Black eyed peas Simply DT

Family and food goes hand and hand.  Its the love and the passion that has the connection. I mentioned before that I will feature inspired chefs.  Well lets welcome Simply DT and his show piece, Black Eyed Peas. These are best black eyed peas I have ever had!  No lie!  I dont even like them but his I will definitely eat.  Simply DT the kitchen is all yours!  Welll... here we go!
Ingredients
       1lb black-eyed-peas
       2 turkey tails or any smoked meat
       6 cups of water
       andouille sausage    
       seasoning of your choice
Alright this Simply DT's black-eyed-peas.
Step 1. black-eyed-peas 1lb rinse

Step 2. boil turkey tails or any smoked meats boil until water is flavored

Step 3. once water is flavored with meats and seasonings of your choice add peas.
Step 4. cut andouille sausage

Step 5. boil beans for an hour and a half add sausage and seasoning blend.
Step 6. cook peas for another hour.
Step 7. dig in and enjoy Simply DT's black-eyed-peas

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Vanilla Extract

This is amazing to me because I never knew this.  You learn something new everyday. This one is for all the bakers.  Now you saying what the heck is he talking about!!  This is straight from Renee's Sweet Coner! Welll...here we go!

You can always buy vanilla extract at the store, however I started noticing on other blogs that people were making their own and I wanted to try it out.  And for those of you who go through as much vanilla as I do, buying the $5.00 bottles of extract starts to get expensive.  The best part about making your own extract is that its cheap, easy, and it tastes much better than the store bought kind.  If you can't find any vanilla beans at your local store, you can always order a variety online for low prices.  I got my Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans online at Amazon for about $5.00 and there was no shipping charge.  The vodka that you use can be any brand so long as its regular vodka.  Aside from those two ingredients all you need is a bottle with a tight lid and a dark spot to put it in in order for it to mature and in a couple of weeks you have the best vanilla extract you could hope for.

Vanilla Extract

2-3 vanilla beans
4-5 oz vodka

Take the vanilla beans and cut them in half and then take each half and split it so that the seeds are showing.  Put the vanilla beans in the bottle or container.  Take the vodka and pour it over the vanilla beans until they are covered.  Place the bottle in a cool, dark area for about 2-3 weeks and make sure to give it a shake every now and then.  When you use up all the liquid you can reuse the beans again, just add more vodka!!  The vanilla beans should last for 2-3 uses and then you just replace them.  Enjoy!

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Bacon Cheddar Burgers

Well I tell people all the time about the things that I cook. One thing I talk about is my stuffed bacon cheddar burger.  They always say wow or where is mine.  So its time for me to post it.  This one is for you Erika! Enjoy! Well....here we go!



Ingredients
     4 lbs ground beef
     Montreal seasoning
     Garlic seasoning
     3 slabs of bacon
     bacon cheddar cheese or regular cheddar
     2 Tbl of bacon fat, reserved from cooking the bacon

Directions:

Take your slabs of bacon and fry them up nice and crisp.  After done place them on a paper towel and let them cool. Then chop the bacon up to a medium coarse.

Next take your cheese cut it into quarters so that each burger has three quarters each.

Put the ground beef in a bowl and season it with the garlic and Montreal seasoning and pour in the reserved bacon fat and mix.  (Season the meat until you see seasoning all through the ground beef)

Use a regular ice cream scoop and make meatballs.

After you have formed the meatballs flatten them out into patties. Take 1 piece of cheese place it in the the center (stay away from the edges) then sprinkle bacon crumbles on top of that cheese and then place the last 2 pieces of cheese on top of that.

Take the other patty  and put it on top of the other patty.  Then begin to form your burger.  Make sure your patty is nice and sealed.

Grill for about 6 minutes on each side.

You will start to see the cheese oozing out when your burger is done.

I like to pair my burger with with a pretzel roll bun and the condiments of your choice.  So enjoy your gourmet bacon cheddar burger.

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Creamy Garlicky Mussels

I'ma back!!  I had a taste for one of my favorite seafoods, mussels.  And if your tired of the same old boring fried fish and shrimp, here's something different, with a little twist.  Expand your taste palates.  Well here we go...

Creamy Garlicky Mussels
(adapted from Tyler Florence's Creamy Garlicky Mussels)

2 lbs mussels

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 lemon
1/2 of a can of diced tomatoes

3/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 leek, just the white part

8 shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 andouille sausage, thinly sliced

1 shallot

Cajun fish seasoning

Garlic Bread

1 loaf crusty french bread

1 head of garlic

butter

Take the head of garlic and slice the top off.  Wrap it in foil and drizzle olive oil over it.  Put it in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until the garlic has softened and turned a golden brown.  Take the garlic out of the oven.

Slice the loaf of bread in half and then cut open the halves.  Butter a skillet and lay the bread face down in the skillet until the bread is golden brown and crispy. 

Once the bread is done, take it out of the skillet and spread it with the garlic and serve.

Scrub the mussels with a vegetable brush under running water; discard any with broken shells that remain opened when tapped.  Slice half the lemon thinly, and chop the leek.  Chop the shallot, and the garlic, and thinly slice the sausage.

Take the shrimp and sprinkle both sides with the Cajun seasoning.  

In a large pot over medium heat melt the butter with the olive oil. Add the garlic, thyme, and lemon slices and cook until everything has softened, about 5 minutes. 

Add in the half can of diced tomatoes, the shrimp and the sausage, and squeeze the other half of the lemon in the pot and cook for about a minute. 

Add in the mussels.  Add the wine then the chicken broth; cover the pot and steam for 8-10 minutes or until the mussels open. 

Pour in the bowl and serve with garlic bread.  So the next time you have the urge to jump in the lake for seafood try these mussels.

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Steak with a stout reduction sauce

Well food is #1 in my foodietopia world.  Microcraft beer is #2 by far.  Today's recipe features a Guinness extra stout reduction sauce.  Fellas, if you want to impress your girl and cook her a good meal check this out. New York strip steak with extra stout reduction pan sauce, baby red ranch potatoes and bacon wrapped asparagus.  Welll here we go!!
Ingredients: 
    1 new york strip steak
    5 tsp stone ground mustard
    2 tsp olive oil
    1 Tbl butter room temp
    2 tsp all purpose flour
    3 garlic cloves diced fine
    1 shallot finely chopped
    1/2 cup beef broth
    1/2 cup extra stout beer (Guinness)
    1/2 Tbl packed brown sugar
    1 Tbl soy sauce
    6 small baby reds quartered
    1 Tbl ranch dressing seasoning
    1 tsp mice garlic
     chopped chives
     salt pepper
     8 asparagus stalks cut in half ( wooden skewers cut in half)
     2 to 4 bacon slabs
Spread 1 teaspoon mustard over steaks; sprinkle with Montreal seasoning.  Heat 1 teaspoon oil in large nonstick pan skillet over medium high heat.  Cook about 4 minutes on each side for medium rare.  Transfer to cutting board and let it rest.  Cut across the grain at an angle into thin slices and place on plate.

Take the asparagus and put on skewers, and then wrap with bacon and season with black pepper.  Cook on each side till bacon is nice and crisp.

Take baby reds and wash and cut in half, then quarters.  Place in a pot with 2 Tbl of olive oil and boil till soft, try not to over cook.

When done take the ranch dressing seasoning, salt, pepper, 1/4 stick of butter, and 1 teaspoon of olive oil and toss in bowl and garnish with chopped chives

Mash butter and flour in a small bowl; set aside.  Heat 1 teaspoon oil in skillet over medium.  Add garlic and shallots;  saute 1 minute.  Add beef broth, and bring to a boil.  Whisk in stout, brown sugar, soy sauce, 3 teaspoons of the mustard, and butter mixture. Boil until it reduces, about to 2 to 3 minutes.

Now put your plate together nice and neat garnish and enjoy with your girl!

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Rhubarb Pie

This blog is for ALL Foodies.  I will feature various culinary inspired chefs and bakers because its all about the food. After a very good meal its should be followed by an outstanding desert. Desserts are something I'm working on to master.  So while I'm still working on that I will feature Renee's Sweet Coner. She will bring various desserts to the blog. All of them I have tried and they are outstanding.  So no more wasting time! Welllll here we go! Renee's Sweet Corner! Enjoy


I love pie.  In my world, in the contest between pie and cake, pie wins by a mile.  I think its because of the crust, I love crust, especially whens its flaky and soft and fresh out of the oven.  There is nothing about pie that disappoints me, I can eat it in the morning for breakfast, as a dessert or even for my main meal.  Ahhhh, pie.  I think one of the reasons more people don't like pie is because they feel that the crust is too difficult to make.  But, pie crust, in my opinion is one of the easier things to bake once you get the hang of it.  The first thing to remember is that it is just three simple ingredients, flour, salt, and fat.  Now I love all types of pie, but my absolute favorite is rhubarb. And I feel for those of you who have never had the delicious tanginess that is rhubarb.  It is a plant that has ruby red stalks when ripe and it is these stalks that you chop up and cook into the deliciousness that is rhubarb pie.  For those of you who have never had rhubarb, I must warn you it can be tart, so most people will cook it with strawberries to tone it down and that is perfectly acceptable, however today I'm going to be just be showing you rhubarb in all its glory.  This recipe makes one 9 inch double crust pie, however for today I took that recipe and divided it into five mini pies for extra cuteness.

Rhubarb Pie


For the crust:

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening *
6-7 Tbl cold water

Measure out the flour and salt into a medium size bowl and mix together.

 Add in the shortening and mix together with your hands or a pastry cutter until the dough resembles little crumbs.

 Add in the water  until the dough comes together.  Divide the dough into two pieces and roll out one of them.  This will be your bottom crust.

Place that crust into your nine inch pie pan.  Roll out the other piece and set aside.

* Some people do not like using shortening in their pie crust which is fine.  If you would like to use butter, substitute the same amount of butter for the shortening and proceed with mixing the ingredients.  However, you should place the dough in the frig for about an hour prior to rolling it out to give the butter a chance to set.

For the filling:

5 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together the sugar, flour, and vanilla extract.  Then add in the chopped rhubarb and mix together.

  Take the filling and pour it into the pie pan and put the top crust on. 

Crimp the edges to seal, and cut about three to four slits in the top so the steam can vent.  Place in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes and then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 30-40 minutes until the crust is browned and the filling is bubbling.  If the edges start to get too brown, you can wrap the edges in foil.  Let cool and then serve.

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Festival Food

Its all about the food!  Tonight we went to the Taste of  Crown Point and I sampled what I thought would be great foods.  Now I must tell you I had one of the best polish sausages that I had ever had. This polish was a blue ribbon winner 3 years in a row.

 I see why, it was seasoned with garlic, pepper, and various spice and it had a nice snap.  There was flavor in every bite. Enjoy the pics.  If its something to be eaten, I will eat it.  If its a place to be ate at, I will be there.

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Arugula Marinated Artichoke Salad

Well here we go! I chose this salad because I had marinated artichoke hearts in the frig that I needed to use.  But I also chose this salad because it is perfect on a hot day when the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven and heat up the house even more.  The dressing is a salty tangy vinaigrette using pesto I already had in the refrigerator.  You can of course make your own pesto should you have the ingredients, but one of the best things I like about this salad is that it is a good way to use up ingredients that you might have just lying around because its really the dressing that makes this salad.  And if you want to be really unique, like me, instead of just placing the vegetables on top of the salad, mix them in the dressing prior to putting them on the arugula to really give them that added flavor. You can use this salad as a complimentary side to your main meal, or make this the main meal by added some grilled chicken marinated in the dressing, or any other meat or vegetable you might have on hand.

Serves 2
Ingredients:
                  4 oz of arugula
                  1/2 tomato
                  1/2 onion             
                  2 oz marinated artichoke hearts
                  2 Tbs pesto sauce
                  1 oz red wine vinegar
                  1 tsp minced garlic  
                  salt and pepper        
                                              
To make the dressing :
          Take the pesto sauce, red wine vinegar and minced garlic and combine it in small bowl and whisk it together.

For the salad:
          Next slice the onions.  Cut the tomatoes in wedges, and then quarter the wedges.  Chop the marinated artichokes.  Place arugula in a bowl and pour the dressing over the salad and mix together making sure the is arugula well coated.  Then take the arugula and divide it into two serving bowls.  Next take the onions and tomatoes and artichokes and place them in the same bowl the arugula was in, season with salt and pepper and toss.  Place on top of arugula in serving bowl and enjoy.

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My first step into the blog planet

Welcome to FoodieTopia!!  In this blog I hope to demonstrate to everyone my love and passion for food.  I like to take my own ideas and create recipes and I like to take established recipes and put my own unique essence into each one.  I want to inspire you with the same enthusiasm that i have in cooking and creating food.  This blog will hopefully demonstrate the versatility in cooking Vietnamese to fried chicken.  Most importantly I want to welcome you to my kitchen, so enjoy your travels through FoodieTopia!!

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