Mushroom Chicken...

I've made different versions of this dish for a while now, but I think this simple version is my favorite. The dish takes little effort on your part. It's rather flexable what you serve it with - most veggies will go with it, and it's good with rice or pasta...

2 Chicken breasts
3-4 Shallots, small dice
1/2 Lb mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 Tbsp butter, unsalted only please
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Cups chicken stock
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp thyme, dried - or 2 tsp fresh
Salt
Pepper, fresh ground please

Heat a medium sized saute pan to a medium heat, and add the butter and olive oil.. Once the butter has melted, add the shallots and a pinch of salt; let cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Once the shallots are happy add the mushrooms, thyme, and another small pinch of salt - stir will. Let the mushrooms cook for about 5 minutes or until they start to brown. When the mushrooms have browned add the Dijon and the chicken stock, stir well. Add the chicken and cook covered until the chicken is 75% done - turn the chicken over half way through the cooking. Remove the cover and reduce the liquid to about a half cup. Serve - Eat - Enjoy...

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

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Curried Egg Salad Bagel

The first time I had a curried egg salad was 1996. I remember this because I had just bought a house down the street from a good bagel joint. One day I ordered an egg salad bagel and he had put curry in it. I loved it! I've been making curried egg salad ever since. This is an easy sandwich to make and is good anytime of the day...



Start with a dang good bagel. My favorite bagels come from Ray's Bagels. They're made by Just Bagels in Brooklyn. They're fantastic...












Toast the bagel...

I use Penzeys Spices - They're the best I've found and they're cheaper than what I get in the market... You can use a sweet or hot curry powder...
www.penzeys.com and tell them cookingmyway.com sent you!

Cut up a few hard boiled eggs. I'm not going to go through the process of making boiled eggs here because we'll get to that in another post.

Start with a teaspoon of the curry powder then go from there to get the taste you want.








Mix in a few tablespoons of mayo. You can make your own mayo for this (it would be really good I assure you), but I get mine from Kraft...














Wash and dry some nice lettuce. Put a few pieces on the bottom of the bagel.













Top with the egg salad...

The finished sandwich...
It's quite messy to eat so get a fork and a few napkins... It's well worth it though...

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

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Cliff from Just Bagels

Beef Wellington

The origin of the name is unclear... But the goodness that comes from making the dish is known by all who has tried it (if you tried it and didn't like it then there could be something wrong with you). Beef Wellington is the combination of beef tenderloin, pate (which I opt not to use), duxelles, all wrapped up in a puff pastry... I've seen some recipes include wrapping the coated meat in a crepe to retain the moisture and prevent it making the pastry soggy - but I've yet to try that but it sounds like a good idea... Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

The Beef Tenderloin

Start with good meat. These came from my local market. Trim off any fat (if there is any), and give them a nice salt and peppering. You will want to sear these off on a grill or a rocket hot pan. Depending on your desired doneness you can throw them in the oven for 10 min or so to cook them a bit - I like mine medium...

Duxelles

1 lb mushrooms, chopped
3 Tbsp butter, unsalted please
1 Shallot, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or can use fresh)
1/4 Cup Dry vermouth, sherry, or white wine
Salt
Pepper

Pulse the mushrooms and shallot in a food processor until you get a fine dice but not a paste. Put the mushroom mixture into a clean towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Heat a large (10-inch) non-stick skillet over a burner set between medium and medium-high. Add in 1.5 tablespoons of the butter and let it melt. Add mushrooms, shallots, a pinch of salt, a pinch of black pepper, and thyme. In about five minutes the mushrooms will start to seem dry and will start to brown. Stir in the remaining butter, then once incorporated add the vermouth, sherry, or wine. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vermouth has evaporated. Remove from the pan and let cool.

Puff The Magic Pastry

Feel free to make your own but I buy my from Pillsbury... Thaw the pastry according to the package.

Assemble

Add a base of the mushrooms to the center of the pastry, then put on the beef. Top with more mushrooms. fold over the longer sides, brushing with a simple egg wash (1 egg 1 Tbsp water) to seal. Trim the ends if necessary and brush with egg wash and fold over to completely seal the beef. Save the ends to use as a decoration on top if desired. Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash then make a couple of slits in the top of the pastry using the tip of a paring knife. I find that you will have a crisper crust if you put in a few vents - letting the steam escape makes since right? Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until pastry is golden brown. Remove from oven and rest before serving. You can use an instant read thermometer to test the doneness of of the meat.

Medium-Rare	145 °F
Medium	155 °F
Medium-Well	165 °F
Well Done	170 °F

The finished dish...

This is really easy to do. It's one of my favorites...

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

P.S. - I have a video for this dish but really need to remake it... It's long and the video quality sucks...

Angel's Dining Car - Palatka, Florida

Hamburger love... Angel's Dining Car is just that - an old converted railway train car. Angel's is the oldest diner in Florida - it opened in 1932. Angel's is decorated on the inside with a 1950's decor with a old time jukebox, 50's records on the wall and they still offer drive in service.

The food is freaking amazing - Hamburgers available from .25 pound to a whopping 1 pound! (the photo below is a half pound burger) They also have great fries, onion rings, fried okra, hand dipped shakes, and other traditional diner food. To me half the fun of Angel's is the ride there. From where I live you can take nice wooded country roads to get there.

If you're in North Florida it's worth the trip over to Palatka to give them a try...

They're open 7 days a week 24 hours a day...

Angel's Dining Car
209 Reid St
Palatka, FL 32177-3729
(386) 325-3927

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

Mexican Food - Talahassee Florida

Some of my favorite places to eat are hole in the wall restaurants. As you can see this little 8x5 pull behind falls into that category. I was driving to a meeting when I passed this gem parked in a gas station lot. I spied it out of the corner of my eye and had to turn around to give it a shot. The only bad thing is, out of all the times I've been back I can never find this place! Since it's on wheels it's easy to move and OMG I want more so dang badly! If you know how to get a hold of them please let me know!



I have said below that there is quite a difference between Tex-Mex and Mexican food. Although you can make a mole in 2 hours - it takes 2 days to make a proper mole. Although you can smother your tacos in the Kraft or Sargento Mexican blend cheese - they wouldn't do it in Mexico. There are many others and I'm working on a blog to point out some of the big differences I've experienced. When I talk about Mexican food I'm talking about eating outside of Cancun & Cozumel - most of the food these places is more Americanized... Anyway click the photo and you can see what their menu was like - 100% Yum.




There was quite the language barrier when it came to ordering - my Spanish is quite horrible, and she didn't speak a lick of English. It all worked out though and I got exactly what I wanted.











My lunch: This was 100% fantastic. Sour cream, and a roasted salsa accompanied my gordita and taco. One was chicken (bock bock bock is how I ordered it) and the other was beef (moooo for that one)...

100% goodness...

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

CurrySimple...

www.ILoveCurrySimple.com
www.CurrySimple.com

I love the CurrySimple products. I've yet to try one that wasn't good. No, it is not as good as making the same dish from scratch, but when I come home tired from work and I have a taste for Thai you can not beat it! They really do take the thought process out of making a dang good Thai dish...

A long long time ago I had seen a CurrySimple podcast and became interested in the product. It was a long time after that, that I found it on a shelf of my local Whole Foods. I bought the Green Curry and gave it a shot. Like I normally do I made a video recipe - I submitted the recipe to the www.ILoveCurrySimple.com site and the rest is history - I've done 4 or 5 videos with the products now and have 3 more in the can.

The CurrySimple Pad Thai Sauce makes life so much easier - and it's amazing without any fuss... I've tried to make Pad Thai a few times and failed hard - there's just too much to put in there... With the sauce it came out as good as I've ever had in any restaurant. I've made it quite a few times now and it's always been really good. I'm on my second order...

Anyway, if you like Thai food check them out...

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

Cutting A Bell Pepper

There's not much to say here but to watch the video and do not cut yourself! Always use a sharp knife - It makes your cutting job easier, and will reduce accidents!

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Beefy King - Orlando, Florida

I've never been here but I get a kick out of the sign every time I drive past it. The Beefy King is located in Orlando, Florida. I've had a few clients tell me it's really good, but I've yet to make the stop - One of these days I most certainly will - and I'll let you know what I think.

Their website said they opened for business in 1967 but for some reason the sign says 1968... I'm too lazy to email or call to find out the real number - not that it really matters...

If you've ever been here leave a comment and let us know what you think!

www.beefyking.com

424 N. Bumby Ave.
Orlando, FL 32803-6028
407-894-2241

10 am-3 pm Monday-Friday; 11 am-3 pm Saturday;
Closed Sunday

Steak, Mushroom Pate, & Spinach Sandwich

I love me a good Sandwich. There's just so many possibilities...

This all came together while walking through Costco. Had the baguettes in the cart - saw the steak and that sounded good - the spinach was next and I've been thinking of a mushroom pate for a while - they all worked together quite well...

Start With A Nice Baguette

The baguette came from Costco - they have pretty dang good bread products there; if you've never tried them you should...

Add Some Dijon Mustard

Just your average Dijon mustard - could use just about anything here I guess (well maybe not standard yellow mustard)

Pile On Some Fresh Spinach

Washed and uncooked spinach - gave a nice crunch and mix of textures...










A Nice Helping Of A Simple Mushroom Pate

The mushroom pate was very simple - normally I'd go with a pound of mushrooms, 1 small onion, 2 cloves garlic, thyme, splash of cognac, butter, half and half or cream cheese - cook all but the cream or cheese them blitz them all together to the consistency you want...

Lay On The Steak

I used flank steak. It sat in some beer, garlic, salt, pepper, dash of cumin. Grilling it would be best but this was done in a pan on t he stove...

Steak, Mushroom Pate, & Spinach Sandwich

This was one for the keeper pile - it was freaking amazing...

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

Foodie Thoughts...

A healthy diet is not about avoiding pleasures, it is about an orderly moderation that makes the appetite subservient to welfare.

~Plutarch

Skyline Chili

I love Skyline Chili. The only problem is that the closest one to me is some 300 miles away. That's actually probably a good thing or I would go there almost every day and weigh 300 pounds. They're recipe comes from my country of Greece (and no that's not the only reason I like it). The chili has a fantastic flavor. Some markets sell cans of the chili or you can find it in some frozen sections. You can get it directly from the Skyline website too. www.skylinechili.com I've always thought it was cool that they severed it over pasta. I can still remember going in for the first time when I was a 13 or so with my mother - I remember thinking - Pasta, Chili, Cheese what could be wrong with that - NOTHING was the answer. I fell in love after the first bite. There are multiple ways you can order your chili:

The 3-Way - Spaghetti, chili, and shredded cheddar cheese. (My favorite)

The 4-Way - A 3-Way with diced onions or red beans

The 5-Way - A 3-Way with diced onions and red beans

Chili Spaghetti - Spaghetti and chili only

I've met some people who are pretty passionate about the way they order their Skyline chili. I have only had the 3-way - It's so dang good why go anywhere else? It just can't get any better by adding anything to it...

They do have some pretty dang good coneys - mini hot dogs covered with the chili and cheese...

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Sitting at the counter watching them make the goods...



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Here is a recipe that will get you pretty close to what they make.

2 lbs ground beef
2 cups chopped onions
4 cups beef stock
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2-3 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 ounce grated unsweetened chocolate or 2 3/4 Tbsp cocoa
2 tsp instant minced garlic
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground red pepper or cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 bay leaf or 1/8 tsp bay leaf powder

Directions

Brown ground beef and onion, once cooked drain well. Add the beef stock to beef mixture and simmer 10 minutes. Add remaining 13 ingredients, simmer uncovered 1 hour. Remove bay leaf, skim off extra fat. Serve over hot spaghetti, or hot dogs in buns for chili dogs. Top with plenty of cheese and other optional toppings.

The Chopped Brisket Sandwich from Woody's BBQ

I love ribs, but I'm pretty picky as to the ribs I will eat. I usually reserve that for just a few places in town or my own... Normally when I go out to a BBQ joint I order a chopped brisket sandwich with a side of slaw.









Step 1 - order 1 Brisket sandwich & 1 side of slaw - Make sure to ask for it on Texas Toast instead of a bun - It makes it better that way (don't argue just accept)...



















Step 2 - Remove sandwich 'lid' and dump slaw on top of sandwich - discard slaw bowl

Step 3 - Replace the sandwich lid - Roll up your sleeves - Eat & Enjoy...

If you ask me this is the only way to eat a Chopped Brisket Sandwich... If you like BBQ sauce (which I'm not all that fond of) pour it on before you add the slaw...

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

Yes, it's ok to play with your food as long as you take photos of it, and eat it afterwards...

It made the little one laugh so that's good enough for me :)

Weber Grill Restaurant Chicago

How horrible is this - the only place I could go to take an update class I needed to take last year was in Chicago... Poor me right?

In the same hotel I was staying in was the Weber Grill Restaurant. I had seen a few spots about them on TV and had always wanted to check it out. I was just amazed at the size of those huge grills they used (modified Weber Ranch models) - they're ginormous! Many moons ago I inquired about a franchise, but they said they had no plans on ever franchising the concept.

Anyhoo, The food was good - It wasn't jump up and down fantastic but it was good. I had their ginger-soy marinated skirt steak with smoky grilled onions and peppers. The steak had a good flavor and it was cooked perfectly - I'd order it again if I went back. The mashers were so rich I could only handle a few bites - really I think there was a stick of butter and a cup of cream in that little portion.

One of the people with me ordered their big G's warm dutch apple pie and it looked quite amazing. I didn't try it but she said every bite was wonderful...

My favorite part of the experience was watching them work the grills. I'd suggest going if you have the time...

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko




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Biscuitville - Raleigh, North Carolina

My family has a house up in the Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina area. It's truly beautiful up there in the summer. There are some really good foodie joints in the area and one of my favorite breakfast spots is Biscuitville.


My favorite thing about Biscuitville is that they make a fresh batch of biscuits every 20 minutes! How cool is that? They have a variety of options to go in the biscuit, but they're quite good on their own or with butter or a drizzle of honey. As you can see from the photo on that day I had a smoked sausage one... If you're in the area (or anywhere near one) I would stop by and give them a try...

www.biscuitville.com

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

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Roasted Chicken Salad

A good chicken salad doesn't have to be time consuming. Once nice thing about making chicken salad is that you can put a wide variety of items into the mixture (think broccoli and shredded zucchini).

One evening chicken salad just sounded good. I went to the market and picked up a roasted chicken (the easiest place to start), and apple, celery, some spicy mustard, and arugula for the base.

1 Roasted chicken, white meat removed and chopped fine - will give you a few cups
1 Cup celery diced
1 Cup apple diced
.5 Cup red onion diced
Mayo
1 tsp spicy mustard
Arugula
Salt
Pepper

Start by removing the white meat from the chicken. You can use the dark meat if you want - that's up to you. Dice up the celery and apple. Put all into a bowl and add a few tablespoons of mayo at a time. You can put in as much mayo as you like - I prefer my chick salad to be somewhat on the dryer side. Add the spicy mustard and mix all together well. You can add some nice red onion to the mix - I just forgot it and didn't have any in the house - I did not let that stop me it was still really good! This is good on a salad like I did here or in a sandwich...

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Julia Child Videos on PBS

Wanna see some Julia Child videos? Follow the link below to see some selected videos on PBS.org

http://video.pbs.org/program/1073557581/

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

Tandoori Red

I'm excited to say I found an exciting new product!

Tandoori Red is an Indian Tandoori sauce that's officially a Chicken Wing and BBQ Sauce, but I can only imagine that it's good on just about anything you can think of (ok maybe not jello but you get the point).

I just got in the few bottles I bought from the site and I'm excited to see what I can come up with. I'll be doing photos and a video of each recipe and will have them up here shortly!

Until then...

You can find their website here: http://tandoorired.com

You can Tweet them here: http://twitter.com/tandoorired

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

Redneck Eggs Benedict

I love breakfast... Just so many ideas to try...

It was the 5th of July when this creation came to mind. On the 4th of July I normally go over to my buddy Tom's house bright and early and we cook enough BBQ to feed an army. The day starts off with me making enough biscuits and gravy to feed everyone and anyone who cares to have some breakfast - Then it's cases of ribs in the smoker, beer bum chicken on the grill(s), gallons or beans - slaw - tater salad all made from scratch - I'm getting hungry just thinking about it... Anyway, this was the day after and I had brought home a few racks of ribs that were left over. Eggs Benedict sounded really good, but then I saw the bottle of Redneck Pepper sitting there and Redneck Eggs Benedict came to life.

Plain white toast instead of an English muffin or a crumpet
Nice smoked rib meat off the bone instead of Canadian bacon
A fried egg with a dose of Redneck Pepper instead of a gentle poached egg
And last but not least a healthy covering of your favorite hot sauce instead of hollandaise

I had thought about making an extra spicy hollandaise but thought just hot sauce would be more redneck - and I don't think hollandaise would really work here...

4 Slices of white bread, toasted
1-2 Cup(s) warmed rib meat
4 Eggs, fried
Redneck Pepper (www.redneckpepper.com)
Hot sauce

big yum...

Foodie Wisdom...

Socrates said you should eat to live; not live to eat. I live by that statement, but as a serious foodie, I do spend a lot of time thinking about foodie things...

Bon Appetit...

~Nikko