Boy Meets Food

Just a Young Fan schooling Anthony Bourdain.

2012-01-13T12:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=uVQk5NlGEBs

Young fan school's Anthony Bourdain and do not get this wrong, the man is one of my idles.

Pretty Awesome Cream of Mushroom Soup and Garlic Bread

2012-01-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

For awhile I have been wanting to make a mushroom soup. Of course it should be known by now that I am in no way an experienced chef. I do this blog in order for me to learn and I am a foodie anyway. If I am going to go to a restaurant and enjoy the food, I want to know more about the said food. I have gathered a couple of books to read lately: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, Heat by Bill Buford and The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola. Anyway, I have gotten side tracked here. I just thought it would be good experiment to see if I could make a mushroom soup. I decided on a recipe for Cream of Mushroom Soup that I found in my Culinary Boot Camp book from the Culinary Institute of America:

The soup sure did look good in the book and it was time for the picture perfect soup to be in a bowl in front of me. I went shopping and gathered the needed ingredients:

Six tablespoons of butter, 1/2 large onion, celery (says two stalks worth), two pounds of mushrooms, 3/4 cup of flour, 2 and 1/2 quarts (that's 80 oz.) of chicken stock (and there is a recipe to make stock, but I just went and cheated by buying 78 oz worth of chicken broth and called it good), one sachet d'epices containing one bay leaf, a few springs of parsley, and thyme (1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme), and 1/2 teaspoon of crack peppercorns all tied into a piece of cheesecloth, then one teaspoon of salt to taste, pepper to taste, and one cup of heavy cream.
Now I was to get all of that into this dutch oven:

And then into this blender as well:

To the cooking portion of this post then! Add the butter and melt it in the pan and then add your onion, celery and mushrooms and cook tell they began to brown a bit:

Once the veggies are cooking add the 3/4 cup of flour and stir in creating a roux:

Stir this roux constantly as you add all of the stock (or broth):

Add your sack of herbs to the soup:

Bring slowly to a boil then turn down the heat to low and simmer covered for 20 to 30 minutes, I went with 25 minutes:

While your soup simmers prep or do anything else you may need to do, like the dishes or you can do both the dishes and make a nice garlic bread that will really compliment your soup. I used the technique of preparing garlic bread that I once saw on youtube by British Chef Jamie Oliver. I bought a loaf of Italian bread and a pretty awesome tube of pre-crushed garlic:

I was a nerd about this when I saw it - it contains 23 cloves, so do not use the whole thing at once. Anyway, cut your bread down lengthwise and then cut slits in it side to side:

Once you have sliced the bread, start your oven preheating at 180 degrees. Take your olive oil and drizzle it in and along the cuts of the bread. Spread garlic and parsley throughout the bread and season with salt and pepper, massage it all together and around the bread with your hands:

Take a piece of wax paper and run it under water and crumple it up, shake it out and lie this under the bread:

Bake this, depending on your oven, tell your bread is crispy and cooked on the outside - the wet wax paper will help to keep your bread from drying out.

But while the bread is in the oven, maybe the soup is done simmering for you now - take it and in batches ladle it into your blender and puree it tell you have it all pureed:

Once your soup has been all pureed and transferred back to the dutch oven, return it to a simmer and add the one cup of heavy cream and stir it in. Once finished, adjust seasoning as needed for taste and serve with the garlic bread:

This was really really good and possibly one of the more impressive things I have had a chance to make yet, in my opinion. Make some, have some, enjoy some!

Frittata

2012-01-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

A little bit back I watched Morning Glory, and in the movie Harrison Ford's character keeps talking about how he likes Frittatas. I got curious and thought I would Google it and see how to make it. This is an Italian dish that is derived from a somewhat Spanish origin. These are pretty simple:

Preheat oven, not to high maybe about 150 degrees.

In medium size bowl, using a fork, blend together the eggs and some cheese of your choice (I did cheddar) and season with salt and pepper.

Just start with a medium size frying pan (Heat 12-inch non-stick, oven safe saute pan over medium high heat) and saute pretty much whatever you want to get out of the fridge. I used polish sausage, jalapenos and onions Add butter to pan and melt.Then add what it is you want to saute. Once sauteed, pour egg mixture into pan and stir with rubber spatula. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the egg mixture has set on the bottom and begins to set up on top.

Place pan into oven for 4 to 5 minutes, until lightly browned and fluffy. Remove from pan and cut into 6 servings. Serve immediately.

It was a good breakfast, hope you enjoy it with some of your own creative variations! Enjoy!

Gourmet Burgers!

2011-09-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well should be gourmet burger, not burgers. Anyway, they are more fun then your usual standard burger with never special about. Yesterday for lunch I went to a new local joint called The Burger Stand. They had a nice choice of beers on tab, but their burgers were just freaking awesome!!!

The burger I had was called the Smoke Burger, it had applewood smoked bacon, smoked gouda cheese and chipotle-cocoa ketchup on it. It was good, really, it just reminded me of a burger that I did a few months ago and that I forgot to post. The burger I am posting today is just a twist on the sandwich that was my very first posting, period. Grilled Cheese - Smoked Gouda, Smoked, Applewood Bacon and Golden delicious apple on potato bread. The difference? Well this one also has a burger on it and it is on a potato bun, not bread.

Anyway, I made this pretty much the exact same way: I prepared the burger and bacon, built the sandwich and then grilled it in the pan - just like the grilled cheese.

It was good and rich! Next time I have to keep the patty at about medium for some pink. Do it how you want! Enjoy!

What to do with freshly made tortillas???

2011-08-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make something different and interesting to go with my tortillas. As I said, in a previous posting - tacos are being reinvented into different forms: Asian (Korean) or Indian to name a couple of the new forms out there.

I decided to go with lamb, it is my absolute favorite meat! The problem I had is that it was a rushed dish and I did it on the spot without any proper marinading time for the meat and it left them a bit dry and tough. Now after this time, the next time I have a brilliant idea I will remember to leave myself marinading time - you can never skip it in particular dishes for it does make it taste rushed and unflavored. Next time this will be better, because a lamb taco makes perfect sense!

Here it is anyway:

Should of marinade the lamb in a Ziploc bag with a red wine, probably a Chianti, with fresh parsley or basil. Anyway - place lamb in a heated skillet with some olive oil and brown:

Prepare your veggies:

Onions, bell pepper and tomato with lime makes a quick salsa anytime.

Placed an egg on the homemade tortilla for the base, then placed the lamb on that:

Throw your salsa on that:

Yes and a little lettuce.

Then Enjoy:

Anyway - if I can not post and let you know about my failures then how good or useful is this blog, not just to you - but to me? I need to be able to post when something goes wrong in order to grow. Grow into what? A better blogger, writer, foodie or amateur chef - whatever it is that you would categorize me as.

Anyway - please, again, let me know about any ideas that you have for me to make and or try and whether I succeed or fail - I will let you know. Leave feedback! Please and of course enjoy!

Fresh made tortillas!

2011-08-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

In the midst of this taco crave, I decided that I should know how to make tortillas. So I got online and read a few articles and blogs over the topic.

Here is what happened with that:

2 3/4 cups of flour
5 TBS Lard
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup of warm water

Add salt to the water.

In a bowl mix (with your hands) lard/Crisco and flour. This is a process that will have your cleaning your hands and your counter - a lot.

Add 2/3 cup of the water to the flour. Knead (5 to 10 minutes).

Cut into 12 pieces:

Mine came out to eight pieces only. Roll it out tell flatten. Then add the tortillas to a dry heated skillet over medium heat:

Now from my reading it said to cook each tortilla 30 to 45 seconds a side, mine took longer then that - so use your judgement!

They came out pretty good, for a first time. It does, and I can tell you, take practice to make a at least somewhat round tortilla.

Now again: Let me know what you want me to make and I will try it and let you know. If there is something that you think someone who loves food and cooking must absolutely try - let me know!

Thanks and enjoy!

Fried Fajita Taco Thingy . . .

2011-08-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

Like I said, I am on a taco crave at the moment. Here I took the idea of how Gordan Ramsay made the chicken mozzarella from my previous posting over his YouTube show "The F Word," and I made a creation that was just heaven.

I of course prepared my chicken for frying:

I used breast that I sliced up and then I dipped each slice into the flour, then egg wash and then into bread crumb/cracker crumbs:

Place in hot pan and fry:

Tell a nice browning and crisp crust appears:

Now before the chicken I prepared my veggies - peppers and onions:

When its all finished, plate it. I decided to be a little healthier and use a wheat tortilla this time:

Place fresh tomatoes on top of that:

And of course, as always - Enjoy!!!

Now as I am wanting - let me know what you want me to try and I will go find it and will eat it, let me know what you want me to make and I will attempt it and will let you know what happened!

Needed a taco fix . . .

2011-08-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

I really do love the joy of a good taco, anything Mexican really. I like the whole idea behind tacos and the whole revolution there is currently going on about among restaurants and food trucks where we are now reinventing the taco. There are Asian (such as Korean) tacos, Indian tacos, BBQ tacos, even a mix between - Korean BBQ Tacos.

I thought I would just pull a few things out that I already had on hands and make a different taco. I found eggs, poblano pepper, can chicken and tortilla. First I started with the chicken and poblano pepper in the heated frying pan:

After the chicken and pepper were cooked, I removed it from the pan and prepared a couple of eggs with cheese as a omelet:

I then placed the egg on a tortilla and placed the chicken and pepper on top of that:

Needed something else, added some Pace salsa:

At this point there was only one other thing to do - eat:

It came out really good and fresh. I do look forward to making more like this, but, if you have an idea of a taco that you think would be good or interesting - let me know. I will make it and I will personally let you know!

Thanks and remember to enjoy!

Fajitas on the Grill . . .

2011-08-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

Once I graduated high school and moved out of my parents house to attend college at Kansas State University (KSU) is probably when all of this really happened. I lived with my brother, Tim, and a friend that we grew up with, we will call him Mathealmual (Matt, actually). While at KSU I found that I really really liked watching Food Network during my down time - the others really didn't for it made them hungry. I found, and still do, the Food Network really educational. And of course I do have a favorite and they are one of the people who inspire my food - Bobby Flay (His show Boy Meets Grill, my blog Boy Meets Food - get it?).

Anyway I really started playing on the grill when I was at KSU. I made cheeseburgers with the bacon, onion and cheese mixed in with the beef patties, I did some other things, but the thing that has stand against all things that I probably do on the grill are my Fireside Fajitas.

For the fajitas I use a few chicken breast that I cut into strips (width wise, so they are not too long) before I do any marinading. By doing this - you allow the marinade to touch and be absorbed into the whole piece of meat. The Marinade is just what I think of as how a piece of fajita chicken should taste like. But first, pour some olive oil over the chicken strips in a bowl and give them a good rub down (then recipe involves a lot of washing of the hands). Then after that, make the marinade (This recipe has no real measuring, use your eyeballs and judgement - keep in mind that some of the spices can make a real fire in your mouth, just make sure you coat the chicken well).

The Marinade:
Cayenne Pepper
Black Pepper
Garlic (real and finely minced)
Salt (definitely not too much!)
Chili Powder
Curry Powder (When it really does come to me in everyday life and sitting - I love curry powder. I even put some on my scrambled eggs).
Red Wine Vinegar

Thoroughly coat the chicken well with the dry seasonings with your hands (wash) and then pour in just a little bit (for taste) of the red wine vinegar. Now you can either place all of this in a zip-lock and bag and shake to coat the chicken with every thing and massage the chicken through the bag with your hands or you can get dirty with your hands and use a bowl that has a good sealing lid. Let sit in the fridge no less then eight hours. Depending on when this is being served. Lunch - I do it before bed, Dinner - after breakfast.

When I started doing this I started using bamboo sticks to cook the chicken in a shish kebab fashion. I cooked my vegetables next to it on the grill by placing them on top of aluminum foil and tossing them with tongs. Now for my fajitas I use the traditional onions and peppers. Red onion is always a great option for it is the sweeter onion, for color use more then one type of bell pepper (green, orange, red or yellow). I slice the veggies and place them in a bowl where I mix them with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Also, on fajitas I like to use mushrooms. I buy regular fresh white button mushrooms from the store (not canned) and I also place these in the bowl and then on the grill with the other vegetables. I find by adding something else, whether it is mushrooms or pineapple, it adds a texture and a life of your own to your fajitas and other such dishes.

Anyway, my fajitas no longer need to be cooked on alumni foil or bamboo sticks (use what you need), for I now have a couple of racks that I can place on the grill and use my tongs to freely toss my chicken and veggies. Since the chicken is of course raw, I turn them with two separate tongs.

Here are a few pictures to help illustrate the point of using the grill for your dishes, such as fajitas:

Then as you get near the finish, I personally like to throw the tortillas on the warming racks:

Once the tortillas are heated all the way through and are soften up - remove everything and enjoy!

Below, Chicken Fajita, Mom's black bean salad on corn chips with fresh cucumbers, cantaloupe and corn on the cob!

Enjoy!!! Remember, leave feedback and let me know what you want me to try and make!

Its been over a month . . .

2011-08-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

It has been over a month since I last posted on here. I know that the internet is a large void of information just being all sucked in together into a continuously going web. It is just that I find myself wondering how long it will take for this blog to be noticed: Five followers thus far: Cousin, Brother, Brother friend, Best friend, and myself - do I count? Is it only four followers than?

Oh well, oh - and comments, what about leaving a comment if you read this, any of it, because I do really really want to hear from you. Asking for comments I am not trying to feed some fire within me that craves for attention, no, I am asking for them so that I can try what you want me to try. Leave request. I will go and try suggestions (as long as they are actual suggestions and edible ones too) on things to eat - that is if you are curious about something and not sure what it will taste like, I will eat it. Cooking? Ask and you will receive - I will go forth and devise a recipe with photo instructions and post it for your viewing readers. I will help you, but I ask that in return that you too help me. Add and invite your friends and spread the word because this new turn in the blog is meant to be fun and adventurous for everyone!!!

Now a few posts that I am behind on posting - enjoy!!!

Very Easy Impressive Chicken Mozzarella!

2011-07-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today was going to be normal, it was going to be like any other usual day. My StumbleUpon had more in mind for me. It stumbled me to youtube.com to "The F Word" with Gordy Ramsay (Hell's Kitchen). On this mini-episode (each one is about 2 to 3 minutes long and they show entire recipes!) Gordy showed how to prepare his Chicken Mozzarella. To watch this episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSsx8m4PG_U

I decide, after watching a few other episodes (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+f+word+gordon+ramsay&aq=1&oq=The+F+Word ) I decided that I had to try this for lunch.

The process:

Grab a thawed chicken breast. Put enough flour to coat chicken with in a bowl (refill as needed), beat some eggs in another bowl, and some bread/cracker crumbs in another bowl.

Butterfly the chicken breast:

Take the breast and dip it in the flour, then dip into the eggs and then into the crackers - making sure both sides are covered in that order by all three ingredients.

Should look similar to this:

Not the best looking thing at first - but just wait and see how well it blends when in the pan. When placed in pan, season with salt, pepper and garlic (cayenne will go well too - if you want some spice!). Speaking of which, have a skillet with oil hot and ready to go (I used Olive Oil). I did mine over medium high.

Tell brownish on both sides:

Remove from heat and place onto a oven safe pan and put some extra oil (not much) on top - this will keep the chicken moist. In the skillet (with added oil if needed) add halved cherry tomatoes, onions, chives, parsley (Gordan did cherry tomatoes, onions, shallots and basil - I used what I had). For this use as much as needed to get enough to cover the top of your chicken - so best judgement. I say at least 4 to 5 cherry tomatoes per breast.

When the mixture is finished, Ramsay calls it your sauce, place on top of your breast.

Place on top of the mixture some sliced fresh mozzarella and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Place the pan into oven at 350 degrees and bake for about 10 minutes - tell cheese is nicely melted:

When you get to this point - plate it!

I just threw a quick spinach and cucumber salad with grapes on the side of mine. When you reach this point the only thing left to do is - Enjoy!

Does that not look just really golden and beautifully moist! It was some really great chicken and I will definitely be having this more, especially for dinner during the fall and winter!

Thanks!!!

Easy Healthy Chili Beans!

2011-07-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

Really on a health binge, which is great. Down 14.5 lbs since June 20th - less than a month!

For these beans I opened a can of Bush's Great Northern and a can of their Pinto beans. I drained off the liquid and placed the beans in a medium sauce pan with half a can of water over them. I chopped up and threw in two green chilies and a red jalapeno with three garlic cloves. I also added two tbs of cumin powder, one tbs of cayenne pepper and two more tbs of chili powder. I also added in some freshly cracked pepper and salt (not too much on the salt now).

Oh and I placed some fresh cilantro from my own window garden in it too!
Now I let this all cook for about one and a half hours over low heat, I should of stopped earlier at this consistency:

I let the mixture cool off and I dished up just a little to sample, the rest with in the fridge for later. It settle down like refried beans. I topped it in the bowl with three fresh cherry tomatoes (also from garden) and cilantro:

Pure beans with no additives! And fresh veggies on the side. This is also pure protein!!!
Enjoy!

Green Smoothies!

2011-07-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

Green Smoothies are very very popular today. They are a great way to sneak some veggies into your children's diet. I have been having them myself for breakfast for two weeks and have lost some weight to prove it.

I blend up some ice cubes - about 3 to 5. I throw in a whole banana - broken up, 3 to 4 chopped strawberries, a handful of blueberries and about two large handfuls of spinach with a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of water over that. Add water tell you rich a consistency that you will be able to enjoy. This is solid fruit and veggies with water. No additives - pure health, no wonder why I have lost weight. I also run, but I always run.

I also have been enjoying a plum on the side. And do not worry, you do not taste the spinach. All you taste is fruit. Enjoy!

Topeka's Farmer's Market!

2011-07-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

The fresher the produce always leads to the better the meal. So buy fresh and buy local! I went to Topeka's Farmer's Market just to see what we had out there. Not everything in the post is produce though, I had some fun too! http://topekafarmersmarket.com/main/

There are a variety of local venders at our and every farmer's market from baked goods:

Here I bought a chocolate zucchini brownie that came with some chocolate peanut butter frosting, it was very rich, cost $1:

There was a very creative cookie stand, but I did not buy any myself:

I did find a couple of vendors to create a lunch at. One was Grandma Wock's Catering:

Here they dish up a variety of twist on the German Bierock:

A couple of the ones they made were a Bacon Cheeseburger bierock and a Spicy Italian bierock. I went with the Spicy Italian:

It was loaded with some good spicy sausage with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. It was awesome!
I also decided to have a homemade enchilada and tamale from a Mexican family vendor:

Both were very good, the tamale was the favorite though. It had green chilies in it making it spicy.

Then I decided that I wanted something that I never get to have and remains me of childhood and easier times: Funnel Cake!

I found PJ's Concessions for the funnel cake.

The had a full menu: Fountain drinks. taco burgers and salads, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, curly fries, nachos and of course Funnel Cakes at the top of the menu! $4 for a funnel cake.

Well worth it! The cake was light and fluffy with a good doughy texture. The powder sugar was sweet! And it is PJ's Grandma's secret recipe.

Still, I say that Funnel Cakes are meant for sharing . . .

So what made it home with me?

Some very good Raspberry and Jalapeno Jam - $2, Freshly ground and locally outside of Manhattan, KS - Espresso - $6. And a lot of different types of hot peppers - $2.

Their are a lot more vendors and a lot of options at the Farmer's Market. It run from 7am (their is a biscuits and gravy vendor who also serves coffee on the spot) to 12pm. It is every Saturday throughout the summer to early fall.

Look up your local farmer's market for your own fresh options.

Sea Scallops!

2011-07-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

I have never tried sea scallops before. I landed on deciding to try them at home first. These came out a little blend for my taste. I suggest adding something along the lines of cayenne pepper to making a better tasting dish.

Firstly take the scallops and put them in a zip lock bag with a flour/salt/pepper mixture and shake to coat them. I did about three of them at a time in the bag.

The ingredients are pretty simple - the coated scallops with some fresh parsley, garlic butter, and a white wine of choice (make sure it is one you will enjoy to drink!). I used Joel Gott's Sauvignon Blanc, 2010.

In skillet - melt butter, about 3 TBS, over medium heat. Add the garlic to the butter and cook the garlic over medium as well for about a minute. Add the scallops to the pan and slightly brown them on both sides over medium heat still:

Once browned, remove from heat.
You will now add your fresh parsley and the wine (about 4 TBS) and place back on heat. Simmer tell sauce thickens (the flour off of the scallops will do this).

Once finished: Plate it! I had mine with some fresh corn on the cob and a glass of Joel Gott:

Enjoy!

Because ketchup and mustard would be too boring . . .

2011-07-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

Brat with a fried egg, provolone cheese, sauteed onions and green bell pepper, corn and black bean salsa with spicy brown mustard. Onion (Declaration) rings and potato salad on the side. Happy Fourth of July!!!

Easy Pizza on the Grill!

2011-06-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

I personally love pizza! Now chains like Pizza Hut - I think taste like shit, but here in Topeka I love Buzzards Pizza (Hunters Ridge off of HI 75) and Via's (On Gage between 6th and 10th streets).
I love to make my own pizza. When I make my pepperoni pizza I keep circling in the pepperoni tell it covers the whole pie. The pepperoni also goes between the sauce and cheese on this pie.

Lately, I was wondering about how to have an easy way to make pizza on the grill. I have heard so much about people making their own pizzas on their grills. Now the grill itself, when it has the lid down, will essentially act like a pizza oven - cooking your pizza over open flames!

So my idea: Use simple ingredients and not much hard work. Just pick up some Naan Indian bread from the store with some fresh mozzarella. Now since most people use their grills during the summer and most items off of grills seem to be a little more on the healthier side (does depend on what you are cooking) - I use no sauce on this pizza - instead, use roma tomatoes. They have less juice and seem just to work better then other types. I also use bell peppers as my main topping, but do what you want - have fun with this. I just got some hot pepper plants to transplant with some peppers already on them - I feel a fresh pineapple and hot pepper pizza in the works. Anyway, ingredients below:

First: Take your bell pepper and slice it like so:

Then grill your pepper:

Now take your Naan bread and gently pour on some olive oil - brush the oil over the bread. When that is done, put on any seasonings that you would like on the pizza. I used salt, pepper and garlic. Then slice the roma tomatoes:

Place the tomatoes on the naan bread and slice up some slices of the fresh mozzarella, I find that five slice of mozz works best. Slice your grilled peppers and place them on top of the mozzarella.

I top it also with another thin sprinkle of fresh ground pepper. The it is back to the grill:

Now, I have a pretty wide and long flipper, it can act as a pizza paddle for me. If you were wanting to buy an actual pizza paddle, you can get a really good one for twenty dollars: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=pizza+paddles&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=2692216981&ref=pd_sl_9gksa84rhw_e

So I use the flipper/paddle to leave up on edges and check the bread. You want to make sure it does not burn, but still gets some toasting to it. Also, you want to make sure that the cheese at least becomes a little gooey. As the heat goes through from the bread the mozzarella will continue to melt. When at this point, slide off grill:

Now you are ready to slice, I do one naan into four:

Now Enjoy:

Now I really like this, but that's me. My Dad enjoyed it, so did one of my professors from school, also some of my classmates and friends have gave it approval as well.
Hopefully this posting has given you some ideas on how to make your own pizza pie at home on your grill (oven if you have to, I guess). Also, hopefully this posting has shown you that making you own pizza pie at home really can be as easy as ordering and waiting - but also as easy as pie. Yes, I just said that. Thanks for reading! Please leave any comments - I will enjoy reading them as much as I hoped you enjoyed reading my post. Cheers!

Porubsky’s Deli

2011-06-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

If you live in my home town of Topeka and you have never been to Porubsky's Deli - get there!

Its just located in Little Russia, the home to the German in me. This is part of the group of Germans who left Germany for Russia with Kathleen the Great, along the way these Germans invented the krautstrudel as a traveling food (my grandma's recipe - the same used here in Topeka for German Fest is coming in a later posting).

Porubsky's was founded by CW Porubsky in 1947. It has survived fires and floods (the 1951 Flood of Topeka).

Its located at:

Its right across from the railroad tracks:

At Porubsky's you can do your grocery shopping:

You could have a cold beer in the bar area, and with that beer you could enjoy either a nice deli sandwich or chili or both. They are particularly famous for their Hot Pickles! Hell, get the whole lot to go with the beer!

I went to Porubsky's just last week and I ordered a Pastrami and Coby Jack cheese sandwich on white with spicy mustard: The making of my sandwich -

Look at this sandwich:

The meat can not be contained - look how much meat is on it!

You literally can not see the other slice of bread (that is how it should be!), there is also another slice of Co Jack cheese hidden under that meat!

Look how great that sandwich is! (Above)

This is just a pic of the sweet butcher block in the deli:

If you would like to learn more about Porubsky's, just go get a sandwich and some hot pickles! But, if for some reason that is not your thing, just go learn about it by watching the documentary Porubsky's: Transcendent Deli - the docu's website is located at the following link: http://www.transcendentdeli.org/

You can also check out the Facebook page for the documentary: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Porubskys-Transcendent-Deli/169858550316 or you can just go and fan the Hot Pickles on Facebook as well: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Porubskys-Hot-Pickles/215392861823124

Go there!

Keepers of the Fire Open BBQ Contest - June 17 - 18, 2011

2011-06-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

Seldom does our area here in Kansas, Topeka and surrounding areas, get to have a BBQ contest. Well Prairie Band Casino decided to start having an annual one. This contest though preceded the Shriner BBQ contest, which was held at the Expo Center here in Topeka - two weeks before.

Sadly, I have to work on Friday and Saturday nights, so on Friday June 17th, I got a start at seeing who was participating in this contest. I also got to see a few of the teams doing their prep work and some already cooking, sadly - this poor boy got none of it. I wish I could of had some, BBQ heaven.

The first team I talked to was the "Crazy Bones" BBQ Team:

Here at the Crazy Bones team, I met with Greg, Sabrina, Bob and Gary - they are all Kansas City BBQ Society member and are also all Judges (note - they were contestants so hence were not judges this weekend). Greg said they like to use Apple wood, Cherry wood and Pecan wood.
Crazy Bones were busy doing prep work - rubbing down the meat (which in this contest were Chicken, Ribs, Pork and Brisket - categories). The Crazy bones were going to do an overnight smoking, starting at 10pm that night.
As I was leaving the Crazy Bones team to venture out and speak with others, I noticed their ribbons that they carry with them and leave on display at competitions

. I moved next door to the Crazy Bones and met the Red Buffalo team, comprised of Chris, Rick and Bob.

Here the guys told me that they like to smoke with Hickory and Apple. They also said that they do not soak their wood. Now soaking is how you get the smoke right? It can be, but it delays the creation of the smoke. One part is, you want to smoke, not grill, the wood itself makes the smoke. By not soaking you will get a cleaner burn. Also, you can always adjust the height of your grate, depending on your grill/smoker style, to get how much of a fire/smoke mixture you want.

I then moved over to Blue Bucket BBQ and met Mike and Terry. These two like to use Oak and Cherry.

They were smoking already,

for those who wanted could participate in the people's choice category - this is wear anyone curious could walk in, buy from anyone (quite reasonable - $3 a sandwich on average)

and vote for who you liked the best. This part took place on Friday night from 4pm to 10pm.

The next team down was Burnt Finger BBQ - Jason and Bryant.

Here at Burnt Finger they use Cherry and Apple, they also do not soak their wood.
At Burnt Finger they, like their competitors use their own rubs and sauces, but Burnt Finger actually sa
les their rubs and sauces.

Burnt Finger also runs http://www.bbqaddicts.com/ - the website also contains a blog. Plus the website is a great place to find their rubs and sauces for sale: http://www.bbqaddicts.com/rubs-sauces/ - the Bacon Hot Sauce sounds particularly good!

Next I went to Pig Newton - Mike and Betty,

here they use Cherry and they again will tell you not to soak your wood before smoking.

The next group that I visited was Smoke Me Tender BBQ - http://smokemetenderbbq.com/default.aspx

Here I met Gary and Tammy, they like to smoke with Cherry and again they say do not soak your wood, it is not needed.
Gary showed me some of the stuff that he already had smoking:

Next I came across Smokin' FireHouse Hunks:

Here I met James and Jesse, they like to use Oak and a little bit of Apple wood.

When I caught up to these guys, they just found out about the people's choice and the ability to make some sales that night, they were getting their ribs underway.

Next up I found Big D and the Little Briquettes:

Here they like to use Oak and Hickory - they received first in brisket and second in chicken at the Shriner's BBQ contest at Topeka's Expo Center. Speaking of brisket:

- Big D had one going!

The last group that I had time to visit with, before work : ( , was Crimson & Blue BBQ Crew:

Here we had Bill and Tim - they like to use Hickory and they also pointed out that you do not want to soak your wood.

I thought it was cool how Crimson & Blue chopped their wood on site.

Now soaking still allows you to smoke, it just delays your time. So just do whichever way you are more comfortable with, but these experts (at the contest) say that not soaking does provide a cleaning burn.

More post down the road everyone!

Hazel Hill Chocolate

2011-06-14T23:12:00.000-07:00

On Monday I went to downtown Topeka and wondered around for a bit. First place I stopped in at was Blended. After I got done at Blended, I headed on over to Hazel Hill Chocolate: http://www.hazelhillchocolate.com/

At Hazel Hill, I met Terry and talked with her a bit while I took a look around the shop.

I got a piece of fresh fudge from Terry to sample and that was really some great fudge!

Still, I did my best to not come across as to much as a kid in a candy store - but really, when you have all the options that Hazel Hill provides, its kind of hard not too!

As I looked around I think I really liked the decor and feeling of Hazel Hill. How they use the same table to make all their treats fresh in the store and how the brick wall just makes the shop look that much older and more in place as a part of Topeka, KS.

I looked at all the chooses given and I made my selections for my purchase. I bought three truffles (Grand Marnier, Lowfat Mint Patty, Coconut) and a Pecan Cluster, which I immediately proceeded to eat (so it is not pictured). I love coconut, so I obviously liked that truffle, pecan clusters obviously can not survive when near me. The Grand Marnier was really interesting and such a great idea - you could actually taste the liqueur!

I also picked up a bag of popcorn balls that were coated with caramel and had some really good almonds in them, these were awesome!

Those almonds really do look beautiful.

Now Hazel Hill Chocolate has a page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hazel-Hill-Chocolate/106454351984?sk=info
There is also a group on Facebook for the friends and fans of Hazel Hill, which I am now a proud member: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_68156941573

Terry mentioned a few of extra things about the store that seem really nice: 1) Every Thursday from 5:30pm to 7:30pm they have a free musician. 2) There is a free chess board to play a game on while you hang out, plus free Wi-Fi, 3) Wednesday, June 22nd is Hazel Hill's Customer Appreciation Day! On this day there is free chocolate/samples to be had - last year Hazel Hill actually ended up handing out around 225lbs of chocolate! That makes me wish I could be there for that day, but I am sadly booked solid - someone eat chocolate for me!!!

Boy Meets Food: Blended For Better Health

2011-06-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

Boy Meets Food: Blended For Better Health: "Yesterday I went to downtown Topeka and wondered around a bit. Shortly, I happened along Blended: It has been located in downtown Topeka f..."

Blended For Better Health

2011-06-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to downtown Topeka and wondered around a bit. Shortly, I happened along Blended:

It has been located in downtown Topeka for almost a year now. If you have not yet experience Blended: For their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/blendedforbetterhealth?sk=info
Or you can go to their official website: http://www.blendedforbetterhealth.com/

On their Facebook page they give you the location and tell you a little about their store and its mission: "Blended is a Fun, Relaxing Nutrition Club and Independent Herbalife Distributor located at 720 S. Kansas Ave., Topeka, KS. . . . Blended is your gateway to both a Healthier, Happier Lifestyle AND a Health/Nutrition Business Opportunity. We work closely with motivated people all over the United States to help them reach their personal goals, no matter their level of needs and wants. Let us know if we can help you as well."

First on the website you get a nice up going beat of music, I reloaded the page twice! "Ready to go now," might be the songs name; I tried looking for it on Google, but I was not finding any songs that seemed just right. Anyway . . .

I went into the store and met one of the owners, Greg Tiller. He showed me their menu which has a variety of Smoothies, Shakes, Cafe Lattes and they also have soup of a creamy chicken base and Protein bars. Now if you can not guess yet, Blended is all for a better and healthier lifestyle - which I can agree with! Today, many Americans are still overweight; which according to the CDC is when someone has a BMI of 30 or higher. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html
And Blended For Better Health offers great meal replacement options: http://www.blendedforbetterhealth.com/blended_menu.pdf

So after some chatting and looking over the menu, I picked the Elvis PB & Banana - keep in mind that Elvis ate his as a fried sandwich. Greg got started:

He ran me through his process: He adds natural flavors, whey proteins, energy - what have you - in order to make his shakes a filling meal replacement.

Greg even put in some frozen bananas:

After a little more of this and that, a quick blending and my shake was finished:

The shake was a nice thickness, with the peanut butter flavor came some good richness. I think the King himself would be proud to take this shake on.

I will be back! And maybe Blended will give my slogan suggestion some serious thought: "Get Blended at Blended!"

Beer and Food Pairing.

2011-06-11T23:46:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick and simple guide (by Men's Journal) for pairing food with the perfect beer.

http://www.mensjournal.com/pairing-beer-with-food

Plans for Blog!

2011-06-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

So I hope everything posted so far helps gives a little insight to any readers who may happen along. What I am thinking of doing next - try to get out to the Farmer's Market, also try to post some of the best burgers in Topeka. A few other ideas are trying the food at Blue Planet Cafe located in downtown Topeka - also I am very excited for any BBQ or any other kind of random get together/compeition that I may happen upon. The idea that I am really excited for is going to Bradly's Corner Cafe, located in old north Topeka - here the owner Brad has quite the selection of pies to choose from. Brad makes pies from scratch every day in his kitchen. My plan here is to try all the pies he offers, maybe even ask him if I can get in the kitchen with him. Brad is a customer of mine at both of my jobs. His place is one of those little corners that holds great food at a good price! Stay tuned!

Homebrewing!

2011-06-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

My best friend Ryan and I have taken it on ourselves to create some tasteful beer. We started first with making a Southern English Brown Ale.

The first picture that you will see here is the adding of the malt:

Then the beer took on a slight greenish color after we added in the hops:

Eventually - into the fermenting bucket it goes:

A switch from fermenting bucket to carboy with priming sugar - plus the bottleing and four weeks later after start date:

And it was delicious! It finsihed very nicely.
We also had a Honey Porter that we have brewed. With this one we added some chocolate extract and two pounds of pure honey:

This one was also very delicious:

Cooking with Chianti Wine.

2011-06-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I always wanted to try cooking with wine. So I decided to do some internet reading. I found sites telling you about which wine goes best with what kind of meat. The meat that I picked was beef - wine suggestion for cooking with beef was either a burgundy or chianti wine. One of my jobs is over at my best friend's family's liquor store. Later on that day while I was working at the store I browsed our wine selection - I decided on Da Vinci Chianti 2008.

The wine was good, as most sites will reccomend - only cook with a wine that you will drink. They also say to never use cooking wine for lack of flavor.

So, I decided to marinade the beef in a ziplock bag with freshly chopped parsley, a bay leaf and two cups of chianti wine.

This mixture marinated for fourteen hours. Then it was strained over a bowl, so that the bowl would catch the sauce. The beef was browned in olive oil and removed. I then sauted onions, mushrooms and garlic in the pan. Once the veggies were sauted nicely, I added the beef back with the sauce and simmered it all down to a reduction sauce for an hour and half.

Once it was finished, the meat and sauce mixture was served over boiled potatoes with cooked carrots.

Next time - will be over egg noodles!

More post coming soon, I have been working on this for awhile now!

The Sandwich that started it all . . .

2011-06-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Food Blog - Boy Meets Food. I have a personal love with food, always had. When I was little I would pull out my Mom's pans and wooden spoons and start banging around and making stiring motions. And in the professional world of the Culinary Arts - 70% are men, so why not at least have a blog about a subject that I really love. Thanks, welcome, and enjoy!

One day, a few months ago, I was at work watching Tyler Florence on the Food Network. On this specific episode Tyler made an adult grilled cheese and tomato soup. The sandwich that he made looked so good, I had to make it myself.

The Sandwich: Smoked Gouda Cheese, Smoked Applewood Bacon and Golden Delicious Apple on Potato Bread.

The Bacon just looked perfect, sitting there on top of apple and cheese promising a tasty treat.

The finished sandwich proved to be rich and complex of flavor. If you want to make this, make sure to buy the log form of smoked gouda cheese - this way you will have the right consistency.