Beef Brisket w/Onion Gravy

Beef Brisket, Couscous, Onions and Creativity produced a fine dish, and since the Brisket was already cooked and the Couscous only takes 5 min to make it was really easy except for caramelizing all those onions to make the Gravy.

Carnitas

In his "Authentic Mexican" cookbook Rick Bayless advises you to use Lard for slow frying Country Ribs for this wonderful Pork.  It does make some difference but not so much as to change the outcome that much and if you would rather use vegetable oil go right ahead.  It's really simple to prepare and all you do is use enough lard or oil to cover the meat and add about 1/4 cup of water and cook at a slow simmer until it is done or about 30 or 40 min.  By then the water should have evaporated and you can continue to cook at a little higher heat until lightly browned then turn out onto a paper towel lined plate and season with salt.  Do however include in the oil with the meat the zest of 1 lime.  He suggest serving with Guacamole and of course everyone loves that but the meat is so good any good hot sauce, chopped onions, cilantro and lime in a taco with this meat is going to be unreal good as well.   What I really like about this recipe is that it provides a tender and crunchy pork at the same time.

Blue Cheese Burgers

I really like things like a salad, steak, or in this case a burger with Blue Cheese on it.  Blue Cheese Salad Dressing or just crumbles of the stuff on a salad is my favorite salad dressing.  A steak with a Blue Cheese Crust makes one fine steak.  But let's not forget about a nice Burger Stuffed with Blue Cheese.  The pictures tells all you need to know...

Spam Sandwich w/Pineapple

Spammich w/Pineapple - Many years ago when I was not much more than knee high to a jack rabbit someone showed me what happens when you are frying some bologna or spam and get it browning a little then add some ketchup to to hot pan.  Well I got a better idea. Replace the ketchup with Sriracha!  Add a slice a pineapple and dang it was good!

Sriracha Wings

Sriracha will soon be or maybe already is, more popular than ketchup.  I know I'm addicted to it and finally tried it on some hot wings.  As in other wing sauces along with the Sriracha there was butter, but then some unusual ingredient were added - Soy Sauce, Honey, and fresh Lemon Juice.  It is my new favorite wing recipe.

Twice Baked Potato

I can't believe this is the first Twice Baked Potato I ever cooked.  Is it worth extra trouble?  You bet it is and it really doesn't take but a few minuted to prepare and cook them the second time.

Green Tomato Vinegar Slaw

SLAW & BBQ especially on a sandwich are so good together most people wouldn't have one any other way.   I like both the mayo based slaw and the oil & vinegar slaw for any use but for BBQ sandwiches the Oil & Vinegar Slaw is my favorite.  This Oil & Vinegar recipe is known as a Carolina Slaw by many and generally calls for equal amounts of sugar and vinegar and slightly less than those amounts for vegetable oil and of course other seasonings like salt, pepper, and celery seed.  Along with the shredded cabbage you add chopped or julienne bell pepper, carrots, and onions.  One other thing about a Vinegar Slaw is how long it last in the fridge.  Some recipes actually call it a Two Week Slaw and it does improve after a few days.  I made this slaw and replaced the bell peppers with Green Tomatoes and was real happy with the results.

HOT WINGS

Are they popular?  A couple of years ago it was estimated that over 1 BILLION wing portions were consumed on Super Bowl Sunday alone!  Someone also said the only way we could see more wings on our tables is for someone to figure out how to get the chickens to have more than one set of wings. How do you cook yours?  I like them three ways - Baked then Fried, Smoked (not grilled over direct heat), and Smoked then Fried.  Double cooking is a common method to get things like Fries crisp and it works just as well with wings.  I don't dust them with flour or corn starch but I do like a pretty heavy sprinkling of BBQ rub applied several hours in advance of cooking.  Smoked then Fried is my favorite but all three methods end the same with Texas Pete and butter heated up and poured over the wings and tossed just before serving. What is better than a chicken wing to munch on?  A lot of wings to munch on!

Bagel Sope?

I did this and had it ready to eat before I thought about it resembling a Sope (savory Mexican corn cakes).  It's my favorite Everything Bagel with cream cheese, then Refried Beans with Epazote seasoning (not canned), Mozzarella, and Onions with a side of my Country Sausage and El Tapatio Hot Sauce.

POPCORN

Not many snacks surpass Popcorn and it has always been one of my favorite snacks.  In fact as a young boy back in the early to mid 60's, sometime when at the Wink Theatre I would not have enough spending money to have Popcorn and Candy Bar and would have to choose between the two and would always get Popcorn.  It was hot and buttery and lasted a long time.  

I have created a real nice Popcorn Seasoning Blend and thought you might like to try it.  Seasonings made specially for Popcorn are better because they are ground to a real fine powder and adhere to the Popcorn better because of the fine grind.  With a cheap spice grinder / coffee grinder you can do the same thing and create your own special blend like I did.  Here's mine, and it's just 3 spices...

• 2 Tbs Lowery's Seasoned Salt
• 2 Tbs of Tajin Fruit & Snack Seasoning (has Lime, Salt, and ground Red Pepper and great on cantaloupe and watermelon)
• 1 Tbs Cayenne Pepper 

Let the grinder run until it truly does look like power and adjust the amt of Cayenne to your preferred level of heat.  It will take a few times using it to know how much to sprinkle on your Popcorn.

SOPES

Sopes, the thick little Tortilla with the pinched up sides that holds all that the imagination can provide in the way of Mexican food along with all those fabulous condiments, are very popular with about everyone that tries them. Homemade Sopes is always better but you can sometimes find them in the Mexican groceries in the dairy case packaged like Thomas Bagels. That great corn flavor comes through triple good when these are home made. Unless you want to grind your own field corn, you will need to start with the Masa Harina which you will find the same as using Corn Meal for Corn Bread. You simply reconstitute it with water to make a dough. That is what was used here and something tells me that the better job you do with kneading the dough the better the result. I have been an avid Mexican food lover for a long time and make it a lot, and this meal was one of the best I have ever made. Of course the sauce was made from scratch, and I had smoked a couple of Chuck Roast a few days earlier so the meat was excellent.  All those wonderful condiments like radishes, pico de gallo, pickled and / or roasted Jalapenos, lettuce, and cilantro, etc were missing since it was a weekday work night but what we did have was so good it didn't matter. I have to remind my self to always make these Mexican dishes on a weekend as I love those time consuming condiments.

POTATO SALAD (Calhoun Family Recipe)

6 med potatoes (2 lbs)
1 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/3 cup chopped dill pickles
1 1/4 cups krafts mayonnaise
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp prepared mustard
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 or 5 large hard boiled egg, chopped


Boil potatoes in salted water 25 to 30 min or till tender. Peel and cube potatoes while still hot into a large mixing bowl. Add celery, onion, pickle. Add mayo, sugar, celery seed, vinegar, mustard, and salt in a separate bowl and whisk. Add mayo mixture to potato mixture. Toss and stir paying attention to hard hard to stir and if necessary stir hard enough to break up the potatoes for a more creamy potato salad.

Unless you really under cook the potatoes you should be able to make this as creamy as you want or less creamy by how much you stir it once it is made. I doubt I have ever seen a single Thanksgiving that this was not on the table.