Page 36 of 55

      Shout out to Epic Meal Time

      June 9, 2011 /

      My nephew turned me on to this site, and it’s freaking hilarious and scary at the same time. It’s Epic Meal Time. If you are a producer or trainer from “The Biggest Loser,” turn away please. If you are a veg-head, turn away please. If you are offended by someone making model cars with meat, turn away please. Wait, what? Model cards with meat? Yeah, I thought you’d like to see that. Check it out and if you think it’s as funny as I do, I will re-post more of their stuff…after all, I sure as hell don’t want to try this at home!

       

      Food TV, Tailgating, Video

      Try these wings…..

      June 7, 2011 /

      Chef JimBut first, you’ll need a stovetop smoker like the one I have from Cameron. When Jen and I got hooked on the Food Network about five years ago, more than one program pimped the use of a stovetop smoker, where you put a few wood chips in the bottom of the unit and put it on the stove on low heat while it smokes anything (within reason) and makes your whole house smell like bacon. But to me, nothing comes out as consistently amazing as the chicken wings. These smokers cost around $50 and are easy to store. And hey, Father’s Day is around the corner, so you might consider this for Dad. Anyway, I posted this on Grub For Guys a few years back, and it’s a good time to re-visit it….

      I know most of you probably have your favorite place for Buffalo chicken wings, or any chicken wings. Either that, or you think that the ones you make yourself are better than anything else out there. Well, since this is my column, I’m going to lobby for my own take on chicken wings. And I’ve got buddies to back me up about how good they are.

      Two years ago, my wife and I became enamored with the Food Network. And on more than one show, they were using this device that I just had to have – a stovetop smoker. In other words, you don’t need one of those giant, bulky contraptions to smoke meat. You can buy a small one that you put on your stove for around $50. My wife bought one for me as an anniversary gift and I still say it was the best present ever. So without making this into an infomercial, just read this article I wrote praising the Cameron indoor smoker which has links to buy one. I’m sure there are other varieties out there, but this is the only one I know of.

      Okay, you’ve got your smoker, now what? Well, buy yourself a 5-pound bag of fresh or frozen chicken wings. Lay them flat on a baking sheet, and spray both sides of the wings with olive oil spray. Then sprinkle the wings with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and then a very generous shaking of any type of Cajun seasoning (I use the dry rub stuff from Rendezvous restaurant in Memphis, which you can order online).

      Then, prepare the smoker according to the directions, meaning you have to put a small amount of wood chips in the bottom of the unit and spray the grill rack with cooking spray.

      After this, you’re in business. Put the wings in the smoker (it will hold 5 pounds easily, 10 pounds if you stuff them in there), and smoke on low-medium heat for about 3-4 hours. Folks, this is one of the most amazing smells known to man—natural smoke that will make your whole house smell like bacon. My mouth is watering as I type this.

      Anyway, once you’ve thoroughly smoked those wings, you have to finish them in the oven or on a grill. I prefer the grill, because not only do you have the smoky flavor and spice from the red pepper and Cajun seasoning, but the crispy barbecue chicken texture.
      Grill them for maybe three minutes per side and then keep warm in one of those tin party platters. Or bake them for maybe 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

      I have made these smoked wings for many occasions, mainly on Sundays during football season. Any time we’re having a get-together now with friends, I am asked to make them, and so far they have not disappointed. What are you waiting for?

      Ingredients, On the Grille, Product Reviews, Recipes, Tailgating

      Hot Dog Friday: Chicago dog

      June 3, 2011 /

      Greetings, fellow food lovers. Last year I did a feature on Grub For Guys on Hot Dogs for July 4 weekend. Being that July 4 is a month away, I’m going to declare Fridays in June Hot Dog Friday and give you a different hot dog recipe each week. But first I will recap the ones I posted last year in that article, and then give you a few new ones for July 4 weekend. First up, the classic Chicago dog:

      Basic Chicago Dog
      True hot dog fans have tasted Chicago style dogs and not wanted to ever have them another way. Trust me, they are that good. Here is our take, and it may or may not be authentic, but it’s close enough.

      Ingredients
      4 all-beef hot dogs
      4 hot dog buns
      Yellow mustard
      ¼ cup sweet relish (bonus points if you can find that neon green stuff they use in the Windy City)
      1 small dill pickle, chopped
      ½ medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
      ½ small tomato, seeded and chopped
      Pickled jalapenos or skinny pickled chili peppers
      Sprinkle of celery salt

      Directions
      Grill dogs on medium high heat, and about 2 minutes into the cooking time, carefully (and by that, I mean without burning your hands off) cut a sliver down the center of each dog, about halfway through it. Turn every minute or so to avoid burning, then assemble by placing a dog in a bun and topping evenly with remaining ingredients.

      Bring on the summertime!

      Ingredients, On the Grille, Recipes, Tailgating

      Product review: Slim Jim Dare

      June 2, 2011 /

      Chef JimSeems like products are getting spicier these days. Last year, Doritos came out with those 1st, 2nd and 3rd Degree Burn flavors. We also recently reviewed some spicy Planter’s peanuts. Now, in Walgreens, of all places, I came across Slim Jim “Dare”–a new line of spicy meat snacks, featuring two flavors–“Freakin’ Hot Jalapeno” and “Really Freakin’ Hot Habanero.”

      I grew up on beef sticks like these–at least as I sort of out-grew candy, I remember my grandfather taking me to the deli and buying me beef sticks, and how I came to love the flavor. Well, the texture of these Slim Jim’s is similar to those that I remember from my childhood–though let’s face it, who knows what kind of mystery meat I’m eating.

      Anyway, the “Freakin’ Hot” is very hot, and takes 5-10 seconds to creep up on you. It is also tasty with a nice, slightly lingering burn. Meanwhile, the “Really Freakin’ Hot” were slightly more tender, but that could be the lot of Slim Jims and not the flavor. These took a good 10 seconds for the heat to kick in, and it was a much stronger burn. Well, duh. But it was really nice for someone that likes spicy food as I do.

      So if you do like spicy food and if you like Slim Jim’s or meat snacks, go grab some of these and as the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage used to say, “Snap into a Slim Jim!”

      Product Reviews, Tailgating, Your Kitchen

      Our new grill

      May 31, 2011 /

      Chef JimSo yesterday my wife and I bought a new grill–mainly because the one we had was on its last leg, had wasp nests growing inside of it, and was blown over by the Great Blizzard of 2011 a few months ago. I had assembled it again and got it to work, but only marginally…it would not even get hot enough so that my hand touching the lid wouldn’t make me jump five feet in the air.

      So we went to Menard’s here in Madison and bought another Char-Broil grill, the same brand we had before that served us well, and because it was only 98 bucks! Only problem…I asked the nice lady in that department how easy it is to put together..she said it was only in 2-3 pieces. Um, no. It was in like a million pieces, complete with instructions most humans cannot comprehend. Now, it was around 2pm and I had no interest in doing this on Memorial Day, not this late when it might take 8 hours for me to complete. But my wife, bless her heart, decided to help me. She also calmed me down a few times when I wanted to throw said million pieces out the window. But hey, piece by piece it came together, and four hours later we were grilling!

      It was a pain, but we accomplished it and the food tasted that much better because of it. But hey, if you buy a grill like this, be warned…..and give yourself plenty of time to put it together. Onward!

      On the Grille, Tailgating, Your Kitchen

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 Mikey’s Kitchen

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑