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. . . .