Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Turkey Bacon and Spinach

1 13.25 oz box elbow pasta
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups half and half
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic power
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup cheddar, diced or shredded
1/4 cup swiss, diced or shredded
1/4 cup havarti, diced or shredded
1/4 cup smoked gouda, diced or shredded
5 slices of Turkey bacon, diced.
1 cup frozen spinach, squeezed
cooking spray
1/4 shredded cheese.

Step 1

Preheat Oven 350. Boil Pasta in accordance with the package instructions. Drain and place it in a large bowl and cover. Beat the egg in a small bowl and reserve. Dry the pot used for the pasta, and place it over medium heat. Add the butter to the pot and melt. Once melted whisk or stir in the flour.  Continue whisking or stirring for 2 minutes. This is to cook out the rawness of the flour.  After two minutes, little by little, slowly whisk or stir in the half and half. Continue to whisk or stir constantly.  DO NOT allow the sauce to come to a boil. This sauce is commonly called a white sauce, but it's name is really a béchamel sauce.

Step 2

Stir in the next four ingredients. Once the seasonings are well combined, stir some of the sauce into the bowl with the egg a little at a time. The goal is to slowly raise the temperature of the egg so that it can be added to the sauce without scrabbling. This process is called tempering the eggs.  Add the egg sauce mixture to the large pot and combine well.




Step 3

Add the cheese to the sauce a cup at a time. Stir continuously until all the cheese is melted evenly.  Once the cheese is melted add the bacon, the spinach, and the pasta to the large pot and combine well. Apply cooking spray to a 11 x 13 pan. Pour the mixture into the pan.  Shake the pan to ensure even distribution and then sprinkle cheese on top. Bake for 45 minutes uncovered.

Beef Back Ribs

First, I must apologize for the two month hiatus. Normally August and September are extremely busy times of the year.  Thank you for your patience.

I was an adult before I ever had Beef Back Ribs. I was at a restaurant called Hill Country in Washington, DC.  They were different than the pork ribs I grew up eating.  They are not as meaty as pork spare ribs, but the flavor is bolder and richer just like their related cuts: Short Ribs, Rib Eye Roast and Rib Eye Steaks, and Prime Rib. This preparation begins with a rub with chili pepper and cumin, brown sugar and salt. Are they as good as Texas BBQ?  You can be the judge, but they are darn close for this Mid-Atlanticer. The production here was scaled down to only one 1 slab, just incase it didn't go well. Let's just say, I wish I'd prepared more.

Ingredients:

Rub:

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon garlic power
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Chipotle pepper or 1/16 teaspoon smoked paprika

Wood:
1 cup hickory wood chips

Meat:
1 3-pound slab beef back ribs


Step 1:

Mix the rub together, and rub the ribs. Place them in a zip top bag and refrigerate for 4 hours at a minimum.






Step 2:

Soak the wood chips for 30-45 minutes prior to smoking.  Add the ribs to the smoker and smoke for 6 to 8 hours at 180 to 200 degrees F.






Step 3

Retrieve the ribs from the smoker. Allow them to rest for ten minutes, and then eat.

Fall Off The Bone Tender Smoked Chicken

1 cup alder wood or apple wood chips

5-6 pounds of chicken leg quarters or drumsticks
3 tablespoons season salt
2 tablespoons black pepper

Step One:
Start the smoker.  While it come to temperature soak the wood chips for 15 to 30 minutes.  Monitor the smoker to ensure it reaches no more than 200 degrees Fahrenheit.  Add the wood chips to the smoker. 

Step two

Clean and trim the chicken parts.  Wash the chicken parts and pat them dry with a paper towel.  Season the chicken with the season salt and pepper.

Step Three:

Place the chicken in the smoker and smoke the chicken until the chicken parts reach 180 degrees. This will take about 3-4 hours. The chicken will be fall off the bone tender, and very, very flavorful. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, and then enjoy.

Smoked Country Spare Ribs

Country Spare Ribs are not ribs at all, they are actually a cut from the shoulder. They are a bit tougher, but they are very flavorful. They lend themselves to many cuisines from BBQ, Asian, Pacific Islander, Cuban, and many more.  This preparation is to smoke them.   The basics here are: a good rub (spice blend), good wood, and slow and low even heat. For those without a smoker charcoal grills and even some gas grills can be modified to achieve pretty good results. Unfortunately the smoked Country Spare Ribs can not be made in an oven and liquid smoke flavoring products will not do the end result justice. To modify this for the oven reduce the brown sugar in half and baste the Country Spare Ribs with your favorite smokey BBQ sauce during cooking. It wont be the same, but it will still be delicious.  Lastly, if you don’t have all day to smoke the Country Spare Ribs, you can smoke them for about 1 to 2 hours, and then pop them in the oven set to 200 degrees, or a slow cooker on low for the remaining time.

5 pounds Country Spare Ribs

4 cups water

2 cups apple wood chips soaked
¼ cup kosher salt 2 tablespoons brown sugar 
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 
1 teaspoon Everglades All-Purpose Seasoning or other all purpose seasoning.
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

2 teaspoons garlic powder

Step 1: 

Remove the Country Spare Ribs from the refrigerator, and place them at room temperature for 15 minutes. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl to make the spice rub. Rub (massage) the country spare ribs well. Place the rubbed Country Spare Ribs in a sealed container or zip top bag and refrigerate for at least 2 to 4 hours.

Step 2: Soak the wood chips in the water for 30 to 45 minutes, drain,  and reserve.

Step3: 

Remove the Country Spare Ribs from the refrigerator.  Get the smoker going to 180- 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the wood chips. Once the chips are smoking place the Country Spare Ribs inside the smoker. Ensure the temperature is no more than 180 to 200 degrees through out cooking. Smoke the Country Spare Ribs for 6 hours.

Smoked Salmon Filet

Ingredients
1  1 1/2 pounds salmon filet
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 cup alder wood
1 cup water

Step One:
Soak the wood chips in 1 cup of water for 30 minutes. While the wood chips soak bring the smoker to no more than 180 degrees F. Drain the wood chips and add the wood chips to the smoker. Wait ten minutes for the smoker to produce aromatic smoke.






Step Two:
Rinse and paper towel the filet of salmon dry. Notice the grain of the flesh and the whitish line that runs down the middle of the filet. Run your fingers against the grain (narrow side to wide side) along each side of the fillet. You may notice a bone or two. This is called a pin-bone, you can use a spoon or a pair of pliers to remove the pin-bones. The pin-bones must be removed.

Step Three:
Turn the salmon filet over look for any remaining skin, if you asked for the skin to be removed, remove any remaining skin. If you've  purchased a salmon filet with the skin on, that's okay.  The skin adds wonderful flavor complexities. To some, however, it is a fatty thing to toss away. In this preparation the fishmonger was asked to remove the skin, but it's not necessary.

Step Four:
Season both sides of the salmon filet with salt and pepper. At this point any additional ingredients can be added. This preparation doesn't add additional aromatics such as dill because the aim is to maximize the smoke flavor.

Step Five:
Smoke the Salmon for 20-25 minutes until it is medium.

 Step Six:
Place the salmon on a rack and reserve for 10 minutes.  Slice and enjoy.

Beef Stew

Beef Stew


1 1/2 pounds chuck pot roast
1 cup water
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can beef broth, divided
1 cup sliced (coined) carrots
2 medium  Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled & 1/4” diced
1 stalk celery,  sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 Bay leaf
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon tomato paste  or 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup



Step One:

Trim the fat from the chuck pot roast as best as possible. There will likely be an elastic silver colored skin on the parts of the meat. This is commonly called silver skin, it is part of the fascia of the muscle. Remove the silver skin with a sharp knife.  Once the roast is fully trimmed cut the roast into 1/2 cubes and reserve. After trimming the cubes will weight around 1 pound




Step Two:

Place the beef cubes in a slow cooker along with 1 cup of water and 1/2 can of beef broth on low for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile add the onion, carrots, potatoes, and celery to a sauce pan along with 1 cup of water and the remaining beef broth. Bring the vegetables to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 15 -20 minutes with the lid ajar. The purpose of this step is to prevent vegetables that are not fully cooked, breaking down the structures in the vegetables requires higher temperatures, however those temperatures would result in tough beef, therefore this preparation blast heats the vegetables so that they are not fully cooked but will be tender. Add the vegetables to the slow cooker and stir in remaining ingredients. Cook on Low for 7 hours.

Grilled Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus (approximately, 1 pound)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper


Asparagus, now available year round, is one of the best vegetables to eat during grilling season.  It is a cool weather plant that can take 2-3 years to get to the point that it can be harvested, so when you see that bunch at the vegetable stand or grocery store you should honor all the effort and prepare it to maximize the flavor. One of the worst ways to cook asparagus is to boil all the vitality and asparagusness out of it. If soft mushy asparagus is your goal, then canned asparagus may be right up your alley. This preparation employs the grill, but asparagus (in particular thin asparagus) is perfect sautéed, or even flash fried such as in tempera.


Step 1:

Wash and dry the asparagus.  Pour the olive oil into a large bowl.  Add the asparagus to the bowl and toss gently. Add the salt and pepper, and toss gently again and reserve.






Step 2:

Place the asparagus on the grates of a hot grill or grill pan.  It takes only a few moments to cook, therefore it must be monitored. A simple rule of thumb is to cook it for a minute and flip it/or roll it, for another minute and then retrieve. The finished product should have some char, but be tender, crisp, with some residual crunch. 

Fresh Chicken Burgers

2 lbs boneless and skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup onions, diced

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons bread crumbs.

Cooking spray

Step 1:

 Cut the chicken into 2-inch chunks. Following you grinder’s directions, grind the chicken coarsely into a large mixing bowl.

Step 2:

Mix the remaining ingredients into the ground chicken, save for the cooking spray.  Form 4 equal sized patties for ½ pound burgers, 8 equal sized patties for ¼ pound burgers. It isn’t suggested to go below ¼ pounds.

Step 3: 

Spray the skillet with the cooking spray, and heat to medium high heat. Cook the burgers until their internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F, turning them over once halfway through.  The onions will help the burgers to remain moist.  As an alternative after cooking the burgers for 5-10 minutes per side lower the temperature and lid the burgers. This will allow them to cook slower and more evenly reach 180 degrees F.   Remove the burgers and allow them to rest for 5 minutes.

Chicken Cacciatore

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

                           OR

3 pounds lbs chicken leg quarters, skinned and debone

1 large or 2 small onions

2 cups frozen bell pepper mix (green, red, and yellow), thawed

1 cup arrabbiata sauce

1 cup crushed tomato

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper.

Cooking spray

Step 1: 

Heat a grill pan over high heat; the goal of this step is to get char marks on the chicken and vegetables. Grill the chicken for 2 min each side. Reserve the chicken to a slow cooker.  Grill the onion and the peppers for about 30 seconds to achieve char.  Add the onions and peppers to the slow cooker.

Step 2:

In a medium bowl mix the arrabbiata sauce, crushed tomato, garlic, and pepper.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables.  Set the slow cooker on high for 30 minutes and then reduce it to low and cook for 6 hours.

Gin Martini

1 6oz martini glass
Ice
Water
2 oz gin
1/2 oz dry vermouth

Garnishes:
3 queen green cocktail olive, or a lemon twist  (or if making a Gibson - a cocktail onion)


Step One:

Pour ice and the water into the martini glass to chill the glass. Alternatively, glasses can be kept in the refrigerator an hour ahead of time.











Step Two:

Add ice to a mixing glass.  Add the gin and vermouth to the glass. Employing a jigger (pictured) makes short work of measuring.  Jiggers are two sided measuring tools. Typically one side of the jigger is smaller (holds less volume) than the other.  The larger side is 1 1/2 ounces and the smaller side is 1 ounce.









Step Three:

Pour the ice water out of the martini glass.  Using a cocktail spoon, stir the gin, vermouth,  and ice for no more than 20 seconds and then strain the mixture into the martini glass.










Step Four:

Garnish the martini, and imbibe.

Grilled Salmon

1 1/2 pounds of salmon filet, skinned and pin bones removed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon Everglades All-Purpose Seasoning
Cooking Spray or cooking oil

OR

1 1/2 pounds of salmon filet, skinned and pin bones removed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Cooking Spray or cooking oil


Step One:

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Spray or brush oil on the grill.  While the grill is coming up to temperature, section the salmon widthwise into one inch pieces. Season the salmon on both sides.  Place the pieces on to the hot grill pan skin side ( or what was the skin side) up. Grill the salmon for about 1-3 minutes.





Step Two:

Turn the pieces over.  Using a fish turner is helpful here.  The presentation side will have beautiful grill marks. That's why that side is grilled first. Grill for about 1-3 minutes pending on your desired level of doneness. Like with tuna or steak. Salmon should not be over cooked. Once you've achieved your desired level of doneness remove the salmon from the grill to a plate or tray.  Allow the salmon to rest for about 3-5 minutes, and then serve.