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Chef Benwa on July 20 2011
Make S’mores Inside Your PC
You heard me right! David Murphy, of PCWorld must have been really board or as hard up for material as I am.
He used an old PC for some heat, some aluminum foil for a pan and software for his temperature control knob. and voilà PC S’mores!
Well there was a bit more to it read his whole article here.
I will also bet that they didn’t look as good as this.
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Chef Benwa on July 17 2011
Famous Beer Aficionados
This came to me in my email. Just had to share. Plus, as you can tell, I have been all out of ideas for quite some time.
Plus I like beer, well at least draft beer. For some reason he canned and bottled stuff just isn’t the same.
Sometimes when I reflect on all the beer I drink, I feel ashamed.
Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams.
If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered.
I think, “It is better to drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.”
Babe Ruth
“I feel sorry for people who don’t drink.
When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.
Lyndon B. Johnson
“When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.”
Paul Horning
“24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case.
Coincidence?
I think not.”
H. L. Mencken
“When we drink, we get drunk.
When we get drunk, we fall asleep.
When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.
So, let’s all get drunk and go to heaven!”
George Bernard Shaw
“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Benjamin Franklin
“Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer.
Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.”
Dave Barry
BEER: HELPING UGLY PEOPLE HAVE SEX SINCE 3000 B.C. .
W. C. Fields (ha ha ha ha ha)
Remember “I” before “E,” except in Budweiser.
Professor Irwin Corey
To some it’s a six-pack, to me it’s a Support Group Salvation in a can!
Leo Durocher
(Saved the best one for last!)
One night at Cheers, Cliff Clavin explained the” Buffalo Theory” to his buddy Norm:
“Well, ya see, Norm, it’s like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.
This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members!
In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine!
That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”
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Chef Benwa on June 4 2011
Posting from my phone with images
I can now post form my phone with pictures. Size just has to be set at 400 pixels.
Here is an example.
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S Sparks on January 28 2011
Time for the Uber Bowl and Tabasco Original Red sauce!
This post brought to you by TABASCO? Original Red. All opinions are 100% mine.
Well we all know what I mean, but copyright and trademark laws makes me too paranoid to use the correct name for the biggest football game each year.
That also means its Tabasco time!! If you are any sort of a regular reader of this blog you know how much I use TABASCO? Original Red in my recipes, from one of my first posts for the best Chicken Marinade to my latest post for a new batch of Hot Sauce.
Be sure not to run out! Get it by the Gallon!!
It’s great on everything, it has a very subtle heat that enhances and unlocks the flavor of everything you add it to. It’s not too salty or too hot like other less desirable brands.
It is especially good to use Tabasco Original Red to add zip to pizza, wings, deep fried mushrooms, pizza rolls, deviled eggs, soup, chili, guacamole, re-fried beans, Spanish rice and so on and so on and…….
If you need anymore ideas for what you can use Tabasco Original Red on, just put Tabasco in the Search Box above or go to Game-Day Party Menu on the Tabasco website.
Chicken Wings made with my Chicken Marinade featuring Tabasco Original Red hot sauce.
TABASCO? Original Red “So Much More Than Hot.”
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Chef Benwa on January 11 2011
Hot Sauce 2011
I made a double batch of restaurant style hot sauce yesterday. By “Restaurant Style” I mean a cooked hot sauce like they serve at my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant the Beltline Bar in Grand Rapids.
I was never that into “Salsa”. They make a “Salsa” at the Beltline Bar but they call it the “mild” sauce. It’s made in the traditional Salsa way. Fresh ground chilies, onions, tomatoes, etc…
Like I said, I was never a big fan. At best I would mix the mild “Salsa” with the regular hot sauce for a little change of pace.
This year I added to the previous recipe (you can see it here Restaurant Style Hot Sauce) I added a lot more chilies. In fact I added 6 different chilies. I used Poblano, Cubanella, Anaheim, Banana, Jalapeno and canned roasted green chilies.
I call it my Six Chili Hot Sauce.
The recipe is essentially the same except for the extra chilies:
(Oh, and I used 1 #10 can of tomatoes. It was easier to open a lot cheaper)
1 #10 Can Crushed Tomatoes
2 #10 Can of Water
2 46 oz Cans Tomato Juice
2 Bunches of Green Onions Sliced thin
2 Med to Large Onions Diced Fine
9 Fresh Fresh Jalapeno Peppers Diced Fine
2 Lrg Fresh Cubanella Chilies Diced Fine
3 Med Fresh Pablano Chilies Diced Fine
4 Med Anaheim Chilies Diced Fine
5 Med Banana or Hungarian Yellow Chilies Diced Fine
1 1lb 10 oz Can Fire Roasted Diced Green Chilies
3/4 Cup Crushed Red Peppers
1/2 Cup Tabasco Sauce
1 Cup Vinegar
3 Tbls Veg Oil
2 tsp Salt
1 Tbls Black Pepper
2 Tbls Granulated Garlic (NOT GARLIC SALT)
1 tsp Ground Cumin
Heat the oil in the bottom of a very large pot.
Dice up the veggies and throw them in the very, very large pot with the hot oil. How large? Mine is 12 qt and it just barely fit. If you must, use two smaller pots. I plan on buying a 20 qt for the next time.
Let these cook till translucent and a little brown around the edges. There are a lot of veggies so it will take a while.
Once that is done, add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a nice hot simmer let this cook for about 20 minutes stirring to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn.
Then can it. Be sure to read and follow the recommended canning procedures. I recommend the Ball Blue Book of Canning or see links below.
This time I made a double batch, I ended up with over 40 pint jars of some killer hot sauce.
National Center for Home Food Preservation
Step-by-Step FreshPreserving™ of High-Acid Foods (this the online version of The Ball Blue Book of Canning)
University of Florida IFAS Extension
Put Up and Ready to Go!!
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Chef Benwa on November 11 2010
Need a Special Gift for That Hard to Shop For Person
Here it is the Giant Gummy Bear, its over 1,000 times larger than a regular gummy bear!
I found the Worlds Largest Gummy Bear website while doing a little Stumbling. Here is what the site has to say about these monsters:
These gummy behemoths are as sweet, soft, chewy and delicious as their lilliputian cousins except about a thousand times better.
The World’s Largest Gummy Bears!™ are over 1,000 times larger than a regular gummy bear!
Over 90 servings per World’s Largest Gummy Bear!
World’s Largest Gummy Bear is BIGGER than a FOOTBALL!
World’s Largest Gummy Bears!™ are truly the “World’s largest edible gummy bear made for retail distribution World-Wide!”.
World’s Largest Gummy Bears!™ are hand made by gummy artisans in the USA with the best ingredients
World’s Largest Gummy Bears!™ are gluten-free
They are only $29.95, a bargain for that oh so hard to shop for person on you gift list.
Bears don’t do it for you? How about a Giant Gummy Worm;
2 feet long and 3 pounds of fun!
or a Giant Gummy Frog
To bad we just missed Halloween, the have a Giant Gummy Brain too;
They also have something for the drinkers on you gift list, Gummy Shot Glasses;
So next time you just can’t find the right present for that hard to buy for person just remember the Giant Gummy Bear and his friends.
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Chef Benwa on October 17 2010
Are You Ready for Red Celery
Coming soon to a market near you, just in time for Christmas and New Year cooking, is Red Celery. This should help you add a little more pizazz to your holiday cooking.
It is exactly like green celery, only its RED. Developed and grown by Duda Farm Fresh Foods in California it is a natural hybrid created from heirloom seeds.
Here is what Duda Farms says about their product:
Red Celery is a brand-new and unique product brought to market by Duda Farm Fresh Foods: the world’s largest grower and processor of celery, who once again showcase their commitment to innovation and quality with the introduction of this new celery variety which is …red!
Red Celery is an all-natural beautiful variety of celery that has been bred from heirloom seeds and is available all year round. The first variety in the new Celery Sensations line, Red Celery is a proprietary variety and the result of the world’s largest celery breeding program with over 160 years of research and development invested in the category.
I can’t wait to see it in the market. It is being test marketed in the first on the west coast and in the northwest and southwest. It will be rolled out nationwide sometime later. Duda declined to go into much detail about the company’s marketing plans for competitive reasons and would not say which retailers would carry it or specify which cities.
It will be nice to be able to add some color to my Chicken Salad and other dishes with out having to add red peppers or pimentos.
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admin on October 10 2010
Old Farmer’s Almanac Website
My cousin Shelly, who owns Phillips Jewelers in Coopersville MI, pointed me to a great site The Old Farmer’s Almanac. It is really great site it has tons more information then the book.
If you become a member you have access to even more information than just recipes,
here are some examples:
Free access to the 2010 Digital Almanac
Charts and Guides
2010 Moon Sign Calendar
That is just the tip of the iceberg. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
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admin on October 3 2010
Finally Bought a Decent Slicer
I usually cook at my day job, I’m technically the IT Manager/Web Developer. Some how, usually during the interview process, they find out that I previously was a chef for 20 years. So I become the resident chef where ever I am working.
My current boss has taken to purchasing whole New York Strips and Prime Ribs for our company get together. Which brings me to the dilemma of slicing the meat for serving.
There is just one knife that will do for such cuts of meat, a 10 to 12 inch slicer. Unfortunately, out side a restaurant setting, not many people have one. Trying to make decent cuts with a chefs knife or a serrated bread knife just doesn’t cut it. (Ha Ha)
So I broke down and purchased a really nice knife from our local restaurant supply company,GFS or Gordon Food Service, it’s a 12′ slicer that works like a dream.
So if you are tasked with cooking and serving large hunks of meat, do yourself a favor and get one of these knives. It will make you life a lot easier. As the saying goes “the proper tool for the proper job”.
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