Recipe - Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 Cups all purpose flour
4 Tbsp. Sugar
4 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
2 Large Eggs
3 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1/4 Tsp. Fresh Nutmeg
1/8 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
Milk - Add enough to make a pourable batter

Preparation:
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, and whisk to combine.
Add the wet ingredients, breaking the yolks on the eggs once they're in the bowl.
Whisk gently until the ingredients are well mixed. Add more milk if necessary.
Let the batter sit for about 5 minutes, untouched. Bubbles will start to form in the batter. This is good.
Ladle the batter onto a heated griddle.
Cook at medium heat, flipping once the edges of the cake start to bubble.

You're Going to Need:
A goodly-sized bowl

Serves:
Makes about 20 4" cakes.

Recipe - Beef Jerky - Honey Teriyaki

Ingredients:
4 London Broils - Trim external fat, freeze slightly
2 Quarts Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
10 Oz. Honey, heated in microwave for about 15 seconds
12 Oz. Teriyaki Sauce
1 Tbs. Hoisin Sauce
10 Shakes Liquid Smoke

Preparation:
Whisk all of the ingredients except the London Broils in a large (about 6 quart) container.
Slice the slightly frozen meat into thin strips, preferably on a meat slicer. Make sure the slices are uniform.
Combine the meat with the marinade, and let sit the refrigerator for a minimum of two days. Stir or shake occasionally.
Lay out the marinaded slices in your dehydrator, and dry to the preferred texture. On my Excalibur dehydrator, this takes about 6 hours at 115 degrees.

You're Going to Need:
A Meat Slicer (Optional, but well worth it)
A Dehydrator
A Large, preferably covered container

Serves:
Depending on the cuts of meat, makes about 4 lbs of finished jerky

Tip - Collagen Casings

I may be a bit late to the party on collagen casings, however, they don't make good linked sausages. The ends don't stay twisted. For linked, unfortunately, you may have to go with natural...

Recipe - Homemade Italian Sausage - Hot

Update 2009-04-14: I've gotten some feedback on this recipe - apparently it's not all that hot, so, if you like it spicy, consider adding more Red Pepper Flakes, Cayenne Pepper, or both. -- gcF

INGREDIENTS:
Package Collagen Casings - 32mm - 35mm
2 Tablespoons Fennel Seeds
3 Tablespoons Coarse (Kosher) Salt
1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
3 Tablespoons Parsley
1 Tablespoon Red (Cayenne) Pepper
2 Tablespoons Dried Pepper Flakes
1 Teaspoon Sweet Paprika
10-Pound Pork Shoulder

PREPARATION:
Toast the fennel seeds in a skillet until they brown. Set aside to cool.
Grind the fennel seeds and the dried pepper flakes
Cube the pork into 1" Cubes
Toss the cubed pork together with the the spices, refrigerate for at least one hour (more is better)
Grind the seasoned pork through the fine disc on the grinder
Stuff casings to your specifications, I normally stuff them in .25 lb increments

YOU’RE GOING TO NEED:
A Meat Grinder
A Sausage Stuffer (I use Gander Mountain’s Jerky Gun with a #5 Sausage nozzle)
A REALLY Big Bowl
A coffee grinder or mortar and pestle (for the spices)

SERVES:
Using the guidelines above, makes about (40) quarter-pound sausages

Tip - Painter's Tape

Quick tip that you may have already thought of, but, if not...

Keep a roll of blue Painter's Tape and a dual-tip Sharpie(r) in the kitchen for labeling food bags and containers. The tape holds up fine in the fridge and freezer, but pulls off easily when you're done with the container, of if you have to put the container in the oven or microwave.

Simple and effective.

Recipe - Award Winning Chili

Every once in a while, I whip this up and bring it in to work. I get quite a few requests for the recipe, and, it did take third at a chili cook off, so, it can't be all bad, right?

Ingredients:
1 lb lean Ground Beef
1 lb lean Stew Cubes, Cut into ½” cubes
3 Large Bell Peppers
1 Large Can Mushrooms, Drained –or- 1 Small Package, Sliced
2 Large Onions
3 Carrots
1 8 oz. Can Dark Red Kidney Beans, Drained
1 8 oz. Can Light Red Kidney Beans, Drained
1 8 oz. Can Seasoned Chili Beans, NOT Drained
3 Tbs. Onion Flakes
3 Tbs. Cumin
2 Tbs. Chile Powder (Homemade is best!)
3 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper
2 Tsp. Seasoned Salt
2 whole Turkish Bay leaves
1 Small Can Tomato Paste
6 Tbs. Garlic, Minced
12 oz. bottle of lager
Salt

Preparation:
Brown the ground beef slowly with a pinch of salt and 1 Tablespoon each of onion flakes, cumin, chile powder, and cayenne pepper. Drain and set aside.
Brown the beef cubes slowly with a pinch of salt and 1 Tablespoon each of onion flakes, cumin, chile powder, and cayenne pepper. Drain and set aside.
Dice the peppers and onions into half-inch squares.
Peel and then slice the carrots into quarter-inch thick slices.
Combine the remaining ingredients except for the Bay Leaves and lager with the browned beef in the crock pot and stir to distribute everything evenly.
Flatten the top of the mix, and pour the beer evenly over it.
Place the Bay Leaves on top of the mix.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, remove the Bay Leaves before serving.

You're Going to Need:
A Large Crock Pot

Serves:
8-10 Servings, serve over Tortilla Chips, Corn Chips, or Rice

Recipe - Jack Daniel's Glazed Ham

INGREDIENTS
4 to 6 pound spiral-cut ham, pre-cooked
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey
1/3 cup orange juice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 325°.

On a rack in a roasting pan, roast ham, uncovered, for about 20 minutes per pound, or until a meat thermometer reads 140° F.

While the ham is cooking, whisk the remaining ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer over medium low heat for about 15 minutes, or until it begins to thicken.

Brush/pour the glaze over the ham about 20 minutes before done, or when the temperature reads about 125.

YOU'RE GOING TO NEED
A Roasting Pan
A saucepan
A Coffee Grinder or Mortal and Pestle (For the cloves)

SERVES
6 to 8, easily

Recipe - Mac and Cheese

To begin, this is not the old blue-box Mac and Cheese. It takes a while to make, uses damn near every pan in a normal kitchen, and is brutal to clean up after. It also costs more than the GDP of some third-world countries.

It is, however, worth it.

Without further ado...

INGREDIENTS:
2 Lbs. Pasta of Choice (I normally use Large Shells)
8 oz. Can Evaporated Milk – Not sweetened
2 Ham Steaks –diced small, more or less to taste
1 Onion – diced small, more or less to taste
12-16 oz Little Broccoli Florettes
Cheese – Lots of Cheese, Including:
-- Shredded Sharp Cheddar – 4-6 oz.
-- Shredded Gruyere – 2-3 oz.
-- Shredded Mozzarella – 4-6 oz.
-- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano – 2-4 oz.
-- Shredded Swiss – 0-2 oz.
-- Shredded Colby – 2-4 oz.
-- Shredded Monterey Jack – 2-4 oz.
1 Large Egg - Beaten
Bottle Dry White Wine (Like a nice Chardonnay)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste.

PREPARATION:
In the sauté pan, combine the evaporated milk, the salt, pepper, most of the cheese (see below) and the egg, and begin to cook over very low heat. Whisk occasionally to ensure the cheese melts cleanly and smoothly.

Begin heating enough water to cook the 2 lbs. of pasta. Salt the water when it gets hot.

Add the oil to the skillet, and over medium-high heat, caramelize the onions.

Once a light brown, put them in the sauté pan with the cheese mixture.

Add a bit more oil to the skillet, and brown the ham pieces. Once browned, add to the cheese mixture.

Deglaze the skillet with roughly ¼ cup of the wine. Reduce to half its original volume. Once reduced, add the wine to the cheese mixture

When the pasta is about halfway done, add the broccoli to the water with the pasta.

Finish cooking the pasta to a slightly firm al dente texture, and drain.

In the stockpot, combine the fully melted cheese mixture with the pasta and broccoli.

Spatula the pasta/cheese mixture into the large casserole dish. Top with the rest of the cheese.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes

Switch to the broiler, and broil until the top gets a nice, brown crunch to it. Don’t over-broil, as few things in life taste worse than burned cheese.

YOU’RE GOING TO NEED:
A stainless (NOT non-stick!) skillet
A large casserole dish
A large sauté pan
A large stock pot

SERVES:
An army. Seriously, this is a LOT of food.

Tool - The Smoker

A couple of summers ago, I was looking to get into smoking foods, but, when I started pricing smokers, anything of any appreciable size was ridiculously expensive. With that in mind, I built my own.

The frame is standard 2x4 kiln-dried pine, ripped in half on the table saw. The panels are luan, and the racks are cooling racks that I picked up at Wal-Mart for about $3 each. It has a 6-rack capacity, which is enough to smoke about 25-50 lbs of meat at a time.

The two-door design means I don't have to let out heat and smoke to replenish the wood chips, and the heat source consists of two cheap side burners, one is 750 watts, the other is 1500 watts. Firing them both up on a cool day gets the internal temperature to about 120 degrees.

Clicking the picture at the top the page will take you to a gallery of more pictures of the smoker, and other small projects.

Recipe - Homemade Italian Sausage - Sweet

INGREDIENTS:
Package Collagen Casings - 32mm - 35mm
2 Tablespoons Fennel Seeds
3 Tablespoons Coarse (Kosher) Salt
2 Tablespoons Black Pepper
3 Tablespoons Parsley
1 Teaspoon Sweet Paprika
10-Pound Pork Shoulder

PREPARATION:
Toast the fennel seeds in a skillet until they brown. Set aside to cool.
Grind the fennel seeds.
Cube the pork into 1" Cubes
Toss the cubed pork together with the the spices, refrigerate for at least one hour (more is better)
Grind the seasoned pork through the fine disc on the grinder
Stuff casings to your specifications, I normally stuff them in .25 lb increments

YOU’RE GOING TO NEED:
A Meat Grinder
A Sausage Stuffer (I use Gander Mountain’s Jerky Gun with a #5 Sausage nozzle)
A REALLY Big Bowl
A coffee grinder or mortar and pestle (for the spices)

SERVES:
Using the guidelines above, makes about (40) quarter-pound sausages

Recipe - Homemade Kielbasa

INGREDIENTS:
Package of collagen casings - 32mm - 35mm
10 pound bone-in pork shoulder – cut into 1” cubes (remove the bone, first)
1 lb beef chuck or stew cubes – cut into 1” cubes
1 cup water
4 Tablespoons garlic, minced or crushed
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons black or white pepper
2 teaspoons marjoram

PREPARATION:
Grind the meats with the coarse disc on the grinder
Grind the heck out of the marjoram, pepper, and garlic powder
Mix the water with the spices until the salt is dissolved
Add the juicy spice mix to the meat and combine until everything is well-coated
Chill in fridge for at least one hour
Stuff the casings in one-pound increments

Optional: Cure the kielbasa in the refrigerator overnight, and then cold-smoke for several hours. Once smoked, bake it in the oven until it’s cooked.

YOU’RE GOING TO NEED:
A Meat Grinder
A Sausage Stuffer (I use Gander Mountain’s Jerky Gun with a #5 Sausage nozzle)
A REALLY Big Bowl
A coffee grinder or mortar and pestle (for the spices)

SERVES:
Makes (11) 1-pound rings, give or take

Introduction

In addition to infrequently updating my technical blog, http://bpelonwindows.blogspot.com, I've decided to infrequently update yet another blog, this one devoted to cooking, a hobby of mine.

Herein you will find mostly recipes, some examples of what not to do, and maybe the odd picture of my motorcycle (in keeping with the blog's title).

So, thanks for stopping by,

-gcF

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"Tell me what you eat, I'll tell you who you are."
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin