Oyster Po' Boys with Smoked Gouda Cheese

If you love Oysters you’re going to love this simple dish. Remember that you shouldn't eat Oysters in any month that doesn't have an R in it, during those months they are spawning and are not at their peek flavor. Get the fresh Oysters if you can, if you don’t know how to shuck Oysters check the video at the end of the post for instructions.

3 – 4 medium oysters, shucked (or use the bottled ones, rinse before use)
1 6” French roll, split, buttered and lightly toasted
Red lettuce leaves
Tomato slices
Smoked Gouda Cheese
Vegetable oil for frying
¾ cup of cornmeal
¼ cup of flour
Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
Franks Red Hot sauce
Mayonnaise
Spicy Brown Mustard

Mix the cornmeal and flour in a bowl well.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan (cast iron or a wok is the best or use a deep fryer)
Dip the oysters in the cornmeal/ flour mix and coat all sides of the oyster.
Drop 1 in at a time into the hot oil.
Fry until golden brown and drain. Use a paper towel to help get rid of any excess oil
Lightly season with Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning (too much will make it salty)

To assemble sandwich, spread mayonnaise and mustard on both insides of bread. On the bottom piece, place red lettuce then sliced tomato.

Place oysters on top of tomato and put some of the Franks Red Hot sauce on the oysters. Then top the oysters with the Smoked Gouda Cheese

Wrap the sandwich in foil to help keep it’s form

Unwrap and enjoy. This is best served with a nice ice cold beer.

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Blaxican Prime Rib

The other week Prime rib was on sale, so I bought quiet a bit to tie me over for awhile. I began to think of creative ways to cook it. This version hit me one day when I was eating some Mexican food for lunch. I figured why don’t I take Mexican flavors and blacken Prime Rib with it. Hence the word “Blaxican”, which is an urban word for ½ black  ½ Mexican.

Ingrediants
1 16 oz ½ inch thick prime rib (other cuts of steak can work too)
3 tsp cumin
3 tsp garlic powder
3 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 ½ tsp onion powder
4 tbsp chili powder (add more if you like really spicy)

1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 Jalapeño
Chopped cilantro

Mix your spices together in a bowl. It is just enough for one steak so for each prime rib add equal parts of seasoning to accommodate.

Pat your prime rib dry, this is a must when you are blackening meat and let your steaks come to room temperature.

Rub each side of steak with olive oil. Coat each side of the steak with seasoning mix.

It is necessary that the pan be very hot before you add the steak. The best pan to use is a cast iron, it can maintain high heat.  Heat your skillet on high. Once it is heated, add the olive oil and butter.

Cook each side for about:

5 -6 minutes for rare
8-9 minutes for medium well
10-12 minutes for well done

Once done garnish with jalapeños and chopped cilantro.

Here’s a steak cutting tip:

Steaks naturally have lines of fiber running from one side to another. If you slice steaks in the same direction as those fiber lines, you'll find it tougher to chew. Now if you cut across the fiber lines, the knife will have already done most of the work for you. You will find the steak much more tender this way.

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Salsa Culinary Addicts Style

3 Medium Tomatoes diced
2 Medium Tomatillos
2 Medium Jalapenos chopped
2 Large Pickled Sweet Peppers chopped
1 Habanera pepper – optional for extra heat
½ medium Red Onion diced
½ medium White Onion
½ cup of corn
The juice from 1 medium Lemon
The juice from 1 medium Lime
¼ cup of vinegar
A handful of chopped Cilantro
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Salt (add more to taste)
1 tbsp Paprika
1 tbsp White Pepper

First peel then submerge the tomatillos in a pot with water add some salt. Put the stove on medium high. Once they turn a brownish green strain the water out and put in a blender. Add a habanera pepper for extra heat. Blend until it becomes liquid. Put in the refrigerator until cool.

Put all your other ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Once the tomatillo mixture is cool mix it into the bowl and serve.

It taste even better the next day after resting in the fridge.

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Filet Mignon Tacos

2 6oz Filet Mignon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons of minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 medium jalapeños chopped

Put all the ingredients in a pot and submerge the filets in water.
Bring to a boil then turn the heat down and simmer for 1hour.
Once done remove the filets, leave in fridge over night for a stronger flavor

Cut up the filets into bite size chunks and lightly pan fry them until they are warm.
Mean while warm your taco shells, use two for each taco so they can sustain the juices from the filets
Put the meat in the tacos ;)

Top them off with Salsa. The salsa in the pic is a homemade recipe I’ve created and will share it with you in my next post.

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I came across this story today and it really had me thinking how fortunet many of us are. People are out there getting killed while trying to scrape some food and or firewood together. I don't think I can complain any more when my food is taking too long, at least the very life i'm trying to nourish isn't in jeopardy. 

In the highly insecure and chronically poor Karamoja region, women and children face a constant risk of violence when they collect the firewood they need to cook food. Fuel-efficient stoves, built from mud, can help while also lessening pressure on the environment.

Story by: WFP/ Mariangela Bizzarri

KARAMOJA – If you ask Maria (Lomokol) and Anyese (Nawal), two women who live in Nadiket Aworobu village in Karamoja, there is no doubt that fuel efficient stoves, made from local mud, bring advantages.

“A mud stove not only uses less firewood, but also retains a lot of heat, which makes cooking easier and faster,” they say.

In Karamoja, however, not all women are benefiting from this sort of stove. Most still venture into the bush on a daily basis to meet their cooking needs, running the risk of being beaten, raped and at times even killed by cattle raiders.

“When they find you on their path, they either rape you or kill you”.

Sexual and other forms of violence have become so common in the region, that women consider it a blessing if nothing happens for two consecutive weeks: “If nothing happens for two weeks, then we expect something the following time”.

There are about 1.2 million people in Karamoja surviving on WFP food.  In order to cook this food, the women need fuel. But this is in short supply. So they sometimes venture into dangerous environments to collect firewood or produce charcoal. or, undercooking food to save on fuel, or selling part of their food ration to buy fuel.

In addition to exposing women and children to violence, fuel collection is having a devastating impact on an already precarious environment, contributing to soil erosion, desertification and loss of grazing and cultivating environments.

Fuel-efficient stoves, by reducing the amount of wood needed for cooking, can help lessen the risk of rape and other forms of violence while at the same time protecting the environment.

Through the SAFE (Safe Access to Firewood and Alternative Energy) initiative WFP will make sure that all women in Karamoja will have access to a fuel-efficient stove. At the same time, the provision of alternative livelihood resources will decrease families’ dependency on wood fuel (firewood and charcoal) for income, and reduce the risk of negative coping mechanisms to cook WFP’s food.

WFP’s SAFE will target a total of 131,400 households  and 219 schools  in both North Darfur and Uganda, with potentials for expansion to other countries in 2010.

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Kim Cheekin

I love Kim Chi, one of my ex-girlfriends turned me on to it as well as some other Korean Cuisines. I wasn't too fond of it at first but once you get past the smell it's actually very good. So I usually have a bottle of it in my fridge.

This is a dish that has a sauce I came up with originally for buffalo wings one Friday night drinking with the homeboys. Yeah one can find inspiration from alcohol.

Ingrdiants

• Chicken Thighs
• Salt 
• Black Pepper
• Crushed Red Pepper
• Nori Fumi Furikake

Sauce

• 1 cup of Kim Chi
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp chili paste
• ¼ cup of Sesame Oil
• ¼ cup of brown sugar
• ¼ cup of vinegar

Directions

• Salt and pepper your chicken. Add crushed red pepper if you like it on the spicy side
• In a blender, blend all of the ingredients. The sauce will become a nice bright orange.
• Marinate the chicken with some of the sauce over night or for at least two hours.

• Pre heat oven at 450 degrees
• If they are on the bone, cook at 375 for 45 min. If you want the skin to be crispier finish off in the broiler for about 10 minutes, be careful not to burn them.
• If your chicken is boneless cook for about 10 minutes less. 
• About 20 minutes into cooking time pour some more of the sauce over them. 
• Garnish with Nori Fumi Furikake, which is Asian Rice Seasoning (you can find that in most Asian stores).  

I though i'd send you out with this, well what I found as a hilarious Korean Kim Chi commercial, its so cheesy.

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