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Recipe, Wines

Steak and Lobster Tails or Surf and Turf)

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  • Seasoned steak
  • Tiny tails
  • Grill marks
  • Sliced steak
  • Steaming potatoes
  • Tiny tail cooked
  • potatoes
  • Creamed spinach
  • Yellow Tomatoes
  • My plate
  • White wine
  • Red wine

This has been a long and delightful weekend, for the most part. The down side is Jennifer is still in pain. We did have company come over on Saturday night.  I proceeded to make a repeat of the Valentines dinner I made back in February. At Jenifer’s suggestion, we purchased lobster tails to go with the steak I was already planning on preparing. After I cooked the tails, I was disappointed in their size at $30.00 a pound. They were tiny after they were cooked. Maybe two bites. Next time I will go somewhere other than Costco to buy them. In February, they was much bigger and a better deal. Live and learn.

The main meal was of course the steak. They were sirloin steaks and 2 inches thick. Because my mother in-law does not like seasoning on her steak I purchased her a separate small porterhouse steak. It was about an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half thick. The vegetable I served was creamed spinach. I cheated as it was not from scratch but frozen. The starch was small red and white potatoes. The plan was to microwave them for a bit and then throw them on the grill to finish cooking them and brown them a bit.

I started by washing and precooking the potatoes in the microwave. To accomplish this I placed the potatoes in a microwave safe glass bowl with a ½ inch of water at the bottom. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap so they wound steam and cut a ½ inch slit into the plastic so some of steam could escape. I microwaved them for about ten minutes, just until they got soft. I checked on them every 5 minutes to see how done they were. I then let them sit coved in the bowl while I barbequed the steaks. The potatoes would continue to soften in the still covered bowl.

I seasoned the sirloin steaks with onion powder, garlic powder, coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper. Then placed them on a hot grill. My mother in-laws likes her steak rare, so hers waited in the wings as it would cook faster then the ticker sirloin. I wanted ours to be medium rare and was a bit thicker so I started with the sirloin first. When it was ¾ of the way done I put on my mother in-laws. Mmmm yumm meat on the barbeque. I was so ready to eat. I ran into the house to get the potatoes. When I returned to the steaks the barbeque gas tank would run out of gas just as I opened the lid. No worries I thought. I have one more filled tank handy. I attached the second tank of gas and turned on the knob. Immediately I heard gas seeping out around the connector. I checked the connection and tried again. This time many curse words flew from my mouth. Thinking quickly I ran the potatoes back into the house and threw a cast-iron pan onto the stove and heated up. Lucky for me the sirloin steaks was almost done. I left them in the grill to keep warm and rest and threw my mother in-laws half-cooked steak into the now hot frying pan.

I switched gears now back to the potatoes. I put them back into the microwave but first added butter and seasoning before recovering them up. I microwave them only five more minutes so they were now done. Next, I began heating up the creamed spinach. I retrieved the sirloin from the grill and it was ready to slice having rested nicely in the less then warm grill. I plated my mother in-laws rare steak right from the pan to her plate. By the time the steaks all hit the table the spinach was ready and I served it right alongside the potatoes. The sirloin steak was served sliced and perfectly medium rare.

Scott of course bought two bottles of wine with them. The first bottle of wine was a white wine and he served that as I bought out the steamed lobster tails to the table. The white wine was a Chardonnay and was fabulous. I had made some drawn butter that I put in small bowls to go with the lobster tails. It was an excessive amount of butter for these tiny tails. The lobster was good tasting despite their small size and the wine was perfect. I guess size isn’t everything.

I called my mother in-law over to join us at the table when the steaks were served (she does not eat lobster). We all kept the extra butter from the tails in front of us and used it for the steak. That is when Scott opened the second bottle of wine. It was a red wine from Brian Arden, a Cabernet Franc from Napa Valley. I really need to go to California with them next year. It sounds like they have so much fun touring the wineries. The wine went perfectly with the steak. Even the potatoes turned out to be good but I was disappointed I could not grill them. They just look more appetizing with the little grill marks on them and it gives them a bigger depth of flavor. No matter, I will have to do it again. WHY? Because the lobber tails were not big enough sheeeesh….

I made a simple salad and had some terrific fresh tomatoes. There is nothing like a good steak and tomatoes. Except steak, tomatoes and red wine. The salad was just a bonus for the blue cheese dressing.

For dessert, we had cream filled lobster tails from one of my favorite local bakeries. There were leftover potatoes….hence why I had to do brunch…and make the home fries the next morning!

May the rest of your grilling season be a good one!

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

HASH BROWNS vs HOME FRIES

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  • Bloody Mary
  • Bloody mary ingredients
  • Grapes
  • Bacon
  • Cinnamon buns
  • Last nights potatoes
  • Home fries

Welcome back to school dear readers. I have been more than extremely busy with all kinds of back to school activities at my real job plus losing my two editors Sam (whom I helped move back to Boston for college) and Juliana (also a second year college student).

Alas, I am left here to fend for myself in trying to correct my own spelling errors. Forget about me trying to correct my own grammar. That. Is. Just. Not. Happening. Have I mentioned my dislike for the English language? I’m sure as many of you are writers you are offended by this statement but I ask you, who the hell invents a language where one word sounds the same and then is spelled so many different ways as to change its meaning? Except the Eskimo’s of course who have over 200 ways to say the word “SNOW”. That makes sense! Sorry, tangent, reeling it back in.

Here I am reminiscing about the breakfast I made on Sunday. Yes I have been cooking. Sunday was Brunch Day at my house. This came about because Saturday was steak and lobster tails (Valentine’s day dinner repeated). We I made too many potatoes (seen here) for dinner so I said I guess I will just have to make home fries for breakfast. Then Jennifer said why don’t you all come over for breakfast? Soooo by the time I was done cooking breakfast turn into a small brunch. I know this is a long way to get here but here it is. So what the difference between hash browns and home fries?

Home fries are chucks of potatoes that are then fried. Whereas, hash browns are a grated potatoes that are fried. Home fires take much longer to prepare for because you need to cook the potatoes and let them cool FIRST before cutting them up and frying them. You could start with raw potatoes but it takes way too long to cook and then the morning is over and you’re starving and they are not as good as they are in the diner.

The diner is where I had my first home fries. I think. It could have been a coffee shop. The coffee shop is the place I remember the best. It was right next to a grocery store I used to work in. You could sit at the counter and watch the owner cook your meal. He was open for breakfast and lunch. It was there I learned the secret of cooking the potatoes first to make the hash browns.

This brings me to the potatoes I made from the night before. That is what Is use to make my last batch of hash browns. I have even used the ones I make on Saint Patrick’s Day or the baked potatoes from the night before on camping trips to make hash browns. I had a Cub Scout father that would wake up even earlier then me to start cooking breakfast. He is a great hash brown maker!

Hash browns are good too and you don’t have to plan ahead to make them. Just peel and grate some potatoes and your off and running. Mix in some flour and eggs and you have Latkes…Whoa. I had better slow down. The Irish in me is beginning to show with all this talk about potatoes. I do love hash browns served with eggs and bacon.

Home Fries

        Serves 8

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Pan

Chef’s Knife

Cutting Board

INGREDIENTS

3 – 4 Potatoes

2 to 4 TBL Vegetable oil

Paprika, onion powder salt and pepper

Onion (diced)

Red or green peeper (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Boil/cook potatoes the night before and store in the refrigerator.

The next morning peel and cut up the potatoes into large bite size pieces. Season the potatoes with paprika, salt and pepper

Heat a pan and add 2 to 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil or olive oil to the pan. When hot add the potatoes. Cook on high until they just start to get brown. Add any diced onion or bell peppers now, if you like. Continue to cook until the outside of the potatoes just get a bit crispy but don’t burn them.

NOTES: Serve with eggs any style and maybe bacon. If you did make bacon. Save the bacon grease and cook the potatoes in that!

Enjoy life, stay healthy, and have a great weekend!

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe, Uncategorized

CHEDDAR CHEESE SAUCE RECIPE

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Happy Friday! This recipe dates back to the early1970’s when my mother made the Thanksgiving Day vegetables of broccoli and cauliflower. She would pour this sauce over the top of these two cruciferous vegetables to get us to eat them. After my mother made this sauce for the first time, I thought these two vegetables were now yummy! That was a big deal coming from a young teenager!

I adopted this recipe recently for those Stuffed Baked Potatoes I made earlier in the week.

Cheddar Cheese Sauce

        Serves 8

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Pot, measuring cup, wire whisk

Chef’s Knife

Cutting Board

INGREDIENTS

3 – 4 Tablespoons Flour (Wondra Brand) if using All-purpose 2 to 3 tablespoons

2 cups whole Milk

Sharp Cheddar Cheese (Kraft or Sargento) (16 oz. package)

½ tsp White Pepper

(Add 8 to 16 ounces more cheese when using sauce for Stuffed Baked Potatoes)

DIRECTIONS

Whisk the flour into 2 cup of cold milk.  Heat milk and flour mixture in a heavy saucepan over medium heat while continuing to stir.  When sauce begins to thicken, slowly add in the cheese by the handful. Continue stirring over medium- low heat constantly until cheese is incorporated. When all the cheese has been incorporated and hot. Remove from heat and serve over steamed vegetables. Sauce may break (separate) upon reheating or overheating.

NOTES: Try this sauce over the steamed broccoli or cauliflower. DON’T use nonfat cheese or your sauce will bit gritty, also high heat will “break” the sauce. 

If a sauce breaks, one remedy to fixing it is by adding a few teaspoons of its base liquid. In this case, add some cold milk to your broken sauce and try whisking it in.

Enjoy life, stay healthy, and have a great weekend!

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

STUFFED Baked Potatoes (ala Barbecue)

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Happy Thursday. Yesterday, I had hot dogs with my famous spicy onions. That’s a recipe that already here (just click the link above) but here is a new one.

This recipe can be done on the barbeque or in the oven. So it is versatile and yumerific!

Stuffed Baked Potato Recipe

        Serves 8

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Microwave

Barbeque or Oven

Cutting Board

Vegetable brush

INGREDIENTS

8 extra-large Russet Potatoes

2 pounds Bacon

1 large head of broccoli

16 ounces sour cream

8 ounces butter

Fresh chives

Olive Oil

Coarse Salt

Cheese sauce (click here for recipe)

DIRECTIONS

I selected my russet potatoes at the local farm stand from the loose pile sold by the pound.  Scrub the potatoes with a vegetable brush under cold water. Coat the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle on coarse ground salt (McCormick salt grinder). Pierce the potatoes in several places with a fork. I think this step helps to prevent the potatoes from “popping open” while they are cooking in the microwave. Place oil covered and forked potatoes in a microwave safe bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Poke a hole or two in the plastic to let some steam to escape. Microwave these suckers for five to fifteen minutes on high or until the potatoes just begins to give to the touch a little. Check the potatoes after each five-minute interval of cooking for doneness. My six pounds of potatoes took the full fifteen minutes.  Be careful both the bowl and the potatoes are hot! Remove from the microwave using oven mitts. CAREFULLY remove plastic wrap. This whole microwave step speeds up the cooking time of the potatoes so they cook faster. After the microwave, you can transfer the potatoes to a four hundred degree oven for thirty minutes or very hot barbeque. Be careful not to burn the potatoes on the grill. I turned the burners off that were directly under my potatoes and finished cooking them just as if they were being “baked” in an oven.

While the potatoes are “baking” it time to steam the broccoli. Wash the broccoli under cold water. Cut the stems away from the head of broccoli. Cut the head of the broccoli into bit size pieces. Place the broccoli florets into a microwave safe bowl. Add a ¼-cup of water to the bowl. Cover with a paper plate to keep steam in bowl or plastic wrap and cut slits in plastic to let some steam escape. When the potatoes are cooked, (thirty minutes have passed) begin cooking broccoli in the microwave high for six minutes.

Remove broccoli from the microwave using oven mitts. Carefully remove the plastic or take off the paper plate.

Carefully slice open each potato and place on a plate. Add one half tablespoon of butter to each half. Add the steaming hot broccoli then cover with shredded cheddar cheese. Add bacon, sour cream and chives to finish it.

Cheese sauce option: For true over indulgence, make a fancy ass cheese sauce, like the one shown on the potatoes above. Instead of grated cheese, cover the whole potato with cheese sauce at the end. Mmm. Yummy.

Serve this with your favorite wheat beer like Weihenstephan or a Blue Moon.

Enjoy life, stay healthy, and may everyone be kind to you.

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

INSTA-POT PULLED PORK (CARNITAS)

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Below is the recipe for pulled pork from an Insta-pot that I promised a while back. I use it for tacos, burritos or even nachos.

Carnitas Recipe

Serves 8

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Insta-Pot

Chef’s Knife

Cutting Board

INGREDIENTS

SOFT TACOS

8 flour tortillas

1 large tomatoes diced

16 ounces cheddar cheese shredded

1 head lettuce (shredded)

1 jar taco sauce or Cholula hot sauce or both

Pitted and sliced black olives (optional)

Guacamole or sour cream (optional)

PULLED PORK

2 Loins of Pork

1 small can of chili peppers (pictured below)

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 container of low sodium beef broth

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp Garlic powder

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black pepper

4 tablespoons Olive oil.

DIRECTIONS

PULLED PORK:

Cut the meat into large pieces. Season by sprinkling with onion powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, paprika, salt and black pepper. Let the seasoned meat marinate for a minimum of two hours in a zip-lock bag in the refrigerator.

In a 6-quart or larger Insta-Pot add just two tablespoons of olive oil. Turn on the insta-pot to Sauté and brown the meat in two or three batches. Return all the meat back into the pot. Add an onion that has been peeled and quartered to the pot. Add three cloves of whole garlic. Pour in enough beef broth to almost cover the meat.  

Cover and Cook for one hour on the “stew” setting. Move the meat without the cooking liquid to a bowl. It should fall apart easily. Use meat for tacos, burritos or nachos.

SOFT TACOS or BURRITOS:

Add cheese to a flour tortilla, add meat on top, and add guacamole and/or sour cream. Pour on the sauce of your choice (Cholula hot sauce or taco). Top with shredded lettuce and diced tomato. This also goes well with grilled red bell peppers and onion instead of the lettuce and tomato. 

NACHOS

Fill a platter with chips. Add grated cheddar cheese on top and melt in oven or microwave. Top with meat, guacamole, sour cream, sliced black olives; or add hot refried beans and jalapeno peppers for an additional extraordinary culinary experience.

This can be paired with a nice old vine red zinfandel or an Icey Cold Modelo Beer.

Enjoy life, stay healthy, and may everyone be kind to you. 

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

INSTA-POT Spagetti Suace

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Good Morning. Last night was chicken cutlet parmesan and spaghetti night at Sam’s request. I was going to make it on Sunday, since this is usually a very time-consuming recipe making it the way my mother did it for years. Unfortunately, I got home later than expected, just after 5:30pm, so I knew I couldn’t keep everyone waiting too long for dinner.

I told my mother in-law, and wife, dinner would not be ready for two hours. “Why?” Jennifer asked. I answered: “I am making chicken cutlet parmesan tonight.” I answered. To which my wife replied, “OH! Sam must be there influencing you.”

Anyway, I decided to speed things up and make the sauce in the Insta-pot. Besides, this gave me the perfect opportunity to write-up the recipe on how to make sauce in an Insta-pot.  My coworker is thinking of getting one of these pressure cooker appliances for this very reason. She was a big fan of my pulled pork and brisket recipe from this very Insta-pot.

So here is the recipe:

Insta-pot Spaghetti Sauce

1 # 10 size can of plum tomatoes or 3 of those really large 32 once imported plum tomatoes

1 Large or two medium size onion

4 to 6 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons Parsley flakes or tablespoon fresh

1/4 tsp Oregano

1/2 tsp Basil

1/2 tsp Crushed red pepper

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Fill the blender half way with plum tomatoes or one 32 ounce can. Using the pulse button and blender set to chop (lowest setting), pulse bleeder until the tomatoes are well chopped. Pour chopped tomatoes slowly into the Insta-pot and turn it on to the sauté setting. Repeat this three times (leaving the Insta-pot on of course). Stir the sauce after each addition. Roughly chop the onion and garlic. Add the roughly chopped onion and garlic to the blender with a 3/4 cup of water. Pulse until well chopped (Almost smooth). Pour the fragrant smelling onions and garlic into the sauce. Stir, stir stir. To get out the remaining onion, use an addition 1/4 cup water in the blender, swish it around, and pour it into the Intsa-pot and stir well. Add seasonings – parsley, oregano, basil, crushed red pepper salt and black pepper. Stir, stir stir. Keep stirring occasionally to keep the sauce from burning and until it starts simmering (bubbling up to the top).

Put on the cover and set to pressure cook on low pressure for 20 minutes. THAT’S IT DONE. Carefully release the pressure and serve.

That’s how to make homemade spaghetti sauce in an hour. If you want to add meat balls omit one can of tomatoes and cut back on the spices a bit.

This is what I used to make the chicken parmesan and then put it on our spaghetti. I thought it was good. Sam and my mother in-law both loved it!

I served mine with an ice cold Peroni beer along with some fresh grated parmesan cheese. I also made garlic bread for everyone. I had no time for a vegetable or salad, sorry. Bad Husband.

Until next time when I might be bring you a stuffed baked potato recipe, we’ll see. Be well, be happy and enjoy life.

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER RECIPE

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Below is the recipe I promised for Oysters Rockefeller for the oven not the grill.

Oysters Rockefeller

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Oyster Knife (not to be confused with the clam knife)

Kitchen towel

Chef’s Knife

Cutting Board

1 box of kosher salt

INGREDIENTS

2 dozen oysters

1 Onion minced

I stick butter

The juice of a fresh lemon (approximately 3 tablespoons)

Fresh spinach

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Black pepper

½ cup Flavored Bread crumbs

Olive oil.

2 lemons cut into wedges (8 wedges)

Serves 4

DIRECTIONS

In a large skillet, sauté onion in butter until tender. Add spinach; cook and stir until wilted. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese, lemon juice and pepper

Mix together olive oil and breadcrumbs.

Spread kosher salt into two one inch deep baking pans.

Shuck oysters, reserving oyster and its liquid in the bottom of the shell. Lightly press the shells down into the salt while keeping the oysters in their shells, thus using salt to keep oysters level. Top each oyster with 2 teaspoons of the spinach mixture.

Now sprinkle on 2 teaspoons of the bread crumb mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 450° until oysters are plump, and the breadcrumbs begin to brown 6-8 minutes. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Enjoy life, stay healthy, and may everyone be kind to you.

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

© Russ Ahrens and The Magic of a Perfect Pairing,2021

Recipe

APPLE CRISP

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This post is by request. So its a little early and I have not made it yet this year. So I do not have a picture, yet.

INGREDIENTS:

FILLING

3 pounds of apples (I like Granny Smith’s for this)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 tablespoons flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp all spice

TOPPING

2/3 cup flour 

2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar 

2/3 cup old fashioned oats 

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1 stick butter , melted 

DIRECTIONS:

Peel core and slice apples into a bowl. Add the rest of the FILLING ingredients and stir. Pour into a deep pie dish.

Combine flour, sugar, oats and cinnamon.

Mix in butter until crumbly; sprinkle over fruit.

Bake at 375F, 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with Vanilla Ice Cream.

The drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

PAN SEARED STEAK

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Happy Friday! Last night for dinner was pan seared steak.

These are two fresh, not frozen, New York Strip steaks. Each one is two inches thick. As you can see it barley fits in my largest pan with out over crowding.

I began by seasoning one side of the steak with salt from a McCormick salt grinder then some freshly ground black pepper. Next, I sprinkled on a good amount of onion power and then a good amount of garlic powder. I let sit as I heated up the pan with olive oil on medium low.

When the pan was good and hot maybe five minutes later or so the olive oil just began shimmer. I carefully placed the steaks in the pan seasoning side down and so they were not touching. I then proceeded to season the other side (now facing up) the same way. Salt first, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.

As the steak would now be sizzling in the hot pan on medium low for ten minutes I opened a beer. Carefully watching but not touching or moving the meat. THIS is where and when that beautiful crust is made. I drank my beer and waited patiently.

I turned the meat over and as you can see above there is that wonderful brownness on the steak. My patience was rewarded. Now I let the other side cook the same way.

In the meantime I added tater tots to the air fryer and made a simple salad of Romaine lettuce and diced cucumber. Jennifer wanted a vegetable and this was going to be it.

After ten more minutes I needed a second beer and I also had to flip the steak again. This time I turned the heat to low. I pressed the center of the steak lightly with my finger and it gave way easily. This meant it was still rare. Jennifer hates raw meat so I set the timer for five more minutes and cooked the steak on low as I sipped my beer.

After five minutes of beer drinking I flipped the steak once again and gave the tater tots a shake in the air fryer so they didn’t all stick together. This would be the last turn or flip of the steak. I posted a picture of the meat cooking on INSTAGAM and answered a few text messages. Another five minutes were soon up and my second beer was half empty.

I have been cooking this steak now for what seemed like it was forever (it was 30 minutes so far) I poked at it again. Perfect push back meant the steak was now medium rare. It was time to let the steak rest on the cutting board before slicing it. As you saw at the very top of the page it was cooked nicely and stayed juicy having let it rest for just five minutes off the heat before slicing and serving.

I served it and the salad with blue cheese dressing. The air fried potato tots were separate and on the side (not shown).

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

OVEN ROASTED POTATOES

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This is a nice side dish and starch for a big potatoes and meat meal. I love potatoes. That must be that bit of Irish in me.

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds of Russet Potatoes

2 to 4 tablespoons Butter

2 table spoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon Paprika

1/4 teaspoon Garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon Onion powder

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Peel potatoes. Cut potatoes into wedges. In a 9 X 13 metal baking pan, add potatoes. Pour oil over top. Sprinkle with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.  Mix until potatoes are coated. Add butter.

Place in oven with meat during the last half hour of cooking time. In fifteen minutes, stir potatoes. Add more oil and butter if necessary. Remove potatoes when they begin to brown.  While meat is resting, finish browning potatoes under broiler if needed.

NOTES: This is one of those recipes I asked my Aunt Betty for when my mother and I used to visit her. She used to make these with a leg of Lamb and use some of the lamb drippings in the potatoes……yummy.