Punkin relaxing

All of you have been so great and I appreciate you feedback.  This is my cat Punkin.  Please give me your feedback according to her eyes and body language.

If you have questions on her environment feel free to ask.  I'm interested hear what you guys think.

Pierogi Festival in Whiting

Some of you may have heard of the Pierogi Fest from the food network or other travel shows.  Having grown up in Northwest Indiana (Da Region) it's just been something I've always known about.  I used to go on Fridays and mingle with the massive crowds for the parade.  That was always fun but this year I experienced it in one of the best ways possible.

A friend of mine had a friend 3 blocks away from the main drag on 119th street so free parking for us. She lived on this beautiful street.  It's the last cobblestone street in Whiting.  I took a picture as we were on our way.  We went tonight around 9.  They close at 10 and there are some huge advantages to this. First of all you get to avoid the massive crowds.  Secondly the vendors are closing down so they give you some great deals on food.

We started out with 3 Pierogis.  A buddy of mine split an order of six pierogis for 5 dollars.  Two mushroom, two kraut, and two potato.  They were from a local bar on 119th street and were amazing, the mushroom being the big win of the night.

There is a great Serbian booth that does great cevaps and kabobs.  Now here is where getting there late can be great.  They had three kabobs left that were sitting in a pool of the most delicious juice.  I was able to snatch them for the price of two and share with our entire party.  Sadly, the lady in front of me had got the deal of the night on the last of the cevaps.  She grinned at me in a good way, but I understood.  Man if I had only been there two minutes earlier.

Well know it's crunch time so I had to get some to go orders in.  They are great at preparing to go stuff, so no worries on a good take home container.  I picked up a dozen potato and a dozen meat.

The great thing here is that we were able to enjoy a great walk down the strip, eat some great food and get in and out in under an hour.  Don't get me wrong spending a day here is fine as there is music and plenty of liquor.  They have beer tents and they actually allow you to buy booze out of the liquor stores on 119th.  I've seen it both ways, but it's nice to know how to make a quick enjoyable visit out such a large festival.

Wolf Lake

Here is some video I took on Wolf Lake before Pat Benatar's show in Hammond at The Festival of the Lakes.

Anyone hungry for some wolf?

Wolves are pretty hungry.  

Oh Duran..... Duran.....

The best meatballs

Here is my absolute favorite recipe for Meatballs, this is a 100 yr old recipe and would make for a great addition to this weekends festivities. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground chuck
• 4 ounces dried bread crumbs
• 4 large eggs
• 4 ounces whole milk
• 6 ounces grated Romano
• 3 ounces grated Spanish onion
• 2 ounces finely diced fresh garlic
• 2 ounces finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 2 ounces finely chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. If mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs.

Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Place into preheated oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!

James Brown 1972

 

Hey guys and girls!

1. I've been on a blog vacation for the last week and for this I am so sorry.

1. There are some great recipes coming up as well as a really cool restaurant review.  I know most of you aren't local so I'm looking to hook up with some foodie bloggers from all of the major cities.

1. Until then here is some James..

The Best Turkey Burger

Let me start by saying I'm not a huge fan of Turkey.  Yeah I know it's tradition and we have great connections to the bird.

I'm sure this is why until recently I haven't prepared or even tried a Turkey Burger.

Most grocers should have ground turkey.  I found it in a 85/15 mix.  Yeah, didn't know it would be rated like ground beef.

From here I could give you a plenty of ideas but I did a cumin based burger.  They pack up much better than a traditional beef burger.  I put the over some charcoal and got this.

I have to say it was really good for my first try.  I wouldn't dare to give a recipe until I have perfected some... Turkey meatballs??

There is definitely promise here..  I can't forget to give a nod to the very first Turkey Burger I ever had.

That's a Burger in the South Side, Still the best!

They have beef burgers as as well.

Thanks for 400!

Come Original guys!

Thanks for following,

The next post is up to you guys.  Give me some ideas as to what you would like to see me make.  I'm not looking to do something stupid, so don't ask me to cook bugs or any other dumb shit like that.  I'll consider all serious requests.

Thanks again!

-=Q

Four Hundred Follower Mission.

I want to start by saying how great you guys are!

You guys are great!

All kidding aside, I'm doing chicken wings on the grill and then roasting some Mexican corn.

I know you guys have already seen the recipes..

J.B. for your troubles.

O Taste & See Cafe Turkey Burger and Seasoned Potatoes.

Hey guys I'm going to review a hidden Gem that I found in Highland Indiana.

My boss had mentioned he met  a nice lady who ran a small cafe.  As it wasn't far at all, I figured I'd give the new place a try for lunch.  I was greeted warmly and told about the specials and the free internet.  There are comfy couches in here so if you want to hang out and surf, no problem. After looking at the menu which included panini sandwiches, Italian beef, wraps, salads and much more,  (I'll get a menu uploaded in a future edit.)  I decided on the turkey buger with seasoned potatoes.

Now guys the food here is made from scratch, so it wont hit you at fast food speeds.  I was informed that they were going to make the potatoes first and then make the burger.  I took a seat and listened to some really relaxing upbeat music that they pipe through.  As they were cooking my burger they asked what I wanted on it.  "Tomato, lettuce and onion please.. should I grill the onions?  Yes that would be great."  A few minutes later and my order was ready to go.  The owner made a point to show me what it looked like before packing it in my to go container.  Which I thought was great because she knew how good it looked.

I love the fact that everything was made so fresh. Kudos to these guys, I cant wait to go back and try something new, although the turkey burger and potatoes where so good, I'll probably get that one more time before I do.

They have all sorts of cafe drinks, I haven't tried them yet.  I'll get their drink and lunch menu up tomorrow.

You can find out all about this place at their Facebook page below.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/O-Taste-See-Cafe/200985149912030?sk=wall

Here are the menus...

I'm having lunch here tomorrow.

Chicken Wings at home.

Everybody loves wings.  Well maybe not, but I do, so I wanted to make them at home.  It turns out that they are not that hard to make and because they will be fresh they will likely blow away what you are used to.

Here is what I did...

I'm not a fan of the frozen prepared wings.  Fresh is best,.

I'm a huge fan of the drumette so I picked up  a pack of them and a nice size package of whole wings.  The ranch is for dipping and the hot sauce, corn starch, and teriyaki will make the glaze.

Let's begin...

The drumettes are good to go.  Now it's time to cut the whole wings.  Trial and error taught me the easiest way to cut them.. before we go forward, please have a sharp knife.  I bought a simple diamond sharpener for around $20.  It's great for old knifes that have been letting you down.

Here is a quick video on how to cut your wings.

Now that you have all of your wings cut up it's time to fry them up.  I use a nice size skillet with a cup and a half of vegetable oil.  Heat the oil on medium high for 5 to 7 minutes and put down a nice layer.

Let the wings cook for a good 10 minutes and flip.  You should have a good brown as seen above.

They need another 10.  Just let them be and when they are done remove them to a good draining area, I just use a paper bag as it is perfect for this application.

From here you can make any type of sauce that you want.

We are going to do Spicy Teriyaki!

Yeah I know but it works really well.  

This is half a bottle of the hot sauce and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch.

and then a half bottle of the teriyaki sauce.

Hand mix and you will get this.

After your wings have drained, just mix with your sauce. 

Great wings were had by all.

There are a few more methods, I'll show you guys in the future, this is one of my favorites.

Punkin got all mad because she didn't get a wing.

Fresh wings are the best wings.  I hope you guys enjoy!

-=Q

Morel Mushrooms

Morels are bad ass! 

Morel mushrooms are such a bitch to find fresh as they can't be farmed.  

Yeah, I know you can order them fresh or dried as a chef.  

There isn't anything wrong with that, but every once in a while you get lucky and they are growing in your yard.

Here was the moon that night.

I love a good fire with friends...

Starter fire.

More Moon!

A little butter and onion.

What should I do next?

Beef Sandwiches.

I am so fricken pumped guys, I just got one of these.

This is an old school Berkel commercial quality meat slicer.  Here is what I did with it for a work function.

I went out and bought a nice top sirloin roast.

You usually can find a nice 4 pound one like this for around $12.

What I like to do is cover it in olive oil, worcestershire sauce, (I use Lee and Perrins), Lawrys Seasoning Salt, galric powder, and some black pepper.

1 hr uncovered at 350 with a half cup of chicken stock, then bring her down to 275 covered for another hr.

Now it's just a matter of letting her cool and getting your thin slice on.  They key guys is to use a nice oven poof glass pan, preferably 9x9 that just allows the roast to fit for maximum au jus.

Mexican Corn on the cob.

Hey guys, I'm so sorry I haven't posted this past week.  I'm back and will be posting on my regular schedule.

Memorial day had my grill overloaded with the typical brats, dogs, burgers, and steaks, but nothing was more memorable than grilled Mexican corn.

I first learned of this dish from a friend of mine who lived in a Mexican neighborhood and used to buy these from street vendors.

Here is what you will need:

1. Fresh sweet corn, the more the merrier.
2. Mayonnaise
3. Butter
4. Paprika
5. Good quality crumbled dry parmesian cheese. (If you have a Mexican grocery store near you get the traditional cotija instead)

I use these because they are fun, but not necessary.

These are really simple to assemble, just grill up the desired amount of corn and get rid of the husks, now load those bad boys into your cute little corn trays and liberally load on the butter, then do the same with the mayo. now load on your cheese and finish with paprika.

You may be saying, "Dude, that sounds crazy." Well so did I.  Believe me these are delicious. Please enjoy one or 4 this weekend.

Great chili recipe.

Hey guys sorry I haven't posted in a few days. After the round of devastating storms, We got a nice cold front. Since it was so cold I decided to make some delicious chili.

This chili is by no means above and beyond, it's just a really good ass chili.  Yeah I'm going to share it with you.

Here are your basic ingredients:

1 - 1.5 pounds of fresh ground chuck, If the butcher is in ask him or her to make you a fresh batch.
2 - 1 nice size yellow onion
3 - 1 full bulb of garlic  (I didn't have this, so I subbed garlic powder)   I assumed, I know...
4- Good chili powder
5 - Good cumin
6 - salt
7 - pepper
8 - 12 ounce can of crushed tomato - or 12 ounces of fresh tomatos.
9 - 1 can of kidney beans
10- 1 can of pinto beans
11- 1 can of tomato sauce
12 - small can of tomato puree
13- good olive oil
14- nice balsamic vinegar

This is obviously a guideline as chili is, well chili, so it can be whatever you want it to be.

Here is how I did it...

First I diced up the onion and threw it in with a couple dashes of olive oil.

After the onions are nice and warm, throw in the chuck.

Now it's time to let these two have a great marriage.

Now that they are joined together, it's time to add everything else and let them turn into delicious chili.

At this point you ad all of the tomato ingredients and seasoning.  How much?  Well it's chili so here is where it is about tasting.  Remember you have, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Work with it until you get a flavor you like.

Now that you have your flavor profile, add your beans, or don't, this is optional, not all chili has to have beans.

I like the beans, so I did add them.  It's all about flavor guys, so with chili you can really test what you do and don't like.  Try this base out and let me know how you have extended it.

Thanks everyone!