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Nikko

Mango Strawberry Salsa

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This is such a versatile salsa - very good on chicken, fish, shrimp, scallops, pork etc... You can add finely diced up jalapenos and sweet onions if you wish - Just remember that both the mango and strawberry are very light flavors and adding to much will kill the taste!

Mango
Strawberries
Cilantro
Pineapple juice (or orange or lemon)

Dice the mango, and slice the strawberries - I would go with equal amounts of each. If you use a cup of each you will need about half a bunch of cilantro finely chopped added. If you have some lemon, orange, pineapple juice it would be good to have a few tablespoons in there to help bring everything together. Mix and let sit for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Salsa on!

~Nikko

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Pizza Roll Recipe

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I'm going to assume you've had a pizza roll before - They're good, but making them is half the fun. These are so easy your kids can help make them. One thing I learned about making these at home is that you want to precook your pepperoni (if you decide to add it) a bit to get rid of some of the grease. You don't have to do this but be warned! The best part of making these at home is due to their size you can add whatever you want to the center of them.

1 Pkg Egg Roll Wrappers (or you can roll your own sheet pasta)
1/4 Lb Provolone Cheese, sliced or diced
1/4 Lb Mozzarella Cheese, sliced or diced
Pizza Sauce
Mushrooms
Green Peppers
Onions
Whatever you like on your pizza
Dried Oregano
Water

Place one of the wrappers in front of you. In the center add a slice of the provolone cheese. Top the cheese with 8 or 9 slices of the pepperoni (if using small rounds). At this point you can add whatever else you like but don't overload the roll! Top with some pizza sauce, a pinch of oregano, and a slice of the mozzarella cheese. Now it's time to roll! Wet the edges of the wrap with a smudge of water. Start with one of the corners and fold over to almost the middle of the wrap. Start rolling until you get to almost the half way point, then fold in the sides of the wrap. Continue rolling to the end of the wrap. Place in a pan seem side down. You have two methods you can use to cook these. You can fry them in oil, or bake them in the oven. If you bake them spritz them down with olive oil and bake them at 375 until they are brown - you will need to keep turning them so they don't burn. Once done, Eat & Enjoy!

Pizza on!

~Nikko

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Hallsy's Kithcen's Hot Dog Sauce

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I found this recipe on YouTube from a guy name Hallsy... He says it came from a famous hot dog company that you should probably know. It did remind me of one I like. I thought they used cinnamon instead of curry powder. It was ok but the house smelled like curry and the STBW didn't like that too well...

1 Lb Beef, minced
3.5 tsp Chile Powder
2.5 tsp Curry Powder
1 tsp Nutmeg
2 tsp Onion Powder
.5 tsp Black Pepper
1.5 Cups Water

Brown the beef in a skillet. Once the beef is done, drain off most all of the fat. Add the chile powder, curry powder, nutmeg, onion powder, and black pepper and mix into the beef well. Cook for 1 minute over medium heat then add the water. Bring mixture to a simmer, cover and let sit for an hour. You can add more water if the mixture gets too thick. Load on top of a good hot dog, Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Dogging!

~Nikko

If you would like to make it a bit healthier you can replace half the beef with a half pound of turkey - If you want to use all turkey then you need to kick up the spices a bit. I've never tried it but if you really wanted to you could use a tofu Hot Dog and replace the meat with tofu crumbles.

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Pimento Squeeze Errrr Cheese

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1/4 teaspoon Cayenne
1/2 cup mayonnaise
.5 cup grated Monterrey jack cheese
1.5 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1.5 oz cream cheese (half of a 3 oz package)
2-3 tablespoons pimentos, diced
Black Pepper

The easiest way to make this dish is to bring everything to room temperature, through all but the pimentos into a food processor and blitz it all up. Add the pimentos and fold them in. You can put it into a bowl and use your hands or a spoon to bring it all together. It's an easy dish to make and you can be somewhat creative with the cheeses you use. Make sure you let it sit for a bit after you bring it together so everybody can get happy with each other. It makes a great grilled cheese sammy, or it's good in mac n cheese...

Happy Cheesing!

~Nikko



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Ok this is one of the first cooking videos I ever made. It may say it's episode 13 but really it was the second video I ever did... I'll admit it's pretty bad, and it's not the one I made for this recipe, but it did make a good pimento cheese... I will be doing another video with this (my new fav recipe).

Grilled Cheese & Tomatoes

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Who doesn't like a nice grilled cheese? Ok I know a few people who don't eat cheese (and I don't trust them)... You can add a lot to a grilled cheese to take it up a notch, but a simple tomato adds wonders if you ask me. For some reason since I started cooking I've been the one to always make the grilled cheese in my family. The best thing about a grilled cheese to me is that they don't have to be fancy to be good - white bread and American cheese is good - so is homemade wheat bread with English cheddar...

Bread
cheese
tomato
butter

Bring a pan to a medium heat. Butter one side of each of your pieces of bread. Place the butter side of one down on the pan, add the cheese, the tomato, and a bit of cheese on top then top with the other piece of bread (butter side up). Cover and let cook checking the bottom every so often so it doesn't burn. Once the bottom is nice and grilled, flip the sammy over and cook again. Once finished let sit for a minute or so so the cheese can set up a bit then Eat & Enjoy!

Happy cooking,

~Nikko

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Thai Beef Salad

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Dressing:

3 Limes - juice of
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp serrano chili, minced
1 Tbsp peanut butter
pinch sugar

Salad:

Salad greens
Cucumber
Radish
Green onion
Fresh mint, minced
Cilantro, chopped to your liking

Steak:
1 Lb flank steak cut into long strips against the grain (then pounded thin)
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1 Tb soy sauce
1/2 tsp Penzeys Bangkok seasoning
salt
pepper

Other:

1/4 Cup crushed peanuts

Mix the fish sauce, soy sauce, Penzeys Bangkok seasoning, salt and pepper in a bowl and add the steak. Coat the steak well in the mixture and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl add the juice of 3 limes, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, serrano chili, peanut butter, pinch of sugar and mix well. Set aside. Mix the salad fixins, and plate.

Heat a saute pan to medium heat. Remove the beef from the marinade and pat dry with a paper towel. Cook the beef for a few minutes on each side (or to you preferred doneness). Prepare the salads to your liking and arrange the steak on the salad and top with the dressing - Eat & Enjoy

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

Sausage Dip Recipe

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This is just what the name says - Sausage Dip. It's not a cheese dip because there's not much cheese in there - It's a Sausage Dip!

1 Tube Hot Sausage, Win Dixie brand works best here
1 Large Onion, diced fine
1 tsp Red Pepper flakes
.5 Box Velveeta Mexican Cheese
.25 Cup Pickled Jalapenos, diced

Heat a saute pan to medium high heat, and add the sausage. Cook the sausage till it's about half way cooked then add the onion, jalapenos, and red pepper flakes. Once the sausage is all browned off, drain off all the fat you can. Return the mixture to the pan and reduce the heat to a medium low. Dice up the Velveeta Mexican Cheese and add it to the pan. Cook stirring well until the cheese is melted. Serve with Tortilla chips. Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Cheesing,

~Nikko

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Strawberry Cheesecake Chocolate Cups

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Strawberry Cheesecake Chocolate Cups...

This fancy little treat couldn't be any easier. Thanks to my buddy Steve The Tortilla guy I have some fancy Tumaro's Tortillas Chocolate Wraps (you can find these in many stores and if you don't see them - ask the manager to order them in!). I wanted to do something a bit off the reservation with them so I decided to turn the wraps into cups and add a nice filling.

Tumaro's Tortillas Chocolate Wraps, cut into rounds
Philadelphia ready made Cheesecake filling
Strawberries, fresh and quartered (or smaller if desired)

Cut the Tumaro's Tortillas Chocolate Wraps into rounds that will fit into an individual cupcake pan - you will want them smaller than the full cup - maybe to go up about half way. Once you have the pan filled with the rounds bake at 350 for 10-20 minutes, or just until they turn firm. Once the rounds are finished let cool in the pan then remove to a wire rack. Put a few tablespoon fulls of the cheesecake filling into each cup. Top with the strawberries and serve. Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Wrapping!

~Nikko

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Cheese Danish Recipe

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So we were on vacation in Clearwater Florida and went to Lenny's for breakfast one morning. Lenny's is known for their breakfasts and some would say the best breakfast available in Florida (or the world). The best part about the breakfast is that you are treated to a nice basket of homemade pastries when you order your food! OMG they are delicious! One of the pastries in our basket was a cheese danish. I decided it was about time for me to try my hand at making them so I went to Ina Garten (she's my go to when it comes to sweets) and got a recipe. I adapted this version a bit from hers...

8 Oz. Cream cheese, at room temp (that's one large box)
1/3 Cup + 2 Tbsp Sugar
2 Extra-Large Egg Yolks, at room temp
2 Tbsp Ricotta cheese
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp Lemon zest, grated (about 2 lemons) you can use Penzey's lemon zest reconstituted
2 Puff pastry sheets, defrosted
1 Egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water

Put the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and cream them together gently until smooth. You do not want to do a fast whip on anything here! You can use a mixer to do this or by hand. Once they are creamed nicely, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix just until combined - do not over work the mixture.

Unfold one sheet of the puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10" x 10" square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling into the middle of each square. Brush the border of each square with the egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center - overlap the fold a bit and pinch together well. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg wash. Repeat this step with the remaining pastry sheets. Place the pastries on a parchment lined sheet pan and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

While the pastry is in the refer, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Banking!

~Nikko

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Video coming soon!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I've been wanting to bake something with pumpkin since carving my little sisters Halloween pumpkin this year. I looked at a few different recipes and couldn't find anyting that really jumped out at me. I took a few different recipes and put them together to create this recipe. They came out really dang good - I hope you try them and like them as well as we did...

The Dry Stuff:
3 Cups Bread flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Salt, table
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Cloves

The Wet Stuff:
2 Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin, roasted and mashed, or 1 can
1/2 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Vege oil
1/4 Cup Butter, melted

The Optional Stuff (but highly recommended):
1 Cup Pecans, chopped

In a bowl add all the dry stuff and use a whisk to blend it all together - set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the wet stuff and mix for a minute or so until it is well mixed. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and combine until well incorporated. Stir in the nuts.

Cover the batter and allow to sit at room temp for 30 min to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 F

Put muffin cups into the muffin tray and fill 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick (or knife) comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Nikko

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Turkey Sausage & Apple Stuffing

I have made stuffing before, however it came from my friends at Stove Top... A friend was having an early Thanksgiving Day dinner and I decided it would be a good time to try my hand at some homemade stuffing. Not to toot my own horn but my stuffing kicked booty... Even the picky eaters were shoveling it in.

I had decided that a sausage stuffing would be good. Because of some of the dietary needs I used a nice turkey sausage. For the read I used a whole wheat baguette that came from the local market. The only part of this recipe I looked up is what was in poultry seasoning. Come to find out all you really need is thyme, marjoram, and sage to get a nice flavor rolling. The apple part came on a whim at the market.

2 Whole Wheat Baguettes, cubed about 6-8 cups
5 Turkey Sausage links, casings removed and broken into bite size pieces
1 Golden Apple, diced
2/3 Cup Carrots, diced or sliced
2/3 Cup Red Onion, diced
1 Cup Celery, diced
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
Chicken Stock, enough to make it all nice and moist
2 Tbsp Butter
Thyme
Marjoram
Sage
Shallot Salt
Pepper

In a large saute pan brown the sausage over medium heat until cooked through. While the sausage is cooking cube up the bread and place it in a bowl large enough to mix everything in. Dice the apple and add it to the bread. Dice up the celery, onion, and carrots and reserve in a bowl. Mince the garlic and add to the veg mixture. Once the sausage is done add it to the bread bowl. Melt two tablespoons of butter in the pan you used to cook the sausage over a medium low heat (you can omit this if you don't want to use it. I always say, if it is good without butter it will be better with it...) Once the butter is melted add the veg mixture to the pan. Add a nice pinch of salt and pepper to the mix and stir it in. For the seasoning - I'm going to ask you to add amounts of these that make you happy. Start by adding a heavy pinch of the thyme, marjoram, and sage. Start small and add until it gives you a smell that you like. Once mine started smelling like a nice mix I stopped. I probably ended up with a few teaspoons of each (a little heaver on the thyme but that's just because I love thyme). You will want to cook this for about 5 minutes or just until everything starts to get a bit soft. Once finished add the the bread bowl and mix everything together well. I used almost 4 cups of stock to get everything to a happy moisture. Start by adding two cups and work your way up from there. We are looking for moist not wet. When I was done mixing everything together there was not a puddle of stock on the bottom of the bowl. Once you have a happy mixture, put into a baking dish and bake at 350 for an hour.

Happy Cooking & Eating!

~Nikko

.:.

Not Quite Bruschetta...

This is called not quite bruschetta because there's no bread involved - there's cheese... I had an amazing lunch the other day that involved some of the best marinated tomatoes I've ever had (The French Pantry in Jacksonville Fl). I had to see if I could even come close to their amazingness... These turned out really good, but they still need a little work.

2 Cups Roma tomatoes, diced (about 4-6)
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
1 tsp Oregano, dried
1/4 Cup Basil, either torn or chiffonade
1/4 Cup Olive oil
2 Tbsp White Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Greek Coleslaw

I had some cabbage that needed used up one day and this is what came out of it. I was going to make some regular coleslaw but I decided to Greek it up a bit - it worked...

2 Cups Cabbage, sliced thin

3 Tbsp White Balsamic

1 Tbsp Penzey's Greek seasoning (www.penzeys.com)

1/2 Cup Feta cheese

In a medium sized bowl, add the balsamic and Penzey's Greek seasoning. Mix together and let sit for a few minutes. In the meantime slice the cabbage thin and crumble the feta cheese. Add them into the bowl and mix well. Eat & Enjoy!

Cheers,

~Nikko

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(Ohio State) Buckeyes

I grew up in Ohio with a backyard full of buckeye trees. We got so many buckeyes from the trees that people would come over all the time with pickle buckets to help pick them all up. I've been eating Buckeyes most of my life. Buckeyes are kinda like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (my favorite candy)... These are very easy to make and I've never had a hard time getting rid of them once I've had my fill...

2 Cups Peanut butter, smooth kind
1/2 Stick Butter, softened
16oz Box (or bag) Powered sugar

12oz Bag Chocolate chips
2 Tbsp Veggie oil

Use a mixer to beat together the peanut butter and butter. Once well mixed add the powered sugar a bit at a time and mix it all through. Once well mixed roll the mixture into balls about half the size of a golf ball and put on a wax paper lined sheet pan. When finished put the pan in the freezer for one hour. When the hour is up put the chocolate chips in a bowl and add the veggie oil. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Use a spoon to mix the chocolate together - it should be all melted. Use a toothpick to dip the peanut butter balls into the chocolate just far enough to cover 3/4 of the way up. Place them back on the wax paper and use a finger to cover up the hole the toothpick made. Once all the balls have been dunked place the tray into the fridge for 30 minutes. Pack the Buckeyes into a air tight container... Eat & Enjoy!

Cheers,

~Nikko

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Sushi - Crunchafornia Roll

I tried something new last night and came up with The Crunchafornia Roll... A twist on the standard California Roll. I proved the concept last night and will have photos and a video up soon. I made it two ways - the first was to make your standard California Roll then dust it in corn starch then dunk it into a tempura batter then fry the whole thing. The second way I did it was just to take the crab sticks and tempura them and put them into the normal California roll. Both ways were good. I'm going to be doing them again and have some people over to see which version wins the taste test...

Happy Cooking & Eating!

~Nikko

Dynamite Sushi Sauce

The best Dynamite Sauce I've ever had comes from a sushi house named Sushi Awaji in Plano Texas (suburb of Dallas). As far as I'm concerned Dallas has the the best sushi I've ever had and considering I live a stones throw from the Ocean (now) and Dallas is a land locked city - that kinda makes me mad... They have a dish called the Crawfish Volcano that will put a smile on your face. I've probably ordered a few hundred of them from Awaji and every one of them was amazing. I always compare every Dynamite Sauce to theirs - and most fail... I could never get their recipe out of them but after trying and trying this one comes really close.



All of these items can be found in any Asian market... If you can't find (or don't want to use) the Kewpie, Kraft or Hellman's will work - canola or lite mayo's won't...

1/2 cup Kewpie Mayo
2 Tbsp Sriracha
Sesame oil, just a few drops will do

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. That was hard wasn't it...

There are many uses for this sauce, but my main use is on top of a California roll in what I call a Shrimp Volcano Roll. I mix the sauce with diced cooked shrimp and broil it on a sheet of tin foil for a few minutes. Then I spoon it on top of the roll. It's good, it's very good - But that's another video...

Sushi on!

~Nikko

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Pancakes

I have two recipes I use for making pancakes. Both have been tried and trued over many years. The one here is the one that produces very good pancakes, and I share with anyone who asks for it - the other however falls into the secret files, and I'm not sharing...

1 1/2 Cups Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Sugar
2 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 Egg
1 Cup Milk
3 Tbsp Butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for cooking
Softened butter, for serving
Warmed Maple syrup, for serving

Sift the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder into a large bowl. Whisk together the milk, egg, and butter in a small bowl. Make a well into the flour and add in the wet mixture. Whisk everything together well, but do not over mix. It shouldn't take you more than 30-40 strokes to bring it all together well. If there are a few lumps - leave them be they will work themselves out. Bring a griddle (or large saute pan) to a medium head and add a spot of butter. Once the butter has melted coat the bottom of the pan. It's always good to start with a test pancake to make sure your temperature is at the right level (this will vary per pan) - the good thing here is if it's good you can eat it, and if not give it to the dog... You can make your pancakes any size you want, but I almost always go with a 1/4 cup of batter. Once you have your batter in the pan just leave it alone until bubbles form on top and a few of them pop. Once they have popped it's time to flip. Carefully flip them over and cook the other side - this will not take as long as the first side. If you need to store them before serving put your oven on it's lowest serving and store them on a hotel pan under a towel until you're ready to serve. Serve with butter, jelly, syrup, etc... Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Cooking & Eating!

~Nikko

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Cornbread Stuffing

So I made one homemade stuffing that knocked everyone's socks off so I thought I would try my hand at another. Cornbread stuffing has always been a favorite of mine and I'm glad I finally tried it. The only thing I would have done differently in this recipe would be to add some sausage to it.

1 Recipe for cream corn cornbread (http://cookingmywayvideo.blogspot.com/2009/11/creamed-corn-cornbread.html)
1 Cup Celery, diced
1 Cup Carrots, diced or sliced
1/2 Cup Red Onion, diced
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
Chicken Stock, enough to make it all nice and moist
2 Tbsp Butter
Thyme
Marjoram
Sage
Cayenne pepper, pinch
Chipotle pepper, pinch
Salt
Pepper

Start by prepping up the veg. Melt a few tablespoons of butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the veg and a healthy pinch of salt to start the sweating process. While the veg is doing its thing, cut the cornbread into inch or so cubes. Be careful when cutting the cornbread because it's quite delicate. Just like in the last stuffing recipe - For the seasoning - I'm going to ask you to add amounts of these that make you happy. Start by adding a heavy pinch of the thyme, marjoram, and sage, and a small pinch of the cayenne and chipotle. Start small and add until it gives you a smell that you like. Once mine started smelling like a nice stuffing mix I stopped. I probably ended up with a few teaspoons of each (a little heaver on the thyme but that's just because I love thyme). You will want to cook this for about 5 minutes or just until everything starts to get a bit soft. Add about a cup of chicken stock to the pan and let it warm up. Once finished add the the bread bowl and carefully fold everything together well. Add enough stock to moisten everything well. Once you have a happy mixture, put into a baking dish and bake at 350 for an hour.

Again next time I make this I'm going to add some nice country sausage to the mix. It was good as it was, but that would have made it a lot better...

Happy Cooking & Eating!

~Nikko

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Chicken & Broccoli for One

It was just me eating tonight - I didn't want cereal, and I didn't want to go to the store - So I set out to see what I could find... I found pasta, a chicken breast, broccoli, red onion, and some garlic - I had dinner!

1 Chicken breast, cubed
1/4 Red Onion, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, bashed (skin removed)
1 Cup Broccoli
1 Cup Pasta, or more if you're really hungry
2 Tbsp Olive oil
2 tsp Herbs de Provence
Salt
Pepper

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package. Heat a saute pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil. Let the olive oil come to temperature then add the garlic. Fry the garlic for two minutes to flavor the oil, then remove and discard. Add the onion to the pan with a pinch of salt. Cook for 1 minute. Mix the chicken with the Herbs de Provence then add to the pan. Cook until the chicken is cooked all the way through - about 5 minutes or so. Once the chicken is done cooking add the broccoli and cook until it is tender. If you wish you can add a bit of fresh grated parm. Plate, Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Cooking & Eating!

~Nikko

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