Muggsy's Brain

No two of my chili recipes are the same, they are variations on a theme, but this one I just had to share. You will have to take it as given that the peppers are all fire roasted, skinned, peeled and diced. Ingredients: 1 poblano pepper 1 cherry bomb pepper 1 serrano pepper 1 jalapeño pepper 1 medium onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 can chili beans 1 can red kidney beans 1 can diced tomatoes 1 cup whole kernel corn 1/2 cup cashew nuts 1 lb. 80/20 ground beef 1 slice bacon, diced 1/2 tbsp chili powder 1/2 tbsp ground cumin 1/2 tbsp cilantro 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/4 tsp turmeric 1/8 tsp cinnamon 2 bay leaves 1/2 can (6 oz.) Coca Cola Heat a large, deep pan and add the bacon, fry it until the fat just starts to melt. Add the peppers, onion and garlic, sauté until the onions start to turn translucent. Add the ground beef and bay leaves, brown the beef. Add the dry ingredients (chili powder, etc.) and stir. Add the cashew nuts and stir....

The cast of characters: A big ol' bone-in pork chop Jerk Rub Apple-Raisin-Pepper Salsa Parsnip puree Bourbon-brown sugar reduction The salsa is a mixture of finely diced jalapenos, Serranos, poblano, orange bell pepper, red onion, garlic, Fuji apple, raisins, salt, pepper, sugar, cilantro, cumin, white vinegar and lemon juice. The parsnip puree contains a couple of medium parsnips, a small potato, butter, white pepper and chicken stock. The bourbon-brown sugar reduction contains pork drippings, brown sugar, salt and pepper, white vinegar and flour. I rubbed the chop with my homemade jerk rub a couple of hours before dinner to let it really set up in the meat. The jerk rub is as follows (this makes a LOT more than you need, but then you have some around for other meals): 1/4 cup brown sugar; light is best 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1 tsp red pepper flakes 1 tbsp allspice 2 tsp Kosher salt 1 tsp freshly ground pepper First...

I found a blog called Cooking for Assholes that has some pretty good recipes in it, but can be way too snarky. If you're not into being insulted as you try new recipes you probably should avoid clicking the link. Seriously, the guy has this "if you can't do this you're too fucking stupid" attitude that gets old pretty quick. Too bad, because the guy knows food and his recipes are, for the most part, pretty awesome. Anyway, reading one of his posts the other day got me thinking about making another quiche, so I looked at his crust recipe, which I am going to reproduce here without all the profanity and only about half the snarkiness. Ingredients: 1-1/4 cup all purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt (If making a sweet crust add 1 tbsp sugar) 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut into small cubes 3 tbsp COLD water Use your food processor -- don't have one? Get one. If you don't have one you're on your own for the rest of the recipe. All I know for sure is t...

I have four days to perfect and then multiply a cold carrot soup recipe. I've done a bunch of hunting and research and finally decided on the following recipe for Cold Carrot Soup with Orange and Cumin. INGREDIENTS 1 teaspoon canola oil 1/3 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices 2 teaspoons ground cumin 5 medium carrots, diced 6 cups vegetable broth 1 teaspoon sea salt, optional 1 cup fresh orange juice 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, optional 1 teaspoon grated orange zest for garnish 6 sprigs of fresh dill for garnish, optional 1. Heat the canola oil in a medium-sized pot set over medium-high heat. Add the onion; sauté, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes or until soft and translucent. 2. Stir in the cumin; cook for about 2 minutes to bring out the pungent aroma of the spice. Stir in the carrots, stock or broth and salt, if using; simmer partially covered, for 30 to 40 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Remove from the heat and let cool. 3. Transfer the soup to a bl...

Tonight's menu is a chicken lasagna, since I haven't done it yet it's not so much a recipe as it is a plan. It's pretty much just your standard lasagna made with diced chicken. Usually I'll use browned hot Italian sausage when I do this. Ingredients: 1 lb. chicken breasts, skin & fat removed 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes 1 can (29 oz.) tomato sauce 1/2-3/4 cup baby portobello mushrooms, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil medium sized onion, chopped 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped 1/2-1 tbsp Italian seasoning 1/4 tsp (seriously small amount) fennel seed 1 egg 1 small container part skim ricotta cheese 1/4-1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese 1-2 cups shredded mozarella cheese 9-12 lasagna noodles, par-boiled salt pepper Preheat oven to 350° F I've already taken the chicken breasts, washed them and patted them dry, added a sprinkling of salt & pepper to both sides and fried them in a heavy pan using no oil for about 2 minutes per side. They're nice and caramelized, they ...

A week or so ago I bought a whole chicken and decided to cut it up myself. I'd never done that before, so I looked up a couple of videos on YouTube and went to it. It's an incredibly economical thing to do! I spent about $6 and got about $10-12 worth of meat out of it, and a nice carcass to make soup, which is what I did tonight. I never make the same soup twice, but there are always similarities, in this case, this is what I did: 1 chicken carcass, breast meat, thighs & wings removed -- don't worry, there's still plenty of meat several cups of water (5 or 6?) 1 medium onion, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, minced 4 medium carrots, sliced 3 stalks celery, sliced 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can white beans -- including that nice, starchy water 1/2 cup frozen yellow corn 1/2 tablespoon salt a good dose of ground pepper 1 tsp dill weed 1/2 tsp turmeric 1-1/2 tsp dried parsley A few shakes of red pepper flakes Most of my measurements are by eye so I am only guessing the amount....

I had the feeling that my oven runs a little hot and subsequently cooks everything a bit too fast, dishes that should take an hour were done in about 45 minutes, etc. I mentioned this to Kate, so for my birthday she bought me an "outside the oven" meat thermometer. It's funny how a little thing like that could make me so excited! "What to cook? What to cook?" I kept asking myself, and I finally decided to start simple and make that prince of comfort food, meatloaf (tater tot hotdish is the king of comfort food). I don't have a standard recipe for meatloaf, in fact I don't really have a standard recipe for anything, so I threw one together using a few leftovers, set the oven at 350° F, inserted the thermometer's probe, set the alarm to go off when the inside had reached 160° F, opened a beer and waited. I didn't time it, but it sure felt like it took less time than times when I'd used a timer (nice sentence!), and it came out perfect! I...