Hot saws...

So I started making hot sauce for Maria's Taqueria in Shepherdstown, WV. They're just samples now as we (I have a not so silent partner) are working perfecting recipes that we could have bottled and sold. Right now the Dr. Kronk & Mr. Butts brand hot sauce has three recipes certified as tasty by Maria's staff and patrons.


The Chipotle Bacon & Brown Sugar Hot Sauce
The Habamatoe
The Serranamo!


Maria is going to start supplying us with peppers, so you'll have to keep your eyes open for any new concoctions. A word of warning; if you find a sauce with the name of "DO NOT PUSH", taste at your own risk.

Volt!

www.voltrestaurant.com

Planning on visiting this place in February or March some time. Sounds like it'll be a very expensive, fun time.

I have not forgot you dear blog!

So I just haven't fixed anything lately. I'm thinking about making something this week containing some gnocchi and some seafood.

And note to self. Glasses (most often high ball variety) stuck together usually break. When breaking they like to cut deep, long, and hard. Kind of like my ex wife.

P.S. I was never married.

P.P.S. I would kick have a prenup so it wouldn't hurt so bad.

P.P.P.S. I don't own anything so a prenup wouldn't do any good.

Racks O' Ribs™

This was my first try at making ribs. All in all, they turned out fairly well and I couldn't complain too much. OK, so on to the important part.


What you need:
Pork ribs. Sam's club has three rack for about $20.
Mustard
Seasonings/rubs of whatever type you desire.
BBQ sauce
Pans
Aluminum foil
Oven, grill, charcoal, and wood for smoke if you so choose.

First things first, trim them bad boys up. Start by removing the membrane on the underside of the ribs, then cut the excess meet from what I was told is the "diaphragm", the cartilage line, and the flap on the other side.

When you're finished you should end up with a pretty large pile of pork. I stuck it in a container to marinate. It's going in the crock pot to make pulled pork for sandwiches.

Next it's time for the rub. I used a very thin coat of spicy mustard on the ribs and then used three separate rubs on the racks. One was McCormick's steak rub, one was Uncle Yammie's, and one was something I threw together with spices at the house.

Then you're going to want to line the pans with aluminum. After that, fill them with about 1/4" water and place the ribs in the pans. Put the pans into an oven preheated to about 200-225 degrees and let the ribs cook.

I cooked mine for about 3 1/2 hours. You want to take them out when they hit about 150 on the meat thermometer. After that, you're almost done.

Fire up your grill. I got mine going at about 400 or so. If you want some smoke, put the wood on there. Lather up the ribs with BBQ sauce if you like wet ribs or leave them without if you like dry. I did half and half. Put them on the grill for about another 10-15 minutes until they're darkened up on the outside and then take them off and enjoy.

Why I hate Mcdonalds...

It's sooooo damn convenient. That's it. The foods OK. I mean, it is fast food. I know it's not healthy. You can't complain about something you've know for years and you still choose to go back to. It's just fast and less than 1/4 of a mile from my house.

Those mornings when you just don't want to get out of bed are the worst. When you finally get up and realize that you don't have time for breakfast and making it work some what close to on time, you know there's only one place that can help you.

Fortunately my work has had business come in to work the cafeteria. Unfortunately, they have sausage gravy. Isn't McDonald's the healthier alternative in this instance?

Beer can chicken with the soda on the side...

Everyone has undoubtedly heard of this mythical beast. El Beercanachickacabra. The legendary easiest and bestest way to flip a bird. Any who, depending on your cooking temp, time will vary. I'm not good at providing exact times and temps to cook food with. I just go by the USDA's recommendation and do 170 in the chest and 180 in the thigh. I'll take my bird out about 3-5 degrees before and let it set for a few minutes before I pick it apart. I'll provide guidelines for the cooking impaired. On to the list of things you need ©.

Things You Need:
One chicken. I usually get a 7-8 pound chicken. Moar meat please.
Beer!
Large pan for the chicken.
A rack (optional)
Mushrooms, baby portabella
Asparagus
Herbs
Very sharp knife™ that will cut through aluminum and that you don't mind f'ing up.














For this attempt, I forgot to purchase beer at the grocery store, so I ran to sheetz and ended up with a Labatt Blue 24oz. That ended up being a pain. So note to everyone else, regular sized beer cans work best. First things first. Pop the beer can. Drink/pour out all but 3" of beer or so. You want about 1/2-3/4 of a 12oz can remaining in said 12oz can. Then take that very sharp knife™ and cut the top off the can. This very well may turn very sharp knife™ into very dull knife™. Set aside can.

Remove the wrapping from the chicken & remove inside gunk. Done.

Ha ha. Right. Use a knife to cut slits in the skin. Stick your finger in there and move it back and forth to separate the skin from the meat. Then pour whatever seasoning you want in there and rub. This time I used Soy sauce, fish sauce, sriracha, honey, and random herbs like basil and more basil. Make sure you make extra. The rest of this concoction goes in your beer. Just pour slowly as it may cause a big foamy mess.

Now it's time to put the chicken and the beer together to make, beer can chicken! The rack is an amazing device. After the last time I tried to fix one without and ended up burning myself while trying to upright and not so upright chicken in the oven (and 4-5 beers later of course...) I decided that that was the final straw. I still have a nice big scar to remind myself of that night. The rack makes it simple. Insert can into center rack, insert chicken onto rack over can. This can be done without a rack by putting your bird on the can and using the legs for a make shift tripod. This does make it difficult to test the temperatures though as it's very easy to upset an unstable bird. My friend says that all women are crazy after all...and she's one of them.

Ok. Put it in a preheated oven. I'd say 300 degrees. It took about 2 hours for my last one and I kept cranking up the heat.

So when your bird reaches the appropriate doneness; 170 in the chest and 180 in the thigh according to the FDA, remove it.

Here's the tricky part. It's hot. Very hot. I usually burn myself because I'm impatient. You need to remove the bird from the rack and put it some place to cook. The cut the asparagus and clean the mushrooms. Toss them all in a large skillet. Pour the remaining beer and chicken juices into the skillet. It should be a good bit of liquid. Cook it. I put it almost on high and get it boiling and cook until the asparagus and mushrooms are nice and tender. After that's done, drain the juice and save it. I normally pull the meat from the bird then pour and remaining juice onto the pulled meat. This keeps it moist and usually helps prevent the meat from drying, even when reheated in the microwave.

After everything is prepared, stuff your pie hole and enjoy.

That's my version and I'm sticking to it.

The Press Room

I'll post a picture one day. I swear....

The Press Room
129 W German St
Shepherdstown, WV 25443
(304) 876-8777

Anywho, I went to The Press Room (which doesn't have a website if my searching skills haven't failed me) Monday, 3/24/09. My adventure started as such: My friend Tabitha O'Smiley sent me an email at work at 4:17PM with the following interesting bit of information:

"hey gill just texted me, wanted to know if i wanted to grab dinner or a drink after work... do you wanna come grab dinner??"

So like any dutiful person, I shoved off my other obligations of getting a haircut (rescheduled and unscheduled appointment) and going to Wal Mart for things I needed.

So I'm finally home from work and already through one load of laundry and waiting on the detergent to do a third (Wal Mart anyone?) and working on some photos and generally slacking off, I finally get a phone call. I meet up with Tabitha and we drive down to The Press Room. We get there and the bar is packed, so we head back out to wait for her friend Gill.

Once Gill shows up, indecision rears it's ugly head. The Press Room? Busy.... Tony's? Meh.... OK, time to break out the hard core decision maker. I'm The Press Room, Tabitha is Tony's. Rock, Paper, Scissors and we end up at Tony's.

Not even two minutes later and I hear, "I'm not eating."
"Me either."
"I just wanted a Martini."

ALL RIGHT ALREADY!!!! We left Tony's and walked back to The Press Room.

So the only time I've been there previously was for a drink or two at the bar. Tonight, we dine on the flesh of vegetables, fruits, and dairy products (hell no, I'm definitely a carnivore at heart). I just had an appetizer special and a dessert. The Appetizer was grilled artichokes. I though it was hearts. It wasn't. It was just a giant artichoke cut in half and grilled. Not bad, but not a lot there to eat and it's something I could have fixed at the house.

Next was the desert. I ordered one of their desert specials. It was blue cheese with pears, candied walnuts, something that I thought was dates, and honey from some foreign land. That was good. Not too sweet and just enough. Gill had the creme brulee and Tabitha had something that resembled and ice cream heart.

Any ways, that was an amazing review. You can praise my writing skills any time you want. Hey, what can I say? I'm better at cooking food and telling you what I did than eating at a restaurant and trying to remember it.