Friday, September 14, 2007

BM's Pasta Salad

After a personal request from Sal himself, I have decided to post my easy pasta salad recipe.

1 lb. box of rotini pasta
4 large ripe tomatoes
2 cucumbers
2 blocks of plain feta cheese
1 bottle of Kraft Zesty Italian salad dressing
Salt and Pepper to taste

Other options:
Diced grilled chicken
Chopped Red Bell Pepper

Boil box of pasta. While Boiling, dice up tomatoes, cucumbers (removing seeds) and feta. Once pasta is bolled, strain with cold water running over pasta. Let cool. Add pasta to large mixing bowl. Add chopped tomatoes, cukes, and feta to top (seasoning liberally with salt and pepper). Depending on when you plan on serving, I normally will seal up and put in the refrigerator at this point. Upon removing from fridge, toss with zesty Italian salad dressing and serve. Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Mussels Marinara

We have become a big fan of this easy to make dinner (yes we serve as a main course). This meal looks and tastes "restaurant quality". A great meal if you looking to cook something up and impress a date. (Just make sure your date can eat shellfish). Serves 2.

2 lb. bag of mussels (VERY inexpensive- maybe $3-$4)
1 bottle of white wine (half for cooking, half for drinking). I would recommend a Pinot Grigio or a Sauvignon Blanc
1 stick butter
2 tbs. olive oil
8 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 32 oz. can of diced tomatoes - or - 6 fresh tomatoes
1 Red, Yellow or Orange Bell Pepper
Splash of half and half
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chopped Parsley for Garnish
Wedge of Parmesan Cheese for garnish
1 loaf of Crusty Sourdough bread, for the broth.

First things first, put the mussels into a big strainer, discarding any that have broken shells or are already open. Give each mussel a good clean under cold water, removing any barnacles with a knife and pulling/cutting off any beards

Saute 1/3 stick of butter, olive oil and garlic in a big pot. Before the garlic browns add 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottle of wine (toss the rest in the fridge to serve with dinner). I usually cook this for a while to get the alcohol taste out of the wine. After 5 minutes or so, I add 3/4 of the canned or fresh tomatoes. Slowly simmer for 5 minutes. Add the mussels to the pot and top with the rest of the butter, cut into small pats, the rest of the tomatoes, splash of cream, and the chopped bell pepper. Cover and simmer for 5 mins, until mussels begin to open. Once mussels start opening, give the pot a big stir and add some chopped parsley on top. Taste broth and add salt and pepper as needed. Close the lid again for a few more minutes. When it looks like the mussels are all open, dump into a big serving bowl and top with some more chopped parsley and some grated Parmesan cheese. Serve with loaf of sourdough for dipping in broth.

Pats Party Wings

I have been tweaking my chicken wing recipe over time and think that I have finally found a few that stick. The first derives from a family recipe and has become a standard grilled chicken marinade for me. The second two are more post-grill dipping sauces, which have been a big hit.

Start with 2-3 lbs. of raw chicken wings or party wings. (If you can find the party wings, you will save the time of having to cut the chicken wings up before grilling- otherwise you will need to remove the tips, and cut the wing into 2 parts ). I prefer the raw chicken to any of the frozen bags, you will too.

Standard chicken marinade (equal parts of the following)
Teriyaki Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce
Soy Sauce
Maple Syrup
I also season with salt and pepper.
Depending what is on hand, I may also add Ken's Italian Dressing, and a shake of garlic powder.

If you are making the above style of wings, marinate over night in the fridge and they are ready to go. Grill 'em up and serve as-is. No dipping sauce will be needed.

More recently, I started cooking my wings with a dry rub only, adding the wet marinade or dipping sauce post-grill.

Wing Dry Rub
2 tbs. Cayenne Pepper
2 tbs. Garlic Powder
2 tbs. Paprika
1 tbs. Salt
1 tbs. Fresh Ground Pepper
(If I have it on-hand, I would also add 2 tbs. of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning)

Mix all dry ingredients beforehand. Put raw chicken in a big ziplock bag, add rub to the bag and shake.

Buffalo Wing Sauce
2 sticks of Butter (1 cup)
2 cups of Louisiana's Pure Crystal Hot Sauce

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the Crystal to the melted butter, stirring frequently. Once I pull the wings off the grill, I put them in a big bowl and pour the sauce over the wings and mix. Serve the wings with some blue cheese dressing, celery and carrot sticks.

Thai Dipping Sauce
2 cups Sweet Chili Sauce
2 tbs. Soy sauce
Garnish with thinly sliced scallions

Mix 2 ingredients as-is, and refrigerate. Rather than Mix with wings when they come of the grill (like the Buffalo Wing Sauce), I prefer to leave on the side for dipping.

BM's Big Chili

I can guarantee that my chili recipe changes every time I make it. A little spice here, a little spice there. So take the spice measurements with a grain of salt (pun intended). I will say my most recent recipe was pretty damn good, and like most chili, even better the second day. Here are the details

1 Package of Bacon
1.5 lbs of Sausage- not in casing
1.5 lbs of Steak Tips
1.5 lbs of Ground Beef
10 Cloves of Garlic, chopped
2 White Onions, chopped
2 Cans of Guinness
2 32oz. cans of Diced Tomatoes
1 16oz. can of Tomato paste
6 16oz. cans of Red Kidney Beans
8 tbs. Chili Powder
3 tbs. Cumin
2 tbs. Black Pepper
2 tbs. Salt
2 tbs. Cayenne Pepper
2 tbs. Paprika
2 tbs. White Sugar
2 tbs. Dried Oregano
1 tbs. Cinnamon
4 tbs. Maple Syrup
2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbs. Red Pepper Sauce
1 Green and 1 Red Bell Pepper, Chopped
2 Small Hot Red Peppers (diced small)
2 Small Hot Green Peppers (diced small)
1 Long Hot Green Pepper (diced small)

Start by dicing and sauteing one package of bacon in large pot. Once cooked through, remove bacon with slotted spoon, and dump excess oil. Next add Ground Sausage and Ground Beef with half of the chopped garlic and half of chopped onions. Once cooked, remove all ingredients and set aside. Next add steak (which should be cut down into small cubes) with remaining garlic and onion. Saute the steak until it is light pink in the middle. Remove steak, garlic and onion from pot. At this point, you will still have a lot of the flavor at the bottom of the pot. Deglaze with one can of Guinness, using wooden spoon to scrape up bottom

Add cans of diced tomatoes, cans of kidney beans (drained), and all of the meat back to the pot on top of the Guinness used to deglaze. Add all of the rest of the ingredients to the pot, including second can of Guinness. I cooked on low for a good 3 hours, stirring periodically. I did taste every time I stirred to make sure it was seasoned appropriately.

At first I was worried that the chili would be a little runny after cooking on low for 3 hrs. I shut of the heat and let it set up, which it did. You can reheat at any point. Again, I think it tasted better the second day.

Chili is served with some crushed tortilla chips on top with chopped red onion, chopped Jalapenos, and some Sour Cream.

Monday, January 22, 2007

The Full Monty

I am dedicating my first post to the success of the "Full Monty" sandwich, which made its debut during the 2007 AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. While the game didn't turn out as we had hoped, the Full Monty got rave reviews. Why is called the Full Monty? A great question, but unfortunately one that cannot be answered (read: One too many Bud Lights). Here is the recipe that kept them coming back for more.

Slow Cooked Beef Brisket
6 lbs. of trimmed beef brisket
Worcestershire Sauce
1.5 cups of brown sugar
1 tbs. Dried Mustard Powder
1 tbs. Chili Powder
1 tbs. Cumin
1 tbs. Red Pepper Powder
2 cups Apple Cider
1 can of Guinness
Bottle of BBQ sauce
Can of Tomato Paste
Splash of Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Yellow Onions
8 cloves of Garlic

The night before, trim brisket(s) of fat and rub with Worcestershire sauce. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, mustard powder, chili powder, cumin, red pepper powder. Once mixed, use as dry rub and coat the brisket. Refrigerate overnight in slow cooker pot.

In the morning, add apple cider, Guinness, BBQ Sauce, Tomato Paste, Coder Vinegar, Yellow Onions and Garlic to Pot. Stir with a wooden spoon and turn slow cooker on low. Cook for 10 hrs.

At the end of 10 hrs, the brisket can be shredded with tongs. Personally, I do the shredding in the slow cooker to let it continue to sit in the sauce.

The proper "Full Monty" is served on a bulkie roll with a slice of Swiss cheese, some homemade slaw (recipe below) and a squirt if Thousand Island dressing.


Homemade Cole Slaw
Shredded Red and White Cabbage
Shredded Carrots
(I used a premade bag of the above ingredients to save time)
1 Red Onion, sliced thin
2 Red Hot Peppers, sliced thin
1 cup Mayo
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
2 tbs. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Lemon, juiced
Pinch of Sugar
1 tsp. Celery seed
Several dashes of hot sauce, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper

I added all of the above ingredients into a big bowl. Depending on your taste, you can add more or less of certain ingredients. Personally, I didn't want to overdo the mayo. I cut back on mayo and added a little more Dijon mustard and an extra splash of the vinegar. Let your own taste dictate the flavor