Cooking for Zo

Taste Level: GR
Cost: $20 and Over
Serves: 10
Prep Time: 10-15 min.
Cook Time: 50-55 min.
Difficulty: 2

Zo and I were having a Hillbilly party and let me tell you... It is hard to actually figure out what a hillbilly was.  We noticed that we wanted to group the classification of hillbillies, rednecks and white trash all together.  But they are all very different once we really sat down and put some thought into it.  We came to the conclusions that hillbilly's are just regular people that live in the middle of nowhere.  I tried to think of what a hillbilly would use to cook with and it has to be easily accessible goods that can be picked up in most any convenience store or made at home with a garden and a little live stock.  I mapped out an idea and went to it!  Enjoy my take on Hillbilly Cuisine!

Ingredients:
5 Cornish hens

Rub
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp essence
2 tbsp coffee rub
2 tbsp braising liquid from above.
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp molasses

Braising liquid
3/4 cup chicken broth
12 oz oatmeal stout
1 tbsp 1 tsp essence
2 tbsp Louisiana hot sauce

Needed items
5 empty tomato paste cans (Rinsed out and labels removed)

Braising liquid
Whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl and then split evenly between the 5 empty tomato paste cans.

Rub
Whisk together all rub ingredients in a medium bowl and sit to side until ready to use.

Hillbilly Hens
Rinse and pat dry all Cornish hens .  Rub Cornish hens inside and out with rub and then stick tomato paste cans full of braising liquid as far up as possible into the cavities of the hens.  Place Cornish hens bottom down onto a baking safe sheet and let sit for 1 1/2 hours covered on aluminum foil (on the counter at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Uncover and lace Cornish hens on baking sheet in oven and bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until done. Remove from oven and recover with aluminium foil.  Let sit for 5-7 minutes before serving hot.  Enjoy!

Taste Level: VGR
Cost: $20 and under
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 40-45 min.
Cook Time: 25-30 min.
Difficulty: 2

We were having company and I needed a tasty pizza idea. Unfortunately I did not have idea one in my head...  or rather I had not picked up any of the ingredients that I needed to make any of the ideas I had previously had.  I started going through the fridge, grabbing out items that I thought would taste good together, threw them all on the counter and just stared... Blankly...  I put some items back that I thought just did not fit, then took some back out and finally said to myself, "You know what, I like the flavor of pork, blue cheese and pear.  Lets try a slice of Coppa, wrapped around a slice of pear, with a little blue cheese on it."  I tossed my creation in my mouth and thought to myself once more, "Now I think that could make a pretty tasty pizza!"  As we all munched down on the delicious outcome I thought this pizza was just a mess that came together!  The thought of the Cheshire cats pieces (mainly his head) bouncing about and coming together inspired me to call this pizza the Cheshire!  Enjoy!

(For instructions on how to make your own sourdough pizza skin check posting dated 7/7/09.)

Ingredients:
Toppings
1/2 cup caramelized leak (sliced)
10 deli Coppa slices
8 oz fresh Mozzarella (shredded)
1/4 cup Fontina (shredded)

Sauce
3 tbsp blue cheese (crumbled)
1/4 of Bartlett pear (diced)
2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes in oil (diced)
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/4 tsp ground oregano
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp ground parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp key lime juice

Crust
1 portion of sourdough pizza dough check posting for 7/7/09 or pre-made crust

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Tossing dough
What works best for me is I strongly throw the ball of dough down on a solid flat surface covered with a piece of wax paper until it is large and flat enough for me to easily balance on top of both of my fists. Then I make an X with my arms keeping my fists close together (backhand to back hand, the dough atop of them both) and I fling the dough upwards with my fingers as I simultaneously bring my arms quickly parallel (palm to palm) about 3-4 inches apart. As the dough falls I remake my fists and catch the dough atop them again in the X position and repeat until the dough has formed a 12-14 inch crust.

(Alternately you can lay dough on a solid flat surface covered with wax paper and squish flat with hands. Roll into a ball and slam the dough down onto your solid flat surface covered with a piece of wax paper. Using your fist mush the dough down repeatedly as if you were punching it softly but firmly (this helps get any air bubbles out of it.) Now using your finger tips press and stretch dough until you have formed a 12-14 inch circular pizza skin (you can also make an easier rectangle skin.)

Sauce
Mix all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and then mash well together with potato masher.

Leak
Caramelize leak by heating 4 tsp butter and 4 tsp olive oil over medium high heat.  Add leak and cook for 10-12 minutes or until caramelized.

Pizza
Sprinkle corn meal onto a baking sheet and lay skin on to it. Pour the sauce into the center of crust and spread sauce evenly up to about an inch and a half away from the edge of the crust (I find using a pastry spatula works great for spreading tomato sauce.) Evenly sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the sauce. Evenly spread out Coppa, then sprinkle with caramelized leak. Now sprinkle Fontina cheese.

Place pizza on baking sheet lightly coated with corn meal. Arrange your oven racks to where they are on the upper and lower thirds of the oven. If you are using a baking stone as we do place it directly onto the floor of a preheated oven for 45 minutes (but you will be less likely to ruin your pizza stone if you place it on a rack at its lowest position.) Place baking sheet with pizza on the lower oven rack and bake for 7-10 minutes, move pizza on baking sheet to upper rack and bake 7-10 minutes (if cooking a second pizza you can put it on the lower rack now on a separate baking sheet.) Slide Pizza off of baking sheet directly onto baking stone and cook for 3-7 minutes or until crisp and bottom is browning (if you were cooking a second pizza you would move it to the top rack on its baking sheet once you slide the first pizza onto the baking stone and of course you would move it to the baking stone once you have remove the first pizza and cooked the second one 7-10 minutes on the upper rack.) Slide pizza onto a cutting board or baking sheet and then use a pizza slicer to cut into 8-10 slices and serve hot with your favorite pizza sides, seasonings and sauces!

Taste Level: VGR
Cost: $20 and Over
Serves: 12-14
Prep Time: 20-25 min.
Cook time: 3-4 hours 30 min.
Difficulty: 3

My Buckaroo Chili is actually just the Con Carne version of my Vaquero Chili that we presented up at the Chili on the Comstock chili cook off at Virginia City. One of the people came by my booth and refused to try my chili because it had beans and tomatoes.  He told me that I would be run out of Texas.  I told him that while I lived in Texas I put beans in my chili and I knew a lot of others that did as well.  He just gave me a disgusted look and said, "Blah Yuck," before walking away.  I really do not know what his problem was.  I am all for chili with and without beans. Never knock something until you try it.  And why in the world would I care what some guy from Texas thought?  They could not defend the Alamo against the Natives or even Ozzy Osbourne for that matter.  Probably because of lack of protein from not having beans in their chili! All kidding aside if you are anti beans and tomatoes this is the recipe for you (if you like beans and tomatoes look for our Vaquero Chili!)  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Seasoning Mixture
3 tbsp Ancho chili powder
2 tbsp New Mexico Red chili powder
1 tbsp Arbol chili powder
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp ground fennel
1/2 tsp leaves tarragon
1-2 tsp Freshly cracked pepper medley

Chili
3.5-3.75 lbs rib eye steaks (cubed)
1/2 lb bacon ends (chopped)
1 lb Don Juan’s New York style chorizo
1 1/2 cups yellow onion (finely chopped)
1 shallot (finely chopped)
6 Talatta brand anchovy fillets in oil (drained)
2 oz 60% coca bittersweet chocolate (broken up)
1 large jalapeno (seeded, finely chopped)
6 cloves garlic (diced)
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup Peeberry coffee
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup Ridgemont Reserve straight Bourbon Whiskey
2 tbsp 1 tsp ketchup
1 tbsp Tapatio Hot sauce
2 tbsp molasses
2 tsp Tamari
1/8 tsp liquid smoke
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves


Garnish
4 Green onions (chopped)
2/3 cup Cilantro (chopped)
2/3 cup Chipotle Cheddar (shredded)
1 poblano pepper (diced)
1 Anaheim pepper (diced)

Garnish
Mix all ingredients (unless there are some you would like to leave out) together in a medium bowl before serving.

Chili
Rub your 2-3 rib eye steaks with 2 tsp of olive oil. Lightly dust both sides of steaks with fresh crack pepper and kosher, then rub seasonings into meat.

Heat your 8 quart sauce pan over medium high heat. Once heated brown all steaks by searing them 3-4 minutes per side. Move steaks to plate, cover with aluminum foil and let cool for 5 minutes. Once cooled chop steak into ¼ inch pieces. Sit steak pieces to side in a medium bowl (reserve any juices left from chopping up steak.) Brown chorizo in cast iron for 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Move chorizo from the 8 quart sauce pan to medium bowl with steak bits and cover. Leave any left over oils in the 8 quart sauce pan.
In a medium bowl whisk together chicken stock and the seasoning mixture. Turn heat down to medium and add 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup onion, shallot, cook for 30 seconds while constantly whisking. Whisk in ketchup, vinegar, liquid smoke, tamari and chicken stock mixture.  Cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes, mixing and scraping the bottom of the sauce pan often. Pour this mixture into a food processor or blender. Add reserved steak juice, anchovies, molasses, coffee, chocolate and 1/4-1/3 cup of the beans to the blender or food processor and pulse for 1 minute 45 seconds on low and then 45 seconds on hi or until evenly mixed puree is formed.  Set aside until ready to use. 

Cook bacon in the bottom of the 8 quart sauce pan over medium heat until browning and crisping (9-12 minutes.) Move bacon to bowl with steak and chorizo and reserve 1/2 cup of the bacon grease in the bottom of the 8 quart sauce pan (clean out the rest, if you do not have a full half cup add olive oil to the grease until you do.) Lower heat to medium, add remaining onions, garlic and the jalapeno and cook, stirring and scrapping the remnants from the bottom frequently, until onions are softened and translucent (6 to 8 minutes.)

Add puree to 8 quart sauce pan and cook (after adding puree mixture add 1/4-1/3 cup water to blender and swish around to break loose the remaining puree add this to the pot as well.) Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring and scraping frequently.  Add steak bits, chorizo, bacon, oregano and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, scrape the bottom of the pan and reduce heat to lowest setting. Cover but leave a small crack and cook for 2-3 hours. Or until meat is tender.

Add bourbon whiskey and hot sauce to chili stirring until evenly mixed. You can serve immediately but I prefer to let cool and refrigerate overnight.

Reheat, top with garnish and enjoy! You may want to season to taste with a little kosher salt, fresh crack pepper and cider vinegar.

Taste Level: TF
Cost: $20 and Over
Serves: 12-14
Prep Time: 20-25 min.
Cook time: 4-5 hours 30 min.
Difficulty: 3

Here is our Vaquero Chili we presented at the Virginia City Chili cook off.  If you do not like beans and tomatoes in your chili then look up our Buckaroo Chili.  If like us you love everything in chili then try this one out!  We had a lot of really great feedback from the people at the chili cook off.  Thank you everyone for all the compliments.  I must admit I felt a sense of pride at all of the people that came back just to tell us that ours was the best and all of the people that came to our booth after being told ours was the best.  I brought 10 quarts of this chili and even with each serving being about a tablespoon it was all gone in 2 hours!  That is 640 tastes we gave out of it!  We wish we could have kept competing for the last 5 hours but we just did not know that we would be such a hit. We promise next year to at least bring twice the amount!  Here is the recipe of the chili if you want to make it for yourself, enjoy!

Ingredients:
Seasoning Mixture
3 tbsp Ancho chili powder
2 tbsp New Mexico Red chili powder
1 tbsp Arbol chili powder
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground fennel
1/2 tsp leaves tarragon
1-2 tsp Freshly cracked pepper medley

Chili
3.5-4 lbs rib eye steaks (cubed)
1/2 lb bacon ends (chopped)
1 lb Don Juan’s New York style chorizo
2 (15.25 oz) cans low sodium kidney beans rinsed
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cups yellow onion (finely chopped)
1 shallot (finely chopped)
6 Talatta brand anchovy fillets in oil (drained)
2 oz 60% coca bittersweet chocolate (broken up)
1 large jalapeno (seeded, finely chopped)
6 cloves garlic (diced)
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup Peeberry coffee
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup Ridgemont Reserve straight Bourbon Whiskey
2 tbsp 1 tsp ketchup
1 tbsp Tapatio hot sauce
2 tbsp molasses
2 tsp Tamari
1/8 tsp liquid smoke
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp dried oregano leaves


Garnish
4 Green onions (chopped)
2/3 cup Cilantro (chopped)
2/3 cup Chipotle Cheddar (shredded)
1 poblano pepper (diced)
1 Anaheim pepper (diced)

Beans
Drain beans and then rinse in colander for 5-10 minutes under cool water.  Set aside to drip until ready to use.

Garnish
Mix all ingredients (unless you would like to leave some out) together in a medium bowl before serving.

Chili
Rub your 2-3 rib eye steaks with 2 tsp of olive oil. Lightly dust both sides of steaks with fresh crack pepper and kosher, then rub seasonings into meat.

Heat your 10 quart sauce pan over medium high heat.  Once heated brown all steaks by searing them 3-4 minutes per side.  Move steaks to plate, cover with aluminum foil and let cool for 5 minutes.  Once cooled chop steak into ¼ inch pieces.  Sit steak pieces to side in a medium bowl (reserve any juices left from chopping up steak.)  Brown chorizo in cast iron for 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently.  Move chorizo from 10 quart sauce pan to medium bowl with steak bits and cover.  Leave any left over oils in the 10 quart sauce pan.

In a medium bowl whisk together chicken stock and the seasoning mixture. Turn heat down to medium and add 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup onion, shallot, cook for 30 seconds while constantly whisking. Whisk in ketchup, vinegar, liquid smoke, tamari and chicken stock mixture.  Cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes, mixing and scraping the bottom of the sauce pan often. Pour this mixture into a food processor or blender. Add reserved steak juice, anchovies, molasses, coffee, chocolate and 1/4-1/3 cup of the beans to the blender or food processor and pulse for 1 minute 45 seconds on low and then 45 seconds on hi or until evenly mixed puree is formed.  Set aside until ready to use.

Cook bacon in the bottom of the 10 quart sauce pan over medium heat until browning and crisping (9-12 minutes.)  Move bacon to bowl with steak and chorizo and reserve 1/2 cup of the bacon grease in the bottom of the 10 quart sauce pan (clean out the rest, if you do not have a full half cup add olive oil to the grease until you do.)  Lower heat to medium, add remaining onions, garlic and the jalapeno and cook, stirring and scrapping the remnants from the bottom frequently, until onions are softened and translucent (6 to 8 minutes.)

Add puree to 10 quart sauce pan (after adding puree mixture add 1/4-1/3 cup water to blender and swish around to break loose the remaining puree add this to the pot as well.) Cook for 2-3 mintes constantly stirring and scraping.  Add steak bits, chorizo, bacon, oregano and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, scrape the bottom of the pan and reduce heat to lowest setting.  Cover but leave a small crack and cook for 1 hour.

Add crushed fire roasted tomatoes, 1/4 cup bourbon whiskey and beans, continue to cook covered with small crack until beans and beef are tender and broth thickens (2 to 3 1/2 hours.) Add extra chicken stock if necessary to keep beans and meat mostly covered and moist.

Add 1/4 cup bourbon whiskey and hot sauce to chili stirring until evenly mixed.  You can serve immediately but I prefer to let cool and refrigerate overnight.

Reheat, top with garnish and enjoy!

Taste Level: VGR
Cost: $20 and under
Serves: 8-10
Prep Time: 15-20 min.
Cook time: 35-40 min.
Difficulty: 2

I was looking at the new 10" deep dish stoneware baking dish I'd just purchased trying to decide what to use it for.  I personally like to use a cast iron skillet to make dip dish pizzas.  And I was not even in the mood for pizza...  I thought about making sweet potato fries.  With the deep lip I would not have to worry about them flipping off when I flipped them with a spatula.  Then I thought about making some kind of desert in it... Then I decided to just make a pizza like dish. Because after all it is labeled as a deep dish pizza pan, so pizza kept sticking in my mind.  So defeated by thoughts of unwanted pizza I went with a New Mexican Deep Dish? It would be more casserole than Pizza.  I could count that as a push rather than a defeat!  And the Pie?  Well it was a win for taste buds around the world!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Crust
4 burrito size flour tortillas
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil

Filling
8 oz Don Juan New york style chorizo
1/4 cup Salsa (I used mango habanero but it is your choice)
2 Tomatillos (chopped)
1/3 cup roasted corn
1 Anaheim pepper (seeded, chopped)
2 Purple potatoes (chopped)
2 Chipotles in de arbol sauce (diced)
3/4 cup Chipotle cheddar (shredded)
3/4 cup pepper jack (shredded)
3/4 cup mild cheddar (shredded)
1 large Shallot (chopped)
1 tsp dried cilantro
1/8 tsp ground cumin
kosher salt (to taste)
fresh crack pepper (to taste)

Topping
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (chopped)
1 jalapeno seeded (diced)
2 green onions (chopped)

Crust
Rub tortillas with olive oil and split 3 of them in half.  Lay 1 whole tortilla in the bottom of your 10" deep dish pizza pan or cast iron skillet.  Use 5 of the halves on the sides of the dish and the last half in the center to even it all out.

Filling
Preheat oven to 400 Degrees.

In a medium skillet over medium heat cook chorizo, potatoes, Anaheim pepper, tomatillos and seasonings for 10 minutes, stirring often.  Let mixture cool for 3 minutes.

Mix cheeses together in a medium bowl.

Pour mixture into a medium mixing bowl and toss with all ingredients except cheese. Pour mixture into your tortilla crust and sprinkle cheese over the top.  Place on middle baking rake and bake for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Topping
Mix together green onion, jalapeno and cilantro in a small bowl.  Sprinkle over the top of pie during the last 5 minutes of baking.

New Mexican Deep Dish Pie
Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before slicing and serving with a a little sour cream on top or on the side, ENJOY!