Party Food

Macaroni and Cheese with Crumbled Bacon

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Maybe it’s because I’m a guy, but I see mac and cheese like a good pair of blue jeans.  It goes with everything and any occasion.  Just as you can wear blue jeans with a worn out t-shirt, or a sweatshirt, or a pull-over sweater, or a crisply ironed shirt and tie, so goes mac and cheese. 

Mac and cheese rarely takes top billing, when it comes to planning a dinner but I guarantee that if it’s really good mac and cheese, you won’t have any leftovers.

True to my style, I prepare mac and cheese differently almost every time I make it.  I can’t tell you how many bad versions I’ve made but I can say I have made some good ones.  I have a tendency to let my free spirit roam and I start improvising, even when I have a perfectly good recipe in front of me.  I guess that’s what makes me, me.  If you want to make really good mac and cheese, follow the recipe by Kelsey Nixon, from the Food Network.  https://www.kelseynixon.com/mac-cheese/

Kelsey’s recipe is easy to follow and, as far as I’m concerned, flawless.  The secret is Muenster cheese.  Muenster cheese is perhaps the best melting cheese ever.  And, if you learn nothing else from that recipe, know that homemade mac and cheese starts with a béchamel (white sauce).  A béchamel is simply a roux with warm milk added to it.

I didn’t have Muenster on hand this time so I opted for Colby-Jack.  Both Colby-Jack and cheddar cheese melt well but if over-heated they can break down, and there goes the lovely cheese sauce. 

I should also note that I did not take photos throughout the cooking process.  I was hungry and I was in a hurry.  Such is the life of a working man.

1 Tbs kosher salt

2 cups elbow macaroni

3 strips cooked bacon

¼ cup butter

¼ cup all-purpose flour

4 cups milk

1 tsp dry mustard (essential!)

1 Tbs hot sauce

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese

8 ounces Colby-Jack cheese

In a 4 quart pot, boil water and add kosher salt.  Add pasta and cook until soft…just a bit beyond al dente.  Reserve 1/3 cup water from cooked pasta and set aside.  Strain the pasta and set aside.

In a large heavy saucepan, over medium/low heat add the butter.  Once the butter has melted, add the flour to make a roux.  Heat for just a minute or two. 

Heat the milk in the microwave, or stove top, to near boiling.  Slowly introduce 3 cups of the milk to the roux.  Turn the heat down (or off) while adding and mixing the milk.  Add the pasta water and dry mustard (and a little black pepper if you like).  Add the hot sauce and stir to combine.  Turn the heat up and bring the sauce to a boil.  Once the sauce begins to boil, turn the heat down.

Set the heat to low and slowly add the Colby-Jack and sharp cheddar cheese.  Gently stir with a spatula but do not over stir.  Low heat and minimal stirring helps reduce the possibility of the sauce breaking.  Add the other cup of warm milk and gently stir.  Add the pasta and stir to coat the pasta. 

Turn out to an oven proof serving bowl and place in a 350° oven for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with crumbled bacon

I served this with steamed broccoli, bite-sized fried chicken and crunchy, fried shrimp.

Chicken on a Stick

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I usually don’t start thinking about what to make for dinner until I’m in the car, on my way home.  On a good day, it’s a 20 minute trip.  When there’s heavy traffic it can take 40 minutes.  The good thing about the drive home is that I pass my favorite grocery store ALDI.  I will sometimes pop in to buy just a few items and then head on to the house. 

On this particular day, I didn’t want to make any stops.  I just wanted to get home.  I wasn’t coming up with any ideas for dinner and my mind started to wander.  By the time I pulled into the driveway, I knew what I was going to do. 

I wouldn’t call this a meal, because it’s just chicken on a stick but, it was something that I wanted to try and I knew that it wouldn’t take too long to make.

I decided on making this two different ways.  I wanted to see if I preferred the marinated version or the version that uses a dry rub for the chicken.  As it turns out, I liked both. 

Ingredients (for both versions):

1 lb. chicken breast meat, sliced in 1” long strips

1 lb bacon

3 Tbs brown sugar

1 Tbs chili powder

1 Tbs cayenne powder

12 wooden skewers

Version 1:

Ingredients for the marinade:

3 Tbs soy and 2 Tbs hot sauce

Version 2:

Ingredients for the dry rub:

2 Tbs chili powder, 1 Tbs garlic powder, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp paprika

Note: after tasting this, I will use ½ tsp cumin next time.  I like cumin but it overpowered the other flavors.

Directions:

Soak the wooden skewers in water for at least 15 minutes.

Cut the chicken in 1” thick strips.  Divide equally.

Mix the marinade ingredients and pour over one half of the chicken.  Marinate for 30 minutes.

Mix the ingredients for the rub.  Cover the other half of the chicken with the rub.  Set aside.

Mix the brown sugar, chili powder and cayenne powder together.  Lay the bacon on a clean surface.   Sprinkle both sides of the bacon with the sugar and chill powder mixture.

Set the oven to 350°.  Lay a metal rack on a backing sheet. 

Wrap a slice of bacon around a piece of chicken and run a skewer through one end of the chicken and then pierce the other end.  Lay the skewered chicken on the rack.  Continue wrapping and skewering the chicken.  Once the rack is full, put it in the oven.

Bake for to 20 to 25 minutes, or until the bacon begins to crisp and the chicken feels firm. 

Remove the chicken to a serving platter.  Serve with a dip of your choice.

Dinner #5: Pizza

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If you have seen some of my previous posts you might remember Dinner #1: Spaghetti.  For many years I relentlessly cranked out the same dishes (with some subtle variations) week after week.  Getting kids to eat healthy food was a real trick. 

Pizza was always Dinner #5.  Friday, the last day of the work week, was a day when I knew I could really relax and spend some time in the kitchen. 

I still come home Friday evenings and think, “how about pizza?”  

This time, I made three pizzas. Hamburger with mushroom and onion, Pepperoni and Italian cold cuts with spinach, mushroom, and tomato.

A quick rundown of some of the ingredients and then straight to the pizza…

Ingredients

Capocollo and Calabrese.   These Italian cold cuts are perfect for pizza and many grocery stores sell them packaged together, in 6 to 12 ounce portions.  They are a little pricey by weight but I don’t spend more than $5.00 and they can make two large pizzas!

Pepperoni.  Oh, no!  I accidentally picked up turkey pepperoni at the store.  I don’t like turkey pepperoni but, I put a char on it and pretended I was eating the real deal.

Mozzarella.  I bought “fresh mozzarella” at the store on an impulse.  It’s a step up from the brick of mozzarella but I’m not so sure that it’s worth the cost.  Real, fresh mozzarella is a treasure.  I want to make my own! Freshly grated Parmesan is always a good thing!

If you want to see how I make pizza dough, check it out here. 

Portions are arbitrary when it comes to pizza.  Put whatever you want on your pizza and use as much as you want, but use some common sense.  My cautionary advice is, if you think you’re putting on too much cheese, you are.  If you think your pizza toppings are excessive, they are.  Simplicity is key to really good pizza. 

Wings (over the Mid-South)

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Well, it had to happen at some point.  I can’t hide the fact that I have become a “wing junkie”.  Spend enough time in the Mid-South and you are bound to get hooked on the darn things.  I never cooked chicken wings until I moved to the Mid-South area, nearly twenty years ago. 

For those of you who don’t know what I mean by “Mid-South”, let me try to explain…

The East Coast and West Coast need no explanation…just look at a map of the United States and it’s obvious.  The Northwest, Central Plains States make sense, too.  It gets a little difficult to define the Mid-West states because they include so many states that I would consider, The North and, it includes Ohio, which can hardly be considered “west”.  The Deep South covers a large swath of land from Virginia to Texas, which makes sense, even though Fort Worth, Texas claims the motto, “Where the West begins.”   The Southwest is plain enough…it’s all of those big states with deserts and mountains.

The Mid-South is all of the other states that don’t seem to fit in anywhere else, or maybe they are states that are actually parts of other geographically named areas but they’re just not happy about it.  According to the internet, and who am I to argue with the internet, the Mid-South includes Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, which is where I reside.

As I was mentioning, I never cooked chicken wings until I moved to the Mid-South.  If you look at the states that comprise the Mid-South you might think that barbecue is the main attraction, and you are probably right, but chicken wings aren’t far behind.  You can’t throw a rock around here without hitting a chicken wing joint.  I’ve come across some great wing restaurants and I’ve seen my fair share of so-so joints.  My criteria for a good chicken wing joint is crispy wings (preferably whole wings), good sauces, plenty of crisp vegetables and real blue cheese dressing.

With that, I present tonight’s fare.  Buffalo Wings with honest-to-goodness blue cheese dressing and fresh vegetables.

Note:  Seasonings can be whatever you like.  I don’t know if I have ever made chicken wings the same way twice.  I prefer them very spicy, but that’s just me.  The spice I used on these may seem extreme but, as they bake, they lose some of the spiciness and just carry the flavor of the spices.

Ingredients:

10 whole chicken wings (or about 2 lbs)

2 Tbs Tajin seasoning (contains flavors of chili, lime and sea salt)

2 Tbs smoked paprika

2 Tbs cayenne powder

2 Tbs garlic powder

1 Tbs cumin powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

For the blue cheese sauce:

8 oz crumbled blue cheese

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup half-and-half

½ cup sour cream

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbs lemon juice (or 1 tsp vinegar)

The fruit and vegetables:

3 ribs of celery (sliced into sticks)

2 large carrots (sliced into sticks)

2 large jalapeños (sliced into sticks and seeded)

1 lime (quartered)

Directions:

Heat an oven to 400°.

Wash the chicken wings under cold water and allow them to air dry for 20 minutes.  The skin of the wing needs to dry before adding the spice rub.

Tajin seasoning
  • Spices before mixing
  • Spices – mixed

In a large mixing bowl, add the spices.  Toss the whole wings in the spice mixture.  Allow the wings to rest for about 10 minutes, to allow the rub to fully adhere.

Cover a baking tray with parchment paper.  Lay the wings on the pan and stretch them as wide as they can go.  Doing this will maximize the crispiness.

Bake for 45 minutes and then turn the wings over to bake on the other side.  Turn the oven down to 350° and bake for another 30 minutes. 

While the wings bake, make the sauce and prepare the vegetables.

Prepare the sauce by mixing half of the blue cheese with the rest of the sauce ingredient.  Beat with a spatula until creamy.

Add remaining blue cheese and gently incorporate.

Peel the carrots and slice all of the vegetables into sticks.

Slice the lime into quarters.

Arrange the vegetables and lime on a platter.

Pull the wings from the oven and apply the hot sauce of your choice, or serve as is.

I used equal parts of these 3 sauces on my wings and left the rest without sauce

Arrange the wings on the platter with the vegetables and lime wedges.

Serve with chilled blue cheese sauce.

Barbacoa de Res

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Before we get down to business let me just say that barbacoa is a very special thing.  Barbacoa is more than just slow cooked meat.  Much more.  Preparing barbacoa is a time-honored tradition in Mexico.  The tradition spread to Texas years ago, along with the Mexican immigrants who introduced the cuisine.  Anywhere you find a sizeable Mexican population you are bound to find barbacoa. 

The origins of barbacoa are steeped in history and culture.  Ancient cultures, and not-so-ancient cultures, adhere to the notion that the animals we eat should be respected and treated with reverence.  When an animal is slaughtered it should be treated with dignity and it should be thanked for the sustenance that it provides to us.  Using all parts of the animal pays respect to the animal.  This ritual is a sacred rite and one that is increasingly disappearing in our modern culture.

Barbacoa is typically served on weekends.  It is presented to family and friends as a celebration of life.

Cooking methods vary from place to place.  Traditionally, barbacoa is made from young goat (cabrito), lamb (borrega), beef (res) or pork (cochina).  The entire animal is often used, including entrails and stomach.  If you want to make barbacoa the traditional way you will need to dig a pit, line it with fire resistant bricks, slaughter and butcher an animal, obtain some agave leaves (hojas de maguey), prepare an intensely hot fire and layer all of the ingredients in the pit, cover the pit with sheet metal and wait for several hours. 

I don’t have an underground brick oven…but don’t think for a minute that I haven’t considered making one!  I have had authentic barbacoa on a few occasions and words can’t sufficiently describe how rich and wonderful  the experience was. 

Since I don’t have an underground pit, I buy beef shoulder roasts (chuck roast) and braise the meat in a Dutch oven, or a covered casserole dish.  Sounds simple, when you compare this to the effort involved with the traditional method, right?   

The chuck roast is a tough, muscular cut of beef, which means it contains a good amount of collagen.  When you cook it at a low temperature for a long period of time, the collagen dissolves and becomes gelatinous, and that is what makes the meat moist and succulent.  

If you have the luxury of living in a place where you can get fresh beef from a butcher, ask the butcher for a “blade roast”.  A blade roast is a shoulder roast that contains part of the shoulder blade.  As the roast cooks, the bone imparts rich flavor and the meat that is next to the bone becomes very tender. 

In Mexico, barbacoa is served with soft, warm corn tortillas.  Here in the states, we tend to use warm flour tortillas.  Both kinds of tortillas are equally good in my mind, when it comes to barbacoa tacos.  If you want to make this meal even more special, find freshly made corn tortillas or homemade flour tortillas.  See my recipe here for homemade tortillas. 

Okay, let’s make some barbacoa!

Ingredients:

Beef shoulder roast (chuck roast) 3 to 5 lbs.

2 Tbs cooking oil

2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

3 or 4 dried guajillo chilis, stemmed and seeded

3 or 4 bay leaves

2 Tbs dried onion flakes

2 Tbs paprika

2 Tbs cumin powder

2 Tbs garlic powder

2 Tbs oregano (Mexican oregano is preferred)

Directions:

Heat an oven to 225°.

Apply salt and pepper to the raw meat. 

Sear the meat in a hot skillet, with a little oil.

Add the stock, bay leaves and most of the spice mix to a Dutch oven or casserole dish. 

Spread the rest of the spices on top of the meat and cover.

Braise in the oven for 5 hours.

Pull the meat from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Shred the meat with two forks and transfer to a serving bowl.  (Make sure to remove any stray bay leaves and chilis before shredding.)

Serve with warm tortillas, guacamole, fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro and lime wedges. 

To complete the meal, include side dishes like refried beans, borracho beans, fried potatoes or Spanish rice.

Above all, as you sit down to eat, consider the ranchers and farmers that made the meal possible.  Consider the sacrifices that we all make for each other as we try to make each other happy, safe and healthy. 

Pizza!

/ toothpicktales / 6 Comments

“Great pizza and bad pizza have one thing in common…they are both unforgettable.”

Suffice it to say that I am a big fan of pizza.  Any pizza can be a great pizza if it is made with passion and bravado.  New York, Chicago, Des Moines…it doesn’t matter which particular city or which style you prefer, pizza has become our Great Unifier.  Even when we argue about which type of pizza is the best, we are really acknowledging the existence of all forms of pizza.  The love of pizza embraces every culture, every race, every nation.  Pizza knows no boundaries.  Pizza brings us all together and we owe pizza a debt of gratitude.  Make pizza, not war!

Being a humble, home cook, I don’t have a wood-fire brick oven, I don’t make my dough with semolina flour and I don’t use buffalo mozzarella.  But, that doesn’t prevent me from producing some satisfying pizza pies.  I try to include at least one ingredient that elevates a common pizza to the next level and I put my heart and soul into each and every one.

Today’s pizza experience is somewhat typical for me.  By that, I mean that I used some ingredients that I have not used before and I employed some techniques that I did not see coming, until inspiration struck me.  Anyone who knows me knows that I rarely make a recipe the same way twice and pizza fits my philosophy perfectly. 

We’re making two pizzas. 

I usually use tomato sauce from a jar, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  There are some really good sauces available and I use an inexpensive brand, flavored with basil and garlic.  But, now that I have fresh tomatoes from the garden, I am making my own sauce.

Ingredients for the pizza sauce:

2 cups diced ripe tomatoes

4 smashed garlic cloves

¼ tsp red chili flakes

Directions for sauce:

Cook the tomatoes, garlic and chili flakes in a large skillet until tomatoes are completely softened.  Strain the solids and reserve the sauce.  Reduce the sauce by half.  Set aside.

Prepare pizza dough.  See my recent post on pizza dough here:

https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/toothpicktales.com/226

Heat oven to 400°.

Pizza #1

Ingredients for the toppings:

1 cup tomato sauce

1 small fresh tomato – thinly sliced

3 Tbs stuffed green olives – sliced

3 oz Italian Speck (similar to prosciutto)

2 oz baby Portobello mushrooms, sliced

4 oz sliced mozzarella cheese

½ sweet yellow onion – julienne cut

2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

A big handful of fresh arugula

Directions for making pizza:

Spread tomato sauce on cooked pizza dough.  Lay tomato slices around the outer edge of the pizza.  Sprinkle olives across the pizza.  Drape the speck capriciously across the pizza, gently.  Allow the cured meat to rise and fall…resist the urge to press it down.  Distribute the mushrooms and scatter strips of mozzarella across the pizza and finish with the julienne onion and Parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Use a blowtorch to blister the mozzarella.  Toss fresh arugula on top.  Cut and serve. 

Pizza #2

Ingredients for the toppings:

1 cup tomato sauce

3 oz pepperoni slices

6 oz sliced mozzarella cheese

2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

Directions for making pizza:

Spread tomato sauce on cooked pizza dough.  Scatter strips of mozzarella across the pizza.  Top with pepperoni.  Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven.  Use a blowtorch to char the pepperoni.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Cut and serve.

The homemade tomato sauce makes both pizzas special.  It is a straightforward sauce…sweet and simple. 

The speck and arugula was my favorite of the two pizzas but both pizzas benefited by the blowtorch. 

Since speck is a dry, cured meat I layered the mozzarella on top, to keep the speck from becoming too dry.  Blistering the mozzarella with the blowtorch made the mozzarella sizzle and gave it a special saltiness. 

For the pepperoni pizza, I laid the pepperoni on top of the mozzarella, giving me an opportunity to put a char on the pepperoni with the blowtorch, which made it as crispy as a brick-oven could produce.

Now, go make some pizza but, for goodness sake, make it good! 

Cucumber Salsa

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The summer heat has taken a slight break in my neck of the woods and I couldn’t be happier. It’s actually been cool enough for me to sit and relax on the patio during the last few evenings and listen to the hypnotic drone of the cicadas and watch the fireflies flickering through the trees. This is the sort of weather that begs for margaritas with chips and salsa. When it’s hot outside, I like to prepare this salsa. It starts out slightly spicy and finishes with a cool, refreshing bite.

Ingredients:
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1⁄2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbs fresh lime juice
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp dried dill weed
1⁄2 tsp salt

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for about one hour. Serve with sturdy, salty tortilla chips and margaritas!