I had a bunch of new potatoes left over from the 4th, and I thought it might be fun to bake them and serve as mini baked potatoes along side a steak.  After they came out of the oven, my friend had an idea to improve on my plan.  We ended up making this, its essentially a deconstructed baked potato type thing, and man is it good.  Its got bacon, sour cream, and everything else that makes a baked potato great, but its in a group friendly configuration.  Put this in the middle of your table and watch it disappear.

ingredients:

10 new potatoes
1 cup diced heirloom tomato
2 strips thick cut bacon
5 large basil leaves, chiffonade
sour cream, to taste
1 t rosemary
salt
pepper

method:

This one is pretty easy.  Start by stabing each potato once with a fork.  This puncture will allow water to escape during baking which will cause the skins to crisp up nicely.  Place the potatoes in a 400 degree oven and set the timer for 45 minutes.  When the timer dings, grab the spuds from the oven and cut them into quarters.  Toss the wedges into a hot skillet with the bacon and cook until the bacon is done.  While that’s going, start dicing the tomato.  When thats done, prepare the basil.  When the bacon is ready, spread the skillet contents on a plate and mash them ever so slightly with a fork.  Cover with the tomato and add salt and pepper to taste.  Add dollops of sour cream across the top and then sprinkle on the basil and the herb mixture.  And that’s it, you’re ready to serve.  I highly recommend tossing a few forks on the plate and making it a group affair.

Enjoy :)
-E

Tags: potatoes, salad, Vegetarian

Ridiculous name aside, if you want something that that will complete the bacon + sausage + spicy trifecta, these are the turds for you. Under normal circumstances, these are to be cooked low & slow on the smoker, which is fine if you’ve got one. However, I don’t. So I had to adjust. Here’s what you need.
Ingredients:

Thick-sliced bacon
Chorizo sausage
Large jalapeno peppers
Toothpicks

That’s it. It’s pretty much 1 piece of bacon per pepper, and then a couple tablespoons worth of chorizo to stuff in there. Eyeball it. Any leftovers on anything? Any of the above (aside from the toothpicks) works great in meatloaf. Easy-peasy.

First step is to deseed the jalapenos and take the pith out of it, which (to please the spice averse) will remove most of the spice from the peppers. Pack the inside of the pepper with chorizo, and wrap that sucker in bacon. Secure it with a toothpick. It should look a decent amount like this:

It's got bacon, so everyone should love this.

Now, in the interest of science, I tried a couple different things with these. For starters, I figured I’d just stick ‘em under the broiler and rotate them a few times so each side get’s an equal scorch. I gave it about 90 seconds per side, and made a couple passes per side to make sure the sausage would get fully cooked. They came out looking a lot like this:

Mr. Snowman approves.

I thought that was a little too scorched for my taste, so I thought I’d try another version that would emulate the slow-cooking of a smoker a little closer. I set the oven at about 250 degrees, and popped in a few more for about an hour and a half to see what would happen. What happened was this:

The bacon still had a little give to it, the pepper was nice and soft after having all the chorizo fat render into it, and the sausage was fully cooked. But I still missed that little hint of char. Back under the broiler they went! But just for a heartbeat – don’t want to overdo it, just sear it a little bit. That made them come out nice and hot, with all the tastes melded together just how I wanted ‘em.

Char! Softness! Heat! Magic! Bacon!

Enjoy your turds. These will beat the bejesus out of those boring frozen chicken wings that you always see at Superbowl parties and such. It takes a lot more time, but live a little.

Mushrooms are great, aren’t they?  They’re good in salads, on sandwiches, in soups, and casseroles.  They’re good hot or cold, raw or cooked, pretty much any way you want to use them.  This recipe, though, is perhaps my favorite way to prepare them.  Its a quick and easy recipe, but it never fails to impress.  Whip a batch of these out as an appetizer next time you have guests for dinner and watch them fly off the plate.

Ingredients:

baby portabella mushrooms
goat cheese, 1/2 T per mushroom
basil, chiffonade
olive oil, 1/2 T per mushroom
garlic, 1 clove per 2 mushrooms, minced
salt, 1/2 t per 4 mushrooms
pepper, 1/2 t per 4 mushrooms

Method:

For this recipe you want to choose small mushrooms to work with.  Try to keep the diameter of the cap right around an inch.  If you go too much larger, they start venturing out of finger food land.  Also, you dont want to end up adding so much goat cheese that it overpowers the mushroom.  Once you choose your mushrooms, gently remove the stem, leaving the cap in tact and looking like a small bowl.  Wash the caps by rubbing them with a damp paper towel.  Don’t put them under running water to clean them.  Soggy mushrooms will result in a mushy mess here.

Set the stemmed and cleaned mushrooms aside and find yourself small mixing bowl.  Add the goat cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper to the bowl and whip together with a fork.  This whipping should both mix the ingredients together and add some air which will make the cheese much easier to manipulate.  Once its all mixed, we’re ready to start stuffing.

The stuffing process is pretty straight forward.  Start by lightly coating each mushroom wit the olive oil.  I find the easiest way to do this is to pour the oil directly into the palm of my hand put a few mushrooms in that same hand and move them around a bit until the are evenly coated.  You just want a light sheen here, not to much oil.   Once that’s done, use a fork to scopp up the cheese mixture from the bowl and fill each mushroom.  Arrange the stuffed caps on a non-stick cookie sheet (I use one of those silicon mats), ad a touch more fresh cracked on top, and place under the broiler for 3-4 minutes, or until the cheese just starts to brown on top.  Remove from the broiler and sprinkle some basil on top of each one.  Its important to let these cool after removing from the broiler as the melted cheese inside is approximately the temperature of the sun.  3 minutes or so and you should be safe.  I like them best when they are warm, but they are still tasty even at room temperature.

Enjoy,
-E

Tags: Appetizers, Goat Cheese, Mushroom, Vegetarian

3 large heirloom tomatoes
3 medium shallots
small bunch of globe basil
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

I was at Border’s the other day roaming through the food and cookbook section and I ran across Anthony Bordain’s Les Halles Cookbook. Being a big fan of his show No Reservations, I picked up the book and started thumbing through it. I instantly fell in love with it. Bordain’s sarcastic and colorful writing immediately jumps out at you, and you quickly realize that this isn’t your grandmother’s cookbook. Despite the sometimes harsh tone, his recipes and instructions are simple and straightforward and any moderately accomplished home cook will have no problem following them. This tomato salad is a perfect example of the simple and classic bistro cuisine you will find in the book, so I decided to make it for a tailgate party. I know, I know. Tailgates are supposed to be all about burgers, bratwurst, and beer. “Vegetables and salads have no place at a tailgate” you say. Well I say, “You’ve never had my grilled asparagus”. Meatless it may be, but trust me, this was a big hit with the guys.

To prepare, start by heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. While that’s warming, slice the shallots following the direction of the stem. Separate the slices into rings, then cut each ring into two crescent shapes. Add the shallots to the skillet and cook over med-low heat until they become slightly translucent. While the shallots are cooking, prepare the tomatoes by coring and then slicing them vertically into wedges. With heirlooms, I like to let the folds guide the cutting. It makes for a more natural looking result I think. Place the tomato wedges on a platter and then mix the caramelized shallots in with them. Add salt and fresh coarse ground black pepper to taste, then drizzle some olive and balsamic vinegar over the whole dish. Sprinkle the basil over the top to finish. Thats it, now serve slightly chilled. This dish can made up ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.

Enjoy,
-E

Tags: Appetizers, tomatoes, Vegetarian

4 Graham Crackers
4 Oranges
2 T margarine
2 T sugar
spreadable Brie
honey

Melt margarine in a small sauce pan on high heat; stir in sugar.  Peel oranges and halve them, then place them in the sauce pan to be warmed and covered by the margarine and sugar.  About 5-10 minutes.

Halve the graham crackers and spread Brie on top of each.  Place each orange half on a graham cracker half.  Drizzle with honey.  Serve.

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Be careful when you are eating it, as the oranges will be very juicy.  These are great as either an appetizer or as a dessert.  Even my kids love them.  :)

Tags: cheese, easy, Graham Crackers, Oranges