Maple Sausage and Jalapeño Gravy over Biscuits

Anyone who is a true southerner... Will always love a good gravy biscuit!  There are many places that have really good sausage gravy and biscuits, probably my favorite is Bojangles!  I would be there now if there was one located here in Utah.  Alas there is not, so I resort to the next best thing!  I make it myself.

Making biscuits and gravy should be a rite of passage for any southerner... But I'm afraid it is not... We should pass a law, but I digress... This particular day, I opted for maple sausage and added some diced jalapeño for a little heat.  It was surprisingly good.

Basic Sausage Gravy (this recipe is not exact, I didn't measure, I just eyeballed everything)*

Ingredients:

1/2 package ground sausage

3 Tablespoons All purpose flour (about)

1 cup Milk (about)

Salt and pepper to taste

Basic sausage gravy is simple enough: You start by browning your sausage over medium heat, then drain it depending on how much grease there is.  Next you want to add flour, and stir it in with the sausage, and let it brown just a bit (or longer if you want a darker gravy), then add your milk, stir fairly constantly until it starts to thicken.  I find that if I turn off the heat just before the gravy is the consistence I want, it will continue to thicken up.  I also usually add some salt and pepper to mine, to taste of course.

* to make what I did, just use maple flavored sausage and add a diced jalapeño to the sausage as you brown it.

Flank Steak with Chimichurri and Grilled Corn

This past weekend, I decided to take a "vacation" and visit my brother and his family.  Usually, when I get together with my brother, a few things tend to happen... 1. We watch a lot of Seinfeld and the Simpsons,  2.  We drink a fair amount of soda (or any caffeinated beverage we can find), and 3.  We usually cook something pretty good.

With the weather being nice, and it almost feeling like summer, we decided we wanted to grill some steak... and some corn.  But what to serve with it, how to prepare it, sauce, no sauce, rub, no rub, smoked, straight grilled... the options are endless (almost).  My brother had stumbled across a recipe for a Chimichurri topped steak in Martha Stewart Living Magazine.  I'm not generally one for following recipes, but it sounded good, so we decided to try it.

the recipe for Chimichurri: (from Martha Stewart Living as I remember it)
1/3 cup packed chopped Parsley

1/3 cup packed chopped Cilantro
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
3 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 cup Olive Oil

blend everything together, drizzle over steak and corn once they've been grilled.

We grilled the corn first, and once there were good grill marks on it, we popped in a 250 degree oven to rest and stay warm while we grilled the steak.  All we did for the steak was salt and pepper it, slap it on the grill, once it was about medium rare to medium, I pulled it off, let it sit, sliced it, and then drizzled the sauce over it.  I also drizzled the sauce on the corn as well... Hopefully the picture speaks for itself... It was pretty dang good.

Apple-wood smoked Baby-back Ribs

For those of you about to grill... I salute you.  Summer is upon us, and the weather is getting warmer.  So it's time to fire up the charcoal, rub down a rack of ribs, crack open an ice cold soda, and smoke the ribs for a few hours!

I am constantly tweaking how I do my ribs, but I tend to always come back to the same procedure.  I rub down the ribs, then smoke them, then wrap them, then brush on sauce at the end.  It may seem like a crazy process, but it's totally worth it.  The ribs develop so much flavor, and are cooked to where there is still a little give (the common misconception is that ribs should come clean of the bone, but this isn't true, you want to see a bite mark). 

Here is my process:

Ingredients:
About 3/4 cups of BBQ Rub*
1 rack Baby Back Ribs
1 Tablespoon Squeeze Butter
1 Tablespoon of Honey
2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Sriracha
About 8 small to medium size branches of Applewood, broken into pieces
Aluminum foil, enough to wrap the rack of ribs in

Directions:
1. I remove the silver bit of skin from the back of the ribs... there are YouTube videos on how to do this.
2.  Rub the ribs with BBQ rub (I make my own, but you can use your favorite), let sit for 15 - 30 minutes.
3.  Get your smoker ready (since I just use a round weber grill, I get my charcoal ready, and put it on one side of the grill).
4.  When you're ready to put the ribs on the grill, add about half of the apple-wood to the fire (if you're using a gas grill, use a smoker box for your wood).
5.  Place the ribs away from the fire, bone side down, close the lid and let it smoke for about 1 hour.
6.  At around an hour in, rotate your ribs and add more apple-wood, close the lit and let it go about another half hour.
7.  Pull the ribs off the grill, place on a sheet of aluminum foil (enough to wrap the ribs in) add butter, honey, brown sugar, and sriracha, wrap the ribs.
8.  Put the ribs back on the grill, away from the heat again, let cook about a half hour.
9.  After a half hour, rotate the wrapped ribs, and let go another 15 minutes.
10.  After 15 minutes or so, remove the ribs from the aluminum foil, place over the heat and baste on your choice of BBQ sauce (something with vinegar works best, and once again, I make my own 3 Vinegar BBQ Sauce).
11.  Baste the ribs a couple times on both sides, and then let cool for a few minutes before eating.

*All Purpose BBQ Rub (mix all ingredients together, makes about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
1/2 Tablespoon Sea Salt (you can always add a little more if want)
2 teaspoons Ground Onion Flakes
1 teaspoon Ground Mustard Powder

Mother's Day Tribute

Like most people, I am fortunate to have a loving mother in my life.  But I am equally blessed to have had other motherly influences in my life...  This is my tribute to those influences, because without them, I would not have the best parts of me!

The biggest influences that my mom, grandmothers, sisters... and even ex-mother in law, have had on me, revolves around my passion for food!  To begin:

Grandmothers - On both sides of my family, my grandmothers always cooked!  I unfortunately didn't get to spend a lot of time learning from them, since I was pretty young (and all I cared about was playing, watching TV, and eating junk food, when I could get it).  But, I have had the opportunity to go through old recipes, and talk with my parents about dishes and meals they cooked.  I try to honor my heritage by cooking some of the these meals (with some tweaks, of course).

Sisters - My twin sister is "mostly" a vegetarian (probably why I eat so much meat... I have to balance the deficit of meat consumption!)  And my other sister is an avid (and awesome) baker.  My twin is probably my biggest fan, and that inspires me to keep cooking.  Since I don't do much baking, I can always ask my other sister questions and it helps build my relationship with her.

Ex Mother in law - despite my feelings towards her, I can appreciate the fact that she introduced me to a lot of international foods and cultures, and thus helped further my passion for food.

My Mother - she taught me the value of family dinner and the amazing power of a good meal, which can bring anyone together!  Plus, every time I talk to her about something I've made, I can sense a certain amount of pride she has for me.

So as a tribute to these wonderful influences and ladies of my life, here are a few foods and meals I have made over the years!  In the pictures are: Homemade Bread, Sausage Gravy Waffles, Deviled Eggs, Pot Roast with Carrots, Onions, & Potatoes, Rotisserie Pork, Thai Curry Soup with Chicken & Dumplings, Shrimp Boil, Smoked Chicken, BBQ Ramen Noodles, Apple-wood Smoked Ribs, Bacon Wrapped Pork Roulade over Fettuccine with Vegetables, Peach & Blueberry Pie with a Crumble Crust

As a bonus:  a recipe for Thai Curry Soup with Chicken and Dumplings (second group of pictures, top right)

Ingredients:
3 chicken Thighs
1 can Coconut Milk
2 cans Chicken Broth
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Medium White Onion, diced
3/4 cups Carrot, roughly chopped
4 oz Red Curry Paste
2 Tablespoons Sriracha Chili paste
4 teaspoons Vegetable Oil
2 Pillsbury Grand Biscuits, cut into small squares
2 Tablespoons Thai Curry Rub*
A handful of chopped Fresh Cilantro, for garnish


Directions:
1. Heat oil in a stock pot, add onions, carrots, and peppers.
2. Saute for about 8 to 10 minutes on medium heat.
3. Add curry paste and saute for a few more minutes, until the paste starts to caramelize in places.
4. Meanwhile, season chicken with Thai Curry Rub* and in a seperate pan, brown chicken thighs for a few minutes on each side.
5. Once the vegetables and curry paste are ready, add chicken broth, sriracha paste, and coconut milk to the pot.
6.  Whisk to incorporate everything together (the coconut milk may be clumpy, but it will loosen up).
7. Add the chicken.
8. Let simmer on medium low for about 20 to 25 minutes.
9. Stir every 8 to 10 minutes, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom, taste, add more Thai Curry Rub if you feel you need a little more flavor.
10. Remove chicken and pull off the bone, shred it, and add it back to the pot.
11. Drop in your biscuit cubes, a handful at a time, make sure they don't stick together.
12. Let simmer an additional 8 to 10 minutes, or until the dumplings are cooked through.
13. If liquid reduces too much, add in a little water, and adjust your seasonings as needed.
14. Garnish with chopped Cilantro.

* Thai Curry Rub (mix everything together, makes about 1/2 cup)
2 Tablespoons Turmeric
2 Tablespoons Curry powder
2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon Paprika

Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de mayo is here... So this is my obligatory "holiday" post.  A few weeks ago I made some jalapeño-garlic grilled steak sandwiches... And since the steak was so good, I decided to make some tacos with pico de gallo, and guacamole!

I didn't do anything special with the pico or the guacamole (besides using red onion, fresh garlic, and jalapeño), so I'm not gonna post any recipes this week, but I believe the key to celebrating any holiday, is try to create flavors that make you think of what you're celebrating.  With every bite of these "tacos" I tasted a little bit of Cinco De Mayo!

A tasty farewell for a friend

Let me start by apologizing to those who were not invited... This was an impromptu gathering, and I have a small apartment that just can't accommodate everyone I would have liked to invite.  Rest assure there will be future "Super Fancy Finer Things Supper Catering Club Parties" (this is the name that we will be calling our food club gatherings!)

That being said, last week, a few co-workers and myself, decided to have a farewell "party" for our friend and co-worker, Dalin.  I figured what better time to break out a bacon wrapped, apple & jalapeno stuffed pork loin... and don't forget apple-wood smoked!  But since we work in catering, we are not content to just have one delicious item.  Our menu consisted of:

Appetizers

Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Toasted Baguette Slices

Deviled Eggs with Pickled Daikon Radishes, Pickled Red Onion, and Sriracha

Entree

Apple-wood smoked Bacon Wrapped, Jalapeno & Apple stuffed Pork Loin

Twice Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Dessert

 Layered Strawberry Short Cake (seriously, so good!)

I find that an evening full of good food, and good company is a hard thing to beat... And let's just say, I wish I had a larger stomach, so that I could have kept eating.  Everything was sooo good.  I won't bore you with 5 different recipes, but at some later point, I will re-post a few of these items and I will include some recipes.  Until that time, you just have to take my word that it was delicious.

 And finally... Farewell Dalin and good luck in Texas!

Grilled Jalapeno Steak Sandwich

I love sandwiches... let me correct that, I love good, flavorful sandwiches!  I have dreams of one day, opening a sandwich shop, featuring more upscale sandwiches than, let's say, Subway or Jimmy Johns... But, I digress, back to the topic at hand, sandwiches, especially a Grilled Jalapeno Steak Sandwich.

I'm sure you have had sandwiches somewhat like this one, but it doesn't change the fact that it is delicious.  I start by taking diced up jalapeno, minced garlic, kosher salt, and a squeeze from 1/2 a lime, and I grind this mixture with my mortar and pestle.  in the meantime, I take the flank steak, salt and pepper it, then rub it down with the garlic-jalapeno mixture.  I let this goodness sit for at least 30 minutes to semi marinate (and develop some more flavor).  When i feel the steak is good and ready, I fire up the grill, get it nice and hot, and then slap the steak on the grill.

While my steak is getting grilled, I whip up some quick guacamole... I am under the impression that everyone has their favorite guacamole recipe, and specific dos and don'ts with what you can or can't add to your guacamole.  I say, knock that noise, because there are very few rules in cooking, and if it sounds and taste good, go for it.  Anyway, I start by mushing up my avocado, then add diced jalapeno, finely diced white, yellow, or red onion (all depends on what I have in my fridge), then add minced garlic, a squeeze of lime, some kosher salt, and black pepper... done!

By this time, my steak should be about a good medium rare or medium, but cook it how you like it.  Then I let the steak rest, and tighten up and retain all those delicious juices.  When its ready, I slice it, and layer it on my bread (for this sandwich I used a cut down baguette).  Before that, I spread mayo on the bottom and the guacamole on the top piece.  Then goes on the steak, then some queso fresco (any crumbly Mexican cheese works).  If I had some red onion, I probably would have grilled them and added them to the sandwich.

Grilled jalapeno steak sandwich with garlic fries and guacamole