New Look "Wampus"!

OK, let's all thank Brandi for the new banner, logo!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

People who love photoshop are good in my book!
This is exactly what I was looking for and I love it. Who would be interested in a shirt with this on it?

Does anyone know how to turn this banner into a hyper-link so I can put it on my other blog? Now I'm just being pushy, I know.

New Look for the Wampus

I've been told I need a logo....can anyone help? You'll get a lifetime table at the Wampus.

Fontucky Fried Chicken

Do you think someone could get away with opening a chicken place called Fontucky Fried?

Just a thought.

I've decided that I still like the Caddywampus Cafe, so I'll just title it on the menu, "Fontucky Fried Chicken Fingers".

Have I done the chicken fingers/nuggets breaded in Italian bread crumbs before? Yes? OK...well, here goes. It's the same breading as the "Chicken Parmesan" (which seems to be pretty popular on the foodie searches).

Take a look!

Birthday Cake for Godzilla

OK, so my wife is awesome. She's so dang creative and I'm just not.....it is almost irritating, but how can such talent make you jealous? One should just stand in awe.

She worked very hard on this and even got discouraged at one point cursing me and the cake. I was just in the room. Don't judge. I would have done the same thing to her and the cake.

Godzilla turned 2 on the 9th and his party was today. We were busting our butts trying to get everything pulled together at the last minute (really? surprise!) and my wife busts out this bad ass cake. He is into dinosaurs and we like to enable the kids' habits.

Here's what she did. It's all box cake mix (why not...there's more work to it...why make it harder). She did a 9x13 pan of yellow cake, filled two Pyrex bowls with chocolate cake and carved them in to volcanoes. She took Oreo-type cookies and smashed them with a rolling pin and mixed them in chocolate frosting. With this frosting she thee wed...no really...she pressed against the side of the volcanoes making it look like a rocky surface. Impressed yet? I was/am.

Then she iced the sheet cake w/chocolate and used graham cracker crumbs for dirt and green tinted coconut for grass. Then here's the kicker. She made a pool.....with green J-E-L-L-O. A friggin' pool on the cake. How often do you see that? I'll tell you...."never, that's when!"

When she put the cake together she finally cut the corners off one side to assemble the volcanoes on either side of the cake. Eli loved it (of course, it was cake) and we all "ooh'd and ahh'd" as we saw it.

I love my wife and all the she puts in to her kids' birthday parties. Me...I would have bought a cake maybe had ribs for the adults and hot dogs for the kids. My wife does stuff better than me. I just hope she never takes up the drums.

Grilled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

So, when you have defrosted meat in the fridge and you're not sure what to do with it. Just stick it on the grill, man. You can do it at 10 p.m. if you want....you don't have to eat it......until it's done and smells all good and stuff.

This was a last minute "what are we going to do with it?" situation. I put it on the grill with just some garlic salt and some pepper then at the last minute basted it with the BBQ sauce.....on a whim, right.

I don't know if we were planning on eating this or not, but I toasted an "institutional bun" with some pepper jack cheese (thanks to Costco). (is this what they use in prison?) More on this later...maybe. My, my, my.....that was some good food. (ever notice I don't talk about the "crap meals" that I make from time to time.....which is why there is sometimes a gap in my posting)

Anyway...short story long....I grilled food that I didn't want to go bad. Tip for the day.

Next will be the cakes for Godzilla's b-day party...the wife is outdoing herself this time. I might try to get her to blog about it instead of my paltry diatribes.

Grilling Series: Propane

Make sure you have it.

Need a logo

OK all you readers out there. All three of you!

I would love to have a logo for the Caddywampus......I just think it would be cool....and is something I have been thinking about for a while.

Anyone? Bueller?

Grilling Chops w/Caddywampus Green Beans and Roasted Red Potatoes w/Garlic & Pepper

When I did this, I had these very thin cut pork chops which are good to have when you're on a limited time frame because they cook so quickly.

What I used:
2-3 lbs. pork chops (bone in)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (aka EVOO)
Balsamic Vinegar
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Season-All

What I did:
A couple of hours before I started cooking, I coated the chops with the EVOO and balsamic, sprinkle (to taste) dry ingredients (both sides), cover and put in fridge. (you can do this the night before if you want, but you at least want to do this an hour before cooking)

Have I told ya'll about the beans in any earlier posts? I think I did, but I haven't the time to look it up.

Caddywampus Green Beans
What you need:
1 - 1.5lbs of fresh Green Beans (rinsed and blanched-please remember to drop them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process...this will keep the crispness of the beans)
1 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 slices bacon
salt/pepper to taste

How to do it:
Heat skillet over medium heat (approx. 5 min.) cook bacon to crisp remove from skillet saving bacon drippings for cooking the rest of the food. Place onion in skillet and cook until the begin to sweat then place beans in skillet. Once they begin to get just a little soft, remove from heat, crumble bacon and mix in with beans and onions.......Damn! they're good

Roasted Red Potatoes w/Garlic & Pepper
What you need:
2-3 pounds of Red Potatoes, quartered
EVOO
2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 tspn pepper
season-all

What you need to do:
pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, mix EVOO & dry ingredients in separate bowl. put potatoes in mixture and make sure to get all the potatoes coated in oil, pepper, garlic. place in oven for about 25 minutes or until tender w/fork. again, Damn! they were good.

One of these days I'll write a book.

Today's Lunch: Sausage, Egg & Cheese on Sourdough

This was good. I wish I'd have thought to take a picture, but I was only going to put up the "Grilling Series" and not post about anything else right now.

4 turkey breakfast sausages
2 eggs
2 slices American Cheese
2 slices of Sourdough bread (buttered on the outsides)
= one sandwich

Make sure you start the sausages first (in a separate pan) as they usually take the longest. I did the eggs fried, but mixed them up on the griddle. Set them aside, put the bread on the griddle, cheese on the bread then re-set the eggs on the melty cheese, place sausage on eggs, then place other slice of bread, smash together, then flip (carefully) to finish off. Remove from heat and enjoy. These make great brunch like meals.

Juicy Crispy Chicken Breasts

Now, I made this last year and it was very, very yummy. I have since done it with Chicken Thighs and BBQ sauce on numerous occasions with even better results. Indirect heat is a very interesting way to grill things; especially when you're someone used to cooking with high heat all the time.

Now when you try it, try it with the corriander marinade. I'm not sure if any of ya'll like middle eastern flavors, but that was dang good.

"Spice-rubbed. In step 1, sprinkle your favorite spice rub all over the chicken while you're letting it come to room temperature. We like the Indian flavors of 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne."

There are two other ways to do it, which I haven't tried (unless you count doing it with BBQ sauce) that are good too. You'll see.

Anyway, Sunset is a great magazine with tons of fun stuff to cook.

Somebody try it and let me know which one you liked best. (Tony, since you're now the bar-b-queing fool....I expect you to try it.)

Grilling Conserves Water

"What the heck are you talking about?", you ask yourself.

So, the other day I asked for suggestions and 2 of my 3 commented back. I don't know much about organic stuff or trans fat business, but I do know (enjoy, rather) grilling. 'Tis the season to be jolly. No, not Christmas, but it's warm most of the time and time to get your grill tools together and your coals burning (or propane refilled).

Today will just be a tip on why grilling is good. There will be a few of these in this series. I found some recipies that I havne't trie and I'll re-post some of the things I have already discussed.

Now, let's get started:
Well, when you grill, you usually don't have to wash as many dishes. For example: The other night I grilled checken breasts and put corn on the cob (still in the husk) right on the grill. This meant, I didn't have to wash the corn, boil it, nor cut them in half (3 ears f/5 people) . It saved me time and water.....WOW! I'm a friggin' genius. I also threw some broccoli in some foil w/EVOO, S&P and set that on the back of the grill. Saved more water for steaming and another dish. Dang, I'm on a roll now.

I love being able to cook an entire meal right on the grill and not have to turn the oven or stove on. Hank Hill would be proud.

Now, last night, I did make burgers, but I made home made french fries in the oven. I would have done a separate post, but I don't want to interrupt the flow of the Grilling Series.

What you need:
3-4 good sized potatoes
2 TB EVOO
S&P to taste
Optional:
Hot Sauce or Cayenne Pepper

While your oven is pre-heating to 350F, cut potatoes in half, then in 1/4" slices. Mix EVOO and S&P (salt & pepper) and optional stuff then drop potato slices in making sure to get all slices covered w/mixture. Place on a cookie sheet and put in oven for about 20 minutes, but keep an eye on your fries so they don't get burned.

Serve while warm because cold fries are just bad.

Someone try it and get back to me!

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.