Grilled Asparagus Attempt 1

Yesterday, I attempted to document one of my go-to favorites – grilled asparagus. Any time I'm cooking a bunch of stuff on the grill at a gathering I grab a bundle, toss them in oil, salt and pepper and sear them lightly on the grill. I put them out first for people to snack on as I'm preparing more complex stuff and they're always a hit. I cook them just enough to brighten up the green color and soften them slightly. There is still lots of crunch left in the final product and they can be eaten like pretzel sticks.

They're simple and delicious!

So simple in fact, that I have avoided documenting them because there isn't much to document. As I shot the asparagus I knew that this was going to need much more planning than I had prepared for. The photos turned out ok but nothing I could use for a print recipe infographic. I had never photographed asparagus and I learned from my experience yesterday that this vegetable is gonna take some finesse to look good in front of the lens. I did get the shot above, but I was lucky to get that at best.

Rather than wait until I get a better handle on photographing asparagus, I'll give out the recipe – I can't keep it a secret any longer! It's so simple though that I'm not sure if it's a secret or even a recipe, all I know is that this is the way to eat asparagus!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Appetizer, 30 minutes
1 bundle Asparagus
olive oil, salt and pepper

Toss asparagus in olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place on a prepared grill and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side or until just starting to soften and green color brightens. Remove from grill, lest rest a few minutes, then serve.

Asian-Style Chicken Wings

Printable version

I think my favorite charcoal grilled snack or appetizer would have to be chicken wings. I enjoy them fried, but I really love them cooked over the coals for two reasons. First is the grilled flavor – charcoal grilled chicken is probably my favorite meat behind a perfectly cooked ribeye steak. Second is the endless amount of sauces or spice rubs that can be applied to take their flavor to a different level. I rarely make my wings the traditional way, or buffalo style, and douse them in a hot sauce and butter mixture. I like to get creative with the sauce.

For this recipe, the wing coating features the fruity and sweet hoisin sauce, spice from sriracha and the aromatic ginger and garlic that all together provides an Asian-style flavor.       Like most chicken wing recipes, they’re messy! I ate them by myself for lunch, and I’m glad I was alone because the site of it would have given small children nightmares for years to come. I practically needed a fire hose to clean up the delicious mess.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Asian-Style Chicken Wings

It seems that boneless wings are becoming more and more popular at restaurants. They’re easy to devour with no worries of a bone getting in the way and they're just as tasty as traditional bone-in wings with the same type of white meat. For some reason though, I still lean toward the traditional bone-in style wings.

There is something much more interactive about having to pick all the meat from the bones rather than just tossing them back like popcorn. The effort to eat them seems to create a more enjoyable culinary experience for me. I could be crazy, well, in fact, I know I’m crazy – but that is just how I like my wings. Also, when cooking them it’s easy to tell when the wings are finished because the meat will recede a little from the bone making for a nice visual cue announcing the wings are ready to scarf down.

Now, I’m not gonna kick someone out of the kitchen for making boneless wings, I just have a slight preference for the traditional variety.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Asian-Style Chicken Wings

Appetizer for 4, main course for 2; 35 minutes
1 1/2 to 2 lbs Chicken wings
2 tsp Ginger minced
2 tsp Garlic minced
2 Tbs Hoisin sauce
1 Tbs Honey
1 Tbs Sriracha sauce
1 tsp Sesame oil
1 tsp Rice vinegar

Grill wings
Prepare grill for cooking.
Season wings with salt and pepper to taste, then grill wings until cooked through, turning two or three times during cooking, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove wings from grill and let rest 5 to 10 minutes.

Make sauce, toss wings
While wings rest, in a sauce pan over medium heat, saute garlic and ginger in a little olive oil for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in hoisin sauce, honey, sriracha, sesame oil and rice vinegar, heat to a simmer then remove. In a bowl, toss the wings and sauce together. Pile on a plate and serve.

Garden Bruschetta

Printable version

Last Thursday I walked outside after a day of work inside and was taken back by the warm sun and need for no jacket or coat. I went over to my family’s private campground and began the necessary clean up to open it in time for camping this summer. I started a fire to burn old leaves and sticks cluttering the ground and dug into my flower beds and landscape features that needed sprucing up. It was a lot of work but it felt great to be outside and working after a brutal winter trapped indoors.

I was so inspired that I thought it was time to make a garden fresh snack to enjoy outside. For this recipe, I create an Italian-style salsa, or bruschetta and serve it on thin slices of crusty bead. Fresh vegetables combined with parsley, Italian dressing, lemon juice and zest form a fresh and light topping for a crusty baguette. It’s the perfect snack to enjoy on the patio while contemplating major projects that need to be completed to make the yard clean and beautiful for summer.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Garden Bruschetta

I'm so glad its Spring. Winter here in the Midwest was long, cold and snowy. I’ve never been witness to a layer of snow that literally blanketed the ground for three months. Nor have I experienced a major snow fall followed immediately by sub-zero temperatures for days afterward, which happened three or four times in January and February. Needless to say this has been the hardest winter I’ve ever lived through.

In the last two years I have went through two of the wildest seasons in my life, the aforementioned winter and the summer of 2012 which packed 40 or more days of over 90° with one reaching 106°. These are extreme weather shifts and I wonder if they are the direct result of global warming.

I'm just glad the weather will by getting nicer from here on out, it's the end of April and soon the summer will be in full swing, I hope mother nature is good to us because she was a real bitch this winter!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Garden Bruschetta

Makes 28 to 30 appetizers; 35 minutes
1 Tomato, diced
1 Green pepper, diced
1/2 Onion, diced
1 Tbs Parsley, minced
1/2 C Italian dressing
Juice and zest of 1 Lemon
1 Baguette sliced thin

Mix, rest and serve
In a bowl combine tomato, green pepper, onion, parsley, italian dressing, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper to taste. Let rest for 30 minutes for flavors to meld. Place a spoonfull of mixture on a thin slice of baguette and serve.

Mini Breakfast Fillo Bites

Printable version

I was at Walmart recently hoping to see some of those crazy people that you see in pictures on Facebook when I stumbled upon a product in the freezer isle that I thought would be lots of fun - mini fillo shells. I purchased a box and decided to fill them with something breakfast oriented.

The shells consist of a number of super thin layers of fillo dough formed into a small cup that can hold a heaping teaspoon of filling. They have a light and crispy texture and can be used to make a sweet or savory snack. I could have gotten all fancy and made these little shells myself from scratch, but they were less than $2 and it saved me lots of time and labor.

For this recipe, I make a mixture of sausage, egg and cheese to fill the shells and then heat them through in the oven. The end result is a tasty little bite loaded with breakfast flavors that is perfect for the kids. They can also be made ahead, stored in the fridge then heated and served as a side to pancakes or waffles in the morning.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Mini Breakfast Fillo Bites

I found these fillo cups by accident walking through the freezer section and I knew instantly that I had to do something with them. At the same time, I also thought it would be nice to use breakfast flavors because it had been a while since I went that route with a recipe, and to me, it’s hard to go wrong with sausage and eggs.

The overall flavor of these little cups was a surprise. I was sure they would taste good, but the light fillo dough, the bite-size portion and the breakfast theme form a trinity of yummy goodness - I almost ate the entire batch myself. They reminded me of my obsession with deviled eggs, every time I got near the tray I had to grab one and pop it in my mouth like a high-calorie tic tac.

I’m looking forward to using these filo cups again, they were cheap, make a great delivery devise for an appetizer and are the perfect size for scarfing!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Mini Breakfast Fillo Bites

Makes 15 breakfast snacks;
25 minutes
1/2 C Breakfast sausage, fully cooked
1/2 C Scrambled eggs
1/2 C Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
15 Mini fillo shells

Make filling, fill and cook
Preheat oven to 350°
Mix together sausage, egg and cheese. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of mixture into each mini fillo shell. Place on cookie sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and cups are heated through. Remove from oven, let cool slightly and serve.

Mini Bacon Tomato Toasts

Printable version

I think my favorite things to make in the kitchen are bite-sized savory snacks. It’s easier to experiment with tiny treats because it’s just one bite, and you’re not committed to filling your belly with it. This allows room to work with a new ingredient or add a little more heat than usual. A small snack with some spicy fire is much more tolerable than an entire main course, which can affect a person for hours afterward.

For this recipe, I make a bite sized play on the classic BLT. I use cherry tomatoes with bacon on little toasted bread rounds cut from a slice of bread. I replace the lettuce with a sprinkle of cilantro and add a special mayonnaise based sauce featuring smoky chipotle pepper, to compliment the bacon, and the juice and zest of lime to brighten up the flavor. The combination of the sauce and cilantro give this little mini bacon sandwich a spicy southwestern flavor that will help make a plate of these disappear as fast as common sense from a newly elected member of congress.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Mini Bacon Tomato Toasts

I rarely muse about my writing process, but I have a little insight to my thought process. For three years, while I lived in New York, I performed stand up comedy, which was long enough to have a few minutes of decent jokes to perform.

Good stand up is really about good writing, when I sat down to write new material I would start with a story and look for opportunities to insert something witty. Once I found a spot for a joke I would write several different punch lines until I found something that I thought would get laughs, often I would come up with a number of lines before I found the one that I wanted to perform.

I do the same thing when writing for my column and blog. I had an opportunity for a smart-ass comment in the last line of the intro. I ended up with the comment about common sense and politicians, which was my favorite line among many, that I brain stormed through. Here are some of the others that didn’t make the cut:

... help make a plate of these disappear faster than a crowd of teenagers from beer bash in the woods busted by the cops.

... help make a plate of these go down faster than glasses of beer on penny draft night at the local college bar.

... help make a plate of these disappear faster than a pocket full of change at convention for pan handlers.

... help make a plate of these disappear faster than free bullets at a gun convention.

... help make a plate of these go down faster than a 777 out of gas over the Indian Ocean. (ok, too soon)

I think I chose the best one.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Mini Bacon Tomato Toasts

Makes 24; 45 minutes
1/2 C Mayonnaise, plus more for bread
2 Tbs Chipotle in adobo, minced
zest and juice of 1 Lime
8 slices Bacon
8 slices White bread
1/2 pint Cherry tomatoes halved
1/2 C Cilantro chopped

Make sauce, cook bacon
In a bowl combine the mayo, chipotle, zest and juice of lime. Place in refrigerator at least 30 minutes for flavors to meld. Place bacon on a broiler pan and cook 15 minutes until crisp in a pre-heated 425° oven. Cut strips into thirds.

Cut, toast bread
With a cookie cutter portion three rounds out of a each slice of white bread, making 24 total. Coat each side with a little mayo. In batches, toast in a hot pan until golden brown, flipping halfway through.

Assemble
On toasted rounds layer bacon, sauce, cherry tomato and garnish with cilantro. Then serve.

Creamy Bacon Jalapeño Bites

Printable version

This is the second of my cream cheese and sour cream appetizers that I created for a group of friends. (Here is the first.) This time, jalapeño and bacon are the star ingredients and a tortilla chip with a slice of cheddar cheese is the method of delivery.

This appetizer was inspired by the jalapeño popper and features many of the same items found in the popular bar snack. This was my favorite of all the little treats I put out for the gathering. Bacon makes anything great but when combined with jalapeño and cream cheese the salty and smoky flavor really stands out.

Next time I need appetizers for a party I’m going to start with this and go from there.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Creamy Bacon Jalapeño Bites

For the presentation of this treat I cut out a round piece of cheese that fit perfectly over the tortilla chip. Had I not been photographing this I would have just gone with a square piece of cheese.

I placed a small ramekin on a slice of cheddar and traced around it with a knife. I was able to get only one round piece out of each square slice, so I had a lot of scrapes of cheese left over when I was done. (Me and my dog snacked on them while I took the pictures.)

More and more I find myself doing things to the food for the sake of a good photograph that I wouldn't normally do. Everything is still edible though, I haven’t resorted to half-cooked pasta or near raw steaks with sear marks from curling irons yet. Although, I would consider it for the right amount of money!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Creamy Bacon Jalapeño Bites

Make 20 to 24 snacks; 1 hour
8 slices Bacon diced
1 pkg Cream cheese (8 oz)
1 C Sour cream
1/2 C Jalapeño pepper
seeded, diced
20 to 24 tortilla chips round
1 lb Cheddar Cheese cut into 20 to 24 sliced
1/4 C Chives, diced

Cook bacon
In a fry pan over medium heat cook bacon until rendered and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and let cool.

Make spread
In a large bowl mix together cream cheese, sour cream, bacon and jalapeño until well incorporated. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover and let flavors meld for at least 30 minutes.

Build appetizer
On a tortilla chip layer piece of cheese, spread and garnish with chives, then serve.

Creamy Tomato Basil Cucumber Bites

Printable version

Little treats to enjoy while socializing or as a prelude to a feast have been around for centuries, but in the United States the actual word “appetizer” began to appear during the 1860s, most likely as an English alternative to the French word “hors d’oeuvre” for a description of a first course or snack plate.

After the repeal of prohibition in 1933 cocktail parties became popular and countless appetizer recipes for snacks to enjoy with drinks began to appear. Around the same time, the modern model for the three course meal of appetizer, main course and desert emerged in restaurants.

For this recipe, tomato, basil and cucumber star in a garden fresh appetizer. The basil and tomato are the signature flavors and are bound together with cream cheese and sour cream. The mixture is placed on a slice of fresh cucumber and can be served before a hardy meal or as part of a slew of snacks to be enjoyed while sipping on cool beverages at gathering with friends and family.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Creamy tomato basil cucumber bites

This is the first of several appetizer bites I made recently for a gathering of friends. Here I use a cucumber as the mode of delivery and tomato and basil as the star flavors of this garden-fresh treat. When I decided to make these appetizers this was the first one I thought of.

As I was shopping for the ingredients I realized it would be easy to create a number of snacks by swapping out ingredients and changing the delivery method for each bite. The cream cheese and sour cream are the constants that all the snacks have in common. I was able to provide three different, but similar hor’s douvres in this manor. It’s an easy way to create a variety of tasty treats for getting a party started. Look for the Jalapeño-bacon version of this for my next post.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Creamy tomato basil cucumber bites

Makes 32 snacks, 20 minutes (30 minutes inactive)
1 pkg Cream cheese (8 oz)
1 C Sour cream
2 Tbs Fresh basil, minced
1 C Tomato, seeded, diced
32 slices Cucumber
Extra Basil for garnish

Make spread
In a large bowl mix together cream cheese, sour cream, basil and tomato until well incorporated. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover and let flavors meld for at least 30 minutes.

Build appetizer
On a slice of cucumber place a dollop of the spread and garnish with extra minced basil.

French Onion with Bacon Dip

Printable version

To me, chip dip screams summertime. It seems like whenever I’m scooping a mouthful onto a wavy potato chip I’m either at a lake for a picnic or an outdoor party in the heat of summer. The one exception is Super Bowl Sunday, but that is the pinnacle of party food and dips are a requirement.

For this recipe, I decided to revisit a classic that I had made a couple of years ago for my print column - French Onion Dip, only this time I add bacon.

The secret to making this dip delicious is not the onions or the bacon – it’s the roasted garlic, which provides a savory balance to the sweetness of the caramelized onions and gives the dip depth of flavor.

I tried something I have never done before to cook the garlic for this dish. Instead of roasting it in the oven, I wrapped it in foil with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and tossed it into the pot with the onions. After a half an hour it was perfectly roasted and ready for me to mince and put in the dip. The foil worked perfect as a little garlic roaster.

In the end, this dip was outrageously good.
The homemade version just blows any store-bought french onion dip out of the water. It will be a highlight in any spread at a party.

BEHIND THIS BITE
As I mention in the beginning, it has been a couple of years since I have made homemade chip dip and I had forgotten how delicious it is. I destroyed about a half a bag of chips after I made this stuff and had to force myself to put it away.

It seems like over the last few weeks I had been putting together some huge posts with tons of pictures and steps. This dip was a conscious effort to make something simple that wouldn’t take hours to photograph and reproduce in an information graphic. I had done a couple of tacos (here & here) recently that contain as many photos and steps as I usually do in two or three posts. I wanted a simple recipe that would come together quick.

If you’re a fan of dips I highly recommend trying this, but make sure there is enough chips around because it’s pretty easy to polish off an entire bag with a bowl of it on the counter.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Makes 2 Cups; 1 hour
4 strips Bacon, diced
5 cloves Garlic, whole
1 1/2 C Onion, diced
1 C Sour cream
1/2 C Mayonnaise
1 bag Wavy potato chips

Fry bacon
In a pan over medium heat cook bacon until crispy and rendered, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from pan with slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.

Caramelize onions, roast garlic
In same pan over medium heat saute onions in bacon drippings. Season garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Wrap cloves in aluminum foil. Add foil wrapped garlic to onions. Cook until onion are soft and have caramelized 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove onions from pan and let cool. Remove garlic from foil and mince.

Make dip
Mix together bacon, onions, garlic, mayonnaise and sour cream until well incorporated. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Let rest at least half an hour for flavors to meld. Serve with wavy potato chips for dipping.

Oven Roasted Salsa

Printable version

One of the best ways to make salsa is to oven roast the vegetables. The dry heat draws out the moisture and concentrates the flavors. It also makes the onions and garlic sweeter. Once everything is roasted I like to throw it all in a food processor, add some lime juice and cilantro and pulse it a few times. The end result is a chunky salsa that’s hard to quit eating.

Leaving the ribs and seeds in the jalapeno gives it extra kick and creates an addictive quality that seems to draw you back for more and more. It's my favorite thing about a quality salsa with extra heat.

It’s easy to enhance the flavor with the addition of reconstituted dried chilies, but that is for another post. This salsa could be made exactly the same way with everything raw, but when I get time, the extra application of heat is the difference between good and great.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I was recently at a gathering and a friend of mine brought a batch of salsa that had what I like to call “big boy heat.” It’s the kind of heat that numbs your lips and makes the Tostitos Hot Salsa at Walmart seem like baby food.

Needless to say, I ate about a quart of the big boy salsa myself and decided right then and there that I wanted make my own version for the blog. I’m glad my friend made it – And had the Kahunas to make it extra hot.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Makes 1 quart; 1 hour
3 large Tomatoes quartered
1 Onion quartered
1 Jalapeño whole
3 cloves Garlic whole
1 C Cilantro fresh
Juice of 2 Limes
Tortilla chips

Roast vegetables
In an baking dish, toss tomatoes, jalapeño, onion and garlic with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place vegetables in a preheated 475° oven and roast for 25 minutes. Remove vegetables and let cool for about 10 minutes. Clean vegetables of any roots or stems if necessary.

Pulse, serve
Place roasted vegetables in a food process with cilantro and juice of limes. Pulse 5 or 6 times or until well combined but still slightly chunky. Remove and serve with tortilla chips.

Red Pepper and Onion Dip

Printable version

In the 1950s, the Thomas J. Lipton Company began promoting dip made from mixing their dried onion soup with sour cream or cream cheese. They sponsored radio and television programs and provided recipes on millions of their packages as promotion.    At the same time, potato chips were being mass marketed and it wasn’t long before the crunchy and salty treats became the favorite method of dip delivery.

The ease and convenience of chips and dip made them a popular snack to enjoy while watching television, which also became widely accepted in the 1950s and helped catapult the dip industry to the billion dollar business that it is today.

For this recipe, I make a homemade dip from red pepper and onion. The vegetables are sautéd with a little garlic to bring out their sweetness and to eliminate any raw or sharp flavors before being mixed with sour cream and mayo. The end result is a savory dip that will make devouring an entire bag of potato chips a simple task.

BEHIND THIS BITE

As the daily temperature slowly begins to rise in Northern Indiana I have been thinking more and more about warm weather cooking. I always think about grilling stuff, so I’m not really talking about that. I’m thinking about all the stuff that goes with grilled food.

Chips and dip are one such treat for me. They are also a party food, but curly chips with some creamy dip always reminds me of lunch on a hot summer day. I ate a lot of the two during summer vacation as a kid. When we were in school we had to eat the school lunch. In the summertime, there were many days that I was able to sneak off and eat a plateful of chips with a half tub of dip for my mid-day meal. I would just skip the tuna salad sandwiches Mom made for us all together.

Amazing how a plate of fried potatoes with a dairy based sauce could be enough fuel to play outside all day four hours and hours. These days it seems I need at least two meals and a gallon of coffee just to have enough energy to photograph and write about food.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Makes 2 cups; 15 minutes active; 2 1/2 hours inactive
1 C Red pepper diced
1 C Sweet onion diced
1 tsp Garlic minced
1 C Sour cream
1/3 C Mayonnaise

Cook vegetables
In a sauté pan over medium heat cook red pepper and onion in a little olive oil until soft with salt and pepper to taste, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in garlic, cook another 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and let cool at least 30 minutes.

Make dip
In a medium sized bowl mix together vegetables, sour cream and mayonnaise. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to let flavors meld. Serve with favorite type of chip or fresh vegetables for dipping.

Grilled Pork Sliders with Coleslaw

Printable version

Spring is just around the corner in Northern Indiana and soon the cold winds and snow will give way to warm breezes and the summer rain. It’s also the time of year that I really start to crave food cooked on a grill. I’m tired of the casseroles, pot roasts and other types of comfort food that I have been making indoors since the cold weather blew in.

Inspired by the approaching spring weather, and craving the flavor of seared animal flesh, I decided to break out my stove top grill and make a batch of mini-burgers to put my mind at ease. (I have actually been using the grill a lot lately.)

For this recipe, I make sliders from ground pork. To add to the warm weather ambiance, I top them with barbecue sauce and coleslaw, a summer party favorite that works great as a side but even better as a crunchy topping for this sandwich. Making these wasn’t as thrilling as an outdoor grill-a-thon in cargo shorts and a T-shirt, but it might be enough to get me through the rest of winter without going out of my mind.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I recently made a spicy Southwestern version of coleslaw and had some cabbage leftover. I decided to make a normal version so it didn’t go to waste and that’s when I thought it would be cool to use it as a topping for sliders. I often have a lot of leftovers and the cabbage is a perfect example.

Throwing away food is just throwing away money and I have made it my goal recently to cut down on what I toss in the garbage - much of which is leftover stuff I have made for the print column and this site. It’s not that it tastes bad, it’s more about buying to much initially and only part of it gets used. It seems as though I always buy one to many tomatoes or an extra jalapeno that ends up getting thrown away. The cabbage was extreme though - I only used half the bag initially - this time I put it to good use.

Eat will, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Serve 4; 40 minutes
3 C Cabbage mix
1/3 C Mayo
1 Tbs Vinegar
1 Tbs Sugar
1 Tbs Vegetable oil
1/4 tsp Celery salt
1 lb Ground pork
8 Dinner rolls
1/2 C Barbecue sauce

Make slaw
In a bowl mix together cabbage, mayo, vinegar, sugar and celery salt. Refrigerate and let sit for at least half an hour.

Cook pork, assemble sliders
Form pork into 8 patties and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place on a medium-high grill and sear until cooked through 5 to 7 minutes per side. Remove, let rest at least ten minutes. Split bun and layer pork, barbecue sauce and coleslaw. Then serve.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Printable version

I made this soup with the potato I had leftover form making potato skins. I knew I would have a good amount reserved as well as extra bacon and cheddar cheese – which is perfect for making loaded potato soup. I view this dish as a liquid with everything wonderful about a loaded spud from a steak house blitzed together into drinkable form! (With a little depth added from the root vegetables.)

Using bacon in the base of any potato soup is pure culinary gold. Bacon in general is culinary gold, but the smoky hint that it provides next to the mild flavor of potato just seems to be a magical combination! Add the mirepoix and garnishes and BAM - you’ve got a winner on your hands. 

BEHIND THIS BITE
This soup and the potato skins from my last post are a great combination for a Super Bowl party because it’s like getting two for one. Both are made from the same batch of baked potatoes. Heck, if you get lazy or tipsy on booze while baking the potatoes you can quit right there and have a yummy baked spud if need be.

There are many different direction that this soup could be taken, I went with the loaded theme simply because of the extra ingredients I had around. I could have very easily went with potato and leeks. (which is my favorite soup of all-time) Potato soup is a nice compliment to the skins and both are great in any party spread.

Eat well, cook often ... 

THE RECIPE
Serves 4; 45 minutes
4 strips Bacon diced
1 C Onion diced
1/2 C Celery diced
1/2 C Carrot diced
1 Tbs Garlic minced
4 C Chicken broth
3 C Potato cooked
DIVIDE AMONG BOWLS
1/2 C Cheddar cheese shredded
1/4 C Green onion sliced

Make base
Over medium heat in a soup pot, sauté bacon until cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes. Add onion, celery, carrot and garlic cook until soft, 6 to 8 minutes more.

Finish soup, blend, garnish and serve
Add chicken broth and potatoes bring to a simmer and cook 15 to 20 minutes. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Carefully move soup to a blender. Process until silky and smooth. Pour into a bowl and garnish with cheddar cheese and green onion.

Cheesy Baked Potato Skins

Printable version

Potato skins remind me of a part-time job I took at the Texas Roadhouse soon after relocating to Indiana in the Summer of 2010. They used leftovers to make them. Baked potato is an item that is not made to order, there has to be large batches prepared ahead of time. The Roadhouse utilizes leftover baked potatoes to make the skins as an appetizer the next day. I’m sure there are many restaurant that do this, but, I thought it was an interesting fact. That little tid bit has stuck with me long enough for me to mentally regurgitate it here.

A typical order came with cheese, bacon and a side of sour cream. I always took it a step further and would often smother them with chili. Looking back, that was a little overkill, but I would get them after busting my butt waiting tables. It's hard to not be over the top with food after you have served more than a $1,000 worth to customers and not been able to eat one bite.

One of the great benefits about making this recipe at home is that there is plenty of potato leftover, enough to make another potato favorite - which will be featured in my next post.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I never thought I would be doing something like waiting tables at a steak house. But, I had been in Fort Wayne for about three months and was really digging my new found spot at a little paper as the Visual Food Columnist, the only problem was that there was no pay. To me, getting the print space was all that mattered.

I had to build a portfolio of work and see if I could sustain it for the long run. In the news business, you have to be able to do your job, when the last thing on your mind is your job, meaning that your work has got to be good when it’s at it’s worst. Generally, you can look at a year’s worth of work and determine if your in the right spot.

In order to save money while I built my portfolio, I took some part time employment with my sister waiting tables. I thought it would be easy, but I will tell anyone this right now – to be a good server at a busy restaurant and make good money – you have to bust your ass!

It took me a couple of months learning the new trade. In the beginning, I totally sucked, I literally had to learn how to carry a tray of drinks.  During that process I drenched a baby with a glass of ice water - true story.

I worked hard and was determined to be good at it before giving up. The work paid off and I did become a good server. I’m proud to say that during the 9 months that I worked at the THR, I was secretly evaluated by customers working for corporate headquarters twice (neither was during the first couple of months thankfully) and both times I received a 100 percent score.

I proved I could sustain my food column and picked up the skills necessary to be a good waiter in the process. That said, I’m glad I don’t have to do that now. I quit waiting tables exactly a year after starting my food column, I could not wait to cash out my last table and I hope that I never have to do that again, but I will if I have to, waiting tables is probably the most lucrative part time job in Fort Wayne. The experience has made me work even harder at making a living as a food columnists - which is still a work in progress.

Eat well cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Serves 6; 2 hours
6 large Russet potatoes
1 Tbs Vegetable oil
1 Tbs Kosher salt
DIVIDE OVER POTATO SKINS
1 C  Cheddar cheese, shredded
5 strips Bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/2 C  Sour cream
1/4 C  Green onion, sliced 

Bake potatoes
Clean and rinse potatoes. Pat dry. Toss potatoes with salt and vegetable oil. Poke three deep holes in each potato with a knife. Place potatoes on a baking rack over a cookie sheet. Roast in a preheated 350° oven until cooked through, 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove and let cool, slice in half. 

Make potato skins, garnish and serve
Scope flesh from potatoes with a spoon leaving a thin layer of potato attached to the skin. Reserve flesh for later use. Fill potatoes with cheese and bacon. Return to pan with baking rack and heat in 350° oven until cheese is melted and potatoes are heated through, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and garnish with green onion and sour cream, then serve.

Cheesy Chili Dog Dip

Printable version

Looking at this dip will add calories. It's the Medusa of all party dips. Weight Watchers wants me arrested for creating this culinary monster that registers a colossal 13 points per serving. I would recommend eating this guilty pleasure no more than twice a year – unless your immune to all the bad stuff contained in unhealthy food or you just flat out don’t watch what you eat.

Why would I create such a culinary beast? It’s ridiculously tasty. Consider it a special dish for a special time. Make it for the most cherished occasions – weddings, child births or an NFL football game.

For this recipe, I take everything that is wonderful about chili dogs and transform it into a dip. It can be served on a bun, but here it’s delivered on a tortilla chip. This dish will satisfy even the strongest cravings for chili dogs - which I am prone to for some mystical reason. After eating a large helping of this creation, I suggest spending the next three days on a raw vegetable diet or training for a triathlon just to compensate.

BEHIND THIS BITE

I love chili dogs. I wish they weren't so bad for you. In the past I have craved them after a late night of drinking. It's almost as if my body says "well after what you did to me last night, you might as well fill me up with the most unhealthy thing you can find." I like to top my chili dogs with shredded cheddar cheese and raw onion, which I incorporate here. The cheese and chili bring this dip together, much more is needed of the two in this dip than what is needed when eating a traditional chili dog. Usually the chili, cheese and onion are a compliment to the dog. For this dip, it is the opposite. The chili and cheese are what binds everything together to form a dip that will be easy to grab with a chip.

I made this dip to take to my cousin's birthday party. I decided to share it with my Mom and Dad before I went to the party. Mom got a taste and so did I. I then left a huge portion out in the kitchen that I thought I would put back into the pot I had made for the party. When I went to retrieve it before I left Mom and Dad's for the party, I noticed Dad had destroyed the entire bowl. Next time I decide to let Dad test out a guilty pleasure like this, I will be sure to leave just a small portion so there isn't as much to tempt him to over-indulge.

Eat well, cook often ...