Few things have I cooked that have changed so many minds than Raspberry Duck. Most people in this country have never even tried duck, much less a raspberry flavored one.

Duck can be hard to find in some places, where I live, the local supermarket chain carries full size birds and also duck quarters. If you cannot find it anywhere, you will probably either have to ask a local butcher to order you one, or try to find one online.

Try to get the largest bird you can find, which can be a challenge. If you can find one that is 6 pounds, you are doing great!

Duck is a very greasy bird, so place a rack underneath the duck while you are cooking it. An even better way to cook it is on a rotisserie such as the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie that I use.

Ingredients

1 4-6 pound duck.
Salt.
Pepper.
Onion powder.
Paprika.

5 cloves of garlic, minced.
1 cup of seedless raspberry jam.
4 cups of chicken stock.
2 tablespoons olive oil.
1 cup of red wine. I usually use a cabernet sauvignon.

Preparation

Remove the giblets from the turkey. I always throw these out, but if you have some special thing to do with them, be my guest. 🙂

Salt the inside and outside of the bird and sprinkle with pepper to – (More…)

Just about any time of year is great for barbecued chicken. The only real way to have barbecued chicken is on the grill. I could write pages and pages on which is better, gas or coals, but I at least will not get into that argument. Myself, I use gas unless I have a lot of stuff to cook on the grill and am having guests. In my opinion, gas is more practical, where coal is messy and time consuming but allows you to control the flavor more and in the end can bring out a better taste in meats.

When I am just cooking for the family, I use the gas grill so I will base this recipe on that type of cooking, but if you use coal, the technique is similar.

The most challenging food to cook on the grill in my opinion is chicken. Chicken is one meat that you do not want to eat rare in any form. Cooking it on a grill and ensuring it is done is a challenge but once perfected is a skill not many posses.

Chicken contains a lot of fat, and cooking it over a flame leads to many flare-ups and burnt meat. The technique I use tries to combat that a little while not sacrificing taste. I boil the chicken until it is about 60% done – (More…)

Every March 17th St. Patrick’s day rolls around and corned beef and cabbage is served all over the world. In my house, it is served year round! This is an easy food to cook, but takes time. Myself, I always use the slow cook method. Generally I cook it in a large crockpot. I have also cooked it in the CrockPot BBQ Pit which works wonderful. Either way the recipe is the same.

When you go to the store to select the brisket, try to find a large one between 3 1/2 to 5 pounds. Personally I think the Angus beef is the best when it comes to corned beef.

I use the real small potatoes you find in the supermarket such as boiling potatoes, huckleberry, etc..

Ingredients

1 large corned beef brisket 3 1/2 – 5 pounds.
10 large carrots skinned.
15 small potatoes.
1 small head of cabbage cut into wedges.
1 1/2 cups of cold water

Preparation

In your crockpot, lay the carrots on the bottom of the pot. You may have to break them in half to get them to fit.

Open the brisket out of the package and make sure you get the spice pack out.

Empty the brisket AND all the juice into the – (More…)

Lasagna is one of my favorite Italian dishes. Every person who I have ever met who makes lasagna has a different way to prepare it. Some boil the noodles, some do not, some use this cheese, some use that cheese. For myself, every dish of lasagna I make, I try to do a bit different.

As with most Italian dishes, the sauce is the most important ingredient. I have already discussed how to make a basic Italian sauce here. The only modification from this would be to add meat. When you make the sauce, add a pound of hot italian sausage links, removed from the skin, to the garlic after you let it cook for 2 minutes. Let the sausage cook for about 5 minutes, then add the onions and keep stirring and cutting the sausage breaking it up into the smallest pieces you can. You will need more tomato sauce than the tomato sauce recipe, so add another can of crushed tomatoes to the recipe and up the basil a teaspoon.

The second most important ingredient is the cheese. The cheese will define your lasagna with your own unique flavor. Just about any cheese can be used, but try to avoid over processed cheese. My favorite cheese for lasagna is fontina. It may – (More…)

If you have lived near any Polish communities then you automatically know how good stuffed cabbage, or golumpkis can be. Where I grew up, there were many Polish people around, so many in fact, that pretty much every family be they Irish, German, or whatever, had their own recipes for stuffed cabbage.

After I left home, I moved to an area where this was not the case. I went home for Easter to visit the family and my aunt had made a batch of golumpkis that brought back the memory of this food.

Most of the Polish versions of stuffed cabbage always seemed a bit dry to me. I believe that is the way they intend it, which is fine if that is your taste. For myself however, I altered this recipe quite a bit to fit my tastes. It is no secret that I have Italian taste buds even though, as far as I know, there isn’t a drop of Italian blood in me. I decided I would modify the traditional recipe just a little.

Ingredients

1 head cabbage
1/2 pound of Italian sweet sausage
1/2 pound of ground beef
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 cup cooked rice (I use – (More…)

I am not really sure if this should go into the Appetizer section or Main Dishes section, but since I know people do eat Jambalaya as a meal, I will include it here. Really you could make this into the main course but would probably have to double the recipe if serving more than one person. It also works as a great side dish.

I made this one day when I had two pork chops left over, and some Hoisin sauce that I never used in a rib recipe.

This is one of the easiest yet most rewarding recipes. I know I will probably get some grief here because I am using Jambalaya from a box, but hold your criticism until you try this recipe! I use Zatarain’s Jambalaya mix for this. Now trust me, I have been to New Orleans a couple times, Jambalaya is made differently depending on which block you eat it on. Use this brand so we are all starting from the same page. After you try this recipe, perhaps use your own Jambalaya recipe if you think it would taste better. Hoisin sauce can usually be found in most supermarkets or oriental groceries. It is the most ingredient in most oriental barbecue sauces.

Ingredients

1 8 OZ. box of Zatarain’s New Orleans Style Jambalaya Mix.- (More…)