My poor wife.  She is one of the few (but I’ve noticed, growing) women who have little to no experience in cooking.  She does try though and through that, she gets better as time goes by.  Watching her make a few recipes, I began to notice something.  When she cooks, her mess travels across most of the kitchen.  Not only that, many times she is hurrying along.

I could not figure out why, I mean, I make the same dishes with half the mess and no real stress while doing it.

After watching her knock a few things off the counter while preparing a meal it dawned on me.  She was working around bowls, cutting boards, empty food containers from the parts that she already prepared.  She never cleaned while she was cooking.  Much of the reason she was rushing is because she had not prepared ahead of time before starting the recipe.

Having worked in a kitchen for a while in my youth, I learned pretty much from the beginning that preparation and cleanup are very important when it comes to cooking.  A professional kitchen comes to a screeching halt when there is no room to prepare food, and there is hardware all over the place.

Assuming my wife is not alone, perhaps it is a good idea to lay out a good strategy to use with any recipe.

First, go over your ingredients list.  Many times not only will it list an ingredient, – (More…)

Truly, winter is the domain of Chicken Soup. Although good any time of year, there really is nothing better on a cold miserable day than a bowl of hot, healthy chicken soup. Anyone who has cooked for pleasure for even a small amount of time has eventually made their way to this concoction.

My recipe is many years in the making and surely it will be different in a few more years. This recipe grows and changes as you do.

Here is my current recipe that I use to make about six quarts of soup:

5-6 chicken thighs.
1 large onion (any kind), chopped.
3 cloves of garlic, minced.
4-5 stalks of celery, cleaned, leaves removed, and chopped.
2 cups of baby carrots, chopped.
1 15 ounce can of sweet kernel corn, drained.
Assorted pasta (bow tie, noodles, egg noodles, macaroni, etc.) about three large handfuls.
3 stalks (sprigs) of thyme.
3 stalks (sprigs) of sage.
2 large bay leaves.
water.
kosher salt& fresh pepper.

Place the chopped onion on the bottom of your Crockpot. Add the carrots, celery, and then the garlic next. Place two of chicken thighs on top of the vegetables. We are not going to cook all the chicken in the Crockpot. This would create a very fatty soup. Although chicken soup needs some fat, you do not need quite that much and chicken thighs are very fatty.

Cover everything with the corn (make sure you drained it). Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper – (More…)

Many times when I prepare a meal for others, talk usually comes around to general culinary theory. One of the questions I get a lot is “How did you come up with this recipe?”

The answer is simple, I put away my fears of ruining a bit of food, and take a risk by trying to create something different and unique. This doesn’t mean necessarily that I am making something brand new. In fact, many times I am just reworking a recipe that someone else presented (which was probably reworked by them from someone else). Does this mean it always comes out perfect or better than the original? Of course not. After you experiment for a while, the error part of trial and error becomes less because of your experience.

For example, a couple weeks ago, my wife and I were planning a dinner we were having the next night. A friend of ours was coming over so we wanted to make something different. We decided on barbecue ribs since we had some in the fridge anyway.

We started thinking about a marinade and basically all we did was lay the ribs in a large glass baking pan, and started adding ingredients that we could agree might work.  First, we added some Jack Daniels, then some lemon, then balanced with some balsamic vinegar, etc., etc., until after about 10 different things were in there.

The next – (More…)

There once was a time when the kitchen was a woman’s domain. Sure, all of your top chefs have usually been dominated by males, but the trend of men cooking just for the fun of it is seriously on the rise.

Yesterday I opined on why it is I love cooking and wouldn’t you know it, the next day the Herald News comes out with an article about how more and more men are being drawn to cooking, or as they call it: ‘inspired cooking’.

I found it interesting how they mentioned that many mens magazines that in the past had little to no mentions of cooking in them are now offering recipes for meals, drinks, and the like. I was surprised to see in the article that they have found that many men are getting into baking bread. This has recently become a hobby of my own. It came about more out of pallet necessity rather than any inspiration. The local shop here has horrible bread and to drive 10 miles for a decent loaf to me seemed a bit ridiculous. I started making my own so I could have a decent sandwich once in a while.

The article did hit on a major factor in why men are turning to cooking more and more. It is no real surprise because this is why men do many things: Women love it. I – (More…)

As I posted in a recent article, I am a big Giada fan.  I also talked in that article about one of her recipes I used as a base for a dish I made at a super bowl party I attend every year.  Well, for my tastes, it needed a bit of tweaking, so for you steak sandwich lovers, here it is.

The first thing you need to consider for this recipe is the type of steak you are going to use.  Ideally, you want a steak with a lot of fat.  A lean cut of beef will not do well in my opinion.  This is because you need extra tender beef for a good steak sandwich.  There is nothing worse then eating one, and pulling out huge chunks of beef and destroying the sandwich.

For the best flavor, I would use the cut Giada recommends (rib-eye), but really any fatty cut will work.  Shell steak for example will work.   For this recipe, I will use rib-eye.

First, the marinade.  The one thing I changed was I took out the mustard seed.  I do not think it really needed it.  I  replaced it instead with Dijon mustard.

Marinade:

1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons spicy Dijon mustard (i.e. grey poupon)

Mix all of these ingredients together in a large sealable plastic baggy add:

three 12 -14 oz. rib-eye steaks.

Marinate the meat for at least an hour, but it – (More…)

I was recently asked by a friend of mine why it is I like to cook so much.  He eluded to the fact that most men don’t cook, or at least enjoy it as much as I do.  I had never really given it that much thought before.  I thought about it for a few days, mostly while I was cooking to be honest and I think I have come to a few conclusions.

At an early age, I found that I was deprived of a couple things that most everyone else I knew had.  I was tested and it was proved that I was red green color blind.  No wonder why all my finger painting looked worse than all the other kids.  I remember my mother laughing out loud when I answered her question “So what does your teacher look like” and I told her that she had green hair.  This “handicap” if you will, really stopped any artistic pursuits during my youth.  I never learned how to draw, and to this day any attempt I make at drawing makes the average three year-olds paintings look like Michelangelo.

I did try to learn guitar during my life and had some success but in the end realized that although I can mechanically operate the device, I had no flare in creating anything with it.

As for singing, well, other than a few tipsy tries at the karaoke machine, it was a non starter.

I – (More…)

The week comes to an end at the house.  For the last 5 days, the kids have gotten up at 7:30 a.m. and off to school by 8:15.  Returning home around 4 p.m., there is yet another two hours of homework to do (assigned by the school, and then by me).  Next it is off to their room to get it cleaned up.  Beds made, clothes put away, etc..  Dinner comes next followed immediately by a shower then an hour of T.V. or other such entertainment.  Finally it is bed time only to start it over again in a few hours.

Even for the young this can be a busy week when all is said and done.  Fortunately we give some relief by giving kids the weekends off.  This time of year, that means unless it is seriously below zero, we wrap them in coats and sweaters and push them out the door.  “Go play” has another meaning around here, it means, please get out of the house and do something.

You can’t help but feel for the little guys when you see them out there with their cheeks getting red after a couple hours.  This is the time when one of the simplest past times can really heal the drudgery of the week.  Hot chocolate.

I remember when I was a kid there was nothing like coming in from the bitter cold after playing all day and having a hot mug of – (More…)

Bon Appetit magazine recently took a reader survey and when asked who their favorite T.V. chef was, Giada de Laurentiis won.  Not only that, she was also picked as the cooking teacher most would prefer to spend a week with.  

This I can completely understand.  I have tried many of her recipes and by far, I enjoy them more than any other I have tried from other T.V. chefs.  Most of her recipes have an Italian twist to them.

One of my favorites is her pancetta wrapped pork roast.  We eat this at least twice a month in my house.  What is really nice about her recipes is not that they are brand new creations.  Most are familiar recipes we have seen in the past, but she has adjusted them so subtly, yet so dramatically, your blown away by the results.  Of course, this is what good cooks do.  They take a recipe, and change it to their tastes, and come out with a new creation.

I recently cooked for a super bowl party, and I used one of Giada’s steak sandwhich recipes that I adjusted quite a bit and it went quicker than any other food presented at the party.  I will be posting this soon, but I would have never gotten there if Giada hadn’t introduced her method and special tastes.  This chef is making us all look good. 🙂

Congratulations Giada, it is a recognition well deserved!

There were – (More…)

I actually just threw this together one day when trying to come up with an idea for these chicken thighs I had to cook. I had never really cooked much with reduced liquor, but after seeing a few other unrelated recipes, I figured I would give it a shot. Believe me, I am glad I did because this dish came out incredible!!

Ingredients:

5-6 Chicken Thighs
Olive Oil
1 cup Southern Comfort Liquor
1 cup chicken stock
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large skillet (preferably one that is safe for the oven), add enough olive oil to coat the pan. About two tablespoons should work. Heat the pan to med-high. While you wait for the oil to heat, salt and pepper the skin side of the chicken thighs. When the oil just starts to smoke, add the chicken thighs skin side down. Salt and pepper the bottoms of the thighs while the skin side is frying. Fry the skin side until brown, about 4-5 minutes. Thighs are high in fat, so it may take a little longer for them to brown up.

Turn the thighs and brown the bottoms for about 4-5 minutes.

Remove the thighs from the pan, and drain out all the oil and fat. Add about a tablespoon of oil (just enough to barely coat the pan) add chicken back to the skillet and place into the oven for 30 minutes or until done. – (More…)

The news out there about flax seed is nothing but good. High in omega 3 fatty acids, it is really the only way to get these healthy fats without eating seafood.

This was my primary reason for trying flax seed. My wife is allergic to shellfish so our seafood diet is sparing at best. I decided to start using flax seed in many of my recipes.

In seed form, flax seed isn’t very beneficial, however ground up you can reap all of the benefits.

I buy the seeds and put then in the freezer. I grind up about a cup at a time (in a coffee grinder) and save it in the freezer as flax seed can spoil quite fast.

Since the local stores around here have really lousy bread, I decided to start making my own. It really isn’t very difficult and you can freeze your prepared bread dough to use later when you want fresh baked bread.

Here is my current favorite bread using ground flax seed:

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose white flour.
1 cup ground flax seed.
1 packet active dry yeast (not the rapid rise).
1 teaspoon of salt.
2 tablespoons of honey.
1 teaspoon of sugar.
2 eggs.
1 cup milk.
3 tablespoons unsalted butter.

Put the cup of milk and the butter in a small sauce pan and melt on LOW until butter is melted. You do not want it any warmer than 110 degrees. Basically, when you stick your finger in – (More…)