I haven't been lost...just eatin' a whole lot!

I feel like I've let my readers (all two of you) down. I went the entire month of February with nary a post. I am sure some of you went back and re-read the book of Revelations in the Bible...just to make sure this wasn't one of the signs of the apocalypse. I assure you, it is not...at least I don't think it is. I remember something about the seven churches of asia...the false prophet...the beast...the whore of Babylon... Nope, no mention of the Great Food Junkie.

Speaking of "women of ill repute (not necessarily in Babylon), do you remember the movie "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"? Do you know how long it took me to realize the people who printed the movie posters didn't misspell warehouse?  I'll admit, I have rarely been the brightest bulb in the pack.

However, I digress.

Anyway, we have a little catching up to do. I believe I ended my last post with some mention of taking a bite out of Bambi. That's exactly what I did. I had a coworker come up to me and mention that he had too much deer meet, and was wondering if I might like some roast. Well, I never cooked deer in my life. The benefit to that is that if I really screw it up, the family will think that's just how deer is supposed to taste, and I am without shame. The next day, the friend showed up with five deer roasts. Now I was looking at five hunks of meat, and I had no idea how to cook it. I figured it would be good cooked slowly in a slow cooker, but I wanted to grill it. After some research and recipe hunting, I decided to treat Bambi just like I treated my dear friend chuck in the previous blog post. I mixed up the same marinate, with perhaps a bit more brown sugar, and marinated two roasts. I then wrapped them in bacon, and threw them on the grill. The results were deeeeeelicious!

 The bacon did a great job of keeping the lean deer moist. The only problem was the roast on the right. Not having ever cooked deer before, when I pulled it out, I thought it was the most beautiful roast I had seen. I wasn't sure what the significance of it being labeled "neck" was, but I was sure it was something special. What is special about it is that friggin huge bone running right through the center of the roast, making it one beast to slice.

My next great adventure in cooking is a program called eMeals. This is a neat little program, and the perfect solution for the family that raises their utility bill by standing in front of an opened refrigerator for three years, wondering what to make for supper. The result is usually, ordering pizza. With eMeals you are emailed meal plans for the entire week. Depending on the subscription level you choose, you can either have just dinner plans emailed to you, or every meal of the day. Not only are you given a menu, but you are given a shopping list as well. To make things even easier, you can indicate what store you do most of your grocery shopping at, and Emeals with customize the meal plans to use ingredients known to be carried at that store.

After doing eMeals for a couple weeks, we decided our grocery bill was a little higher than it used to be. However, we figure that we are coming out better in the long run, because knowing each night what you are going to eat, significantly reduces the pizza orders, and trips to restaurants. Here are some of the things we have eaten.

This is a creamy cheddar cauliflower soup. I wasn't sure at first, how it would taste, but the whole family scarfed it up. One of the tricks I used, was using yellow cauliflower. It helped intensify the cheesy look to the soup.

This is dirty rice and peas. Okay, there is absolutely nothing special about the peas, but the dirty rice reminded me of the stuff I used to get with my chicken and biscuits at Bojangles. I know I'm dating myself by mentioning that restaurant.

 

This was one of the best meals by far. It is a crispy baked Parmesan chicken breast. What is it the teenage girls say? OMG! The recipe didn't call for buttermilk, but I did marinate the chicken breast in buttermilk all day, while I was at work. The crispy topping was absolutely to die for. I know, the chicken in the picture doesn't look very crispy. That's because there was a whole lotta juicy topping surrounding the chicken that I just couldn't let go to waste...unless it was going to my waste. The other miracle on the plate is the carrots. The main flavorings for the carrots were brown sugar, butter, and ginger. The miracle is that Joseph actually ate them. He ate cooked carrots! THAT is a sign of the apocalypse!

Finally, this is cranberry chicken, with stuffing and sour cream green beans. The chicken, once again, was out of this world. the glaze is a combination of California French Dressing, Onion soup mix, and whole cranberry cranberry sauce. It is one of those recipes that you initially look at warily. Cranberry sauce and onion soup mix...really! Then, you are surprised with one of the best chicken dishes you have ever eaten. Unfortunately, I can't heap the same praise on the green beans. That is one of those recipes that looks great on paper, but reality is something completely different. You see sour cream, french cut green beans, and Parmesan cheese on the ingredient list, and think, "This has got to be a winner!" Guess what!?! You really can ruin a perfectly good batch of green beans.

My final adventure involved "Bring your favorite soup to work" day at ... that's right. Work! I had no idea what to bring. Then I went to Beverly's office. Whenever you are in doubt, just go to Beverly's office. She will tell you what to do...or where to go. I didn't want to make my world famous Jose O'Shea's Green Chili. We would have a chili cook off soon, and just like you can't wear the same prom dress twice, I certainly couldn't cook the same chili twice. In all honesty, if I were to really bring my favorite soup to work, it would be a package of chicken ramen. I wasn't sure how well that would go over with the other folks.

Well, Beverly, being the great and wise guru that she is, suggested I try to make the white bean chicken chili that is served at Ruby Tuesday's. That's exactly what I did, and it must have been a success. I barely had enough left for one bowl that the kids could share at home. Anyway, it has been a while since I've posted a recipe on my blog. Here is my recipe for White Bean Chicken Chili. Once I come up with a regular chili recipe that I think is a winner, I'll have all the colors of the Mexican flag.

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White Bean Chicken Chili

Ingredients
Six cups cooked and diced chicken.
Six cups chicken broth (boil a whole chicken with some veggies to get both your broth and the cooked chicken. It will be much better than any broth you buy at the store, AND you will save money.)  
2lb bag of Great Northern Beans (soaked according to directions on bag.)
2 medium onions chopped
2 roasted jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced.
1 large Chile Pasillo (or Poblano) roasted and diced
1 small bunch of cilantro
2 tsp ground Cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilis)

Directions
Roast the pasillo and jalepeno peppers by placing them on a baking sheet, and spraying them with cooking spray. Then put them under the broiler, and allow the skin to blister and char. Watch carefully. You want the peppers roasted, not burnt. You will need to turn the peppers, so all sides can get charred. Take the peppers out of the broiler, and immediately place in a plastic storage bag, or other air tight container. Allow to sweat and cool. When the peppers are cool enough to hold comfortably, the skin should peel off easily.

Place all of the ingredients, except the cilantro, in a slow cooker, and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours. Chop the cilantro, and add during the last hour of cooking. Towards the end, you will want to salt and pepper to taste. I like to add some adobo seasoning. Adobo seasoning is an all purpose seasoning blend most Mexican cooks have in their pantries. It adds a nice flavor to many things. If you want your chili to be a little thicker, take a couple cups of beans out in the last hour, and mash them. Stir the mashed beans back in with the rest of the chili.

Serve with a dollup of sour cream and a little bit of shredded cheddar, or other favorite cheese.

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I'll try not to stay away so long next time. I promise. St. Patrick's day is coming around the corner. It is one of my favorite times to celebrate. I found a good recipe for smoked corned beef. I might just give it a try...and write about it.

The Great Food Junkie Starts 2013 With More Grillin and Chillin!

I know many of you have gone into a deep depression because I haven't written as much lately. It is not because I have become a lazy, no good, sloth, who just lays around all day trying to do as little as possible. However, I'm sure some people think that is one of my life goals. Nope! Trust me when I say there has been a whole lotta cooking going on at the GFJ's house. After all, when you get cooking gadgets for Christmas, you have to try them out. I'll get to those in a bit.

It didn't take long before the GFJ grew tired of all the Christmas food. There is only so much turkey, ham, and assorted sweets a person can handle. So, I went out to the freezer in the garage and started to peruse the shelves. It was only a moment when my eyes landed upon the last of our chuck roasts. Hmmm! Chuck roast sounds good, but I don't really want to break out the slow cooker and have to cut and peel a bunch of potatoes, carrots, and onions. There had to be more to the life of a chuck roast than being stuck in a slow cooker. The poor thing just sat there. Staring at me. A tear fell from its eye.

"Please, Sir," it begged with hands clasped. "Don't let me become another pot roast. I have so much more potential."

How could I, the Great Food Junkie, ignore such pleading. I gently picked up the poor sap, and stroked his packaging with my hand. "Come with me, Chuck!" I exclaimed. "You were meant for much greater things. Together, we can make your dreams come true."

I new what I had to do. I had to figure out some way to grill the chuck roast. After all, what says I love you to a piece of meat like a grill? I found a good marinade recipe that included barbecue sauce, teriyaki sauce, minced garlic, and sliced ginger. I didn't have any teriyaki, so I did the next best thing. I added a little Irish whiskey. I mixed it all up, and poured it over my chuck roast. Then it sat in the fridge for the better part of a day.

However, I knew Chuck couldn't make this journey to greatness alone. He was going to need a faithful sidekick. It had to be something complimentary, but not overpowering. I put my thinking cap on and came up with new potatoes, skewered and grilled, right alongside Chuck. I went to the store and picked up the potatoes, bamboo skewers, and then it hit me. Bacon! These potatoes need to be intertwined with bacon. The wife looked at me and said, "You need to get thick sliced. The other will just fall apart on the grill." This was indeed going to be a glorious day. I had just been given permission to spend money on thick cut bacon.

When we got home, we rubbed the potatoes in olive oil and pink Himalayan salt. Then we skewered them, intertwining them with the thick cut bacon. Then, for added measure, Neve took each skewer and wrapped an additional slice of bacon around the potatoes. However, this presented us with a dilemma. We had a few slices of bacon left...but, not enough to save for another meal. Well! Surely Chuck would need the proper outfit for his adventure to greatness. So Chuck came out of the marinade, got a quick dry off, a rubdown with Santa Maria seasoning, and a nice new set of bacon clothes. Then it was out to the grill!

Chuck and his new friends on an adventure

 Those cool things Chuck and friends are sitting on are called GrillGrates. They are anodized aluminum, and have high ridges. They sit directly on your existing grates, or can be used as replacement grates. The nice thing about them is that the ridges get extra hot, providing excellent searing and grill marks, while the juices drip into the deep spaces between the ridges. The juices sizzle and evaporate, creating more flavor and moisture for the meat, and preventing flare ups. You absolutely must check them out at www.grillgrate.com. They are one of the best improvements you could make to any grill.

After about an hour, Chuck and friends reached the pinnacle of success. I truly believe they achieved a personal nirvana. And I was frickin' hungry!

 It wasn't long before The Great Food Junkie had also reached Nirvana. Chuck was a perfect medium pink in the middle, and his sidekicks, the potatoes and bacon, were spectacular.

Chuck and friends in all of their glory

The adventures with Chuck the roast were just the beginning for the GFJ. If you'll remember, I mentioned a couple Christmas gifts that had to be tried out. The GFJ's wife received a set of tortilla shell pans. You know you've seen the commercials on TV. "Make your own taco salads!" It really is a simple concept. You place burrito size tortillas in these pans, bake for 10-12 minutes, and Presto! You have perfect tortilla shell bowls for a taco salad.

 They don't taste quite as good as the fried shells you get at the restaurant. Can anything really taste better than fried? However, they really are tasty and crispy. In fact, they hold their crisp well enough to fill with chili mac...twice.

The other device was something the wife and I bought each other for Christmas. I saw one of those "does it work" segments on the news, and it featured the Yonana. What is a Yonana? It is a device that takes frozen bananas and other fruits or additives, and makes them into a dessert very similar in texture and taste to soft serve ice cream. If you are wanting a healthy alternative to ice cream, or even if you could care less about the health aspect, and want to try something new, you have to check this thing out. The treats that come from it are spectacular. One of the best things is that it isn't frozen cream. It is frozen banana. That means your ice cream doesn't melt! The pictures below, do not do this thing justice at all. The first was a raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry yonana. It tasted great! However, nothing puts a damper on eating dessert like fighting tons of raspberry seeds. Oh well. The second was a yonana made with a tropical fruit blend of strawberries, mangos, and pineapple. That was an absolute hit. The key is to get your bananas as ripe as you can before freezing. The blacker the peel, the better the banana. This ensures your bananas are providing the maximum sweetness, while not overpowering the dish with their own flavor.

 I think the Great Food Junkie has made up for his lack of communications in this entry. He is going to sign off before your snoring gets too loud for the neighbors. I hope you all have a wonderful new year, and I look forward to all of our 2013 food adventures. Until next time, when the GFJ takes a bite out of Bambi, Goodbye!