Ingredients:
steak (filet mignon cut preferred!)
fresh rosemary
worcestershire sauce
kosher salt

1) Leave the steaks out on the counter for a little while to get the meat closer to room temperature.
2) Dry off by placing a paper towel below the meat while dabbing with another one on top.
3) Salt the meat, add fresh rosemary, and the pour some worcestershire sauce on it and press in firmly while ensuring full coverage.
4) Grill on medium heat for about 4min/side.

Ingredients:
fresh linguine
olive oil
garlic (8-10 cloves)
basil
sun-dried tomatoes
baby bella mushrooms

Start off by getting a large pot of water boiling. While you’re waiting for that to happen, chop up some garlic (I like using way too much) and basil and toss it in a pan w/ a generous amount of olive oil. Chop up the baby bella mushrooms and throw them in w/ the basic and garlic (at this point I added some more olive oil to top off the mushrooms. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. If you’re using fresh linguine (which I highly recommend) it will only take about 3-4 minutes to cook so it’s probably good to be just about finished w/ the toppings before you throw it in. Scoop out pasta for each portion and then top w/ the awesome stuff in the pan. This was pretty simple, fun to cook, and wicked tasty!

Ingredients:
1/3 bag of salad (spring mix is pretty good)
1 avocado (sliced)
goat cheese (creamy or crumbled)
balsamic vinegar
olive oil

Mix. Eat.

When I’m not cooking (most of the time) I’m living off of stuff found in the freezer section of Ralph’s. My latest addiction is Chung’s Veggie Spring Rolls.

The spring rolls come with a kind of sweet & sour sauce that is pretty good, but I was in the mood for something more spicy. If you cook a jalapeno in w/ the spring rolls and then mix that with a good amount of soy sauce you’ll have some easily made spicy dipping sauce.

Douse the frozen rolls w/ olive oil to get a crispy shell when baking.

These are awesome and wicked simple.

Ingredients:
1 bag of pretzel snaps
1 bag of Rolos
1 bag of Pecan halves

Stack up a tray of pretzels and put a Rolo on top of each one. Put the tray in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for 3 minutes. The Rolos should be intact, but about to melt. Take the tray out of the oven and squish a halved pecan on top of each one. Place the tray in the refrigerator to cool. This is a crunchy, chewy, salty & sweet bite of awesomeness.

These are the best wings because they are made with the best sauce. If you haven’t tried any of the sauces from the allspicecafe go there now and buy them all! I usually make these with the Caribbean Spice as it is the mildest and a good warmup to non-hot sauce lovers. For a more potent batch, try either the Chipotle Garlic or the Cayenne Habanero (now with a XXX option!).

Ingredients:
3-5lbs. of fresh chicken wings
1 bottle of hot sauce from the allspicecafe

Grill the wings to perfection (this is usually a smokey endeavor as the wings are full of fat the burns off on the grill – make sure your neighbors aren’t quick to call the fire engines). Put the grilled wings into a bowl and pour in 1/2 to 1 full bottle of hot sauce (depending upon how many wings you have and how hot you want it to be). Move the wings around in the bowl with a wooden spoon until you have good sauce coverage all around. Enjoy! (and get some napkins)

This recipe makes 2 kick-ass cheesecakes. Half it for half the awesomeness (and possibly less heart attacks)

Crust:
4 cups graham crackers mixed w/ 1/2 cup of butter

mix the crumbs in a bowl with the melted butter and pat into a 10-12 inch cheesecake tin. bake at 350 for 8 minutes

Filling:
3lbs cream cheese
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup bailey’s irish cream
1 T vanilla
2 cups dark chocolate chips

beat the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, sour cream in an electric mixer until smooth. add irish cream and vanilla and pour filling into crust

bake at 300 for approx 45 mins until set

Topping:
2 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup irish cream

blend together in a bowl and spread over the tops of the 2 cheesecakes. bake at 375 for 4-5 minutes until set

Thank you Gerri Gilliland!

Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1lb carrots, peeled & cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
3lbs boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1lb parsnips, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
3 onions chopped
1 12-ounch bottle of Guiness Stout
1lb rutabagas, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups beef stock or canned broth

Heat 1tbsp oil in heavy large Dutch oven over high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper. Add 1/3 of beef to Dutch oven and brown well, about 5 minutes. Transfer beef to plate. Repeat with remaining 2 tbsp. oil and beef in 2 more batches. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions to Dutch oven and saute until translucent, about 8 minutes. Return beef and any accumulated juices to Dutch oven. Add Guinness stout and enough beef stock to cover meat. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until meat is almost tender, about 1 hour.

Add vegetables to stew and simmer uncovered until beef and vegetables are tender and gravy thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Reheat over medium high heat before serving.)

Thank you Gerri Gilliland!

This one’s simple and good!

Ingredients:
8oz tub of cream cheese
1 can hormel chili (no beans)
2 cups shredded colby jack cheese

1) In a pyrex pie dish spread (in this order) the cream cheese, chili, and then cheese on the top.

2) Bake in a preheated oven @ 350 degrees for 20-30min until cheese is melted and slightly brown on the side. Turn the oven off and allow to cool a bit while still in the oven (will prevent cheese from hardening too quickly).

Steak (see previous entry)

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (via cooks.com)

Ingredients:
2 lb. peeled and diced potatoes
1/2 to 1 head garlic cloves, peeled and mashed
6 tbsp. butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream, half&half or milk

1) Cover potatoes with water sufficient to cover in a heavy-bottomed pan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender.

2) Drain potatoes and set aside. Return empty pan to heat and add butter, leaving until butter melts. In a separate pan, bring cream or milk to boil (do not allow to curdle; remove from heat immediately when it starts to boil).

3) Mash the potatoes, beating in the butter and half&half, cream or milk, mashed garlic, and salt and pepper, until potatoes are smooth and fluffy.