What's The Difference?

Different, But the Same!

 

Ever notice how two people can make the exact same recipe and it turns out different?  I do.

 

I notice it most when I get a family recipe that I just loved as a kid.  Then I make it and it’s just not the same.  Did my tastes for things change over the years?  Maybe!  Or maybe it’s something in that dreaded “season to taste” or “dash of” line that you see in many, many recipes.  Maybe a manufacturer changed an ingredient.  Ya know, like using corn syrup instead of sugar.  There could be many, many reasons. 

 

I stumbled on one a while back.   One of my wife’s and my favorites is goulash.  It’s easy to prepare and always good.  We make it at least once a month.  She usually makes it. 

 

So awhile back, I tell her, “I’ll cook dinner, what d’ya want?”  Goulash.  It’s the recipe from my post "Scrambling Hamburger" . 

 

It turned out good, but we both noticed that something was different.  We decided to investigate. 

 

I pulled out the recipe and we started going through it.  The recipe calls for a medium onion.  Maybe that was it.  Did I use brown when she uses white or red.  Maybe my onion was a bigger medium than hers.  How about the medium green pepper.  Hmmm, maybe we should change the recipe to being more exact.  Maybe ¼ or ½ cup of each and specify brown, white, or red.  But, my wife says that wasn’t it.  She uses whatever’s available but she likes the idea of exact measurement because sometimes if the onion or pepper seem to be a little big, she’ll not put it all in. 

 

We moved on down the recipe.  Maybe it was a different brand chili powder.  If you read my post on "Chili Dogs", you know that all chili powder isn’t created equal.  Nope, we both used McCormick’s. 

 

Continuing on, we both had used the same amount Tabasco and the same brand (S&W) Mexican style tomatoes.  The only thing we could figure was that it had to be the hamburger.  Maybe I used a leaner mix than she did.  Sure, that must have been it, because we decided, it seemed a little dryer. 

 

Then yesterday, we once again decided on making some goulash.  We did it together.  That was when we found the missing ingredient. 

 

Amazingly the answer is GREASE!  She doesn’t brown the hamburger  using my scrambling hamburger method.  We discovered that when you use my method the hamburger grease is mostly discarded with the water.  That’s good right?  But, hey we want that flavor.  She drains the hamburger after browning but that good fatty flavor stays there which we decided what was missing. 

 

What other recipes did this affect?

 

We decided chili was probably better with the grease, but we both liked tacos and burritos to have less.  Less with a Bolognese spaghetti sauce. 

 

It all comes down to what I’ve been saying for years.  Ya gotta experiment and figure out what you like. 

 

So, for me, lessons learned:  Be more specific on how much of each ingredient.  Be more specific on methods. 

 

I hope this post gave you some food for thought or visa versa.  Hahahaha!

 

Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Dip - Great for Every Occasion

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Blue Cheese Dip

 

2 packages of cream cheese (softened)

1 package blue cheese

4 tbsp chopped black olives

4 tbsp chopped onion

Milk

 

Use just enough milk for a smooth consistency

Beat with mixer

 

Serve with corn chips.

Fritos or Bugles are best.

photo courtesy of my niece, Melanie Schultz

click on picture to enlarge

 

 As a kid, I never was much of a blue cheese fan.  As a aging boomer, I have become a big fan.  The above dip recipe is one that my mother made for every family occasion.  It was there on every holiday and even for neighborhood taco parties.

 With football season getting ready to kick off, I figured I oughta add this to the blog.

Every time someone new tries it, they ask for the recipe and Mom always gave it to them.

Here's a little story of how my Mother got the recipe.  In our little town of Liberty, Missouri there was a guy named John Pixlee.  Mr. Pixlee threw the paper for the Kansas City Times and Star.  All the time I was growing up, I don't remember having another paper man.  He had a white van and he would sit in the back rolling papers and threw them out of the van while someone else drove it.  Anyway, Mr Pixlee's wife was Eula (Harlow) Pixlee.  Mrs. Pixlee brought the Blue Cheese Dip to a party. It was immediately devoured. So, she left and came back with another big bowl and the recipe. My Dad says there's a note about it in one of my Mother's recipe books.  The Pixlee's owned a bar in Liberty in the 40's.  Both Mr and Mrs Pixlee were born in November 1900 just a couple weeks apart. She died August 1989 and he followed just a month later.  There's gotta be a good love story there.

I hope you'll love her dip.

Enjoy it and as always, feel free to share the recipe.

South Seas Chicken

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I always overbuy fruit and veggies.  That happens when there’s only two people in the house.  This week it was bananas.  I bought a half dozen and we only ate a couple.  There’s always banana bread but ya really got to time that just right.  Those bananas gotta ripen pretty good,  and we’re pretty lazy when it’s in the triple digits outside.

Barbi, my Mrs., has a recipe called South Seas Chicken.  It’s perfect for this situation, plus it takes a lemon which we always have plenty of.  Neither of us really know where this recipe came from but she says she thinks she got it off a cream of coconut can.  Who woulda thought you could use cream of coconut for something besides Pina Coladas.

As always, click on the pic to see a larger view.

It’s really good recipe and we use thighs but we have used breasts and it turns out great.  We just prefer legs and thighs, unless we’re havin’ company. Ha!

South Seas Chicken

2 bananas

6 pieces chicken

Salt and pepper

1 cup cream of coconut

2 tblspns lemon juice

2 ½ cups cornflake crumbs

¾ cup melted butter or margarine

Rinse and pat dry the chicken pieces

Salt and pepper both sides of chicken

In a bowl mix the cream of coconut and lemon juice

Peel and cut the bananas in half (lengthwise or crosswise)

Dip the chicken and the bananas in the coconut then in the cornflakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Brush bottom of baking dish with butter

Place chicken in dish

Drizzle with half the butter

Bake for 45 minutes

Add bananas

Drizzle with remaining butter

Bake another 15 minutes

If you’re having company, I would cut the bananas in thirds so there’s a banana for each piece of chicken.  Or, you can just add another banana.

Here’s something to think about.  Drizzling the butter gives a rich buttery flavor, but some say it makes it a little too greasy. Maybe drizzle over half and see how you like it best.  We always have leftovers, and the extra moisture is good for the reheat, but you can always add a little when you need it.

Now, I don’t know about where you live, but where I live, cream of coconut comes in a 15 oz can. So you got about a cup left over.  My suggestion.  Serve with Pina Coladas!

Enjoy!

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4th of July- Chili Dogs

Chili Dogs

Want to learn how to cook?  Experiment.

That’s what I do.  At first you have some bad batches of stuff but you learn quickly.

Remember my chili recipe?  If not, click here:

Uncle Ron's Chili

Today is the 4^th of July and nothin’ goes better with Independence Day than some real American food.

Chili Dogs

If you make Chief’s recipe and leave out the beans, you have a fantastic chili dog sauce. 

With Barbi’s recipe, just leave out the beans and can of water.

You can add the beans too, if you wish, but leave out the water and strain one can of the beans to make it into a thick chili dog sauce.

If you really feel “experimental,” throw in some jalepenos, or for milder, some chopped bell pepper.

Maybe, leave the onion out in case your having a party.  There’s lot’s of folks that for some reason that I can’t figure, don’t like onion.  I personally, don’t know how you can cook without it.

Here’s a coney island twist, leave out the tomato soup and add a bottle of chili sauce instead.

Chili Powder

All chili powder is not created equal.  The chili I made today was a little hot.  Spicy, chili powder hot.  It was because I used hot New Mexico chili powder.  I had bought this stuff in an effort to save some moola.  You know, the spices that are about half the price and come in a bag instead of a bottle.  I'm not saying these spices are bad, I'm just saying experiment and figure out which ones you like and which ones you don't.

In the Sept/Oct 2000 issue, "Cook's Illustrated" published a taste test article on chili powder.  I'm including it here.

 Now, I would like to discuss a few helpful hints I have learned when it comes to chili dogs.

People ask me "Uncle Ron, should I grill or boil?  Should I toast the bun?"  My answer, whatever/ whichever you like.  I prefer boiled without toasting.

After you make a pot of chili or hot dog chili sauce, I suggest you dig out those old ice cube trays and freeze the leftovers.This is something I learned from a Marine dependent wife named Bobbi.  Bobbi and her mother made a great chili dog sauce but refused to give up the recipe. I suppose they were saving it for after Bobbi's husband, Dennis retired from the Marine Corps.  He could start a new career in front of federal buildings or county court houses.  Anyway, the ice cube sized chili is perfectly sized for a single hot dog serving.

Remember going tot he ball game or fair and buying a "red hot" or "coney" and how good it tasted.  Why did it taste better than you make at home.  It didn't.  You were just in a situation where that hot dog really hit the spot.  Here's a suggestion.  When you serve your dog, wrap it in either wax paper or foil.  It compresses the dog so when you unwrap it, little of your toppings (including the sauce) fall off the dog.  Another idea is to roll it up in a used bread or bun wrapper, then unroll it before placing it in the plate.  Believe me, this really does work.

Finally, let's talk ketchup.  I think Heinz is the best commercial brand.  Once again experiment.  Some people will put ketchup on anything.  I saw Marines in the chow hall put it on eggs.  And yes, some people even put ketchup on their hot dog.  Go figure!

 I hope this was helpful.

Enjoy!

Ham Smokin'

Smoked Ham

 

Yesterday, I was staring at my new smoker and wondering what I should cook up next when my wife saw me.  She walks over and says “Ya know, ya oughta smoke a ham.”

So, off to the internet I went looking for some help.  I found several sites but the jist of it was that you smoke the ham about 4 hours to an internal temp of 140-150 degrees.  Most also used a glaze.

The interesting part was whether or not you use a “cured” ham (already cooked) or a raw one.  I don’t ever remember seeing a raw ham in the grocery store, so I decided on a ham already fully cooked. 

I went down to the store to see what my selections were.  Turns out there was hardly a choice.  It not being a holiday, they only had a couple to choose from.  They did have an already cooked spiral sliced ham but I thought I’d rather slice it after the smoking.  I grabbed a five pound sugar cured ham for $1.99 a pound.

I got this $10 ham home and went to work.  First ting, of course, was to clean the smoker from the last time I used it.  Smokers, like bbq grills get backwards treatment in that after you use it, you just let ‘er sit.  Unlike anything else you use to cook that gets cleaned immediately and put away ready for the next use.  Interesting!

The first thing I did was rub a Dijon style honey mustard all over the ham.  Then, I rubbed it all over with brown sugar.

I let it sit while I fired up the smoker with a full pan of water and a smoke box of pre-soaked “cherry” wood chips.  Once the smoker gets up to about 200, it’ll start smokin’ and your ready to add the ham.  I had pulled out two of my three racks and had left the last one close to the bottom.  The rubbed ham went directly on the rack.

I’ve learned that the trick to smokin’ with a gas smoker is to make sure there’s plenty of wood chips in there to keep the smoke going and to keep the water pan with water as to provide moisture for whatever you’re cookin’.

After an hour, I turned the ham over, added some more cherry chips and some water and let ‘er go another hour.

After that second hour, I pulled out the entire ham.  I placed it on some foil and sprayed that baby with some canned pineapple juice.  I had debated whether to use pineapple or apple as another recipe mentioned and decided on the pineapple.  Then wrapped the ham with the foil and put it back in the smoker.

Now, at this point, you don’t need to add any more chips cause the smokes not gonna make it through the foil.  You might not need the moisture either, but I added some water to the pan.  The indirect heat at 225 is what you’re looking for.

After another hour, I pulled out the ham and unwrapped it making sure not to allow any of the juices to run out the foil.  One recipe called it making the foil into a “boat.”

I poured brown sugar all over it, then sprayed it with some more pineapple juice.  The spray immediately made the brown sugar into a glaze.  Then wrapped it back up and back in for another hour.  I also added some more water to the pan.

After another and final hour, I pulled it out.  I checked the internal temp and got right at about 145.  This bad boy was ready and I was dying for a taste, but nope, ya gotta let ‘er rest for a while cause it worked pretty hard in that heat.

Most recipes agreed between 15 and 30 minutes so I figured what the heck  30 minutes oughta do it.  That bad boy should be well rested and ready for a knife and fork.

I unwrapped the ham.  I slowly cut a circle around the bone, then cut off two slices.  The first one had glaze on it, so I let it sit on the plate, while I gave a taste of the second juicy slice.

Oh my god, you gotta try this!  Delicious!

Now, I’m not like most recipe publishers who would leave things right here.  I want to tell you the bad as well as the good.

First off, some of the meat closest to the outside was a little dry.

There’s a lot of fat on a ham, and there’s skin over that.  You have to cut it off.

If you’ve ever carved a small ham with bone, it’s about as easy as carving a turkey or a chicken.  You end up with a lot of chunks.  That’s ok, ‘cause you can use them and that fat, along with the bone for ham and beans.

Unless you’re using a huge ham like they cook in restaurants, you’re not gonna get a lot of thin sandwich ready slices, even with a slicer.  Be prepared to eat delicious smoked ham sandwiches with pieces.

I don’t think it makes a big difference what kind of wood you use.  While I was cooking, I thought, “this cherry smoke smells just like hickory and mesquite smoke.”  It’s smokey.  You experiment and decide if you think it makes a difference.  Let me know.

Lastly, a whole ham is covered with that layer of skin and fat.  That’s the outside, except for one end.  I wonder if there’s a necessity to glaze it.  Maybe just spray it or baste it to keep it moist.  I don’t know.  I’ll try to remember the next time I smoke one, and I’ll let you know.

I’ll definitely do it again but I’m sure this won’t be one of those weekly things, maybe once or twice a year.  I’m thinking when I have guests so I can use a huge ham.

All in all, the smoked ham was delish and I give it a thumbs up!

 Enjoy!

Cole Slaw

I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where both Mom and Dad cooked.  Mom used the old red and white  Better Homes cookbook and lot’s of Family Circle recipes.  Dad was a fireman and you know how those guys cook. Plus, Dad had cooked at some lunch counters/ diners as a teenager.

Anyway, one of the things my Dad made best was his cole slaw.  This was long before KFC was around.  I never saw him use a recipe, he would just throw together the ingredients.  He’d slice a head of cabbage and throw in some Miracle Whip, just a little vinegar, and some celery seed.  It always turned out great.

Of course, once you get married now you join another person from a household that they believe had the best food around.  The trick is to mix and match until you find the right combinations that satisfy you both.

Here’s the Cole Slaw we now make at our house.

Cole Slaw

In a 2 cup measuring cup, mix together:

    1 cup Miracle Whip
    1/8 cup milk
    2 tbspn sugar
    ½ tspn celery seeds
     ½ tblspn apple cider vinegar

Pour this mixture over about 10 ounces of chopped/sliced cabbage.  We came up with 10 ounces because our local grocers sell precut cabbage in 10 ounce packs.  We use the one with carrots added but you decide if you want carrots or not.

Stir it up real good, cover and refrigerate.  We make it at least two hours before we eat to let the ingredients blend or “marry” as many cookbooks call it.  If we’re gonna have ribs or chicken for dinner and we want some slaw with it, my wife will make the cole slaw in the morning and let it sit in the fridge all day.  Then when you get ready to eat, stir it real good again and serve.

Carrots aren’t the only variation.  My brother’s wife adds pineapple and marshmellow.  I like ‘em.  My Dad would have a “hissy.”  We’ve also been known to put some rasins in there (there's a few in the batch in the picture).  I have some friends who add chopped onions and green bell pepper, but I tend to skip those.   Then, there’s the old Miracle Whip salad dressing or real mayo controversy.  You decide.

So, experiment and I hope you find just the right combination that fits your family.

Enjoy!

Note:  I updated the recipe on 6-7-2013.  I realized I missed an ingredient, the apple cider vinegar.
 

Grilled Cheese and variations thereof...

Some people are just nuts for grilled cheese sandwiches.  My wife is.  Then there’s  my niece who used to eat grilled cheese for breakfast.  I’ll have to ask her if she still does it.  I wonder if her husband does?  They’ve also got a new baby who will be old enough before long for a grilled cheese introduction…..hmmmmm.

Anyway, inexpensive, quick, and just down right delicious.

Just in case you live in Siberia and although you are looking at my blog, but have never tried a grilled cheese sandwich, here’s what you do.  Butter some bread.  Put a piece or two of American cheese in between with butter side out.  Grill.

Now, let’s talk variations.  One of the easiest is simply changing the cheese.  Maybe some provolone or swiss.  Then my wife adds some miracle whip.  Yep, before grilling.  Several years ago, we went to a little Mom and Pop place and they had added red onion and sliced tomato.  It’s fantastic and we still do it.  I of course, like dead animal products so I’ll add some roast beef, bologna, or chicken.  Every so often, we’ll skip the cheese all together and just have some grilled roast beef with bbq sauce (sometimes ham and bbq sauce).  How about ham and cheese, grilled… with mayo…..  Or, how about a little tuna salad or some salmon.  Listen, you could go on and on and on……  I’m really not sure about anchovies….

Enjoy!