By far (for some reason), the most popular page on this blog is my recipe for andouille sausage chili. So, help you guys out even more, I’ve recently made the chili again. This time, the cameras were rolling. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

FOR CHICKEN
-1/2 bottle hot sauce
-4 chicken breasts

FOR ENCHILADA SAUCE
-5 tablespoons vegetable oil
-5 tablespoons flour
-4 cups chicken stock
-1/4 cup chili powder (at least)
-other spices

OTHER
-1/2 lb Monterrey Jack Cheese
-15 (at least) corn tortillas
-cooking oil

OK, I’m going to tell you my secret enchilada recipe. I’m not real sure what is exactly secret about it, but it’s sure better than most shit you make. We start with a slow cook of the chicken; I use a crock-pot for this. I throw the chicken in with about 1/2 bottle of hot sauce, and some typical mexican spices (cayenne, chili pwdr, cumin, etc). On high, this takes about 3 hours.

While the chicken is cooking, we can work on other things. Most importantly is the enchilada sauce. For one casserole dish (~20ish enchiladas) I make 4 cups, yes an entire quart of the sauce, and I use almost all of it.

We start with a simply roux. A roux is equal parts fat and starch. For this roux, I heat up vegetable oil, then add regular all purpose flour. Typically 1 tablespoon of each will thicken a cup of liquid, depending on how thick you want it. I want a little thicker, so I use 5 tablespoons of each.

Mix thoroughly until you get what’s called a blonde roux. It’s blonde because, well it looks blonde. This is the point where it has it’s most thickening power, so we need to use it right away (in cajun cooking, you typically cook until it gets brick colored). Anyways, put in your 4 cups of chicken stock. Now, all we have now is basically chicken gravy. What enchilada sauce is, is basically chili powder. So add a crapload of chili powder. I’m talking like at least 1/4 cup. Probably more, I’m not sure how much I added.

There is a lot of discussion on whether or not to put tomatos in the sauce; I personally do NOT like tomatos in my enchilada sauce, but to each his own. Anyways, let the sauce come to a boil, the immediately reduce to a simmer and add your typical mexican spices to taste.

Next comes the most tedious part, chicken shredding. I usually just use a fork and knife, and pull with the grain to get nice small shreds of chicken.

When you’re done put in a pot with 1/2 medium sized onion, chopped. Also, put about two large ladles in of the enchilada sauce, just to keep it nice and moist.

We’re almost there. Next find out how many you’re making. My casserole pan fits about 16 or 17 depending on how much I stuff them. In a small skillet, heat up some vegetable oil to medium, medium-high. When the oil is hot, fry the corn tortillas for about 5 seconds on each side. This will soften them, and make them less prone to crack when we roll them.

Before assembling, I throw about a ladle-full of sauce on the bottom of the casserole pan. This will prevent the enchiladas from sticking, as well as add deliciousness. Now set up an assembly line. I take a tortilla, spread a little more sauce on it, then a spoonful of chicken. Then a good amount of Monterrey Jack cheese, and fold. Place, seam side down in the pan. Rinse and repeat until full. Top with lots more sauce and cheese. I bake at 350° until the cheese just begins to bubble, maybe 10 minutes.

Serve with mexican rice and beans. Garnish with avocado slices (not shown because they were fucking $2 a PIECE), and maybe a lettuce/tomato salad on top (also not shown, too lazy, wanted to eat).

Sorry about the crappy last picture, was in a hurry

btw, had I used a flour tortilla, it would be a burrito. Had that flour tortilla been deep-fried, it would be a chimichanga. Had this been deep-fried, it would make it a taquito.

I know the pics look like crap here. Please click to enlarge

I know you’re all dying to hear about the arrest, but I’m not going to give it to you yet. Instead, I’m giving away a perfected recipe originally learned by our ol’ pal Buddy B. Ribs have this stigma that they’re hard to cook. Unless you’re black or from the south, you can’t cook good ribs. Well it shouldn’t be that way. I’ve learned a way that ANYONE can do. I can’t take credit for the technique, but I have done my homework, worked it over, and have came out with some of the best ribs north of the Mason Dixon.

Ingredients:

• 2 racks Baby Back ribs
• spices (lots of them)
• 2-2L Gingerale (I use Vernors)
• BBQ sass
• 1 medium onion

I’m starting with 2 racks of baby back ribs. Before we even think about a rub, we must take care of the back membrane. In the picture below, you will see a horizontal cut along the length of the ribs. This is the butcher removing the membrane. This membrane is EXTREMELY tough, and unless removed, will make for some pretty crappy ribs. If it’s on, be sure to get a sharp knife, and get to cutting. It may take a while if you’ve never done it before. Do it though, this is IMPORTANT!

Next we move to a rub. Some people like it wet, or marinade style, some like a dry rub. I’m a dry rub type of guy. You won’t get quite the flavor penetration that you would get from a wet rub, but you will get a better crust on the ribs. Plus, if done right, the flavor of the ribs will be good enough. On these ribs below, I have a combination: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon. Don’t worry about the cinnamon, it will not make your BBQ sweet. It helps to balance flavors, and you’ll see it used in a lot of dry rub recipes. Cumin is also very important as is has a great smoky flavor. On that note, buy good Cumin, don’t let the temptation to get the cheap ass Kroger stuff get to you. Good Garlic Powder may not be a lot better that the crappy stuff, but good cumin is WAAYYY better than the crappy stuff. Anyways, below is what we’re looking at.

Let this sit overnight. Take them out of the fridge the next day, and put them into some baking dishes. I have to cut them in half to fit them, but just get them in. I know that I’m using metal , but the ideal baking dish for this is going to be glass or some ceramic. It should also be high enough to completely cover the ribs.

So, loosely chop one medium sized onion, and put in the bottom of the dishes, then put the ribs on top.

Put the dishes in your oven at 300° and here comes the Buddy B style. Pour gingerale (yes gingerale) into each baking dish until the ribs are covered, or you’re at the top. For these two racks, I used almost 2-2L bottles (Vernors I might add).

Let the ribs cook in the oven at 300° for about an hour, then about 250-275° for another 2-2.5 hours. At this point, the end ribs should start to pull away from the bone. We’re not done yet! Take the ribs out, and heat up your outside grill to high, and throw them suckers on meat side down. Take this time to brush on your favorite BBQ sauce (I’m using homemake stuff of course). Let the ribs sear for about 3-4 minutes, turn and repeat.

You have now made some of the most delicious ribs you’ll ever eat. My buddy Joe doesn’t really like ribs, and he ate like a whole rack. I wish I could take pictures with a camera instead of my phone, these really don’t do them justice. Anyways, the BBQ sass is somewhat important, so choose wisely, but most importantly, enjoy!

(as always, click the pictures for a better image)

This is my world famous recipe for chicken fajitas. Now chicken fajitas are nothing special, and in fact the fajitas here are nothing special, the special part is the chicken. As with any grilling, the key to great meat is marination. One must first think of what a marinade is. First, it’s some sort of oil or fat, usually vegetable or olive oil. The oil is meant to make the flavor “taste” moist. The next part to the marinade is an acid; usually either vinegar or a citrus juice. This helps the meat stay soft and helps to tenderize it. The next part is simply flavoring.

The secret here is in the marinade, everything else is obvious. So, I first take the chicken, throw it in whatever, and pour a little bit of good extra virgin olive oil. If you’re a poker, poke the chicken here (I’m a poker myself). Add salt and pepper. The next step is pickled jalepeno juice.

Add the juice from a jar of jalepenos. Think of what this stuff is. It’s basically vinegar that has been flavored by the jalepenos. It with the oil will work perfectly as a marinade. I then add the spices. The important ones are Paprika, Chili Powder, Cumin, and Cayenne Pepper, in about a 5:2:1:1 ratio until you have something that looks like this. For this batch (4 breasts), I used about 2 tablespoons of paprika I think.

Let this sit overnight if possible, although I’ve made it work on as little as 4 hours. Then grill as you normally would. I won’t give a grilling lesson here, but just take note that the meat will look underdone. This is just because it’s so juicy. Use a thermometer if you’re unsure. Trust me. Get some nice grill marks, and pull off.

Let the meat rest for a few minutes while you grill the tortillas. Yes, grill the tortillas, it makes them that much better. Then, only cut what you need. Once you cut the meat, it will start to dry out, so if you’re not going to use it, don’t cut it. Cut and serve with the traditional fajita fixins. Enjoy

OK, I’ve been doing the chili thing for a while now, and I’ve pretty much got it down. This chili is a meaty man-like chili that will leave all satisfied. So, even if you think you know how to make chili, follow along and you’ll learn some good tips. Here’s what you need:

1 lb – ground chuck
2 links (~.6 lb) – Andouille Sausage
1/2 lb – ground hot sausage
1-2 – medium onions
1-2 – medium green bell pepper
1 tbsp (3ish) cloves – garlic
2 28oz cans – DICED tomatoes
2 12?oz cans – red kidney beans
good dark beer
spices

We start with the meat. Throw all the meat into a pot while we cut up the veggies. It’s important to use chuck because it has a high fat content that will help to cook the rest of the meat. If you are unfamiliar with Andouille sausage, it’s pretty much the king of sausage. It’s very common in cajun cooking, and is the prime ingredient in many gumbos/jambalaya. I also like to throw in some spicy ground sausage for an extra kick.

While we SLOWLY cook the meat, cut up the veggies. It’s chili so it doesn’t have to be real neat or small. In fact, I like my chunks somewhat big. So throw the veggies into the pot with some chili powder, a little cayenne, and some ground cumin. Maybe a 4:1:1 ratio. Don’t overdo it; you can add more later. After the veggies/spices, add the garlic. Use fresh if you can, although most of the time I just use jarred minced garlic.

Now the important part. Many people leave out an all important step, and it ruins the chili. Let me bold this for you. You must add some other liquid besides the tomatoes or you’ll chili will taste like crappy goulash.

Some people add water (weak), some add beef broth; we can do better. At this point, add your favorite dark beer thats in season. I normally use Sam Adams Cream Stout. Don’t use anything fruity, but like I need to tell you that. At this point, you can even add a little red wine if you’d like. Again, go dark/heavy. This batch, I used a little Pacific Estates Cab Sav, maybe 1/2 cup. Again, this is one of the most important parts. You should have something like this:

enlarge the pic

Let this bad boy simmer for as long as you can. As it does, the meat will pick up all that delicious flavor from the beer. When you’re ready add the DICED tomatoes. At this point, I’ll rant again. Do not use Crushed tomatoes. I don’t care who told you, don’t. That’s it. Trust me, I’ve used both, diced is BY FAR the way to go. I take thank you’s in the form of blow jobs and rusty trombones.

Now, you need to let this simmer for as long as you can. The longer you do, the better the chili. At the very minimum it needs to simmer for 1.5 hours, I prefer around 3…seriously. It just gets better. About 15 minutes before you plan to serve, strain and rinse the beans, and toss them in. Note that adding the beans will thicken the chili up a little bit. The beans give off a little starch which will bring it all together.

Now taste and reseason. It will probably need some black pepper, and more than likely some more chili powder. If you’re me, it will need some hot sauce and more cayenne as well. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, more hot sauce, and cheese if needed. Fresh made bread should accompany as well.

If you don’t know me, you know that I can cook up some bomb-diggity shit. So, I’ve decided to grace you all with some of my secrets. We’ll start slow with a super easy, super quick appetizer that you might just eat as a meal.

Ingredients:

about a jar of pickles
about a package of ham
about a small container of cream cheese
paper towels

OK, get any dill pickles you want, so help me God if you get sweet. Get the cheap-ass square ham stuff. I prefer the regular cooked, in water. Get whatever cream cheese you want (lite, fat-free, whatever). Now, here’s the setup you want.

Now, there’s some important shit going on here. You must dry the pickles and ham before rolling. Otherwise the water will not let it stick. Now, spread the cream cheese on as shown:

Put the pickle on one edge, and carefully, and TIGHTLY roll it up until:

Now just cut them, and you have white-trash sushi! I prefer to cut them into thirds. If you cut into fourths, you’ll find that since the edge of the pickle tapers in, the roll doesn’t stay together as well. Enjoy.