Career Confusion.

So for some insane reason I am contemplating culinary school again. In my mind this holds unrestricted awesomeness in one hand, and a complete lack of responsibility in the other. Let me explain…

I had, for some time, a dream of opening and owning my own restaurant. I want to make a menu and decide on dishes, walk back to the kitchen fraternize with the staff and then casually sit in the front as a guest and spy on other patrons occasionally leaning to the table next to me to ask, “what would you recommend?” This is the dream I had (have to some extent).

I however after closing out my college career and reflecting for a long time have become completely and utterly confused. At the current time I can hear a career path and no matter what it is, except for anything accounting, I can creating a fantastic picture of it in my head. I have imagined going to work in boots, jeans, a button down and hard hat as a construction manager, wearing a suit to close the big deal as a salesman, slumping around my house working from home as a freelance writer and the list goes on and on and every damn one seems to appeal to me. So now, I pose the question, "how do I know what I want to do with my life… when will I know… is it possible to get hired in the meantime?" Comment if you have any input...

...Oh yea, and as to not disappoint here is a simple recipe for what I accidentally called “Sunny Day Mushroom Pasta”

-pasta (I used fettuccini)

-Sun dried tomatoes

-Mushrooms

-Salt

-Pepper

-Tomato sauce

-Olive Oil

-Italian Seasoning (I am pretty sure it is just dried basil with a few other things added)

First things obvious, put water on to boil the noodles.

Next, put some olive oil in a pan and bring it to heat. Toss in your sun dried toms and mushrooms and spices into the pan. I didn’t measure anything as usual, but I would say enough to make it tasty but not so much that it is too much (figure that out if you can).

Add salt, pepper, and a little olive oil and then your noodles to the pot of boiling water… Duh

Finally, pour your tomato sauce into your pan of mushrooms and tomatoes. Let it simmer until your noodles are done (which according to the pasta box is about 7 minutes but I think they are full of shit, why I don’t know). Once you have everything done drain the noodles, plate them, and then plop some of your sauce and mushrooms on top. Enjoy!

Samoa Steak Tacos

This is a fantastic combo of terrific tropical flavors and red meat. I am not kidding you when I say nothing so strangely delicious and perplexing has ever been put in my mouth before making it. I leaked some pictures and have high demand for precise deets so I tried to be as accurate as possible. That being said kick back, relax, and enjoy.

Chipotle Mango Salsa

-1 good sized mango

-1/4 orange bell pepper

-1/4 green bell pepper

-1/3 red onion

-Fresh cilantro to taste (I love the stuff so I think I used 12 cups. Just kidding… but seriously)

-2 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce (CAUTION THIS SHIT IS HOT!)

-1 cup pineapple chucks

-Lemon juice

-Salt

Samoa Marinated Steak

-Steak (use what you want from T-bone to flank steak, I don’t give a crap)

-1 small can pineapple junks juice and all

-1/4-1/2 cup blood orange EVOO (this is specialty oil I got as a gift. I am sure using a fresh blood orange and regular olive oil would make a dandy sub if not make the whole thing better)

-1/8 of a cup soy sauce

-Couple of crushed garlic cloves

-Fist full of roughed up cilantro

-Salt

-2-3 tbs lemon juice

-1-2 tbs vanilla

Alright the first thing you have to do to get a rockin and a rollin on this recipe is chop up your mangos. I took mine down fairly small about the size of … say a Lego. Once cut up throw that in a big ol’ mixing bowl. Continue in this fashion with the peppers and onion.

Now, take your chipotle peppers in adobo, and be careful because I am not joking when I say these are hot and the oils from them DO NOT leave your fingertips right away (THIS MEANS DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EYES BECAUSE IT HURTS REALY REEEAAALY BAD). Once you have them, cut them open and remove the innards and discard them, unless you want to use them… which may be suicidal but have at it, dice up your peppers into tiny pieces (this will allow them to disperse throughout the salsa and give you a more even heat).

Lastly, give a rough chop to your cilantro and pineapple and toss them and the rest of your ingredients into your mixing bowl and stir it up really good. At this point I recommend a taste test just to make sure the salsa meets your standards, if it does, toss it in your fridge to settle down and blend together for a bit.

To get started on the marinade, you will want to take all of the ingredients listed above minus the steak and mix them together thoroughly in a bowl. After mixing the ingredients to create your marinade, slice your steak against the grain. Then put your steak in a marinating tray or plastic bag, I prefer the bag because I think it gives better coverage to the meat but who really knows. Finally pour the marinade from the bowl you mixed them in into the bag/tray with your meat. Let that sit for a few hours to get nice and tasty.

Once you have wasted a few hours of your life waiting on meat to marinade and salsa flavors to blend, it is finally time! Remove the steak from the before mentioned container and sizzle it up in a pan or flat top grill (you can remove the cilantro and pineapple from your steak, but I left them to cook with the steak). I kept it on the heat until the sugar from marinade started to caramelize and turn a beautiful brown and the smell of fruity vanilla filled the kitchen.

While waiting for the meat to reach that perfect place between raw and burnt, I whipped up a little lemon lime chipotle mayo to top off everything. This was simply just a spoon full of mayo, a tbs or two of lemon/lime juice, and enough chipotle powder to give it a pinkish hue.

Once your steak is cooked take a few tortillas and warm them on the grill and BAM you are ready to plate. Toss a hearty amount of your Samoa steak on the shell, pile on some of the chipotle mango salsa, and add a dab of the lemon lime chipotle mayo and get ready for your mouth to be taken to paradise.

If you try this Please, please, PLEASE leave a comment telling me what you think. I really liked it and want to know if my tastes are just messed up or if it was truly delish. Thanks.

BMR Fiesta!

A Guest Post By Chris Siegel

Let me begin by saying that I am honored to be a part of Everyday Dude Food. Last year I was 1/3 of the Burly Man Ranch (some would say ½) and I can honestly say that all the stuff Drew makes not only tastes incredible but smells amazing as well. I can’t tell you how many times I would pray for him to say, “Hey Beanie, come try this.”

That being said, I have some recipes of my own. I’ve shared these recipes with only my family and a few close friends. If you were lucky enough to have been invited to a Taco Night at the BMR you know how great these flavors match together. But alas, I felt the need to share with you what makes a BMR Taco Night so special.

They key to a BMR Taco Night is fresh ingredients. None of that El Paso taco seasoning, stale hard shells, or jarred salsa. I mean that’s okay…if you want nobody to come back to your next fiesta. Besides that’s what T-Bell is for. I’m telling you, you won’t go wrong with this combination: 1. Fresh Pico de Gallo 2. Fresh Guacamole 3. Chicken and/or Steak Fajitas. 4. Roasted Corn with Chili Lime Butter. The sum of these parts equals a great meal, throw in some tequila and you’re well on your way to a fiesta!

Fresh Pico

This is without a doubt the easiest thing in the world and people will go nuts over it. This is the basis of my philosophy that in order to fool people to think you’re a good cook, just make the simple things that nobody thinks to make homemade. They are easy to make and will always taste better than stuff that comes from a jar. Anyway here is the backbone of a BMR Taco and my fresh Pico recipe…

-6 Large Slicer Tomatoes (Use these b/c they are cheaper)

-1 Medium Red Onion

-2 Jalapenos

-1 bunch of Cilantro

-Juice of 1 Lime

-A clove or two of garlic

-Kosher Salt

-Black Pepper

I’ve found the best way to go about his is to dice the tomatoes and then put them into a strainer. When diced tomatoes sit for a while they can really lose a lot of water and cause your salsa to become drowned. By straining them it helps cut this down. Each time you put a diced tomato into the strainer, add a pinch or two of salt on top of it to help draw out some of the excess tomato juice.

Next chop of the red onion and jalapeno. If you like your pico hot, you can chop the jalapenos with the membrane and the seeds in it. In the words of Emeril, this really kicks it up a notch. Once they are diced, go head and throw these into the straining tomatoes.

Go ahead and transfer this into a medium mixing bowl. You won’t be adding a whole lot more volume to your pico at this point. Chop the leaves of your fresh cilantro. I find it easy to keep the bundle together and just chop down the leaves until the bunch becomes mostly stems. Chop down the leaves to uniform size and stir into your tomato mix. If you got it lying around, stir in some diced garlic as well. It adds a little depth to the flavor of the salsa.

Cut the lime in half and squeeze both sides right in. Give it a stir and a taste. Season with black pepper and some additional salt if you think it needs it. Be aware though it you are eating it with Tortilla chips that these already have salt on them, so I find it best to slightly underseason the Pico to make for a perfect bite!

Fresh Guacamole

I can honestly say that every time I’ve made this, people have said it’s the best Guac they’ve ever had. I just tell them, it took me literally 3 minutes to make. All you need is…

-Ripe Avocados (quantity depends on how much Guac you want)

-Fresh Pico Recipe from Above

The key here is to make sure your avocados are ripe. One trick is to leave your avocados next to you’re ripening bananas. I would get into the science behind it, but that is not necessary. All you need to know is putting them next to the bananas makes them ripe faster. You know they are perfect when they are smooshy to the touch and they smell like avocado.

Just cut them in half, lengthwise. Remove the pit and spoon out the meat into a mixing bowl. Start with a few spoonfuls of your freshly made pico and juice. Fold it in with a fork, making it as chucky or smooth as you would like. Add more pico to your taste. That is really all there is too it, feel free to season with more salt, pepper, or lime juice to make it fit your liking. I’m getting hungry thinking about it.

Roasted Corn with Chili Lime Butter

I think this recipe may only work in the summer, when sweet corn is everywhere (and only about 25 cents for an ear). Roasting the corn in the oven, I think is the easiest way to cook it. Not to mention it makes you look like an amazing chef, it makes the corn taste sweeter, and it makes your house smell like fall. What are you waiting for?

-Fresh Corn in its Husks

-About a stick of softened butter

-Few Teaspoons of Chili Powder

-Zest of one Lime

Preheat the oven to 350F

Put the corn, in husk, in the oven for about 30-40 minutes…or until it is soft.

Mix in the lime zest and chili powder with the softened butter.

That is really all there is to it. Just remove the corn from the oven, peel back the husks (be careful they steamy) and lather it up with your butter mixture and feel the corn’s natural sweetness explode in your mouth. I promise, if you try it this way you will never consider boiling your corn ever again.

Fajitas

-1 Red Bell and 1 Orange Bell Pepper

-1 or 2 White Onions

Julienne these bad boys and throw them in a large sauté pan with some olive oil. (Hint to julienne an onion cut through it in half through the root. Then remove both the root end and the bulb end of each piece. Then cut down on the onion shortwise, revealing short strips of onion. --- To julienne a pepper, hold the pepper upright and around the stem in four pieces. You should get all the meat of the pepper, and toss the stem, membrane, and seeds. Flatten each piece of pepper and remove and white pieces of membrane. Then cut longwise to make strips of the pepper.

Throw the pan on a heat source and stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. That’s about it.

Chicken

For the Chicken, I like to use a “Chili Lime Rub” which you can buy from Kroger. I’ve also seen it called “Savory & Citrus” rub. I usually buy a pack of chicken breasts, and then butterfly them, or make a cut to open them like a book, to make for even cooking and so I can impart more of the flavor of the rub. I just rub down the chicken breasts with the rub and throw them in a Ziploc bag with some olive oil and a bit of lime juice. Let it sit for about an hour.

Toss them on the grill and cook until the juices run clear. They should be pretty firm to the touch, but not too firm. Take them off the girl and let them sit for a couple of minutes. This could be a good time to warm up your tortillas while the grill is still hot.

When the chicken has rested, slice the chicken diagonally to serve.

Steak

For steak I like to use a skirt or flank steak because it is economical and tastes great in combination with all your other flavors.

In a bag, throw about ½ to ¾ cup of brown sugar, some diced scallions, lime juice, salt and pepper. Throw in your cut of steak, and top it with some olive oil. Then rub it around in the bag and throw it in the fridge for about an hour.

Throw it on a hot grill and cook to your liking. The meat should be relatively thin so it won’t take that long. It’s all about feel, but it shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes a side.

Same goes for the steak as the chicken. Let it rest for about 5 minutes. Once it has rested, slice the meat against the grain, or on a diagonal. This makes sure the meat is not chewy.

That’s the key to a BMR Taco Night. Top these off with some lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and you’re well set! But even that is not necessary. Give these recipes a shot, I promise you won’t be disappointed. The only down side is there is never any leftovers!

I’ll be working on my repertoire until I get another blog invite from Drew. Thanks Guys!

Be Easy

CMS

The Dude Goes HighTech... and Some Citrus Steak

So as I said in my last post, I am in the midst of a job hunt (cough hire me cough) and have been really trying to stay on my game and in the spirit of progress I have gotten a QR code for the blog.


You might be saying to yourself right now, what the hell is a QR code exactly? To that my friends I say, I don’t know, nor do I care. I just know that it is one of the many business and marketing trends to be hitting the waves and although I cannot give you an exact definition (for that look to Webster you lazy ass), I can give you a vague over view.

A QR code is a “Quick Response” code and it serves the function of decreasing the time it takes a person who has a smartphone to find out information about certain objects that have a QR code. I am not sure how it works aside from the fact that a crazy looking crossword box diagram picture is a pictographic shortcut that is similar to what you would find on the screen of your computer that takes you to a designated URL address, text page, or any other number of fancy things. The only difference is that instead of clicking with your mouse you bring up an app on your phone, point, and BOOOOM you are sucked through a portal of time and space until you reach a webpage for a video of a kitten dancing or some dumb product like the Snuggie. So pretty much QR codes are pretty cool
As my followers, I have to believe that you don’t give a damn about the techy stuff and are more interested in what I had for dinner. So here goes.

Citrus Sirloin Tip Steak
-The Steak
- Blood Orange E.V.O.O.
- Fig Vinegar
- Salt
- Pepper

Mix everything but the steak in a bowl. Next, put the steak in the Bowl. Let sit on counter for 60 min or 1 hour which ever your preference.

Now, throw it on the grill for a while (mine was pretty thin so I only had to leave it on for about 4 min aside… that’s 4/60 of one hour for those of you on the metric system), take it off, and CHOW DOWN!

On the damn tastiest marinated steak you have ever givin the NOM NOM NOM to.

I AM BACK... and I brought pork!

Now I know that I have said it before, but I am BACK!... for how long? Who knows? But for the time being I am here to walk you all through the tasty concoctions that I have come up with.

Since my last post, which seems like ages ago, I have had many culinary adventures, some fantastic and some….not. I have experimented with cheeseburger calzonish dishes, breakfast pizzas, steak marinades, more sauces (bbq and the like), and a hundred other dishes that I have been able to whip up with my new food processor and 5 in one Panini press, griddle, grill.

Before I slam straight into the good stuff I will catch you up on WTF is going on in my life. I have now graduated from Butler University, a horrifically sweet and sour taste at the same time comparable to the first time you have a warheads candy and you bask in the delicious sugary flavor but pucker your face into that of a contorted pug due to the tanging pull on your tongue. Along with graduating I have moved from the comfort of the Burly Man Ranch and its wonderful kitchen (minus its stove) into the confines of my increasingly homier apartment located near Broad Ripple with my new roomie Brad “I have the voice of an angel and am cute to boot” Mallers. Finally, I can round out the details of my life by saying that I NEED a job… doing what is one question, but I can tell you that you don’t need to bother me with offers of being a door to door salesman, being a financial advisor to the elderly, and (although I haven’t investigated it yet) anything to do with wearing a visor asking if you would like to “Super-Size That?”. Now having said all that lets get down to business.

Mafia Made Pork Chops

-2 Pork Chops
-Flour
-Garlic Powder
-Oregano
-Rosemary
-Savory? (don’t ask me, I found it on a spice rack I picked up from my grandma and it smelled nice)
-Basil
-Red Wine
-Red Wine Vinegar
-Olive Oil
-Salt
-Black Pepper
-Water
-Paprika
-Mozzarella Cheese

Aaaaand we’re off…. So I started by making up a simple marinade that I usually use on my red meats, I am not sure that it adds colossal amounts of flavor, but it makes me feel good knowing it is there. It consists of about 2 parts olive oil to one part of the red wine vinegar, water, and red wine each, being sure to test the red wine 2 or 12 times before adding it just to make sure it tastes right. Toss in some salt, black pepper and then your pig parts and let that relax in the fridge for an hour or so.

Towards the end of your marination period you start to through about a cup, maybe a cup and a half (pending the size of your chops), and the oregano, rosemary, basil, savory (whatever it is), paprika, and garlic. As for the amounts of each, I can’t say with any accuracy because on this occasion I omitted to use my measuring devices but I can with certainty say that I went heavier on the oregano, basil, savory and garlic in what would seem like appropriate amounts being that rosemary has a much more pungent flavor than oregano or basil…. Regardless, put them with the flour so that you can clearly see that it is not just flour, when I was done I would say that I had about one cup flour with about a fourth cup spices… but again I didn’t measure and it was last night so who really knows.

Now, it is time once again to pull out that old favorite, cast iron skillet. Take it and get it going on the stove with a little of that olive oil in it.

By this time your chops should be cocked locked and ready to rock so pull them out of the juice and powder them bad boys in your spicy flour. Once they are good and coated and your oil is ready to go, toss them in. Let them go until they are starting to get that beautiful slightly charred and golden color on each side. Next, throw them into the oven that you had started to preheat at 420ish and let them go for about 15 minutes. At this point pull them out enough to sprinkle on your mozzarella cheese and then put them back in to finish up for 5 minutes.

Now if you did it anything like I did you should have to AWESOME chops with some AWESOMELY melted cheese on top that are packed with the flavor of a thousand sun…chips. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or to call my agent. In the mean time SQUAT.ROCK.BOOGIE.

The hotDAMNwich

- Mango
- Chipotle Peppers (in adobo sauce )… I used four peppers
- Green pepper
- Preach preserves
- Onion
- Chicken
- Olive oil
- Shredded cheese
- Bread

WARNING: Making and consuming this sandwich will cause extreme burning sensations throughout different areas of the body for days to come, starting with the mouth area and moving south.

Now that that is out of the way I encourage everyone to pour a tall glass of milk and get to cooking. Start off by hacking up your peppers (both chipotle and the green one), your onion, and peeling and chopping up the mango. Put them in a bowl together and then pour some of the adobo sauce from the can of peppers into the bowl and give it a tossing (this is the hot stuff so be as liberal as you want… I mean its your funeral). Throw in your peach goo and giver a good stir.

Once you have gotten caught up to this point, take your chicken, I used 2 large skinless breasts, and cut them up into small pieces (I hunked it as you can see but thought this might be good as a pulled chicken sami too). Once you have that done take your pan of choice and get a little oil going in the bottom of her.

Toss in everything together and be sure to keep it nice and stirred so that you get a good coating on the chicken. Continue onward with this and until the chicken is cooked and the veggies are turning translucent.

Turn down your heat a ways and let it simmer for two seconds while you nab 3 pieces of bread and toast 2 of them, I repeat toast 2 of them.

From this point begin to construction of the “wich” part of the Hotdamnwich. Put down bread piece 1, then some of the chicken veggie combo, then some cheese, then some more chicken veggie mix, some more cheese, and finally pour some of the sauce that is in with the chicken and veggies o’er top the whole Hotdamn thing.

Well that’s it for now. Have fun burning down your insides with this one, until next time, I gotta boogie.

Simple Spare Ribs

Here is a recipe that holds little pizazz compared to the other flavor busters that I have thrown up there, but it is simply delicious.

• Spare Ribs
• 1 Yellow Pepper
• 1 Red Pepper
• ½ Onion
• Celery Salt
• Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper

To start things off you need to boil the ribs for about an hour to get them nice and tender. As a little treat if you got it I would add a little liquid smoke to the water… (I’m not sure if the taste will permeate the meat in the boiling water but it sounds good.)

Towards the end of the hour slice up your onion and peppers and sauté them bad boys in a little olive oil. Make sure to get them nice and caramelized.

Round about this time the hour should be up so pull them ribs out of the jacuzzi and put ‘em on a plate of a cutting board. Sprinkle them down with celery salt , pepper, and cayenne (I only put a little pinch because I was not in the mood for spicy but if you want to crank it up, have at it).

Once seasoned up I scoot the peppers and onion out of the way to one side of the pan and lay the ribs in meatier side down. Leave it in there just long enough to give a little brown crusty to them and then flip them over for a minute and pull ‘em outta there.

Plate with the peppers and onions dropped around the meaty bones. Obviously this isn’t the ideal way to do up a set of ribs but when its 12 degrees outside and grilling is not an option it is a damn delicious alternative.

I Bet You Think I'm NUTS!

This post is about a creation that just about came to life. Please, I beg you not to lose interest when you read the ingredients, they may be uncanny but they somehow united just perfectly.

-2 thick cut pork chops
-1 Avocado
-Mushrooms
-Crumbled blue chees
-Cracked chipotle pepper
-Onion powder
-Chili powder
-Garlic powder
-Salt
-Pepper
-Orange juice

So to get the ball rolling I threw together a quick rub with the chipotle, onion powder, chili, garlic, salt and pepper. It was nothing special but definitely had more chipotle, maybe even twice as much. I gave the chops a good rub down and then tossed them in a warm cast iron skillet with just enough olive oil in it to coat the bottom. I seared the chops on each side just long enough to give them some color and then pulled them from the heat, dropping them down into the oven at 350ish for about 10-15 min or an internal temp of about 145.

Prior to starting I had taken my avocado apart and slice my mushrooms, now however I took them and began to cook them down in a pan of their own. Once the mushrooms looked like most of the water had cooked off of them I added just enough orange juice to just cover the bottom of the pan and then cooked that until it is what I am only able to describe as gooey.

At this point, the chops should be about done so snag them from the oven and let them sit for a few minutes to rest. I served them on a couple of pieces of bread and the avocado mushrooms piled on top.

The flavor in one of these guys is intense. Heat from the chipotle cooled ever so slightly by the avocado and then tanged up by the OJ with the texture playing tricks on your senses by contrasting the seared skin of the chops, the slime of the mushrooms, the creaminess of the avocado, and the sponginess of the bread is amazing. Probably not for everyone, but intensely amazing

Sorry there there's no pic.

Flavor Blasted Alfredoed Greens

½ Box Spaghetti
1 Jar Alfredo Sauce
2 Stalks of Broccoli
3 Cups Raw Spinach
4 Cloves Garlic
Olive Oil
Oregano
Paprika
Rosemary
Sage
Salt
Pepper

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY It is great to be back in the Blogosphere!
With the amount of time that I have spent away from you all I should be convicted and locked away for neglecting my Readers (or what few viewers I have). I am back though and with a new year, semester, internship, and tool box of tools I am ready and excited to start cooking again.
This dish is an awesome take on a normally simple dish. It uses the power of garlic to shell shock your mouth into another realm of taste. I warn you, this dish is not for the faint of heart….or taste bud, so hang on and enjoy the ride.
The first thing I do to get this party ready is prep the broccoli and spinach by washing them or at least rinsing them under the sink. I like to give the spinach a rough chop but don’t fret over it because we are going to wilt it down later. I also break the broccoli down into bite sized pieces, generally using what would be considered the leafy part of the tree when using the most notable analogy .
Once I have them prepped I put a little water in the bottom of two pans as to make a makeshift steamer (if you find yourself to be a fancy person you can use an actual steaming pot, but this works just dandy). I put the greens on over medium heat and cover them to let them steam up until they are tender or completely wilted down.
While the greens are doing their thing (which will take some time) I work on giving the garlic a good mincing and tossing it into a pan with a little olive oil. I add a little salt, paprika, oregano and rosemary at this step also. I let this go for a little while waiting until the garlic begins to change brown.
Once the garlic is beginning to brown, the spinach should be wilted down. Take the spinach, drain the water off of it and then toss it in your pan of garlic (WARNING! Be careful the water left in the spinach will react violently with the hot oil on your garlic). Give the pan a quick mix and add the alfredo sauce. To the alfredo/garlic mixture also add another round of salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, sage, and rosemary. Let that simmer.
At this point you need to start boiling your pasta, so do that.
Around now your broccoli should be nice and tender, so drain it off and add it to your alfredo sauce mixture. Let the sauce simmer until your spaghetti noodles are done.
After your noodles are done plate them and liberally apply the alfredo mixture. Once you have got that done be sure to strap on a helmet because you are locked and loaded for bear with enough flavor to make Emeril Legasse say “Holy Moly (insert explicative here)!!!” Enjoy…