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!

Nostalgia Time!

I don't know why, but I woke up and  was feeling all 80's and shit.

Has anyone every cruised down the block in one of these?

My mom used to sport the shit out of the old Delta 88.  Oldsmobiles, I miss them so.

Now it wouldn't be a proper cruise with mom if we weren't blasting some of this.

Did my jeans look like this?

Fuck yeah they did, now crank the Benatar!

The tornadoes this weekend.

As a blogger I tried to get some cool storm video by pointing my shitty camera out the window.  I'm here in the Chicago area and of course we had warnings all day.  Being underneath Lake Michigan I seem to always have a buffer.  At first I was pissed that I didn't get any cool footage as the storms always seem to go above or below me.  After watching this I realize, I'm lucky not to be in the open plains.

My heart and prayers go out to all of those who suffered from this weekends violent tornadoes.

The least I can do is give you a small motivational video.  I would love to hear stories from anyone who follows me that went through this tragic ordeal.

My thoughts on Facebook.

It's one of those Lazy Sundays.

There's been talk about rain for the weekend but so far, sunny skies and low 80's with a slight wind.  Perfect!

That aside I want to talk a bit about Facebook.

I think my first experience with Facebook was about two years ago when a friend of mine sent me an E-mail that was viewable via a Facebook sign up.  Great job by the way.  My nostalgia kicked in and of course I agreed.

So now I'm in, time to friend..  Oh yeah I remember that dude, -friend-, talked to her once I think, -friend-, and then of course there are the people you see everyday, yep, friend them.

OK there might actually be people on here who I used to hang out with and kind of lost touch..  For me this is why I'm still on Facebook. I really don't give a fuck that you just got up and had coffee, but it's cool when a random old friend posts something like this..

How to make great baby back ribs.

Hey guys, it's Saturday and the world didn't end so I'm going to celebrate with some great baby back ribs.  This is such a simple recipe that I have came up with over the years.  I'm so excited to get to share it with you.

You will need:

1 slab of baby back ribs, preferably fresh from the butcher, stay away from the shrunk rap injected stuff.

1 container of McCormick Grill Mates Pork Rub.

1 can of Heineken, most liquor stores sell a 24 ounce, so use half and enjoy the rest.

1 bottle of Sweet Baby Rays Original.

The first thing you will need to do is preheat your oven to 225 degrees.
Now place your ribs in a nice size glass cooking pan.  You will need to remove the silver skin from the back of the ribs.  I do this by using a paper towel and a knife, just pry up a little piece and grasp it firmly with the paper towel and carefully peel it all off.

You're almost done now...  From here take your McCormick Rub and liberally cover both sides. Don't be afraid to really get it on there.

With the meaty part up in the pan.  pour the can of  Heineken into the glass pan and cover with, aluminum foil.  
Place the ribs in the oven and leave alone, for 1 hr. 45 mins.  Take them out once and baste the shit out of them. Now liberally add the Baby Rays, return to the oven covered for one more hr.  Turn the heat off, remove foil and let sit in oven for 20 mins.  That's it.

I have tried many different variations of these and this is the one I always return to, I hope everyone enjoys.

Nice Peter

I haven't featured any YouTubers in a while.

This is Nice Peter, I discovered him about a year ago and his one of the few channels I check out on a regular basis.

Here is one of his better videos.
www.youtube.com/nicepeter

Steak Fajita's

Yes!  It is steak fajita time.  The Indian food kick was cool, but I have some time off, good weather is on the horizon and it's time to grill.

Here is what I use for my marinade:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup real soy sauce, I use kikoman
6 cloves garlic, crushed, minced.
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 limes, juice em.
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dill

I use skirt steak, pick up a nice slab, doesn't matter what size, there is more than enough marinade here.  Now throw this baby in the marinade for about 4 hrs turning once and hour.  The best method is to just use a long glass cooking dish.

I've seen some recipes where people pan fry this meat.  For shame, you must grill this beutiful piece of meat.  I wouldn't recommend going over medium rare. 

Obviously throw some onion, red, and green pepper on with the steak.

The key here is really in the marinade and please for the love of god make sure you cut against the grain.  From here just assemble with some good local or homemade flour tortillas and enjoy!