Spicy Chicken Snacktime!

This was just thrown together since I had just gotten back from Minnesota and the Christmastime holiday. It is ridiculously tasty and even opened my eyes to new flavor combinations!

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken Breast, diced
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Caesar Salad Dressing
Lime Juice
Sweet Sour Sauce
Garlic Salt
Ground Turmeric Root
Ground Ancho Chili Powder
Asiago Cheese, shredded

First, freeze your Chicken Breasts. This makes cutting it into smaller pieces so much easier. Once frozen, dice them up and put them in a mixing bowl.

Now, get your marinade ingredients.

Alright, good work. Now you mix everything together that is in the picture. I did not use exact amounts. I can say I used a large portion of the Caesar Salad Dressing and then added from there. Then I mixed everything together.

Find your Garlic Salt. Pay no attention to the hand in the picture, it's just my grubby old mitt!

Alright, now put a skillet on the stovetop and turn the heat to MEDIUM. Give it a few seconds and pour in the marinade and Chicken. Give it a healthy dose of Garlic Salt. I love Garlic Salt, so you might want to use a little less.

Now add a dusting of Ancho Chili Powder and Ground Turmeric. Mix them in.

Let it cook for a few minutes, stir a few times somewhere in there. Should be easy to taste when they are done.

I took them out, sans sauce, and sprinkled some shredded Asiago Cheese on top. It was delicious!

Thanksgiving: Asparagus w/Rice

Alright everyone who checks this blog out, it's Thanksgiving time. This is an American holiday that is no stranger to gluttony and American Football. I have a few things I'll be posting up here between now and then (this upcoming Thursday) to be cooked for this grand event.

Ingredients:
1 lb Asparagus
1/3 stick Butter
Olive Oil
Rice
Italian Herb Mix
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Turmeric Powder
Ancho Chile Powder
Sweet Smoked Paprika
Teriyaki Sauce

To start off with, I went for the Butter. I cut it into slivers and put them in a large saucepan with the heat set to MEDIUM.

Once they started to melt, I added in a pinch of all the spices but the Italian Herb Mix.

Mmmm...tasty. Now put in the Asparagus.

Mix it around to cover it with the buttery spice conglomeration.

Drizzle in a little bit of Olive Oil to make sure there is no chance of burning once the Butter becomes scarce.

Now, the Rice was made in my rice cooker. 1 cup Rice to 1.5 cups Water. The instructional manual says 1.25 cups Water but I find that it leaves the Rice too sticky and not as good as it could be, so a little more was needed.

Once both are cooked to completion, just dish the Rice into a bowl and add the Asparagus on top with a sprinkle of Italian Herb Mix. I also drizzled some Teriyaki Sauce on top for fun. Enjoy.

Center Cut Pork Chops w/Tomato based Sauce

Today before I went out for my NFL team's game, I decided that Pork Chops in the afternoon was a great idea! After creating that sauce the other day for my Short Ribs, I thought that a sauce would be a great idea.

Ingredients:

For the Chops
2 Center Cut Pork Chops
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper
0.5 stick Butter

For the Sauce
2 Anaheim Peppers
2 Tomatoes
3 Carrots
4 Scallions
2 White Onions
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Pepper Powder
Turmeric Powder
Sweet Paprika
2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine
1 cup Vegetable Broth
0.5 cup Red Wine Vinegar
0.5 cup Lime Juice
Fresh Oregano

Alright, so this recipe is very split up between the sauce and the Pork Chops themselves.

The sauce was created by getting the ingredients together first.

I then diced up the Anaheim Peppers, Scallions, and Carrots. I put these in the saucepan along with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Vegetable Broth. I also added the Lime Juice and Red Wine Vinegar at this point.

I then turned the heat to HIGH-MEDIUM and diced up the White Onions and Tomatoes and added them in, along with a sprinkling of fresh Oregano.

I then turned to the Pork Chops. I had the spice mix I used on the Short Ribs the other day pre-prepared so I spooned it out and added it to the Chops. In case you don't want to go look it up, it's roughly 1 spoonful of each ingredient with 2 spoonfuls of the Ancho Powder.

Using a large saucepan, I put in the Butter and let it mostly melt. Once it was at that point, I added in the Pork Chops spice side down. One spoonful of the spice mix went on top.

After about 2 minutes, I flipped the Pork Chops. They aren't that thick so they cook quite quickly.

About 2 minutes after that, the sauce should be almost done. I took everything but the liquid out and put it into a blender. I then pureed the mix for 1 minute. Then poured back into the liquid from before and heated to boiling. Shut it off at that point and stir together.

Your Pork Chops should be done about the time you turn off that Blender. Take them off and put them on a plate to serve. Add the sauce once you are done. Enjoy.

Chef's Original: Spiced Okra Onion Soup

This was just sort of thrown together after work today when I got home. I heard some amazing news about an issue in my life and decided that I would cook to celebrate. Well this is the result.

Ingredients:
12 Okra
4 Scallions
9 Boiler Onions
1/2 stick Butter
1 cup Sherry
1/2 cup Lime Juice
1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Turmeric
Sea Salt
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Paprika
Italian Herb Mix
Shredded Asiago Cheese

Alright, I began by gathering some of my ingredients. I don't say all because some just happened to be in arms reach and found their way into this recipe.

Next I threw the Butter into the large saucepan I use for almost everything.

I chopped up the white portions of the Scallions. I then chopped the Boiler Onions in half. Now, this is where I turned the heat to MEDIUM for the Butter.

Once the Butter was mostly melted, I added in the spices. Just a heavy pinch or two of each and maybe a little more Ground Black Pepper than that. Then I tossed in the Scallions and Boiler Onions.

Mix them up!

Once they were going strong, I sliced up the Okra and threw that into the saucepan. Stir.

Once the Boiler Onions are noticeably soft and caramelized everything should be done so turn the heat off.

I chose to plate this dish in a new bowl I picked up the other day and decorate the edging on it with some hot sauce making a pattern. I topped it off with a sprinkle of Italian Herb Mix and Shredded Asiago Cheese. Enjoy.

Chef's Original: Zesty Sauce on Farfalle

Now, this was a spur of the moment dish when I was digging through the fridge looking for stuff to cook today. I had all the ingredients and thought that they would make a great sauce for pasta.

Ingredients:
2 LG Tomatoes
1 Sm Tomato
1 cup Basil Leaves
2 White Onions
6 Scallions
5 Carrots
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Cumin/Coriander
Cayenne Chili Powder
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Fennel Powder
Turmeric Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Dry Sherry
Olive Oil
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce

This dish began by gathering the ingredients.

Now, I took the Basil Leaves and cut them up into smaller pieces. Along with the Carrots I chopped up into small pieces, go into the deep saucepan.

Step 2 of this was to add in the diced Scallions and diced White Onions. Make sure there is air flow cause the Onions make you tear up and that's no good when you are using a knife.

Step 3 is dicing up the Tomatoes. They don't have to be that small of pieces since everything gets pureed later on.

Now put the saucepan on the stove and turn the heat to MEDIUM. Pour in about a half cup of Olive Oil. Add a good quarter cup of the Teriyaki Sauce and Soy Sauce too.

Then season it. I did a dusting of the Fennel Powder, Fenugreek Powder, Turmeric Powder, and Ground Black Pepper. The Cayenne Chili Powder measured about a 1/3 of a spoonful. Too much of that will make the sauce too spicy, so do that if you dare! I added a couple of pinches of the Italian Herb Mix coupled with 3 spoonfuls of the Ground Cumin/Coriander mix.

Then mix together thoroughly. Add in your 1/4 cup of Dry Sherry as well. Mix again.

Now it should take a good 5 to 7 minutes for it to be done cooking. It should be mostly mushy and soft when it is done cooking. The carrots might still be hard, but that's of little consequence.

Turn the heat off and grab your blender or food processor. Pour the contents you just cooked up into the blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. I used a blender and had to do it in 2 batches. I served on some Farfalle Pasta. I did not include how to cook the Farfalle Pasta here since it's easy to cook. You also might know it as Bowtie Pasta.

I plated the Farfalle Pasta with a healthy serving of this Zesty Sauce on top. A garnish of a pinch of Shredded Asiago Cheese topped it off. Enjoy.

Spicy Pulled Pork

The other day I sort of decided that I want to make some Pulled Pork again. It's been quite awhile and needed to be revisited. So I went grocery shopping and noticed that it was on sale by the pound. Naturally I picked some up.

DISCLAIMER: THE AMOUNT OF SPICES USED HERE MAKES THIS RIDICULOUSLY HOT AND SPICY! NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART OR STOMACH!!!

Ingredients:
2.5 lbs Pork Loin
1 bottle Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest (BEER)
Paprika
Ground Cloves
Ground Black Pepper
Garlic Salt
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Ground Allspice
Chili Powder
Ground Turmeric Root
Fennel Powder
Chipotle Chili Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Cayenne Chili Powder

I began this by gathering all my spices.

Then I found this delicious bottle of seasonal brew. Yes, I had a second bottle to enjoy while the pork cooked.

In the slow cooker, I made a spice mix. I began with about 2 spoonfuls of the following: Lawry's Seasoned Salt, Garlic Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Ground Turmeric Root, Fennel Powder, Paprika, Ground Cloves, and Ground Allspice. On top of those, I added about 2.5 spoonfuls of the Chipotle Chili Powder, Ancho Chili Powder, and Cayenne Chili Powder. Then I mixed them together.

On top of that, I put in the two Pork Loins. I placed them how they are so as to make a hole in the middle for the spices and beer to meld together easier.

Once the Pork Loins were in, I added a smaller amount of that spice mix to the tops of them. Turn the heat on 'high' now.

Then I added a little big of Beer in the middle hole. It bubbles up from the reactions it has with the spices in there.

Now the rest of the bottle. You will need all of it. If you are using regular bottle sized beer, use at least two bottles.

Now put the lid on and let cook. Take a peak about 2 hours into the cooking process.

That looked tasty, didn't it? I think it did. Well, this recipe takes about 5 hours. I say about since it's a rough estimate depending on the slow cooker, type of beer used, and if you switch it from HIGH to LOW or vice versa.

Check it again a few hours later. Your entire home should smell like the Pork.

Such a change from that darker muddy brown color before to a bright reddish hue! Step back when opening the slow cooker. That spice aroma will kill you!

Alright, to taste it I took a tip off of one of them and it was delicious. So I unplugged the slow cooker and took out the Pork Loins. This is what they looked like right away:

I cut one apart, this is what it looks like. Shows that I could have taken off a little bit sooner, however still moist and deliciously spicy.

I know there are more than a few different ways to actually eat the Pulled Pork I have created, however I prefer to eat it 'straight'. As in I like to just put it on a plate and eat it. Some Asiago Cheese never hurt it either. Enjoy.