Tag: guilty pleasures (Page 12 of 14)

      Chipotle Mac & Cheese and Tex-Mex Meatballs

      January 14, 2011 /

      This is another great dish (or two dishes) to try during cold weather months, and is especially great for football-watching-food. I posted this on Grub for Guys a couple years ago. Enjoy and let me know what you think….

      Two Spicy Dishes That Explode With Flavor:Chipotle Mac & Cheese and Tex-Mex Meatballs w/Spicy Tomatillo Sauce

      Guys, if you like spicy food the way I do, I’ve created two dishes that you’re going to love. Skill level is easy to moderate on the mac & cheese, and a bit more complex for the meatballs, but worth it. I’ve tried to give you a classic mac & cheese with a twist, and a summery, fiery meatball dish that is different and made for the bold taste buds of the common dude. Enjoy!

      Chipotle Mac & Cheese

      Ingredients:
      8 oz. macaroni
      4 small to medium chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
      1 cup whole milk
      8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
      8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese
      ¼ cup flour
      ½ stick butter

      Directions:
      Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook macaroni, drain and set aside. Melt butter in large skillet, then add flour and stir for about 20-30 seconds. Add milk and whisk to break up chunks of flour mixture. When mixture is warm and starts to thicken, add cheese. Stir until cheese melts, and then add chipotle peppers. Put cooked macaroni in a large bowl, and pour cheese mixture over it. Stir to combine and then pour into a greased casserole dish. Bake for about 20 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Serves four, or like previous recipes I’ve posted here, two very hungry guys.

      Tex-Mex Meatballs w/Spicy Tomatillo Sauce

      Ingredients:
      For Meatballs
      1 lb. ground beef
      2 medium ears cooked corn on the cob
      2 jalapeno peppers
      ¼ cup chopped cilantro
      1 Tbsp. chili powder
      1 tsp. kosher salt
      1 tsp. black pepper
      1 slice white bread, cut into cubes and soaked in ½ cup milk

      For Sauce
      3-4 tomatillos, papery skin removed and rinsed
      1 jalapeno pepper
      ¼ of a large red onion
      ¼ cup chopped cilantro
      ½ medium avocado
      ½ tsp. kosher salt
      ½ tsp. black pepper
      juice of one lime

      Directions:
      For the sauce, spray the tomatillos, two jalapenos (one for sauce, one for meatballs) and red onion with cooking spray and grill over medium heat until the skins on tomatillos and pepper turn brown and begin to blister and onion lightly browns. Cut off tough core of tomatillos and remove the stem and seeds of jalapenos. Throw the vegetables in a blender, saving one jalapeno for the meatballs, and add remaining sauce ingredients. Blend for a few seconds until smooth.

      For the meatballs, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the corn off the cob, and chop the remaining grilled jalapeno. Combine in a large mixing bowl along with beef, cilantro, chili powder, salt and pepper. Then take the soaked bread and add to the bowl, discarding the milk. Mix thoroughly with your hands and shape into 1 ½ inch meatballs. Brown meatballs in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes. Then move meatballs to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about ten more minutes, or until cooked through.

      Pour some sauce on a plate and top with a few meatballs. You should have about 20 meatballs in all, which will serve between two and four people. Serve with a frosty Mexican beer, and trust me, you’ll need it to wash down both of these dishes!

      Recipes, Your Kitchen

      He-Man fiery sausage and peppers

      January 6, 2011 /

      Hey guys. If you are like me, and like spicy food to the point that you sometimes crave it, I’ve got a great dish for you to try. This is probably not the kind of thing women will like, so it’s a good dish to make for your buddies for an NFL Sunday or other get-together. And the cool thing is you can make it extra spicy just by making a few adjustments. And hey, there’s beer in it! Are you ready? Oh, by the way, this was originally published on Bullz-Eye.com’s Grub for Guys.

      Here is what you’ll need:

      2 Tbsp. olive oil
      4 links pre-cooked smoked bratwurst (or 4-6 hot dogs)
      2-3 poblano peppers (the dark green, oblong ones)
      3-4 jalapeno peppers (fresh, not from a jar)
      ½ cup beer
      ¾ cup diced tomatoes
      ½ cup barbecue sauce
      Hot sauce to taste
      Salt and pepper

      Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over low-medium heat. While that is heating, cut the peppers—slice off the top stem of the poblano, remove the seeds and membrane and slice thinly. Then slice the jalapeno carefully—first cut off the stem, and then cut into rounds. I like to do this and leave the seeds in for two reasons. One, it won’t burn your hands (though you still might consider plastic gloves), and two, the dish will be spicier with the seeds intact. Throw the peppers into the skillet and stir fry until lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes.

      Then cut up the bratwurst into slices about ¼ inch thick, and add those to the skillet. Let them start to brown just a bit, maybe 2-3 minutes. Then pour in the beer slowly, which should loosen all the brown stuff at the bottom of the pan (if you use cold beer, you can drink the rest of the bottle). Add the tomatoes, barbecue sauce and hot sauce, then sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, and let simmer on low to medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the sauce starts to reduce and thicken.

      If you want the dish to be really hot, try any combination of these tips….use a hotter hot sauce, use Ro-Tel extra spicy tomatoes (trust me, the stuff is nasty hot), leave the seeds in the jalapenos, and maybe buy a sausage that’s already spicy—I’ve seen some habanero chicken sausage that would work well for this.

      That’s it…you might want to serve this with bread or crackers to help soak up the heat, or just let it burn your mouth and cool off those taste buds with a frosty, refreshing beverage of your choice.

      Food on a Budget, Recipes, Tailgating, Your Kitchen

      Ham, olive and three cheese grilled cheese

      December 30, 2010 /

      Here’s a great lunch for a cold weekend day, and even better if you live in a cheese haven like Wisconsin! It was originally posted on Bullz-Eye.com’s Grub for Guys.

      Ham, Olive and 3 Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwich

      On the comfort food charts, it’s pretty hard to top a good grilled cheese sandwich with a cup of tomato soup. My friend Matty once told me he eats three grilled cheese sandwiches every Saturday. I can’t imagine that being the kind of lunch a cardiologist would recommend, but there shouldn’t be any harm in having one at a sitting. With that, I didn’t want to present you with the same old, same old here. I also didn’t want to do anything too girlie. The end result? A classic sandwich with three cheeses, ham and chopped green olives. If I was selling you this sandwich, it would come with a money back guarantee, because I just tried it and it’s that good. I hope you agree!

      Ingredients
      4 slices bakery sourdough bread (most supermarkets have bakeries, so splurge on some fresh stuff)
      2 Tbsp. whipped cream cheese
      2 Tbsp. chopped green olives
      2 slices Swiss cheese
      2 slices American cheese
      2 slices ham
      1-2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened

      Directions:
      Spray a nonstick skillet with bit of cooking spray over medium-high heat. Butter one side of each slice of bread, and then lay them, buttered side down, on a plate. Combine the cream cheese and olives in a small bowl, and spread that evenly over the unbuttered side of two of the bread slices.

      Then on the remaining two bread slices, layer the Swiss cheese, American cheese and ham. Assemble the sandwiches by matching a cream cheese slice with a ham/cheese slice, giving you two full sandwiches. Grill in the skillet for about 3-4 minutes per side or until the bread is lightly browned and the cheeses have melted. Serves two, or one, if you’re a hungry dude like Matty.

      Note: Campbell’s Tomato Soup is always good with grilled cheese sandwiches, but it’s even better if you mix the condensed soup with milk instead of water.

      Recipes, Your Kitchen

      A can a week: Campbell’s Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder

      December 29, 2010 /

      Chef JimI’ve always been a fan of Campbell’s Chunky Soup. Maybe it’s because like the name implies, there are big chunks of stuff in it, making it good man-food. Or maybe it’s because they take the time and care to put real ingredients in that taste good. But here is one flavor that stands out–Chicken Corn Chowder.

      Chowder to its core is a thick, hearty soup, usually involving cream and/or potatoes–with a base of either clams or chicken or corn or, like this one, a combination of chicken and corn. It’s also often flavored with bacon.

      Campbell’s Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder has big chunks of white meat chicken, potatoes, and carrots; as well as a lot of corn kernels. The base is a chicken broth that is thickened with corn starch but tastes extremely creamy, and there is also bacon to give it a hint of smoky flavor. Above all, this chowder just rocks and is the perfect cold weather soup. There is also a “Healthy Request” version that has a lot less fat and about 2/3 of the calories (this one has 200 calories per serving, 400 per can).

      If you have never tried this chicken corn chowder or any chicken corn chowder, go try it and let me know what you think. And now if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish the rest of the can.

      Food on a Budget, Product Reviews, Your Kitchen

      Holiday apps 101

      December 22, 2010 /

      Happy holidays everyone! Here is a post I did two years ago on Bullz-Eye.com’s Grub For Guys for holiday appetizers. There are some good ideas here for both Christmas parties or New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Enjoy….

      Holiday Appetizers
      Oriental wings, Zucchini rolls, Pigs in Blankets, Potato Skins, Easy Ham & Cheese Rolls

      The holidays are upon us, and one of the best things about said holidays is getting together with friends and family that you actually want to hang with. And for those occasions, when you have people stopping by your pad, you want to impress them with some quality snacks. That means, for once, to not pull out frozen mini-tacos and pizza bagels and chips and dip—but to put just a little effort in so that it looks like you are a chef who knows what he’s doing. Or at least that you fake it good. Doctors, please don’t come after me for the fried food bent running through these recipes—after all, we’re guys and we like fried food, and we all like to indulge a little during the holiday season anyway. (A note about portions: these portions were my “test kitchen” portion sizes, so you can double, triple and quadruple according to how many people are coming over.)

      Oriental Chicken Wings
      Ingredients
      1 pound fresh chicken wing sections
      Oil for deep frying
      Salt and pepper
      2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
      1 Tbsp. soy sauce
      1 tsp. sesame oil
      1 tsp. honey
      1 tsp. cooking sherry
      1 tsp. minced ginger (from a jar works best)
      1 tsp. apricot preserves
      1 tsp. (or more to taste) chili garlic sauce
      1 tsp. sesame seeds

      Directions:
      Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange wings on it. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat about 2 inches of canola or vegetable oil over medium heat in a deep skillet. When oil is hot enough (if you feel heat by placing your hand an inch or so from the oil’s surface), gently add the wings to the skillet. Fry for about 12 minutes or until wings start to turn crispy. While wings are cooking, combine hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, sherry, ginger, preserves, chili garlic sauce and another sprinkling of salt and pepper in a large, heat resistant bowl. Drain wings on a plate with paper towels for a minute, and then toss into sauce and shake until coated. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

      Pigs in Blankets
      Ingredients
      1/3 sheet puff pastry
      8 cocktail franks
      Mustard
      2 Tbsp. mayo
      2 Tbsp. ketchup or chili sauce
      chopped pickle or relish

      Directions
      Preheat oven to 400 degrees. You only need a small amount of pastry for each frank, so cut pastry with a pizza cutter into one-inch squares. Sprinkle with flour and use a rolling pin to increase size to 2-3 square inches. Roll franks (which are usually pre-cooked) in pastry and bake on a baking sheet for 10-12 minutes or until pastry begins to turn golden brown. Serve with mustard, or combine mayo, chili sauce and chopped pickle to make a Thousand Island dipping sauce.

      Potato Skins
      Ingredients
      2 baking potatoes
      oil for deep frying
      2 slices bacon
      ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
      sour cream

      Directions
      Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash and scrub dirt off potatoes and then prick with a fork a few times before placing in oven. Bake for one hour. Let cool a few minutes, and then when potatoes are easy to handle, cut them in half and scoop out the flesh. Reserve for another use or throw away. Meanwhile, heat an inch or so of vegetable or canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot enough (see tip in chicken wing recipe above), carefully add potato skins and deep fry for about 2 minutes per side. Remove and drain on paper towels. Then place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with cheese and bacon and broil for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Serve with sour cream on top or on the side.

      Zucchini Bites
      Ingredients
      1-2 medium zucchini
      1 egg
      ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
      salt and pepper
      oil for deep frying
      nacho cheese sauce or ranch dressing for dipping

      Directions
      Heat oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Cut ends off zucchini and then slice lengthwise into long strips about ¼ inch wide. Disgard rounded ends and use only pieces with flesh on both sides. Beat egg in a bowl and add bread crumbs to a second bowl. Add salt and pepper to each bowl. When oil is hot enough (see chicken wing and potato skin recipes above), dip zucchini slices in egg, and then in breadcrumbs, and carefully add to oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until brown and crispy (could be shorter time). Drain on paper towels, and then roll slices up and secure with toothpicks to serve. Serve with nacho cheese sauce, ranch dressing or dipping sauce of your choice.

      Easy Ham & Cheese Rolls
      Ingredients
      2 thin slices deli ham
      2 Tbsp. whipped cream cheese
      Black or green olives

      Directions
      Lay ham out on a plate and spread with cream cheese (1 Tbsp. cream cheese to 1 slice ham), and then roll up. Slice into ¾ inch pieces and slide a toothpick through, and then through one olive. Serve.

      On the Grille, Recipes, Your Kitchen

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