Archive for April, 2009

Homemade Hot Sauce

Posted by Rex on April 30, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Hot Sauce, Peppers, Recipes, wingtacular / 7 Comments

The wingtacular is coming up in a couple of weeks and I wanted to give a little help to the competitors. The basis of any good wing sauce is a good hot sauce. Over the counter hot sauces are good, but if you make your own you can control the ingredients and the amount of heat.  As always, nothing compares to homemade.

Habaneros, jalapenos, poblanos and long hot peppers were available at the grocery store.

Habaneros, jalapenos, poblanos and long hot peppers were available at the grocery store.

I went to the local grocery store last night looking for a nice mix of peppers to create my hot sauce. The main problem was that they were extremely limited in their selection. So for this hot sauce I am making a green hot sauce. It still has the spiciness that I look for in a hot sauce but it has a different color and more of an earthiness to it.

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Review: 25 Essential Techniques for Smoking

Posted by Rex on April 29, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
BBQ, Book Reviews, Tips and Tricks / No Comments


Every wednesday I review a cookbook to help weed out the good the bad and the ugly. This week I am reviewing 25 essential techniques for smoking by Ardie A. Davis. I love barbecuing and this seemed right up my alley.
Artie A. Davis

Artie is an award winning expert with his own barbecue university. Artie founded the Greasehouse University. The degree program at the Greasehouse University is is a doctor of barbecue philosophy and is overseen by the Kasas City Barbecue Society. Artie is now a famed judge on the barbecue circuit. Story short, Artie knows barbecue.Artie starts the book off like every good barbecue book going over the basics of smoking. He goes over the tools required, the methods needed and basics of starting to smoke. His essentials include the basics of choosing wood. As you know the wood gives the unique flavor of each dish. Artie suggests wood for each meat and further goes on to suggest woods to stay away from. For instance, mesquite on chicken would be too bitter and alder on beef would be too mild. As a barbecue expert you may already know this and brush it off, but as a newbie, this information is awesome.

The 25 techniques for smoking

Artie list many ways to smoke. Low and slow, hot and fast an paper bag smoking. Low and slow is used for thicker cuts of meat, but hot and fast is used for fish and less fatty cuts of meat. The section that I really enjoyed was paper bag smoking. When smoking a pork butt, the meat is so thick that sometimes you get too much smoke flavor. Artie suggests that halfway through smoking you place the pork butt in a paper bag to catch the juices and to limit access to the smoke. He says that the pork that comes out fo the bag is amazing.

Overall

This book is definitely for a novice barbecuer. The recipes are great, the methods are listed in an easy to read fashion, and the pictures are amazing. Artie has recipes for all of the classic barbecue foods, such as ribs, pork butt and brisket. Artie also has methods and recipes for foods that you wouldn’t quite associate with barbecue. Such as, Smoked-baked barbecue chile pie, smoked duck and whole smoked garlic. If you are just starting out I would definitely recommend this book as it goes through everything that you need to start barbecuing.

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Herb Garden Revisited

Posted by Rex on April 28, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Gardening / 1 Comment

Update – The wingtacular has been moved up to May 16th.  We still have three more open spots. Click here to learn about the wingtacular.

A couple of weeks ago I planted 12 varieties of herbs and peppers in a self-watering seed starter that I purchased at Lowes.  You can find the link here. The whole thing went south when the self-watering indoor green house got a case of mold.  The mold covered all of the plants except for the pepper plants and the basil.  So needless to say, I have to start all over again.  I would not recommend the self watering green house starter as it pretty much sucks. 

I have transplanted the herbs and peppers that survived the deadly mold created by my crappy self watering green house.

I have transplanted the herbs and peppers that survived the deadly mold created by my crappy self watering green house.

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Grilling Tuna to Perfection

Posted by Rex on April 27, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Cooking, fish, tuna / 1 Comment

Grilling fish can be extremely hard.  Many questions come to mind.  Do I need a basket?  Do I need to oil the grill or the fish?  How do I season the fish?  Do I cook it on high, medium or indirect heat?  How long do I cook it for?  I had all of these questions.  I know, the guy with the blog had no idea, why should I continue reading you ask?  Well it is because I have done all of the work and after today’s post hopefully you will have the answers. 

After getting home I realized that the fresh tuna that I purchased was recently thawed and not so fresh. So I cooked it to medium just to be sure.
After getting home I realized that the fresh tuna that I purchased was recently thawed and not so fresh. So I cooked it to medium just to be sure.

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Mandu

Posted by Rex on April 26, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Cooking, Korean, Recipes, beef, pork / 4 Comments

Last week my friend Tom came over to share his family recipe for Mandu.  What is Mandu you ask?  Well it is a traditional Korean dumpling.  They are served fried crisp and are absolutely delicious.

Crispy and delicious
Crispy and delicious

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Sourdough Pizza

Posted by Rex on April 25, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Baking, Bread, Cooking, Pizza, Recipes, Sourdough / 4 Comments

Last week on friday I made a sour dough starter. After stirring it today I noticed it was ready to go. The first thing that came to mind was sour dough pizza. When I was in college there was a pizzaria by my house with the best sour dough pizza. After years of trying I think that I may have finally figured it out.

Perfect crust and great sour dough flavor
Perfect crust and great sourdough flavor

Once you have your starter  this crust takes only and hour or so to make.  Rather fast for a pizza crust.  The recipe makes two crusts so if you don’t need the other one you can refrigerate it for 2-3 days or it freezes very well.

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What to do in DC this weekend (Apr. 24-26)

Posted by Rex on April 24, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Things to do in DC / No Comments

This weekend is going to be awesome.  High of 87 on sunday.  I can only think of one thing to do when it is that hot out.  Wine Tours.  Here in DC, at some the winerys you can take wine tours with your dogs.  Tucker appreciates it.

Tucker looking forward to a little wine tour.
Tucker looking forward to a little wine tour.

Fabbioli Cellars
15669 Limestone School Road
Leesburg, VA 20176
703-771-1198

Located right over in Leesburg, this winery offers great views, great wines, and a pet friendly atmosphere.  If you go try the Tre Sorélle it is a Bordeaux style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.  The tasting room is open from 11am-5pm Friday through Sunday. 

Oak Crest Vineyard & Winery
8215 Oak Crest Drive
King George, VA  22485
540-663-2813
They are open from 10-5 on saturdays and 11-5 on sundays.   They are roughly 90 minutes from DC, allow dogs and have over 10 different wines to choose from. 

Philip Carter Winery
4366 Stillhouse Road
Hume, Virginia 22639
540-364-1203

Open Thursday to Monday from 11AM to 6PM.  This winery is a tad bit closer than the previous one so you don’t have to wake up as early.  They offer a nice selection of whites and reds.  This winery is also dog friendly.  Tucker gives it two paws. 

Sunset Hills Vineyards
38295 Freemont Overlook Lane
Purcellville, Virginia 20132  
703-725-3546

Open 12-6 Saturdays and Sundays.  Located just past Leesburg, this winery is close, no need to wake up early.  That is honestly my number one determining factor about going on wine tours, how early do I have to get up?  Show up later and make sure to stay for the sunset.  It is Gorgeous.

Barrel Oak Winery
3623 Grove Lane
Delaplane, VA 20144
540-364-6402
Located just of Route 66, about an hour from DC.  They are open from 11am-6pm every day.  They are extremely pet friendly and easy to get to.  Check out their website as they have a lot of dog related events.

To find other winerys in the DC area use the following links:

Enjoy and remember to take a designated driver.  Luckily Tucker just got his learners permit.  Yay!

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Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted by Rex on April 23, 2009 - Print This Post Print This Post
Baking, Chocolate Chips, Cookies, Cooking, Recipes / 3 Comments

I have been on a quest for the best chocolate chip cookies for a while.  After a while I have figured out the ingredients needed to make a really good cookie.  You need to use both butter and shortening.  If you use all butter your cookies come out flat and crunchy.  If you use all shortening your cookies come out fluffly but don’t spread out.  A perfect balance of the two gives you a light and fluffy cookie that is not too thick and not too thin.

Light fluffy with a little crisp on the edges. The perfect cookie.
Light fluffy with a little crisp on the edges. The perfect cookie.

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