Pan-Fried Tilapia in a Lemon Butter White Wine Sauce w/ Roasted Garlic Cous Cous and Farm Fresh Sweet Corn

If this dish doesn't speak of summer, I don't know what does! I was shooting for something refreshing, not incredibly overpowering and that wouldn't make you want to take a nap right after eating it. I live in the northeast where we are known for having incredibly mild weather for most of the year. We are just ending a horrendous heat wave of 6 days straight in the high 90's and low 100's, so eating hasn't really been on the top of the list.
I went to our local grocer and they had some absolutely GORGEOUS tilapia filets. I immediately thought that I would panfry them inside (in the AC) and picked up some beautiful, fresh from the farm sweet corn to go along with it. Here's how it all went down:
I picked up a bag of corn boil (seasoning you add to the water you boil the corn in) and added that to my water and got it boiling. Added the corn and set a timer for 10 minutes. I seasoned some flour with salt, pepper, adobo and lemon pepper and mixed it up. I then rinsed off the filets, patted them dry and seasoned lightly with old bay. I added some extra virgin olive oil to a frying pan (enough to cover the bottom) and got the pan real nice and hot. I then shook the excess flour off of the fish and placed them in the pan. They cooked 3 minutes on each side on medium high heat. While the fish was cooking, I got my cous cous cooking which is pretty much instant. Here is what I ended up with. . . cheers :)

Country-Fried Pork Chops With Battered Potatos

This meal was simply one of my favorites growing up in Northern Virginia. I remember as a little boy, walking home from school and smelling fried porkchops just knowing that it was coming from my grandmothers' place. She would always fry potatos with them as well and serve them with some green beans or broccoli. So I decided to put a little twist on the potatos by putting the same batter that I use for the porkchops (minus the breadcrumbs) and cooking them at the same time as the chops. These turned out to be so delicious. They had a nice light crunch to them and were packed with flavor. Here's a pic of what I ended up with . . .

Father's Day Lasagna Bolognese

This Father's Day was celebrated with my beautiful family. My incredible girlfriend Sophia made me the most amazing dinner. I appreciated the great taste even more because she does not often cook. She fried up some prociutto until it got crispy and diced it. Then began to put the asagna together. The sauce was a bolognese sauce (meat flavor with sauteed vegetables, red wine vinegar, burgundy and parmesan cheese). Cheeses used were ricotta annd shredded mozzarella. We had some Ciabiatta rolls cut in half and topped with shredded cheese and garlic. . . here's what you missed out on :)

Homemade Savory Chicken Noodle Soup

This soup is so flavorful it should be outlawed! Did I mention you wont break your wallet by making it? Here's what I did. . . . I took the carcass from the chicken we had last night and I boiled it in water for a couple of hours to get a stock. I added a little bit of salt and pepper to it and refridgerated it til this morning. When I was ready to make the soup, I took the chicken stock and poured it into my crock pot (it filled it 3/4 of the way). Next I picked apart the left over chicken and put it in with the broth. I then added some sliced carrots (2 cups) and 4 diced russet potato's. I set the crock pot to high for 2 hours and then low for 5 hours. About half way through, I added some parsley and cilantro, and a little more salt and pepper. Once finished, just boil up some egg noodles and serve soup over top. . . here's what you should have. Enjoy!

Garlic-Lime Infused Roasted Chicken

I can't tell you how pleased I am with this creation. I bought a 3-4 lb whole chicken fryer from my grocer and after pondering over how I wanted to cook it up, here is what I came up with. I generously salted and peppered the inside of the cavity with ground sea salt and black pepper. Then rubbed it in to ensure that I covered the whole crevace. Next, I took 4 cloves of garlic, took the peels off and smashed them. I placed them inside the cavity. I then cut two limes in half and put them inside. I used some butchers twine and tied the legs together. Now comes the fun part, seasoning your bird :) So, what I like to do is just use some extra virgin olive oil and drizzle it over the entire thing. I used some coriander infused olive oil this time, starting with the backside of the chicken. Then I grabbed the ol' sea salt grinder and coated the backside generously with salt, pepper and some chicken rub and flipped it over. Repeat the same process and you're ready for action. I put it into a 425 degree oven for 1hr 20 minutes, basting it every 20 minutes and I gotta tell you. . . this thing came out so incredibly tender and juicy! Alot of times people struggle to get their chicken skins crispy when they roast them, but you will see that by coating it with sea salt, you get an excellent result. I am serving mine with some creamy mashed potato's and french cut green beans. And me not being a wasteful person, I have the carcass in a pot of water right now to make a chicken stock that will eventually turn into some amazing roasted chicken soup tomorrow! Hope you enjoy everyone. Thanks for reading :)

3-2-1- Baby Back Ribs

I gotta start by saying that the baby back rib is my absolute favorite cut of rib. If you take your time at the store while looking through them and pic out a rack that has a good meat-to-fat ratio, you will be more than pleased with your results after cooking them. Now this year is my first year of really getting down to business and going all out with smoking ribs. I went out and bought a nice rig (Chargriller Duo) and got a Side Fire Box for it so I could have Texas-Style BBQ. That means using indirect heat as the cooking method. I most always use charcoal as my main source of fuel and add various woods for smoke. They range from bourbon barrel wood, apple, hickory, mesquite, pecan, and maple. The 3-2-1- method of cooking is simply putting the ribs in the smoker for 3 hours, wrapping them in foil with some kind of liquid and putting them back in for 2 hours, and then taking them out of the foil and finishing them for the remaining 1 hour. During the last 30 minutes, you want to put your sauce on the ribs if you like sauce on them. Make sure to put warm sauce on them instead of cold out of the fridge sauce as it will delay the finishing of the cook. Ok so I have a video of my finished ribs here, and what I like to do is just put them on my gasser to sauce them. I'll just brush some sauce on and let 'em sit there for a few minutes and then flip and repeat the process. Enjoy the video!

On The Fly Strawberry Cheesecake

This is the perfect dessert to do when you decide to have company over and didn't plan ahead, or when it's a thousand degrees outside and you just want a cool treat for the family. Just pick up a box of strawberries from your local grocer and a box of jello no-bake cheesecake and you're all set! Make sure you have a 9" pie pan and just follow the directions on the back of the box. Slice up your strawberries however you want and place them all around the edges and there you have it. Couldn't get any easier than that. Not to mention you don't have to use the oven so the AC wont have to work harder to cool it down. Use some cool whip once you plate the pie for some added creaminess and you have yourself an irresistable dessert!

Herb-Grilled Lamb Chops

I hate to admit this, but living on this Earth for 27 years and I have never eaten a piece of lamb. That is, until today. I took a trip to my local Sam's Club and saw this amazing pack of 14 chops for about $12 and couldn't pass them up. So I brought 'em home and drizzled them with a little EVOO then rubbed 'em with crushed mint, thyme and rosemary. Right before I went out to the grill I topped them off with some sea salt. I grilled the chops to medium rare and MAN they were amazing! I will definitely be having these more often. Hope you enjoy the pic.

Spicy, Savory Chicken $ Sausage Gumbo

If you like heat then you have come to the right place. This gumbo is full of it, but not so much that you cant stand to take another bite. Oh no! It just tickles your taste buds and lets you know that its there :) Start by drizzling a tbsp of veg oil to a stock pot. Let it come up to temp and add some sliced sausage (your preference on this, I used 2 sweet italian sausage links). Let that brown on medium high heat for about 8-10 mins and then set the meat aside, keeping as much oil in the pan as possible. Next, season 4 pieces of chicken (I use dark meat, 2 thighs and 2 legs) and place them skin side down in the oil. Brown both sides of the chicken, 4 mins on each side. Remove the chicken and place in the refrigerator til later. Add 3/4 of a cup of oil to the pot and a cup of flour and stir together. Keep stirring frequently until your roux is nice and dark brown (milk chocolate color). Its going to smoke a little, dont worry its part of the process. Once the color is right, add about a cup of red pepper and 2 cups diced onion. Let it cook for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently. Season with sea salt, cayanne pepper and crushed bay leaf all to taste.
Add the cooked sausage to the mixture and stir. Slowly begin to stir in 9 cups of chicken stock. It will look like the roux didnt cook all the way and stuff is "floating" in the stock. Dont worry, as the gumbo continues to cook, it goes away. Bring the gumbo to a boil and let simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Add the chicken parts and let cook for 1.5 hours, skimming the fat off of the top and continuing to stir. Once done, take the gumbo off heat and remove chicken. Pull meat off bone and remove skin. Shred chicken and put back into gumbo. I made some minute rice about 10 minutes before the chicken was to be taken out. Then I took some french rolls, split them in half and drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled some garlic bread seasoning on them. Put 'em in a 400 degree oven for 6 minutes and you are all set. Here is the finished product. If you are a heat fanatic, try the gumbo first before you reach for the hot sauce.

Coconut Rice w/ Sriracha Creme Sauce

On a time crunch or just simply too worn out from work to put on a big production for the family? This 15-minute meal is the perfect solution for those weeknights when you just want to hit the shower and relax with a cocktail on the couch. The ingredients you will need are as follows:

1 pk medium frozen shrimp 45ct
1 bottle Sriracha Chili Sauce
1 can Goya Coconut Creme
2 cups cooked white rice
Parsley for garnish

Since I was going to be gone the whole day, I just emptied the pack of shrimp into a tupperware and poured half the can of coconut creme on top of it. Be sure to stir the cocunut creme first as the creme rises and the cocunut water is on bottom. Let that marinate all day until you are ready to cook.
In a medium pan or wok, drizzle some Extra virgin olive oil and place the shrimp in. Give it a few stirs and then add the chili sauce. This stuff is REALLY hot so use it sparingly. Keep in mind that the cocunut creme will tame it quite a bit however. Next add a tbsp of the cocunut creme to the shrimp and stir. Set aside.
Once your rice is cooked, put it in the wok and heat it up. Add the remainder of the cocunut creme to the rice and fold together. Once heated thoroughly, you can begin plating. Put a mound of rice in the center of plate and surround rice with shrimp and sauce. Top with chopped parsley. Here is what you should have. . . .

Delicious Homemade Pizza!

I can't begin to explain how fun these are to make. I even let my 14 month old son share the glory in making it with me :) We started out with a store bought crust (I know, I know), some onion, green pepper, bacon and diced tomato. I prepped all of the ingredients (sliced the pepper really thin, same for the onion and diced the bacon). I then fried the bacon and set it aside. I warmed up the pizza sauce in a small pan. I like to use the garden-style sauce with a sausage flavor. Once I spread the sauce onto the crust, it was time for the little one to have some fun. He got to put the first handful of cheese on. Then of course he had to spill the rest of the ingredients, forcing me to prep them all over again! So, after you get a nice layer of cheese onto the sauce (I love extra cheese) then just take your sliced pepper and place them neatly around the border of the crust. Next take the onion and go around the inside of the peppers. Then sprinkle the diced bacon all around. After that you are going to place some freh tomato wherever you like. Now the next part is optional. I LOVE garlic. So I will mince 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic and sprinkle it all over the pizza and then do the same with parsley before baking it. You should have your oven preheated to 450. For a crispy crust, set the pizza directly on the rack and let it bake for 18 minutes or until the cheese startes to get a nice golden color to it. Remove it, slice and savor every delicious bite!!

Filet Mignon, Parmesan Egg Noodles and French Cut Green Beans

You have got to be clinically insane to not love a good filet mignon. This is the most tender, juicy cut of beef you will ever bite into (if cooked properly). I seasoned these with some essence, adobo, sea salt and worcestershire sauce. After marinating for a few hours, the weather was not on my side so I had no choice but to pan sear them. You wanna get your pan really nice and hot so when the meat hits it, a nice crust is formed and all of the juices are locked inside. I do this on both sides of cours and even turn them on end to get the sides of them seared. Here's how they look when done and rested for 10 minutes. Notice the juices running from the steaks!

Tangy Cucumber Salad

Here's an idea for a quick snack on one of those really hot summer days, or as a side dish when you have company over. This is my exact recipe I use at home with just me and the mrs so you will have to double the recipe for more than two people.

1 large cucumber
1 1/2 tbsp mayo
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp sugar
2 caps apple cider vinegar
1 tsp fresh chopped dill

Wisk all of these ingredients together in a medium bowl and add the sliced cucumber. You can either cool in the fridge for an hour or so or serve right away. Enjoy!

Enormous Grilled Chicken Brests w/Savory Cous Cous and Sliced Carrots

I have never in my life seen chicken breasts this size. I pounded these out a little bit so they didnt take 40 minutes to cook on the grill and waste all my propane :) I began by seasoning them with my poultry rub and marinating them with some state fair bbq sauce. I know what you are thinking right now (bbq sauce?!?!). This is not your typical sauce. It actually acts like a brine for the chicken in the fact that it is a vinegar based sauce. It is clear in color and extremely flavorful. So I grilled these baby's up, basted them with some fresh sauce and served 'em up with some herbed chicken cous cous and sauteed carrots. What an incredible lunch this turned out to be. Take a look. . .

Mouth Slappin Meatloaf!

I am always trying to come up with new crazy ideas to try. And purchasing the new toy (grill/smoker combo) made me wanna get even crazier. So I came up with the concept of stuffing a meatloaf with some ABT's (Atomic Buffalo Turds aka Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers). Here's what I did. I took a pound and a half of some ground chuck and flattened it out into a large square on the cutting board. Then I grabbed some feta and fresh mozzarella cheese and covered the bottom of it. Next, I stuffed the peppers with the feta cheese and wrapped them with bacon. I placed them on top of the beef and rolled it up. I smoked this baby low and slow at about 250 for 2.5 hrs. Let me just tell you, those peppers gave it a hell of a kick! This thing was burstin' with incredible flavor from the smoke, all the bacon, the cheeses. I highly recommend trying it and it is something I will definitely be doing again. Here is a pic of the process and then an after pic.

Simple Stroganoff

This idea came to me as I was wondering what in the world to make for lunch. I have always been a fan off the classic beef stroganoff, so I decided to put a little spin on it. Here are the ingredients used.
Sauce= 2 tbs butter 3 tbs cream cheese 1 tsp flour 1 1/2 cup milk salt+pepper

Melt the butter on medium high heat, then add the flour. Stir and cook together for a couple minutes. Add the cream cheese and blend together. Pour in some chicken stock to cover the mixture (just enough for the ingredients to blend). Cook for 5 minutes so the sauce thickens. Next season with salt and pepper. Add the milk and stir. Simmer for 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the meal.


In a skillet, brown a pound of ground beef and season to your taste. Meanwhile, boil a lb of whole egg noodles. Once you drain the fat from the beef, add to the sauce and continue to simmer. Once noodles are done, drain and rinse. Place noodles on plate, spoon sauce mixture over top and sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese and parsley on top. Here's what we have. . . .

Grilled Chicken Wings-Two Ways

I must say, I am a chicken wing eatin' s.o.b.! There is just something about 'em that I guess I can't describe. I really enjoy the classic fried wing with the buffalo sauce, celery and bleu cheese dressing. However, due to the recent grill purchase I have been coming up with new ideas and ways of doing things. So I got the HUGE pack of whole wings at Sams Club, brought 'em home and separated them. I seasoned them with my poultry rub and let 'em sit overnight. While waiting til it was time to preheat the grill, I couldn't really decide on how I wanted these things done. I knew that Sophia wanted hers done with barbecue cuz she can't take the heat :) So I figured there was only one way left to go. I had her mix up a buffalo sauce for me using some butter, texas pete HOTTER hot sauce and some cholula hot sauce. I fired the grill up and man I gotta say that thing did one helluva job on those wings. Anyhow, here's how they looked. . . . wish you coulda tasted them!

Vermicelli w/ Robust Tomato Sauce & Crumbled Italian Sausage

Living with a Sicilian woman, I have absolutely NO choice not to like pasta. Ok I'm lying, I love pasta anyways so it is definitely a must have at our household. Here is an extremely classic italian dish that everyone is sure to love. Pair it up with some cheesy garlic toast and you have a hit! Enjoy the pic!

Chicken Philly w/Jus & Old Bay Seasoned Curly Fries

I gotta give props to my cuz Dave on this one. I have been a HUGE fan of bowling ever since I can remember. Dave and I bowled on the same team in our hometown in VA a while back. All bowling alleys as you know must have a snack bar, and this is where Dave introduced me to the Chicken Philly. I never in my life heard of that before as I was a huge fan of the original cheesesteak. So with that in mind, here is my spin on the sandwich: Instead of chopping the chicken, I slice the chicken breast and rub it with my own poultry rub and let it sit overnight in the fridge. You don't have to do this, 15-20 mins will work just fine. Then I dice some bacon and set aside. Next I julienne some fresh green pepper and set that aside as well. I get two bakery fresh sub rolls and split them and set aside, and prep some lettuce and whatever cheese I wanna use (usually pepper jack and monterrey or mozzarella). Now its time to cook. Get a large frying pan and set the heat to medium high. Add your bacon to the pan and cook until crispy, set aside. Next you want to cook the chicken in the bacon grease. Get it browned really nice and turn down the heat to medium. Add about a cup and a half of chicken broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the chicken and put the broth or jus in 2 bowls. Drizzle a little oil into the pan and add your green pepper. Sautee for a couple minutes, season with salt and pepper and turn off heat. Now you are ready to build your sandwich. Take some lettuce and place on bottom of the roll. Next place 2 slices of cheese on top of the lettuce, followed by mounds of steaming hot chicken. Add the chopped bacon and green pepper on top of the chicken and drizzle some honey mustard on top! This is a sammie that is sure to set you back in your chair :)

Jumpstart Your Day With an Energizing Fruit Smoothie!

Just about every single morning after a shower I head to the kitchen and grab a few ingredients for an incredible smoothie. If you haven't had one or thought about having one but just think it is too time consuming before you head off to work, you're wrong!! Every time I go to the grocery store, I always pass through the frozen section. Well, they have these awesome time saving things called "frozen fruits" :) So, I pick up whatever variety I feel like having that week and I'm ready to go. This morning I used frozen peaches and strawberries with some fresh sliced banana. I added about 2 cups of whole milk and set the blender on the liquify option. If you use only fresh fruit, you will need to add crushed ice to the smoothie. Once it is blended to perfection and poured into glasses, just top with a little whipped cream and you are ready to go. Here's what you'll come up with.

Grilled Angus Ribeye Steak w/ Maple Beans

Hello again everyone. Today I am going to share my recent experience with the Angus Ribeye. Once a month, the girlfriend and I will take a trip to our local Sams Club and stock up on meats. Since I do have experience in meat cutting, we just buy our meat in the cryo packs and save a tremendous amount of money in doing so. Continuing on. . . . we get the whole ribeye home and I immediately process it, leaving out two HUGE steaks to season and marinate for the grill that night. After about 4 hours of marinating ( I used a sea salt, adobo, essence and chipotle pepper rub topped with worcestershire sauce), it was time for these bad boys to hit the grill. Since these steaks were cut so large, I didn't really want too many sides to go with it. I decided on doing some maple beans. Those are just simply a couple cans of pork n beans with some pure maple syrup and diced bacon. Here's a look at what I ended up with. . . . . .

Pan-Seared Pork Chops, Sauteed Asparagus and Homemade Scalloped Potato's with Breadcrumb Topping

Looking for a super-fast, yet irresistable meal for your family? This beauty, prepped correctly, will only take you ten minutes when your family is ready to grub down.
Start by making the scalloped potato's an hour and a half ahead of time. I used 8 medium size russet potatos but you can use whatever you like. Slice them thin after peeling and place in strainer with cold water running over them. Meanwhile, slice a medium white onion and set aside. Get out a glass baking dish (I used 13x9) and butter the bottom of it. Layer the bottom with sliced potato, then onion. Sprinkle seasoned flour over the potato and onion and repeat those layers until pan is almost filled. Dot with butter. Heat up 2 cups of milk (not boiling) and pour over potatos. Cover with aluminum foil and place in PREHEATED 375 degree oven for 45 mins. Once they come out, remove foil and generously top with colby jack cheese. Place back in oven for 15 minutes. Take out and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and put back in oven for another 10 minutes. Set these aside for when you are ready to eat.

So now that the potatos are done and still nice and hot on the inside, you have yourself some starving family members who think it is going to be forever til dinner is ready. You tell them to go chill in the living room and "it'll be done when it's done" You go to the fridge and grab the porkchops that have already been seasoned as well as the fresh asparagus. You heat up some garlic infused oil til it just starts to smoke and you now know that the chops are ready for action! After putting them in, you blanche the asparagus in some hot water for a few minutes while they await the already seasoned pan the chops were cooking in. You then grab some plates and everyone is wondering what in the world is going on? You spoon some potatos on everyones plate and serve up the chops. Then you put the asparagus into the frying pan and begin to sautee them for just a minute or two. A dash of salt and pepper and, voila! You are done :) Here is what you have created with such little effort. . .. .

My First Overnight Smoke- Boston Butt

I have been wanting a grill for the longest time. Not just a regular grill, but one that I could be proud of. I have never owned one, but have always had one available to cook with. So this year when we got our tax refund, I talked with the Mrs and decided that this was the year to make my dream come true. I went to Lowe's and immediately fell in love with the Chargriller Duo. It is a gas grill and smoker combination (side by side) and also purchased a side firebox for it to be used for true Texas style barbecue. I followed a few forums and got some tips on how to start smoking and jumped right in. I decided that for my 3rd smoke I should do some pulled pork bar-b-que. I went to the store and got a boston butt as well as a shoulder picnic. I rubbed them down with some seasonings I put together (rub) and let them sit in the fridge overnight. Here is what they looked like when they came out of the fridge.




Not too bad right? So I put these bad boys on the smoker during the middle of the day and used some mesquite and pecan wood for smoke. They were injected with apple juice and I also mopped them with apple cider vinegar and apple juice. This was an extremely slow cook and after about the 12th hour they hit the stall for 2 hours. The internal temp just would not go up. I stayed calm and just grabbed a couple more beers. Keep in mind it was now 4 in the morning. I couldn't go to sleep because unfortunately the charcoal I was using (Kingsford Hickory) burned up really fast so I wanted to keep an eye on it. Finally after 18 hours of labor, they were ready to be pulled. Here is a look at the finished product.