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Yes anyone who's a White Sox fan needs their judgment questioned...the goodness of that food however need not be.

Great Sunday yet again around the NFL, setting up whats sure to be an epic Sunday afternoon down by the lake next week. I watched at da bars but made myself some vaca frita when I got home. I got the flank steak on sale and cut down into cubes and cooked it for an hour or so and then let it cool. After it was easy enough to handle I shredded it down into pieces and marinated it in fresh squeezed orange and lime juice in the fridge during the games. When I got back I fried it up and served it with rice and black beans from the previous night alongside some sauteed onions and some 'Cuban' potatoes cooked in bacon grease and sauteed with peppers, onions, garlic and more bacon.




Fried Cow for dinner

BEARS!

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

Jim - that's a nice looking ham. Sorry about your Ravens. Quick question - is that ham pre-cooked? I always have this dilemma when I buy a ham. The precooked stuff just needs to be "reheated" not cooked, risking drying out. I have a great butcher in MN that has a smoke room on premises and smokes their own hams (great stuff actually). I would like to add a glaze next time. Thanks. - Russ

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"It's not that I'm on commission, it's just I've sifted through a lot of stuff and it's not worth filling up on the bland when the extraordinary is within equidistant tasting distance." - David Lebovitz

thanks,

it was one of those precooked(partially cooked perhaps). It was free from my mom. THe label said it needed to be taken to 160 internal, or about 30 minutes per pound @ 325.

With all the basting I didnt have a problem with it drying out, I wrapped it in foil for the last hour in the oven, and it rested at least a half hour before slicing.

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I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

We will be making a Wisconsin Beer Cheese and Bratwurst soup, per DaBeef's request for the Big Game this Sunday. Will have plenty at Toons !!! DB

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Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?...........Louis Armstrong

Time to resurrect this glorious football thread. For the Bearccc first preseason game, my wife and I smoked some excellent spare ribs on Saturday that we bought at the Butcher and Larder. We used a modified version of Gary's mustard seed rub from Low and Slow and included two different types of mustard seeds and a health portion of ground bay leaf. Excellent all around (except for the O-line).

What O-line?!?

Definitely, sounded like a nice spare rib cook for the pre-season.

Looking forward to this Sunday, and a full day of NFL football & grub. Ravens have a tough week # 1 with the Steelers.

leaning towards reubens, but my new burger recipe is begging for a repeat.

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I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

I'm attending the best tailgating party in the world.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Game day at the Graham's!

And we're back. Week one was a good one as my 2012/13 Bears season prediction of 11-5 leading to yet another showdown in New Orleans vs New England for XLVII hasn't been derailed...yet. Simple snack while waiting for some beer can chickens to smoke thru. Made these quick snacks during the 1st half of a nice 49ers win. Anytime any team beats the Packers it's a nice win for Bears fans. Thursday Night should be a battle.

Salami Sliders


Slice circles of salami off and saute them in pan with butter til edges brown


When ready sprinkle with chopped onions (grilled would be good too) and mustard


Place two pieces in a King's Hawaiian Sweet Roll, smash it down and enjoy

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

mmm. Will try.

Maybe add a slice of Kraft Deli Deluxe Sharp Cheddar?

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fine words butter no parsnips

I try to go topical for my tailgate parties - (pork tenderloin sandwiches for Indiana, Philly cheesesteaks for Penn St, etc). Michigan started with Alabama this year, so the obvious choice was smoked chicken with Alabama white barbecue sauce. I had never had the white barbecue sauce before and was honestly a little skeptical of it, but the tangy mayo/vinegar based sauce provided a nice contrast to the smoked chicken.



Last week for the Air Force game, I was struggling to come up with an idea and my wife hit me with the obvious choice - wings! A little ashamed I didn't come up with that. We did three varieties - siracha garlic, a soy/ginger/serrano asian, and sweet smoky bbq.



You can read the whole thing here: http://greatlakesbetterfood.blogspot.com/2012/09/tailgating-recap-alabama-smoked-chicken.html

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Tony
Great Lakes, Better Food
http://greatlakesbetterfood.blogspot.com/

Saturday late afternoon I pepped one of my favorite snacks. These Grilled Shrimp with Grapefruit and Guacamole lettuce wraps are fantastic and one of the healthier tailgate recipes I've ever come across.


From The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook

Last evening was spent with a few different preparations of pork I picked up at one of the greater tailgate meat shops you'll ever roll thru. None other than LTH fave Ream's Elburn Market. Needless to say, this was some fine swined goodness.


Pork 500's (Bottom) Greek Pork Kebob (Middle) Grand Champ Brats (Top)

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

Pork Neckbones were on sale at $.89/lb last week at a place I stopped into on Central street. originally I was just looking for some veggies but I couldn't pass on the chance to make up some neckbone gravy early Sunday morning which is the perfect time to let it simmer away with football season back in full swing.


Browned Pork Neckbones

I grew up being taught that there's no such thing as too big a batch of pasta sauce so I was thinking what I could use it with besides pasta since that would be an easy meal for the upcoming week. So I picked up some Yukon gold potatoes, onions and peppers and rode over to Joseph's on Irving Park and got a pound each of their mild and hot Italian sausage. Italian Soulfood for Sunday night dinner was in the works.


Prepping up before eating up


Italian Sausage with Potatoes, Peppers & Onions


Served smothered w/ Neckbone Gravy and Garlic Bread. Roasted banana peppers on top optional.

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

Wow, Beef! Your place must be the spot to be at. Great looking stuff.

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http://eatpizzeriavalentino.com
http://valentinopasta.com

I'll second that - wow! You could almost tolerate a blown interception call with that spread.

Thanks y'all, for whatever reason football season is when I seem to be most into cooking stuff up. Oh and I tolerated that INT call very well. LOL Packers. Was really hoping the Saints could pull off a W this weekend. Oh well. Bears back in gear, for now.



Yep me too. I did up some brats and Polish sausage for the last Bears primetime game (vs Green Bay) and this time around I decided to go the Tex-Mex route with the 'boys on schedule.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

I loosely followed the Homesick Texan's recipe. I've used some other recipes from her featured upthread as well. No Tex-Mex isnt fancy food but it's great for tailgates and gamedays. I'm not afraid to admit I'm a fan of this food. A couple things I switched up on her recipe were the prep of the tomatillos which I roasted over lump charcoal instead of under a broiler. This added some deep flavor depth to the sauce.


Charcoal Roasted Tomatillos


Getting ready at the prep station


The Sour cream and Tomatillo sauce over the enchiladas, cheese goes on top


Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas...BEARS!

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

Wow Beef, looks SUPER!

But I'd sure like some more detail about what went into your neckbone gravy AND your sour cream enchiladas--they look more than a little bit like enchiladas a la swissa that I had once long ago in Mexico, but have *never* found again, anywhere in the US.

Geo

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Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

What's up Geo, I've been eating good of late no doubt about it. As far as the neckbone gravy goes I usually just go by what I remember and getting the right consistency which can vary as far as exact recipe goes but I wrote down what I remembered this time around and you can check the guesstimated recipe HERE.

As far as the enchiladas I loosely followed the recipe I originally linked to.But I was intrigued by your mention of "enchiladas a la swissa" and looked it up. According to Wikipedia they're called "suizas" ('with cheese' as seen on menus around here) and "are topped with a white, milk or cream-based sauce, such as béchamel" I also found quite a few recipes for them, of course varying, but they all seem to use a sour cream and tomatillo based sauce like the ones I had. In Tex-Mex country they're usually layered with cheap Mexican blend cheese though.

So is anyone not loving the new Thursday night games from the get go? Even though last nights was a bore it was fun to watch the 4th after I finished 30 for 30 "Broke". I made some beef stock for a weekend project late afternoon so a quick easy dinner with what I had available was in order.


Trout Cheeks brought back from Bayfield

I whipped up some Spaghetti Bordelaise and topped it with the cheeks, Cajun spiced onions and bacon. A blissfully simple supper. Hopefully Sundays game turns out to be the simple W it should be.


a nice warm weather meal BUT winter is coming....

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

Had to do up some "oklahoma style" onion burgers for the O.U. v Texas butt stomping yesterday.

Freshly ground chuck from the cats @ Polancic's over in Ottawa(old school, no website, no twitter account).



Seasoned the chuck and formed it into balls, sliced up some onions as thin as i could and also seeded and then ran a jalapeno through the box grater. Cheap burger buns, dill chips yellow mustard.

Did it up on a cast iron pan on the stovetop.



smashed:



topped:



smashed:









juicy and poppn', the one with the shredded jalapenos was also really good:



cast iron worked great, held the heat got some crisp. chowed (2) standing up in the kitchen.

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I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

Spent last Sunday watching the Redzone channel and helping my uncle and his friends make Grappa over at the shop. I had some Italian sausage I had to use, as is a common problem, but wouldn't have the time to go get bread and charcoal early the next morning so I improvised with what I had.

Lasagna Enchiladas

This was a pretty simple recipe that just came to my head, I'm sure it's been done before. However I'll put this against the rest as I put love and quality ingredients into it. Well quality ingredients anyway. I homemade red sauce with cherry tomatoes, roasted garlic, diced bell peppers and onions and the Italian sausage from Tenuta's.


What you'll need + Sauce

Just cook the sausage on a grill until cooked thru and while doing so boil some lasagna noodles in a pot. Once noodles are ready, remove and cool down a bit. Add a mixture of Ricotta (10 oz) and shredded mozzarella (1/4 cup) and Parmesan (1/4 cup) into a bowl and mix it together. Spread the mixture evenly onto each noodle and slice the sausage links in half. Roll half of each link up into the noodle and place into a baking dish with the bottom layered in sauce. I made this the night before and baked it the next day.

Note: 2 Noodles needed for every piece of sausage cooked


Add sauce on top and more shredded mozzarella cheese and bake


They call me Chef Boyar-T over at the shop...

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

Inspired by jimswside and Da Beef's creations upthread we had sliders today for the game. Copied theirs and made a pork one too. I seasoned the pork with fish sauce, and garlic and topped it w sriracha slaw and chow mein noodles. Tasty.

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http://eatpizzeriavalentino.com
http://valentinopasta.com

Looking good, I like the Asian take on a Frita Cubana!

With this past Sunday being the end to a long and quite nice Thanksgiving holiday I made my traditional "good bye for a while, turkey" dish. Turkey Divan. I loved this old school casserole as a kid. There's plenty of varying recipes out there. I like my mother made just take leftover turkey breast and layer it atop Pepperidge Farm or any other type of stuffing and add some cheesy gravy into it then top with broccoli and bake. It's still quite comforting these days if I may say.


Turkey Divan

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

Bonus points for you!

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http://eatpizzeriavalentino.com
http://valentinopasta.com

I'm trying to keep up here on this thread as the weeks go on but if this Bears slide gets any faster I just might have to hop off the ride. So sticking with the theme of cooking something up pertaining to your football teams opponent and their regional eats I did my remake of Pel Meni. Huh? That's not coffee nor salmon. Are you incorporating crustaceans and mollusks of the sea? Nope. Pel Meni is a little Russian Dumpling shop where me and some of my college buddies used to go to regularly for drunken late night eats in Madison. It's no longer there but as my friend pointed out, they've returned to Seattle.


There's an entire thread with this great gameday grub incl. the easy recipe HERE

I was friendly with Paul "the dumpling guy" as we called him but haven't spoke with him since. Originally in Alaska they moved to Bellingham, WA and then to Madison, WI and now it looks like the czar is back in Seattle serving their new age take on Russian dumplings. Hopefully he sticks around as I've never done Seattle, Portland or Vancouver and plan to do all three someday soon. These arent quite as good as his but then again none are. Although my friends said they reminded them of those days and that's what the goal was when I decided I couldn't go without tasting something at least a little comparable any longer. Mission accomplished.


Before getting a mix into the hot sauce/butter/vinegar bath which awaits below

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

Went out the regular season (and the Lovie era) with a Touchdown.


Slow Cooked Kalbi Ribs and Pan Seared Scallops with Veggies

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

So, though the regular season has eneded...poorly...playoffs are now upon us. And you can't tell me you're not going to watch them. We all know that's a lie .

The question is, what are we going to cook?

My tentative menu:
Wings (Alton Brown has an apartment-friendly recipe that is absolutely delicious)
Nachos
Grilled Pizzas
Chilaquiles
Chile Verde
Lamb Stew

Also I'll probably have to try the sour cream enchiladas from up-thread. Those look fantastic!

Oh I'll be watching, books open and all. I still think the opening round weekend in the NFL playoffs is the best two days in sports. On top of that this years participants include a handful+ of players who are no doubt Canton bound and quite a few others who could start making a case as greats as their careers move forward.

The enchiladas upthread are always a crowd pleaser. Some might not admit it, but they're the ones sneaking in for more while everyone else is glued to the game. So I can have them around to snack on for Sat. & Sun and share with patrons, I'm going to try and make Annie's Patties later this afternoon. Love these things.



Annie's Amazing Jamaican Beef Patties

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

got that right, good thing about being a fan of the NFL vs living and dying with one team means I don't get too high or low with my favorite team the Ravens. Wild Card Weekend and the Divisional weekend coming up are right up there with my favorite sporting events.

Woke up Saturday a.m. thinking of a shrimp po' boy, hadnt sourced any shrimp or anything else, Hit Woodmans for bread, organic tomatoes, creole mustard,, wondra flour, etc. Tried to go to Whole Foods Wheaton for the shrimp, but after seeing their water logged offerings I knew where I needed to go(did get some corn flour from WF). Standard Market, got some good gulf shrimp from them before NYE, and was glad to see they still had them.

Basic breading station, seasoned Wondra, egg wash, Seasoned wondra/corn flour.

Butterflied these shrimp to make them easier to handle in sandwich format. Toasted the french bread for a couple minutes before assembling.

Technique:
bottom of bread: Mayo, Lettuce, tomato, pickles,Crystal, shrimp, Top of bread: Creole mustard, mayo.



Added some Crystal hot sauce to the sandwich as I ate it.





Really dug the light, flavorfull breading on these shrimp, whole thing came together great.

As if my sandwich wasnt full enough of camarones, I had to eat another 1/2 dozen as a side along with some of my housemade jalapenos, celery, olives mix...

Happy New Year BTW.

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I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

Wow and hot damn swside. Now you really got me craving a shrimp po' boy to go with the rest of my Cajun feast planned for this evenings festivities. Nice Ravens W yesterday but yes I meant to say the divisional round of playoffs (this weekend) is my favorite two days. Never an easy match-up when you gotta play Peyton in the playoffs. Yo Geo?!?! What can you tell us Bears folk about Marc Trestman?!?! As a fan I'm just happy their looking at offensive minded candidates and interviewing a wide range of possibilities to decide which direction and outlook to go with. I'll let Phil do his job.

Every new year I seem to start playing around with a new cuisine and this year those dishes have come from various South American countries. I've really taken to Peruvian eats after being introduced to D'Candela through here a couple years back and then a recent trip thru South Florida had me craving more. I love how it has a variety of influences from other countries including Spain, Italy, Japan and China. One of the countries most popular dishes, Lomo Saltado, has been on my menu a couple times of late. It has Chinese influence and is best made in a wok. But I made do with what I had. Next season I'm thinking about buying a nice wok for winter.


Is that Stoner food? Well you know those type of dishes make good gameday eats...

While it may look like the beginnings of a new Jack in the Box burrito offering are being made this is actually one of Peru's national eats. I marinated the skirt steak in a red wine vinegar with spices and grilled those and then chopped them into bite size pieces. Then I sauteed some sliced red onions with just a few strips of sliced peppers (Jalapeno and bell) and added chopped garlic and soy sauce to the pan. After a couple minutes I threw the steak and fries in the pan along with some diced tomatoes and chopped cilantro at the very end just before turning the stove off. The fries are supposed to be soggy so you could just buy them from a drive thru and save time. Hearty and heavy indeed.


Peruvian Lomo Saltado

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Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing