Condiments: Guacamole With A Kick

Hey guys, i know its been a while, but I thought that as the Holiday Season starts to approach I should take the initiative and bring back Connor The Chef.

Anyway, with football season in full swing, i bet some of you enjoy something besides salsa or cheese with your chips; so what better than some spicy Guacamole.

Ingredients:

To start off, peel the skin off the avacados and remove the pit.  Then toss them into a food processor.  If you dont have a food processor, its time to build up them muscles by mashing this all together.

Next thing you want to do is to juice your lemon and lime and just put it all in the food processor.  You can even add a little bit of zest from both if you want, its going to be delicious.  Dice the Red Onion, throw that in.  Throw in the cilantro.  Get everything you want into the food processor or a bowl for mashing and mixing.  I throw in the chipotle and adobo at this point and then get ready to blend.

Blend it together and get a tupperware ready to put the Guac in when you’re done.  Then just grab a bag of chips, sit on the couch and nom nom nom.

Nov 7 2010

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Condiments: Chipotle Mayonnaise

So i like my food SPICY! and a cheap and easy way to make your food super spicy is with a little Chipotle Mayonnaise!  But earlier today when i was about to make a sandwich, I realized i only had enough for one more.

Thankfully the recipe is very simple and shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.

Ingredients

I used some extra ingredients too:

Now, take a food processor or blender and just throw all the ingredients in.

It looks kind of nasty but were not done yet.  Turn it on and just make it into a nice little puree.  Scrape the sides if needed so you can blend all of it together smoothly.  When youre done it should come out looking a little like this.

And after this is done, scoop it into a container that you can use to store it and boom you’re done.  Feel free to add this to whatever you want to make it super spicy.  Just don’t put too much on, your taste buds cant repel spiciness of that magnitude.

If you guys want to see any recipe in particular just Ask Me what you want me to make.

Jun 17 2010

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What I Ate For Lunch Today: The Connor Sandwich Special

So this summer i decided to turn away from the evilness that is Fast Food and get much better lunch additions to sandwiches so im not eating plain old food every day.  With all that I have in my kitchen this is my new favorite sandwich.

First off: The local grocery stores like to sell Rotisserie Chickens for wicked cheap!  I strongly suggest you get one because its like getting a cheap chicken that you dont have to cook and can keep refrigerated

After you have cut your chicken, find some bread and some cheese and whatever you want to spread on the bread.

The other day i made a Chipotle Mayo that i have been smearing on everything that enters my mouth.  Its so good and has that right kick to it.

Anyway, put the chicken on and then the cheese on top of that and i throw just the bottom piece into the toaster oven for like 10 minutes.

Now for the top.  The top is up to you because thats where all the veggies you want are going to go.  I personally started with a little Pesto on the bread.

Then a whole bunch of Banana Peppers

Next some lettuce and some red onion

Top it off with a little bit of Avacado

Around this time the bottom half should be done and the cheese should be melted down a bit.

Combine! and Prepare to Nom!

Yummy!

Coming up either later today or tomorrow: Chipotle Mayonnaise, because who really eats real mayo anyways?

Jun 16 2010

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Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:

1lb of Ground Beef
5 Potatoes
About 1/2 of a Cup of Milk
2 Tbsp of Butter
1 Can of Corn
1 Can/Jar of Gravy
Salt and Pepper to season

First, preheat the oven 350.  Then start some water boiling for the Potatoes, peel potatoes and chop them in cubes for easier and faster boiling.  When soft and boiled enough, drain the water and add the milk and butter and start mashing away.  (I like to add garlic sometimes, but not for Shepherds Pie, that would be odd)  You can add more milk based on how you like your potato consistency.

While the potatoes are boiling start frying up your ground beef.  Season with salt and pepper to your liking and make sure its cooked to your liking (mind you well be cooking this whole thing too).  Coupled with this, make sure you heat up your Gravy, and when the beef is done, drain out the fat and add the gravy to the pan so the juices will be slightly absorbed. 

Move the Beef/gravy mixture to a casserole dish.  Take your can of corn and just drain the juices and add it on top of the beef.  Once your potatoes are mashed to your liking spread that on top of the beef and corn.  You can add a little butter to the top too, it comes out very yummy.  Cook the casserole for about 20-25 minutes or until you see it bubbling up the sides.

And then boom, you have some nommy Shepherds Pie.  An Irish favorite.  People will sometimes get fancy, but this is the most generic.

Mar 18 2010

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Crockpot Pulled Chicken

Alright everybody, heres another awesome recipe inspired by Stumble Upon.

So well start with the ingredients, and its very very easy and cheap to make.

Ingredients:
2lbs of Chicken
1 1/2 Cups of Ketchup
3 Tbsp of Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp of Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp of Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp of Tobasco
1/2 Tbsp of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 Tbsp of Garlic Powder
1/2 Tbsp of Cayanne Pepper
1/2 Tbsp of Chili Powder

So first we start by mixing all of the ingredients, minus the ketchup, in a small bowl until its well mixed.

Before Mixing:

After Mixing:

Next we put the chicken in the crockpot and make sure to really coat it with the barbecue sauce.

Next we put it in our Crock Pot on low for 7-8 hours (or on high for 3-4, but personally i like the slow cook).  After about 7 hours i pulled it out and shredded it before putting it back in the Crock Pot.

After another hour, its ready to pull out and be served.  I like to toast the buns, but i didnt do it this time :[  However it was still very nommy.

And now, we have a good picture of Connor working the kitchen:

Mar 5 2010

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Bacon Mac and Cheese

So a few weeks ago i found a recipe for Pork Belly Mac and Cheese and it was fantastic to make and eat.  Everyone in my apartment devoured it.  So i went to Pittsburgh over Valentines weekend to visit my good friend Tyler who goes to the University of Pittsburgh.  I mentioned the Mac and Cheese and we decided to do something similar but with bacon.  It came out fantastic and we devoured it very quickly.  He had an electric stove top though, which is lame sauce.  Gas for the win.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tablespoons of All Purpose Flour
3 Tablespoons of Butter
1 1/2 Cups of Milk (we used 1% but whole works the best)
2 Shallots
4 Garlic Cloves
1 Bag of Cheddar Cheese
1 Bag of Pepper Jack Cheese
5 Slices of Thick Cut Bacon
1 Box of Elbow Macaroni

First fill up a big pot with water and start heating it up for the Macaroni.  Make sure you salt the water because it boils faster that way.  After the water has boiled put in the pasta and begin to cook.  The box should say to cook for 7 or 8 minutes, but cook it about 3 minutes less than that, the pasta should be right between hard and al dente.  After the pasta is done, strain it and pour it into a casserole dish.

While the water is boiling (slowly but surely) start to dice up your shallots and garlic, were going to need them for the Cheese Roux.

Cheese Roux:

Start the Roux in a medium saucepan with the butter and the flour.  Whisk it until the butter is mixed with the flour, about 5 minutes.  Next were going to add the milk and keep whisking it.  Let the milk get warm in the sauce pan and add the garlic and onions, let them sit and absorb in the milk for another 5 minutes or so before adding the cheese.  Add the cheese slowly because the roux will get thick very quickly.

About halfway through the roux its time to start the bacon.  Cut up the bacon into little bite size strips and throw them all on a frying pan and cook to your liking.  We made it super crispy!  After the bacon is finished make sure you drain the grease before putting it over the pasta.  Once the bacon is on add the Cheese Roux and mix thoroughly so the cheese and bacon are spread throughout the casserole.

The oven needs to be pre-heated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit at some point during this.  We forgot until the casserole was done so we had to wait while it heated up.  Top the casserole with Parmesean Cheese and some bread crumbs (but not too much bread crumbs).  Cook the casserole for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese on top is golden brown.  And then boom, you have yourself some delicious Mac and Cheese (or Mac and Steeze as Tyler called it)

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, kitchens never have enough light in my opinion.

Tyler was the domesticated man taking it out of the oven.

The delicious final project.  The onions and garlic were the perfect addition and added that little flavor kick that just the cheese wouldn’t have had.

Om nommy.  Everyone should try either this recipe or one similar to this, because its so easy and relatively cheap to make.  It costs Tyler and I about $20 for the whole thing.

Feb 20 2010

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Buffalo Chicken Soup

This was a recipe my friend Tyler made before me and we both found on this cool recipe site: The Food In My Beard.  It was really easy to make, all i needed was a few carrots, some celery, some chicken, Franks Red Hot Sauce, Tobasco and Chicken broth.

First we start off by cutting the carrots and celery into small manageable pieces.

Were sauteing 2/3 of those carrots and celery in about 3tablespoons of butter and a little bit of olive oil.

yummy veggies.

Next we add a few dashes of tobasco, some crushed black pepper and after a minute or two 5oz of Cayenne sauce (like Franks).

Yummy.  Let the veggies sit in the spices for about five minutes before adding Chicken Broth.  Try to fill the pot with the broth.  This soup needs to feed hungry people.

I used 3 bottles of chicken broth.

After the broth heats up to about boiling point, drop in however much chicken youre using.  And let it poach until cooked.

You should be stirring it every so often, we dont want all those veggies on the bottom to get too hot now.

Look at that om nommy soup!  i decided to grab some Pillsbury crescent rolls (so addicted) and make those for a little bread on the side.

After the chicken has been in the soup for about 15 minutes you need to take it out and shred it.  My cameraman was off talking on the phone so i dont have any pictures of the shredded chicken.  You should put it back in the soup and let it cook for another 5 minutes just so the shreds will soak up some of that yummy spicy broth.

Look at that deliciousness.  The rolls will come out golden brown after like 12 minutes in the oven.  And then youre ready to serve!

The Finished Product!  Oh and about that extra 1/3 of celery/carrots mix!  You should take some fresh Bleu Cheese and mix it in with the extra veggies.  You use this as your topping because every good soup has to have a topping!

I hope you guys enjoyed that and try this recipe.  If theres anything you want to see on this cooking site just throw it in my ask!

Feb 5 2010

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