Godzilla likes 'em!

What you'll need to make these tasty little morsels. My picky kids (well Godzilla did, at least) at an entire plate and asked for more. So, maybe this will work for your kids. We also gave them raw broccoli ("brockie", as Godzilla says) with ranch.

3 or 4 good sized chicken breasts, cubed
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour (maybe more)
1 cup Italian bread crumbs (or more)
cooking oil (enough to mostly cover nuggets in skillet)

heat oil in skillet while arranging your assembly line for dredging your chicken.
roll chicken in flour
dip in egg
roll in breadcrumbs
drop in oil
remember: don't get the oil too hot or breadcrumbs blacken and do not look appetizing. Be sure to flip chicken if you are using a skillet. Some people use what's called a "fry daddy", but I cannot justify having one. Because if I had it, I would use it and no one needs to deep fry everything in the house.

Fried Pickles (amongst other things)

I swore I wasn't going to eat fried stuff....this is why.

What you'll need:

1 box of tempura batter
1 jar of dill pickle chips
2 or 3 zucchini (good sized)
1 vidalia onion (or Maui) sliced
what ever veggie you would like to drop in tempura batter and fry.

in your wok (skillet, whatever) pour 1.5"-2" of cooking oil and get it hot.
dip desired piece of food to be fried into tempura batter, letting some drip off as you remove from batter
drop into oil until a golden crust forms.

I'll have a picture later. (it's of what was left after I finished plowing through the food)

Letter from Management

Hi Everyone!

I'm just wondering if anyone has tried any of these recipes? Tell me what you liked, didn't like, which were gave good or bad instructions, or just a simple comment on how we can make the Caddywampus Cafe a fun place for you customers. I have somewhat been throwing out what I like to make, because it's my place, but if any of ya'll have anything good, email me and I will try to get it on here. If you send me enough and would like to contribute, I would love to have some contributors.

Thanks,

Management of the Caddywampus

Dinner (not Breakfast) At Tiffany's

Can you find me? Well, I guess if you've never seen me.....you probably won't find me. I'm the closest guy serving dessert in the foreground of the picture. We actually got applause for serving food......I didn't know we were that good.

So, I said over at my general blog that this was a "Casino Royale" themed party for the top twenty-five patrons (contributors) to the Pacific Symphony Orchestra . They even had a fake Dr. No . That's my humble opinion anyways. He had a really, really bad accent and used every single British cliche in the book.

The food on the other hand, was awesome. It was a 5 course meal that Chef Pascal was asked to match with a fitting wine. The first course was the appetizer, "salmon timbales and tuna tar tar" (the tuna was in a sesame seed crepe with olive oil, lime juice and anchovies........it was probably one of the best things I've eaten in a long, long time.) paired with Pino Gris (some French name that I cannot remember, much less pronounce). Then there was a wild mushroom soup with a biscuit style crust on top (same wine). Next was the main course, beef tenderloin (fillet) with steamed lobster tail served with a Syrah (again, I don't read French very well, so I cannot remember it). (OK, now that looked amazing and the wine smelled just as good as the food looked.) Then there was a baby greens salad topped with a fried goat cheese on top. *sigh* why can't I eat like that all the time? because I'd have a heart attack if I did. The dessert served with some stinky French Port, was "Flawless" chocolate cake, pineapple upside down cake, and a (h)azelnut (leave out the "h" when pronouncing it in French)

We had to bust our butts all night long and then I got to drive home to Riverside at 11:15 p.m. Sunday was somewhat of an early day, but I had a good weekend anyway.........did anyone else have anything good to eat?

Chicken Stir Fry

two chicken breasts, diced
hand full of snow peas
hand full of asparagus
hand full of chopped carrots
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2T of Oyster Sauce
2T oil (peanut preferred)

throw in chicken and garlic, when chicken begins to brown toss in veggies (you don't have to use those vegetables, but they were yummy last night) serve over rice or udon noodles and enjoy!

I want my baby back, baby back, baby back...and I forgot to take pictures

DANG! Ya'll missed a good one last night. Easter is usually a boring ol' ham, right? Well, I'm tired of ham for the holidays. My wife asked me if we should get a ham and I said, "Nope, we should get some ribs." I served them with my special green beans, baked potatoes and salad. I'll let you prep your own starches and salads, but we'll talk about the ribs and green beans now.

You're saying, "mmmmmm, ribs.....how did you make them?" Well get a pin or some paper for the printer. I'll wait.......................................................................................... done? good...let's get started.

For Ribs you'll need:
2-4 racks of ribs (I did 2 racks)
Olive Oil
Lawry's Season Salt
Coarse Ground Pepper
Whatever Bar-b-que sauce is on sale (I like Chris 'n Pitts', but I used Bullseye yesterday)

1. pre-heat oven to around 275 Fahrenheit.
2. place the ribs on some aluminum foil, rub them down with olive oil, Lawry's season salt, coarse ground pepper, and minced garlic
3. place in oven for about 2 hours
4. when the 2 hours is almost done, get your grill nice and hot......lower heat right before you put them on (or use indirect heat if you have a large grill)
5. place on grill meat side down for about 5 minutes brush with bar-b-que sauce, flip (be careful because they should be nice and "fall off the bone" moist) and brush the inside with the sauce. let cook for about 3-4 minutes (don't let the sauce burn on your ribs.....)
6. Then make sure you call your mama to let her know she can't cook as good as you.

Caddywampus Green Beans:

You'll need:
1-1 1/2 lbs of fresh green beans
3 slices of bacon
1 yellow (or vidalia) onion sliced
salt and pepper to taste

1. rinse and clean beans (they have these stem like pieces you'll want to pick off....not fun to eat)
2. cook bacon to where they're crispy but not burned
3. remove bacon from skillet and drain, then put in the beans
4. toss them around in the bacon grease for about 2 minutes then add the onion
5. once onions begin to soften, remove from heat and crumble bacon over beans.
6. call your mama again and make her come to your house so you can prove that you're a better cook.

We were so hungry that I didn't have time to take pictures after plating up. Trust me, they looked amazing and tasted even better.

Variations on a theme

The past 7 days have been interesting food wise. We're in a spot where we need "fillers" so, we've had potatoes and rice and such, but the two nights I cooked, I noticed that I actually cooked two versions of Chicken, Rice and Broccoli.

Last Thursday night, I did two boneless, skinless chicken breasts diced stir-fry style with broccoli and oyster sauce over jasmine rice. (sorry, no pictures) This went quick, I defrosted a couple of breasts in the microwave while prepping the rice, chopping the broccoli and garlic. It's good to chop the veggies first so you can use that board to cut up the chicken. While you're chopping your chicken heat a skillet with some oil over medium heat. Throw in the chicken and garlic until chicken begins to cook through, then add the broccoli. Once the broccoli starts to sweat, add oyster sauce until it spreads all around, remove from heat and serve over rice.

Last night, Monday, I grilled the chicken with a "jerk/teryiaki" marinade. And because I'm lazy, I put the broccoli in aluminum foil...then drizzled olive oil, sprinkled salt & pepper....put it on the grill with the chicken. (I don't want to wash any more dishes than I have to.) I cooked the jasmine rice according to directions (or memory...whichever).

Again, Chicken, Rice and Broccoli

2500 points to the first person who tells me how many times I mentioned broccoli.

Lately

it's been quite here at the "wampus". I've not done anything good in a while. My wife has been stealing the cooking thunder from me. She made an amazing casserole (Enchilada) as well as some spaghetti sauce that RAWKED!!!!!

I did, however, make another Peach Cobbler that was better than the last one.....I think anyway.

I'm too lazy to link the Cobbler, Enchilada Casserole and sauce, but go back in my archives and check 'em out. .....really easy and really good.

One of these days I'll get inspired to cook again. Maybe I'll get some ribs and YouTube it.....

Ikea for food?

Yes, Ikea (yes, the furniture store) has some yummy food. Ikea is a Swedish owned furniture store for those of you not in the know and they know you'll be there for a while...or at least they plan on you being there for a while and they have a restaurant upstairs.

The best is their Swedish meatballs with steamed red potatoes and lingenberries. (I guess I'm going to have to give you this definition because I cannot find it on the esteemed "W".) Linginberries are like cranberries, but not as tart. You can usually get the Swedish pancakes w/linginberries at IHOP (a good place for pancakes). My favorite part is that once they get you hooked on these yummy little morsels covered in gravy, they have them in little freezers at the register with the gravy packets next to it..........."you mean? I can? HONEY! We can make them there meatballs at home...we ain't gotta go tuh IKEA just fer thu food any more!" (Insert redneck accent here....sorry...this is The Caddywampus Cafe afterall.)

I wish I had some right now....they make great leftovers......become a good Swede and take this test.......I got a couple of them wrong.....I figured them out though.

Peach Cobbler.....the comfiest of comfort food

Is there a dessert that you did not like as a child because it looked funny? Well, for me that was my mom's peach cobbler. (right) Anyway, I made one once after just an odd craving and OH MY! It was djummy (that's pronounced "jummy" for those of you who do not know what a djembe is....there's a little dorky drummer humor for you......yes, I am that much of a dork.)



Anyway, you need the following:

1 Cup Sugar
1 stick of butter, melted
1 Cup of Milk
1 Cup of Self-rising Flour
1 Can sliced peaches in heavy syrup

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, mix first four ingredients in non-metal bowl with a whisk or fork, pour batter into a square Pyrex pan (or foil if you're taking it somewhere). Pour peaches over batter; put in oven for about 20-25 minutes until top begins to brown and it's bubbling around the edges. Top with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream........then let the sweet heaven begin.

We ate this about 9 p.m. last night and watched School of Rock.

Repeat Offender...Bolognese

So, this time, I used zuccini, carrots and a can of tomato sauce. It added a lot and I wanted to share a photo of the new creation.

Taco Shells "Guerro" Style

So, this is where you start. Corn tortillas from the store...not the uncooked ones, but the soft ones.....heat a skillet pretty hot with a bit of oil. Then do this........................

Once you have this started, maybe you can settle this (monkey #4 likes to have our full attention as soon as we get home)................

OK, so I got that problem settled, well distracted to say the least....and then you have to fold your taco shell so it makes that little cup thing.........once you hold it there for approximately 20-30 seconds it will get all nice and brown then do drop it on to a paper towel to drain.....and you'll get this. (below)

Anyway, fill with whatever taco meat you have prepared, with some cheese, avacado, lettuce, green (or red) onion, sour cream and of course Tapatio. (I'm currently out)

Enjoy!

Easy as cake, piece of pie

1/2 pkg egg noodles
1 can tuna
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

OK, so cook your noodles, do cheese while that cooks and pre-heat oven to 350. mix cooked noodles, tuna (drained), soup and most of the cheddar in a bowl. Place all of that in a cooking pan (those loaf shaped ones are the best) and top with a butt-load of cheese. Put in oven for about 20-30 minutes (until cheese begins to brown) and remove from oven.

Tuna casserole is one of the ultimate comfort foods, especially on a rainy day.

Enjoy!

Tips to remember when baking late at night

First of all, this is why I don't bake. Too much to freakin' remember. I've already got A.D.O.D. (Attention Deficit Obsessive Disorder...yes, I made it up)

OK, so I'm supposed to be making some damn cupcakes for my kids' pre-school/daycare Valentine's Party.....thought it would be cute to make them in this tray that J bought for another project. Tray is too shallow and it just wasn't working. So, I put the cake batter in a cake pan to make a cake....GREAT, not like I wrote anything down for Monkey #3's class....but it was in writing that I was bringing something for #4's class. I go to make the frosting and I realized I didn't buy enough butter......dammit! It's 11:30 p.m. I'm going to the store to buy some damn frosting......f-it! (sorry for the strong language)

By the way, the cake is from scratch and the batter tasted dang good.

Frittata (repeat offender)

So, this morning, I was trying to think of a way to make these fritattas more filling. The first time I made one, I used potatoes and sausage. No one really liked it that much. Today's wasn't much different, but I wanted to share it with you "three".

8 eggs, beaten
1T Veggie oil
1T EVOO
1/3C Milk
Handful of Spinach
1 Potato diced (optional)
1/2 sm onion, diced (optional)
1/2-1C grated cheese (your choice, I used sharp cheddar)
garlic salt
pepper

Dice onion and potato, toss in skillet until potato is cooked through. (season with garlic salt and pepper to taste) Place potato in a bowl and set aside. Beat eggs, add EVOO and milk and mix well. Pour eggs into pre-heated 10" skillet, until eggs set somewhat. Add potatoes, onion and spinach...let spinach settle....then add cheese.....put in oven (350 degrees...right?) for about 7-10 minutes, remove when cheese is barely brown. Slide it on to a cutting board to cool for a few minutes so the cheese is easier to cut and serve.

My kids call it "eggie pizza" and love fritattas. At any rate, give it a try and let me know what you think.

Later!

Chicken Fried Rice.......mmmmmmmmmmmmm

I made fried rice tonight but didn't have many of these ingredients.....still turned out OK. By the way, you can do this with tofu, shrimp, pork or whatever you want to put in there.

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1T Vegetable Oil
2 diced carrots
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas (unless you have fresh)
2 cups cooked jasmine rice
1 egg
3 chopped green onion
1-3T Soy Sauce (I prefer low sodium)

Dice chicken breasts and place them in a bowl with a small amount of soy sauce for about 30 minutes before cooking or while you heat the skillet/wok. Heat wok/skillet with oil, toss in minced garlic and before it starts burning toss in chicken, once chicken begins to brown, throw in carrots and chopped green onion. Once carrots begin to sweat a little, throw in other veggies (did I mention you should be cooking your rice by now....in fact the rice should just about be ready) When chicken is nice an browned, your rice should be done....spoon rice into wok (add a little more oil, if needed) and mix well....I like to do that chef toss thing with the wok/skillet...it makes me feel good about cooking...like I'm doing something. Make a little coliseum with the rice so there is a space for the egg on the pan....crack egg right into the skillet/wok and then start working the egg into the rice...watch it cook before your eyes...ooohh...aaaahhhh.....add soy sauce and mix it in well......

Cheat code: pick up some rice at the Chinese take out place on the way home from work.

Fun garnish: Once you're done chopping your green onion, take the white ends...cut off the hairs, then do a criss cross cut in the white portion...place in a bowl of cold water and watch them bloom like little flowers (Thank you, Wolfgang Puck for the idea) You'll impress your friends and the kids think they're cute.

Penne Pasta w/ Cajun Hot Links and Chipotle Shrimp

Holy Moly! This is one HAWT little number. I got addicted to Food Network's Next TV Food Star series a year or so ago and thought that Guy Fieri was going to win. He did. Anyway, on his show, he brought it with the title recipe.
I have slowly been amassing the ingredients needed to make this luscious looking dish. There will also be a challenge on figuring out what to feed #3 & #4. They won't eat anything but eggs, oatmeal and cheerios...oh wait....Mac 'N Cheese too. (that was the main dish this evening.) On top of that my wonderful wife wasn't so sure about it, but I think I've talked about it enough that she's willing to go with me on this one.
Maybe next year, I will try to get on that show and become the next Bobby Flay....he's a hack.....kidding....he's only like my favorite chef. He would eat Jack Bauer for lunch.

Editor's Note (2/6/2007): Due to a recent bout of Stomach Flu after eating a hot link sandwich, the Caddywampus Cafe will NOT be including this dish on their menu. It looks great and still sounds great, but we do not want to irresponsibly upset any stomachs.

Sloppppppppyyyyyy Jooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

So who remembers the Manwich? It's a tomatoie seasoned loose meat sandwich. Who wants to remember to buy a can of stuff called "Manwich"...sounds like bad, gay porn. With that leaving a horrible visual scar on your brain, I'll get on with the food from Saturday night's dinner.

1.5 lbs ground beef
1 cup of ketchup
1-2T of Worchestire Sauce
8 burger buns (whole wheat if you got 'em)
(3 ingredients, really?) Yes, that's right, 3 main ingredients and the bun for functionality.

Brown meat (7% preferred) add whatever seasoning you like. Some people might actually use peppers and onions, but with young children (who still didn't eat the food) you want to get it as edible as possible. Once meat is brown, add ketchup and worchestire and reduce down to a thick-ish sauce.

Slap it on a bun (cheese too...if you want).......and watch their faces light up with childhood memories of that thing I mentioned at the front of the post....I can't repeat that name anymore.

The Weapons of Our Warfare

Hello. I'm Brian, and I'll be guest blogging here occasionally. Since our premise is easy to throw together fare, I thought I'd share a few of the things I consider Kitchen Essentials. Whenever I think of the words, "last minute", "extra guest" and "not enough" in the kitchen, I have a selection of "go to" items that can assist in turning junk in the fridge into edible food.

A selection of various oils and vinegars. Pictured here, Garlic, Red Wine, Basalmic, Spicy and Malt Vinegars. Also, Olive and Aromatic oils. I also try to acquire or create various "infused" olive oils when I can. I guess you can infer from the picture I am partial to the Star brand.

These are my life savers, so I buy them in bulk. Powdered onion, powdered garlic, and a McCormick italian seasoning blend (which contains marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano and basil). The onion and garlic are especially helpful for sneaking flavor into food without tipping off picky eaters.

Knorr Chicken and Tomato Chicken bullion. When it just "needs" something. It's saved many a bland soup or sauce.

Last is a personal preference, but I find an assortment of chile and pepper sauces essential. They are all different. Here, I am out of any Chipotle or Taco Sauces, but I usually keep several brands on hand. Also, in my opinion, Gebhardt is the only real option when it comes to Chili Powder. Nothing else even comes close.

Not that you have to run out and buy all this on your next shopping trip, but I find these items invaluable. They all keep for a pretty long time, so they can be picked up a few here and there, until you build a collection of "little tastes" to add to your favorite recipes or improvisations. Next up is a little soup that is easy and fast that I love to whip up.

Homeade Bolognese Sauce

So last night I tried something that Pascal recited to me one evening.


EVOO
1/2 onion, diced
2-20 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb of ground beef (I used turkey)
4-6 vine ripened tomatoes (rough chop)
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 package of spaghetti (I used angel hair...I love angel hair)


Heat a pan w/EVOO, put in onion and garlic, soften onions, add meat, brown (salt and pepper to taste), add roughly chopped tomatoes, let it reduce. (You can add some tomato paste if you'd like, I would have had I been in its possession) Sprinkle Parmesan and mix in. Oh, I forgot...prepare pasta according to package. (al dente is best) Depending on how you like to serve it, you can pour the sauce over the pasta or mix the pasta up. I mixed it up because I didn't have enough pasta for a lot....I had to stretch it out a bit

.