OMG is it only Wednesday? Uggg! This week is drag assin. Well at least I ate good yesterday. A coworker prepared some kickass Oysters Rockefeller. He put them together and I cooked them on the grill. Now normally I would not do this but it was a barbeque so I figured I would try it. It went amazingly. They were delicious. He started by making a sauce of butter, onions, spinach, parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Once the oysters were shucked he put this sauce on top. I “baked” them in a 500 degree barbeque for ten minutes. They were done perfection! He who does not like fish LOVES them. As a matter of fact, he who does not like fish, MADE them! So try um. I will be typing up a real recipe for you to put in the oven ASAP!
Busy day today so I have to run and get to work. Enjoy your food, family and friends!
Yesterday was yet another busy day but at lease I made somthing to eat. Two things actually. The first was an Antipasto Salad. Everyone commented on how large it was for a salad and true technically this is supposed an appetizer. However this was our meal. I usually just eat this and skip the pizza that I purchased to go with it. I also usually have this with beer as it goes very well with it but again alas I skipped the beer.
I did say I made two things and yes I did. Jennifer wanted macaroni and cheese. Not just any mac and cheese either. Not home made mac and cheese but instead she asked for Kraft mac and cheese. She didn’t even want the “deluxe Mac and Cheese” but she insisted it be the orange powder stuff in the blue box!
Sam had company over as I prepared Jennifer’s dinner by boiling a pot of water as they all watched. Sam was making them Nachos while I was making the mac and cheese. I apologized and told them that Jennifer was not feeling well had had the taste of a 5 year-old. They look at me and laughed as they all said WHY? That stuff is delicious. Nothing else tastes like it.
I too had to laugh then. I did not grow up eating this but have learn to enjoy it. I still have to add some “Real” cheddar cheese and a bit of extra milk to get it down. I grew up rarely eating mac and cheese. I forget even now what the main course was when my mother served us the frozen Stouffer’s brand mac and cheese. Back then you had to heat it up in an oven and it took FOREVER. When the our first microwave was finally purchased and I learned how you could heat it up in minutes. I was in my twenty’s by then. Yes, after that, it was what I had for dinner often at 2am. Ahh the college age years. Sometimes I missed them. Well I miss the fact I could eat anything back then and not gain weight or have heartburn all night.
So I envied Sam and his friends who sat and ate there big plate of loaded nachos and watched somthing entertaining on Netflix with iced tea and sodas as I went upstairs to bed carrying two bowls of orange powder mac and cheese that was miraculously transformed into something delicious and comforting for Jennifer to eat and watched bad TV show about 90 day Fiancés . Such is the life of a chef I suppose.
Welcome to Monday. I hope you all had a pleasant weekend. Mine was good with the exception of having to work on a Saturday. It made the weekend go by even faster then usual. I also did NO cooking. Nope. None.
I purchased an Italian hero Saturday night for dinner. Sam had company over and they ate dinner together. Jennifer is still not feeling well and had a few bites of my huge-a-mongo sandwich. Between the two of us we still could not eat the whole thing.
Sam friend Ally is a lovely woman who went to culinary school before attending the same college as Sam now, so I imagine she is into food as much as I am. I could have probably talked her ear off but she was here to hang out with Sam and truth be told, probably didn’t want me talking to her about food all night. She would not be here long, so I left them pretty much alone to watch TV, talk and play some video game.
Sunday was so busy! First, I attended a BSA Scout Court of Honor. I will not bore you with all the details only to that it included Sam’s Eagle Scout ceremony. Congratulations Sam!! I am very happy and proud of you!! We had to rush out of there in the very end and attend a graduation party for our friend’s two sons. They are more like nephews to me and like Jennifer’s own sons as they were all very close when the boys were growing up. Now they are both off to college and we will miss them terribly.
I drank beer at the graduation party on an empty stomach. Then came home to eat the rest of my big sandwich with potato chips. Sam drove. Jen was feeling so badly she only ate some cheese and grapes for dinner. Sam went out to a local restaurant with his friend Ally and had Mexican food. It sounded like it was really good too. I have been there before and will have to eat there soon again and do a review in the very near future.
I feel like I am getting behind on the cookbook and recipes and will have to do some major cooking soon. The summer is winding down and work is winding up so I will run now and leave for work. Have a pleasant day! I have to get more recipes to you soon and I will!
Where did the week go? I’m even a little bummed that it went by SO very fast. I need to take the time and slow down. It just seems I have been so busy lately. The weekend is here and I have a full schedule. I think I’m sad too because Sam is going camping this weekend and won’t be home.
Well that means beef and pork are on the menu since those are two things Sam does not like. Tonight will be a trip to the Babylon Carriage House or as we like to call it, “BCH”. Our friends are back from Florida and it will be nice to see them again. It will also be fun to here all about their wonderful culinary and wine experiences.
Yesterday for lunch we all had tacos (see below). Everyone seemed to like them or they were just being nice and said they did. Either way at least they ate and went back for seconds, so it could not have been terrible.
Last night I didn’t eat anything amazing. After a short early evening Scout meeting, I made plain old cheese ravioli and heated up my left over meatballs and sauce to go with it. We all (Jen, Sam and my mother -in-law) all watched Jeopardy and Samantha Brown’s vacation spots to love. Then we called it a night and went to bed.
Up early this morning to get ready and come to work.
Welcome Wednesday, even if this does not post until Thursday. So, let’s see what I’ve been up to. Lunch was a Chef’s Salad. To make that, I was up early making hard boiled eggs. As you can see by the picture below, even a chef doesn’t always make a perfect hard boiled egg, so don’t beat yourself up if they don’t always come out perfect.
Two eggs had a crack I didn’t see
Last night, I made Jennifer meatballs and spaghetti with garlic bread. You have seen that before. I guess I tend to repeat myself, but heck who can only eat meatballs and spaghetti once a year?
Baked these meatballs in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes
Below is my bottle of olive oil, not a liquor bottle. The pour spout makes pouring out the olive oil a little more controlled then straight from the bottle. Plus, I just think it looks cool sitting on my counter.
Olive oil
Tuesday, I made Brats with sauerkraut. I like my sauerkraut a little “al-dente”, not that mushy stuff from a can. So, I buy mine in a bag and it seems to help, but I have yet to find the stuff they have at good kosher delis. Maybe, I should just make it from scratch?
Monday, I ate at my sister in-law’s. She is an EXCELLENT cook. She made the dish below. They are chicken enchiladas, and they were amazing. The only things that I know are in them is cheese and chicken, duh, and sour cream. Otherwise, I have no clue.
Debbie’s Enchiladas
Tonight is sandwiches. You have to have them for dinner at least once in August during the heat of the summer. The one below is an American hero with roast beef, turkey, ham, lettuce, and tomato. My sister-in-law got me the tomato at a farm stand, and I have been savoring it.
Doesn’t that tomato look yummy?
Well, that gets you all caught up until tomorrow.
Enjoy a good beverage or three, enjoy food, and enjoy life.
The Drunken Chef (Russ)
P.S. I will post any official missing recipes, i.e., the Chef Salad soon.
Happy Tuesday Morning. I should get you caught up on the goings on at the Drunken Chef’s house. There was a lot going on here this weekend. The hard part is trying to remember it. Maybe I need one of those memory supplements. What are they called? I think they need a more memorable commercial.
Friday, I remember working and getting out of work. Let me look at my phone, maybe the pictures will help me remember. Ahhh yes, Friday was clams on the grill and shrimp. Some of you may have seen the pictures on INSTAGRAM. I also made Old Fashioned Lemonade.
The clams were easy peasy. I watched as someone else cooked the clams standing up. I have always cooked them laying down. It was cool to watch them open this way (see below). She also made drawn butter with garlic to put on top. I made a batch of Ma’s Cocktail Sauce.
Grilled Shrimp is always fast and easy unless you have to peel, devein, and clean the shrimp. Someone had already done the cleaning, marinating, and skewering for me so all I had to do was grill them.
Then, I grilled a top round London broil(see below). I have been spoiled in the past by the exquisite London broil I was buying at Meat Farms and my local King Kullen grocery stores pre-pandemic. Now the meat seems to be tougher. I need to find a new store for my London broil purchases since Meat farms was sold to Lidl and King Kullen closed most of it stores. This was also an easy to grill protein.
Then, I made cheeseburger sliders and buffalo wings on the grill. That’s a recipe I will post later this week. Maybe tomorrow, as I am not cooking tonight.
Until tomorrow, be well, be happy, and have a nice day.
This past Sunday, I went out to the east end of Long Island to “wine country”. It is no Napa Valley, California by any means, but it’s close by and a fun day trip. The purpose for the trip was to pick up Scott’s wine order from the Bedell Winery. I was up for nice Sunday drive, a cold glass of wine, and a bite of cheese. We were also meeting another couple that lives out there.
Our first stop was Bedell Cellars in Cutchogue. This is where we would pick up Scott’s wine and meet Gary and Jenitha. We have all done the wine tour thing together before but have not seen each other since the Covid nightmares. I was looking forward to seeing them again. When we arrived, Scott ordered everything off the charcuterie menu and had it brought to the table, where we sat right on the edge of the patio looking out onto the fields of grapes. The view was breathtaking.
From left to right Scott, Alison, Jennifer, Me, Gary, Jenitha
Scott ordered two bottles of white wine. One was the Bedell’s famous Viognier and the second was a lovely Pinot Gris. Just as the wine arrived, so did Gary and Jenitha. It had been well over a year since we had seen Gary and Jenitha, and as always, they looked amazing, all tan and fit. It felt a little like a family reunion with people from a faraway state, like Florida. Now there were six of us. We were all ready for a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon of sipping wine and munching on snacks. The first snack was a bag of this really cool heirloom popcorn called Pipcorn.
The Bedell charcuterie menu has a nice selection of cured meats including salamis and prosciutto that quickly came to our table. In addition, we now had cheese and crackers to go with it. They also have the smallest jars of fig jam I have ever seen. I’m laughing now to myself just thinking about it, as my last fig jam post was with grilled cheese, and that was only yesterday.
The weather was warm with a nice breeze keeping us cool. It could not have been better, unless I was on a boat and was being bobbed gently up and down by the waves splashing again the side of a boat. The breeze just added to the perfect day. We sat, talked, and drank wine while we snacked. Soon, the crowd started to arrive and so did an oyster company with fresh oysters on the half shell. Scott wasted no time in seeing if we wanted oysters next. Alison and I jumped at the chance for fresh oysters. Scott returned, announcing the oysters would soon be here. Then, he asked what wine we wanted next. We all agreed that the Viognier was the way to go.
The oyster woman was at our table just as the next bottle of wine arrived and was placed in the ice bucket. She had more than oysters with her; Scott also ordered us the shrimp cocktail. The oysters were small and looked very appetizing. I was far too busy now chatting and eating to take pictures. UGH, please forgive me. Jennifer ALWAYS makes a face when I start taking pictures of my food. Then I feel bad taking too many photos. I feel like I am making everyone wait to eat while I snap shots of what is on the table. Almost as soon as the oyster woman left, I dug right in and had an oyster on the half shell with Alison. I used just a bit of the cocktail sauce on mine while she used some kind of mixture vinegar and shallots that came with the oysters on hers. The Oysters were off the CHAIN! Then, I had to have a shrimp after Gary said how good they were. They were cooked perfectly and the cocktail sauce was good as well. The cocktail sauce was spicy with just the right amount horseradish and tobasco. Yum. Although, I could ALWAYS use more horseradish in cocktail sauce. Alison thinks I’m nuts when I use that much horseradish. After the shrimp, and a sip of wine, it was back to a perfectly shucked oyster. This time, Alison convinced me to try the vinegar and shallot stuff on top. It was really good! It all went so well with the Pinot Gris wine. I totally recommend getting oysters at Bedell if they are there when you are. Bedell does not shuck the oysters themselves; it was a local outside company. I wish I got their name. Maybe I should call Bedell and ask. The oysters were that good!
Our next stop was the Jamesport Vineyard. We went here mostly for the food and the estate Riesling orange. They have a wood burning pizza oven and the handmade pizza looks like it would be amazing. However, we did not get pizza. We ordered warm olives and the Burrata over salad greens. The olives were very good and the Burrata was yummy! It went with the wine perfectly.
Burrata and Olives
The last place, yes, we hit three vineyards, was The Sherwood House. We came here for something they call a white merlot. The wine’s full name was Oregon Road White Merlot and it had that salty taste, but other than that it was very good. The flavor profile changed when I had the potato chips with it.
Now, about the all these Long Island wines: Bedell and Raphael vineyards seem to be the only two wineries I have found so far that do not have the “Long Island Salty Taste” that I do not like. At Bedell, I particularly like the Viognier, and their other white wines and rosé are very good as well. I keep a few bottles on hand just in case company comes over. When it comes to that distinct Long Island taste that I do not like, at our last stop, a young man put it this way: “it is a salty taste, perhaps from us being so close to the ocean.” Yes, that makes sense now! Here, at our third location, we were eating the local potato chips and the wine was MUCH better!
By now, Jen was in excruciating pain. She had been a real trooper not to complain, but it was time to get her home and put some ice on her back. Thank god there was none of the usual east end traffic heading back to New York City. We were home in record time, about an hour and a half, as Jennifer drove trying to avoid all the potholes and bumps on the Long Island Expressway.
Even though I drank way too much, I didn’t wake up with a headache and Jennifer managed to put up with my chatty drunkenness. A good time was had by all and I am looking forward to seeing Gary, Jenitha, Scott, and Ally soon for our next wine tasting adventure.
If you live in Manhattan or right here on Long Island, it is a nice limousine ride out here. The wine isn’t bad, but really come for the food, atmosphere, and the friendly people. Thank you EVERYONE for a super fun day!
Until tomorrow’s post, be well, drink well, and enjoy life!
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Romaine lettuce, Artichokes hearts and Black olives
Roasted Red Pepper
Chopped Red Pepper added to salad
Chopped tomatoes and Croutons
Dressed up and tossed
Sausages on the Grill
Sausages are served with buns if you want um
This was lunch yesterday
Yes, I have been cooking. Making salads like I said I would. The last one just had on it a Vinaigrette Dressing. If you can get Olive Garden salad dressing near you, buy it.
Below is what I made for dinner. It is a Buffalo Burger with provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a good blue cheese dressing. That’s Greek salad on the side.
Until tomorrow be well, be happy, and be healthy.
Follow me The Drunken Chef (Russ) on INSTAGRAM and look for my next live show.
Last night I cooked. I know, I know, I have not been cooking much lately. I think that will soon change. Next week I will be making a shit ton of salads. Lately EVRYONE seems to be dieting after the Covid 20 (people sat around gaining 20 pounds this year). So salads will be our featured meal next week for lunch at work. I get to experiment with recipes on my coworkers! Hee Ha ha!
Back to last night. I made a turkey tenderloin. What was my inspiration? Heck, it was on sale. I just picked it up from the market on the way home and had no time to marinate it. Since I was planning on eating it last night it would just get seasoned. I went with a dry rub. AKA I seasoned it with salt, white pepper, garlic power, onion powder, sage, and paprika.
Then it was outside to the grill with a beer in my hand. I preheated the grill as I always do. Then I put the turkey on to cook. It was two pieces of turkey actually. The day before, I had purchased a turkey breast on the bone. It even had the skin on it still. That was BEFORE they put the tenderloin on sale. They didn’t even have the tenderloin out for sale yesterday. Oh well, I had both now and was cooking both the same way.
I began by browning them on the grill over low heat. 15 minutes on each side. Then I put them into a roasting pan with turkey gravy and basted them until they baked through (no pink). When they hit 155 degrees with a my instant read thermometer, I let them rest and they reached 160 degrees. DONE.
I then tried cooking something new as a side dish. Orzo cooked in chicken broth. I made some chicken stock using Better then Billon and added finely chopped onion and carrot. Sam hates celery so I left it out. I added parsley when the onions and carts were soft. Then I added the orzo. It was done in about 12 minutes. Cooking over low heat. I also grilled up some zucchini. My old stand by.
Before even trying it, Sam said I was evil for treating the orzo that way. I said if you can do better you’re welcome to do so, and so his recipe for orzo will be next. Jennifer and my mother in-law however liked my orzo. Jennifer loved the zucchini. She didn’t care for the turkey as much but she doesn’t like turkey in general, unless it’s on toast with lettuce and mayo. Good thing I have a whole turkey London broil to slice up for sandwiches today. Who knew?
Well, that’s all for last night’s BBQ adventure. I will type up “Official” recipes for the turkey and orzo and post them soon. For now, go relax, have a beer, a glass of wine, or one of those other drink recipes. There is more to come soon!
Tuesday, welcome back to the grind. The coffee is perking and the A/C is on. It is going to get hot today. This weekend started out as a washout. Saturday rained and I ordered a pizza and ateanti pasta salad.
Sunday, the weather was more cooperative. We went over our friends house for a barbeque and to keep their wonderful dogs company while the fireworks exploded around us in large numbers. They cooked way too much food as always, but I’m guilty of that myself. I think it’s better to have too much food for guests then not enough. They smoked seven full racks of ribs, a dozen sausages, and two whole chickens. I ate some ribs and a sausage and was full. No matter how bad I wanted the chicken, I had no room. What made it so good was the BBQ sauce Scott made for the ribs and chicken. He uses a whole bottle of St. Francis wine in the sauce and reduces it down with the pan drippings ,from the ribs or chicken. Plus what ever else he puts in it, yum.
Monday was shaping up to be even a nicer day and they invited us over again for the traditional burgers and dawgs. Plus, Scott made steak! I however brought with us one dozen oysters, a dozen clams and two pounds of jumbo cocktail shrimp. I also made large batch of cocktail sauce. Upon my arrival with said seafood, I proceeded to open the oysters for raw oysters on the half shell. Allison watched me open one and said: “Oh god! That’s too much work! I will just throw them on the grill for a minute until they are open.” I looked at her begrudgingly and she added: “Don’t worry, they will still be raw.” I agreed and she left me just two more oysters to open on my own.
Everything was amazing. The grilled oysters just needed to sit on ice a little longer to get cold but they were as good as raw oysters. Sam and I ate the three raw oysters I opened. They were paired with the Fume’ Blanc wine Allison opened from the Robert Mondavi Winery. Next, Scott served an amazing piece of hanger steak that was cooked to perfection. He marinated the shit out of so it melted in your mouth and was season perfectly. He need to put that in his regular BBQ rotation it was so good. The Steak was paired with a St. Francis Pinto Noir. Dessert consisted of two very tasty cakes Sam had purchased and a local farm stand and ice cream we picked up on the way there from Baskin Robbins. All in all, a great weekend.
The coffee is done and it’s time for work. I already posted my Anti Pasta recipe if you want to try it, you can find it in the recipe section. You already have the cocktail sauce and shrimp recipes too, so go cook and enjoy life! Maybe even have a little wine from Robert Mondavi. The 2018 Fume’ Blanc I had was very good!
The Magic of a Perfect Pairing 