We have been playing around with adding some new items to our menu. Here is the smoked stuffed potato we are working on. That’s Brisket Chili w/ cheese and sour cream.
What do you think?
Bigmista
I wish I could eat BBQ, Gumbo and Donuts all the time but I have to get some good stuff in my body every now and then so I can be around for the fun stuff. But just because something is healthy doesn’t mean it can’t be tasty.
Here is my lunch for today: Turkey Burger with cheese, spinach and guacamole on Multi Grain Bread with Yardbird Salad (Tomatoes and Cucmbers, sprinkled w/ Plowboys Yardbird seasoning and drizzled with rice wine vinegar).
So what do you think?
Just a quick video about breakfast in the Bigmista household. There will be a lot more videos in the future because…well…I’ve just gotten too lazy to write as often as I should. Any who, enjoy the video and let me know what you think!
Just a quick video about breakfast in the Bigmista household. There will be a lot more videos in the future because…well…I’ve just gotten too lazy to write as often as I should. Any who, enjoy the video and let me know what you think!
Bigmista
So I am on a diet. I need some protein. I have can of tuna. What to do?
Casserole? Naw. Way too much fat and calories.
Salad? Sure! Wait…what about all that mayo? Low-fat mayo? Blech!
So the question is what can I do to make this dry-ass tuna (pardon my french) palatable?
And the answer is? Nothing. Can’t do it. But you can hide it! That’s what I did.
First I drained the 6 oz can of tuna and put it in a bowl. I squeezed half a lime over it and mixed it. Then I cut up the following:
2 roma tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1/2 avocado (I ate the other half)
10 Jalapeno slices from the jar
3 green onions
some cilantro
I put all of that in a bowl, sprinkled it with salt, black pepper and garlic powder and squeezed the other half of the lime over it. Then I just mixed it all up and Voila!! Tuna salad!
I must thank my Sister-in-Law Laila for the inspiration. I doubt I would hav e come up with this combination with out a push from her.
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
I was watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations the other night and became fascinated with a dish on the show. It was an Egyptian dish called Kushari. Basically it is their version of fast food and there are hundreds of places that sell it.
It is a mixture of rice, pasta and lentils topped with a spicy tomato sauce and sauteed onions. Deceptive in it’s simplicity, this dish has some complex flavors and it is truly satisfying.
Not having a clue as to how to make it, I scoured the internet for a recipe and came up with this one from Earthyrecipe.com.
Kushari (Lentils, rice, and macaroni mixture)
Kushari is often referred to as “Egyptian chili”, and is a specialty of street vendors in Cairo.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice
2 cups cooked pasta (such as macaroni or penne)
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon ground Cumin, divided
½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 cup cooked lentils
1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed pepper
2 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
Instructions:
1. Combine rice and pasta; spoon into bottom of shallow serving platter. Keep warm.
2. Whisk together vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and garlic powder in a medium bowl. Add cooked lentils and stir to combine. Spoon over rice and pasta.
3. Combine tomatoes, water, sugar, cinnamon, salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon cumin and red pepper in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally. Spoon tomato mixure over lentil layer. Partially stir tomato mixture into other layers, but do not completely combine all layers.
4. Sauté onions in 1 tbsp oil over high heat until browned and starting to crisp. Scatter over top of the kushari and serve.
Now being who I am, I improvised with what I had in the house. I used Garbanzo Beans instead of lentils and spaghetti instead of macaroni. Nothing to severely alter the taste or texture but purists (if there is such a thing a kushari purists) will probably point out that it isn’t traditional. You will also notice swome smoked chicken in the picture. Sorry, I’m not a vegetarian.
Anyway, I recommend that you try this dish at home. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
My father-in-law, Glenn, has been bitten by the BBQ bug. He has become a part of Four Q and works with me at the farmers market. Lately, he has been looking at smokers. I told him before he spent some money on a smoker, let’s clean up the UDS and so he could use that to practice on.
My Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) hasn’t gotten much work since I got the Spicewine so I figured it would be perfect for him. I found a tri-tip and a brisket point in the freezer for burnt ends so we went to work.
We turned out a great meal and he has a smoker at no cost. Seems like a great way to start the year.
Sometimes the simplest meals are the best.
It seems that between catering and practicing for competitions, I always seem to have some meat leftover in a baggie in my freezer. This time it was some brisket. You could just as easily use some pork or chicken.
I put some rotini pasta in a pot to boil. In another pot, I mixed the thawed out chopped brisket with some Super Smokers Tennessee BBQ sauce and let it simmer while the pasta is boiling. When the pasta was done, I drained it and added it to the pot with the meat and sauce. I mixed it and tasted it. It was bland. Apparently, the sauce mellows as it cooks. So I added a few shots of Bigmista’s Secret Sauce and that kicked it right up. I’d recommend using a bold flavored sauce from the beginning when you try this recipe.
So that’s it. No special ingredients. No special trips to the store. Just a tasty meal that anyone can whip up!
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
So the other night I need to make dinner but I didn’t want to go to the grocery store because we were going away for the weekend. I need to improvise with what I had in the house. But that’s what I do right?
So I took up the challenge. I looked at what I had in the fridge, freezer and pantry and came up with some Italian and Mexican ingredients. Fusion it is!! I call the dish I came up with Enchillasagna.
Here are the ingredients:
1 lb. Hot Italian Sausage, cut into small rounds
2 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp Kosher Salt
2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
8-10 Corn Tortillas
8 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
6 oz. Queso Fresco Mexican Cheese, crumbled
Brown the sausage in a sauce pan. Crumble it with a spatula or a spoon. Remove the sausage from the pan. Pour in the tomatoes and add all of the seasonings. Puree (blend) with a hand blender and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
Warm the tortillas. (I usually do this on the burner on the stove but you can also wrap them in a damp towel and microwave for 15-20 seconds.)
Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with a layer of tortillas. Sprinkle half of the crumbled sausage on top of the tortillas. Spoon half of the tomato sauce on top of that. Cover with half of the cheddar cheese. Sprinkle half of the Queso Fresco on top of that. Repeat.
Put the casserole dish in a 350 oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Serve and eat.
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The Survival Gourmet
