes great for thick stews and chilis!

Ingredients:

2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
oil
water

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients well. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the flour mixture and mix in with your hands until flour feels a little bit like sand. Add enough water to form an elastic dough. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.

Roll out 1 ball into a circle and spread 1/2 teaspoon oil over it. Roll the circle up, like a jelly roll, then roll it up again. It should resemble a snail shell. Do the same for the other three balls.Let the dough sit 20 minutes to 8 hours, depending on when you make them. Roll out into circles 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Melt a bit of shortening in a frying pan and wait until it is hot to cook the chapati. Cook rapidly and watch them bubble up.

Makes 4 chapatis.

Recipe doesn't really work with doubling due to the fact that it's easier to work this recipe when the portions are smaller, but they are quick and easy to make.

Notes:

Spread some butter or margarine on the warm chapati and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on it for breakfast.

Healthy Substitutions:

*Use 1/2 white flour and 1/2 wheat flour or all wheat flour to make a healthier chapati.
*Skip the oil used when rolling up the chapatis.
*Cook the chapatis on a dry skillet or frying pan.

Mexican Minestrone

Today I thought I would share something that is quick, easy and delicious. After a long day at work, sometimes you just want to sit and relax and not spend time in a kitchen. Since it's starting to get a bit chilly now, a soup is fantastic for warming up. I found a recipe several years back and adapted it to what my wife and I like. Hope you enjoy this soup!

Ingredients

1 lb. Ground Beef ( or any ground meat of preference)
1 can Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chiles (Hot, Medium or Mild)
3 - 15 ounce cans Progresso Minestrone soup
3 - 15 ounce cans of Progresso Vegetable soup
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Box Chee-its or other cheese crackers

Directions

Start by browning the meat in a medium stock/soup pan, tossing in half the seasonings. Once browned, toss in the can of Rotel (my preference in Medium) and while simmering, toss in the rest of the seasonings. Let simmer for about 3-5 minutes.

Add in the 6 cans of soup, salt and pepper to taste and let the soup heat to slightly boiling.

After heated thoroughly, ladle into your bowls, add half a handful of your cheese crackers to the top and serve the soup hot.

All-in-all, this should take you no less than 15 minutes and no more than 20 minutes.

I know using already can soup is kind of a cheat, but when your long day is over sometimes shortcuts help you relax.

Mangiar Bene!!

Chicken Chili & Rosemary and Garlic Toast

Chicken Chili

Ingredients

3 Uncooked boneless chicken breasts
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped (any color is fine, yellow for a nice flare of color)
1 clove of garlic, chopped and crushed with salt
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 chopped medium-sized tomatoes
6 cups of cooked Pinto Beans
2 cups of cooked Black Beans
1 teaspoon Cumin
2 tablespoons Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
Salt, to taste
black Pepper, to taste

Directions

Take the chicken breasts and using a fork, poke the chicken on both sides. Then taking a little salt, pepper, cumin and chili pepper, rub the seasonings into the chicken, getting as far into the meat as you can. After this, place the chicken, 6 cups of water, half the onion and peppers into a stock pan and bring to a boil on medium heat and cover.

After an hour or 2 check the chicken to see if it's fully cooked. May be done sooner depending on chicken size. Use a stem thermometer to check the chicken (you're looking for 165 degrees Fahrenheit) and once fully cooked take the chicken and a pair of forks, using them to shred the chicken on a cutting board. Leave the broth simmering on low heat.

After the chicken is shredded, take a frying pan and heat a teaspoon of EVOO, tossing in the garlic and the rest of the onion and peppers. Lightly brown the veggies, then add half the seasonings and the chicken as well as the tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat until simmering.

After simmering for 10 minutes, add the chicken and pepper mix to the simmering stock and bring back to a boil over medium heat. Let boil for 15 minutes then turn the stock down to medium-low heat and letting it simmer for another 20 minutes to allow the flavors to mingle and absorb into the chicken. Add salt and pepper as needed to taste.

Add the beans and the rest of the seasonings and stir and blend the beans into the stock. Add any seasonings for your own taste and unless your a person that likes heat, do not add anymore Crushed Red Pepper. Let this simmer until serving but no shorter then an hour or until the beans are heated all the way through. This chili should come out a little on the thin side, almost like a soup. The liquid have a red tint but basically be transparent.

If you would prefer to have this chili a little thicker, take a 1/2 cup of the cooked beans out and mashing them up with a ladle full of stock and mixing it back into the chili.

Now for some nice toast to go with this.

Rosemary and Garlic-infused Olive Oil

Ingredients

3 Twigs of fresh Rosemary
2 cloves of Garlic
1 pint of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a glass bottle <---this is important, must be glass bottle

Directions

Take the Rosemary twigs and strip off the leaves. Using the back of your blade/knife, hit the leaves, bruising them and bringing the sap/oil from the leaves out. Hit them several times, being careful not to over it and creating a mash. Once the bruising is done, use your knife to coarsely chop the rosemary.

Set this aside and taking the cloves of garlic, slice off each end and peeling them. Coarsely chop the garlic, sprinkle a little salt over it. Chop a few more times. Then lay your knife on one side of the garlic and pressing firmly run your sharp edge over the garlic a little at a time, effectively crushing the garlic with the salt absorbing the oils. Once at a nice coarse, thick consistency, your done.

Take a sauce pan and pour the entire bottle of EVOO into it and place it on medium to low heat. Set the empty bottle aside. Stir and test the oil every few seconds or so with your finger. You want to allow the oil to heat up but not to the point where you can't touch it. Once the oil hits a certain temperature, the quality of it will drop. So at a point just above warm, turn off the heat and toss in the garlic and the rosemary, stirring to allow the oil and the herbs to mingle throughout.

Taking the empty bottle, funnel the oil into the bottle. Since the oil expanded during the heating process, you may need to allow about 15 minutes for the oil to cool to get all the oil and the herbs into the bottle. Allow the oil to sit overnight for a nice flavor. This oil will keep for about 6 months.

For bread, I like to use French bread or Shepherd's bread, sliced. For this chili, try Shepherd's bread. There are two methods for toasting: Broiler for thin slices of bread and Barbeque for thick slices of bread. Using a brush, spread the oil with some of the herbs onto the bread. For the broiling method for toasting, spread the oil on one side of the thin slices of bread and place on cookie sheet under your broiler until toasted brown, a little on the dark brown side would be the best. For Barbeque, brush the oil on both sides of the thickly sliced bread and toast over your open flame.

Serve the chili hot, with a sprinkle of sharp cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream and the freshly toasted bread. And let your mouth enjoy and your tongue rejoice!

Notes

Sometimes my measurements are not always what is needed for a recipe. Keep in mind my blog title. I try to make sure the measurements are approximations of what I use. Sometimes I just know from taste and look what is needed. I reccommend that you keep a small tablespoon-sized bowl or dipper nearby and continually test your soups and other recipes. And if you're having a hard time getting the seasonings right take a regular bowl and fill with your soup or other recipe. Add varying seasonings or what you think may be needed until you find your balance then add what is needed to the real recipe, testing constantly. making your test bowl allows for the fact that you may put too much of one seasoning and this helps protect your current work.

So until next post, Mangiar Bene!

After the Move!

Well, I fell behind and I promised myself I wouldn't. Between moving from our apartment into a nice condo and work and stress and World of Warcraft, I placed the blog on the back burner.

But no MORE!!

Every week I shall be posting a new recipe or at least a post of something! I will definitely stay on the topic of food and drinks of course.

By the way, moving from the apartment kitchen, which was itsy-bitsy, where my wife and I had to kiss just to walk by each other and into the condo kitchen, where we can dance to our hearts content without ever touching, is saa-weeet! But honestly, who wouldn't want to be in the same room as her and not ''accidentally'' bump into her. *wink, wink*

A couple weeks after we moved, we had a few friends/co-workers over and I tested a new recipe for Chicken Chili and a Rosemary and Garlic infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil spread on sliced fresh bread and toasted in the broiler. Fantastic! Those recipes will be the first up starting next week.

Until next RMDM post, Mangiar bene! (in case you're wondering if I was swearing you out or just plain nuts (which is usually the case), that is Italian for 'Good Eating!')

Mustard Potato Salad

Another favorite of mine is the classic Mustard Potato Salad and no summer is complete without it!
Ingredients
6 medium red potatoes, boiled in skins until tender, and cooled
1/2 large sweet onion, diced
2 large stalks of celery, diced(optional: some people don't like celery)
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon kosher salt(to taste)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup mustard
1 to 2 tablespoons pickle juice
Sweet Paprika for garnish

Directions
Cook the potatoes whole in a pot with the eggs in rapidly boiling water. After 10 minutes remove the eggs and rinse under cold water and set aside. Cook the potatoes another 20-25 minutes or until soft and tender when tested with a fork. Set aside to let cool.

Cut cooked potatoes into cubes with skin on. You can scrape off the skin with a butter knife and then cube but the best flavor is with the skin on. Place in a large mixing bowl with sweet onion, celery, chopped hard-boiled eggs, pickle relish, salt, and pepper. Toss gently.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, and pickle juice. Mix into potatoes and vegetables until combined.

Sprinkle with a light dusting of sweet paprika. Refrigerating the mustard potato salad before serving, for at least 4 hours, will let the flavors meld.

Optional
Substitute Ground Red Pepper/Cayenne Pepper for the Paprika for a dash of heat on this cold dish.
For people that don't prefer the sweet taste of relish, regular pickle relish works fine or dicing your own dill pickles. Dicing your own pickles lets you decide how big you want your pieces to be.

Classic Mac Salad

Well it's getting to that time again. Where the days are getting hotter and people do not want to slave over a hot stove. Well here is a cold dish for those hot days. Goes great with any barbeque. Now this salad is a bit sweet, so for a less sweet taste, you could either cut back on the sugar or take it out completely.

Ingredients
4 cups uncooked Penne Rigate pasta
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2/3 cup white sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 hard-boiled, shelled and chopped

Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the penne, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain.

In a large bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the onion, celery, egg and pasta. Refrigerate for a couple hours before serving, but preferably overnight.

Options
Add 1 green pepper, seeded and chopped for an extra zip. Also most people prefer the regular elbow macaroni for their salad but I think the penne is a lot tastier.

Romaine and Rottini Chicken Salad

This week's recipe is a simple recipe that took me less than 5 minutes to put together. It was a random dish I threw together while my wife, cousin and I were playing a card game and didn't want to stop playing. It became a big hit.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced/shredded
1 1/2 cup cooked and cold Rottini pasta
1 head of Romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped
1 can of sliced or whole Black Olives
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
Italian Dressing to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a large mixing/ salad bowl, mix all ingredients together adding salt, pepper and Italian dressing to taste/preference, making sure that the dressing coats everything.

I always prefer a tad more dressing than is really necessary. I just love the taste of the Italian Dressing.

Orange-Maple Glazed Rosemary Chicken

Ingredients
1 cup Orange Juice
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons chopped fresh Rosemary
½ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

Directions
Bring orange juice and wine to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat slightly, but keep high enough to continue a low boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in maple syrup and continue boiling for another 5 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until glossy and just slightly thickened. Set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the rosemary, salt and pepper. Rub mixture on both sides of chicken breasts, and set aside.

Melt butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken breasts, cover skillet and sauté for about 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Pour orange-maple mixture over chicken (mixture will boil and bubble). Reduce heat to simmer; cover and let cook for another 10 minutes, basting occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and sauce has turned into a rich, thick glaze.

Best served with a cold lettuce or pasta salad. Also try serving with peppered steak fries and carmelized carrots.

Fiesta Chili

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, dice
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 pound ground beef (or your favorite meat)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
1 freshly seeded and chopped jalepeno
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (15.5-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15.5-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Directions

Heat the oil in large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, bell peppers and jalepeno, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and half the chili powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add the ground beef; raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, the rest of the chili powder, oregano and salt and pepper.

For the adding of the water, I use the empty can of crushed tomatoes. Pour in a little water and swish around to rinse the residual tomatoes off the sides and then pour in the rest of the water. Once done, empty the can into the pot of chili sauce.

Cook, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and continue cooking, partially covered, 20 minutes longer. Season to taste, with salt and pepper.

Serve with tortillas, biscuits, cornbread, crackers, cheese, and/or sour cream. Goes well over rice.

Stuffed Meatloaf with a Cherry Glaze

Well this week's post will cover an old family favorite with a sweet twist!

I was cooking for my cousin's birthday and he requested meatloaf. So I made it but put a small twist in. Read on for the recipe.

Cheese and Mushroom Stuffed Meatloaf: Serves 6 to 8 people 10 minute prep 1 hour cook time
9 x 12 baking dish
3lbs thawed Ground Beef
2 Medium to Large Eggs
3/4 cup Dry Oats
1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup sliced Mushrooms (canned or fresh)
1/4 cup chopped Onion
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Garlic powder
1-2 tsp Sea Salt
2 tsp Black Pepper

Now prep your work area with a large mixing bowl and a medium mixing bowl and all you ingredients within easy reach. Fill the medium mixing bowl with warm water and keep it with in reach of the large mixing bowl. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Take your ground beef and place in your mixing bowl. Use a spoon/spatula to break apart the form. Add your Oregano, Basil, Thyme, Garlic powder, chopped onion, 1/4 cup of cheese, 1 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 1/2 tsp of pepper. Hopefully at this point your hands are clean or you're wearing food prep gloves. Using one hand start kneading the meat, thoroughly spreading the seasoning throughout the meat. You will notice (hopefully you're not using room temperature meat) your hand will definitely be cold if not freezing. Well remember that bowl of warm water that I had you get out?

Guess what it's for? Yep, dip your hand into the water to keep the chill down also the water is there to put some moisture in the meat mixture. You don't want a dry meatloaf. So don't dry your hand off. Dip into the water and put it right back into the meat. Repeat as many times as you need to keep your hand from freezing.

Once the meat is thoroughly mixed, grab two(2) handfuls of dry oats (that's a little under 3/4 cup), and toss into the meat. Crack those 2 eggs and add both the yolks and the whites. If you don't use the yolks add a third egg. The eggs and the oats are important as fillers and stabilizers. You don't want to have a flat meat patty for dinner. Mix thoroughly.

I use stoneware baking dishes so I have no need to grease my pans but if you do use any type of metal panware, using half a teaspoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a cut clove of garlic, grease the pan thoroughly. Add your meat to the pan and spread evenly using the entire pan. Create an inch thick trough in the middle of the meat using your fist. Make sure it's not to deep. You're creating a folding point and a place to put the cheese and mushrooms.

Place the rest of the cheese and the mushrooms in this trough, piling high. Grabbing one side of the meat patty, pull it up and over being careful not to tear any part of the side. Bring up one of the ends to meet the side and pinch together, then do the same at the other end. Now bring up the last side, again pinching the ends on each side to keep it up. Begin folding and pinching boths sides together, being sure to leave 3 finger wide openings on the top that reach to the cheese and mushrooms.

Cheese likes to expand when heated and having these openings will allow the cheese to go up and cover the top instead of bursting the side and having all the the cheese spill to the bottom of the pan.Use the warm water to smooth out the pinching and folding. Add a small pinch of Thyme and Oregano to the top of the loaf along with the rest of the salt and pepper. All to taste of course.

Place your loaf on the center rack in your preheated oven and let it cook for one(1) hour. I like to check at least once to make sure all is going well. Always cook to your own preference. Longer for a more well done taste or shorter for a more rare taste.

An Optional way for building this is to roll out the meat into a giant flat patty about 8 1/2 inches wide with about an half inch or less thickness. Then top with the cheese and mushrooms all over and rolling it up so that you get a spiral shape if you look the end. Pinch or fold the each end until there is no opening s that the cheese can squeeze through and place into your baking dish with the seam down. Using a straight, thin knife, create 4 openings by plunging the knife straight down to about 3/4 depth of the loaf and wiggling the knife back and forth to create a small slit that has an eighth of an inch at the top. This is for the possible cheese expansion.

Cherry Glaze: 4 to 6 servings 5 min prep/cooking time
1 1/2 cups of pitted and chopped Cherries
1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

In a sauce pan add the cherries, over medium heat. Once soft and a nice glaze is forming on the bottom of the pan, add all the other ingredients together and blend throgoughly. Bring to a light boil and then let simmer. After the sauce has thickened, take off stove top and place the sauce in a glass bowl, cover and placed in fridge overnight.

Once your meatloaf is done take out of fridge and stir. You can either spread across the finished meat loaf or serve individually on each slice of loaf. It's great either way.

For a more healthier meal: Use two (2) pounds of ground turkey and 1 pound of lean ground beef and cut the cheese to 1 cup. Also use a roasting pan that allows the fat drippings to fall away from the meat.

Well there you have it! A Cherry glazed Meatloaf stuffed with Cheddar Cheese and Mushrooms! Man, was it good. Can't wait until I have the leftovers! See you next week for another mouthwatering recipe!!

Real Mean Don't Measure

Welcome to the first of hopefully many posts/recipes for good food.

I have been thinking about doing this for a while now and with my wife's encouragement, Here it is! I love cooking. I have never taken a class but have been tempted many times to take several courses, if not, get some type of degree/certificate in culinary. Given time and money I might just do that.

My wife, who has always enouraged me in my cooking and a participant in several of my creations/combinations, has multiple times asked me why I don't just put a cookbook together. She even made me up a title, Real Men Don't Measure. So in preparation of hopefully my own cookbook, I started up a blog to help myself. I hope everyone enjoys this.

I love the title. It fits me perfectly. I think thats why she came up with it. I dislike using measuring items. I just like to throw things together. Using my eye or my sense of taste or smell to put things together. Using my creativity to make the most mouthwatering food.

I will tell you what. My wife was happy when she found me. Cooking + No Sports watching = Happy Wife. Guys remember that!

In future posts I will give recipes, instructions and of course, how I prepare these items. Feel free to use, manipulate to your tastes and please feel free to give me your feedback.

Being that this is the first article there will be no recipe. My second might contain a recipe but I am currently making an outline of several posts. My next article will explain my measuring techniques since I don't measure.

Keep your appetites in check and see you back here for mouthwatering morsels!