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?
Balsamic Strawberry Oatmeal from Bigmista
So I wanted to find a way to make it a little more exciting. It’s strawberry season and we get some of the best, sweetest strawberries in the world here in SoCal so I decided to throw in a handful of sliced strawberries in my bowl. Then I got to thinking (always a dangerous proposition), my favorite way to eat strawberries is drizzled with GOOD Balsamic Vinegar. It brings out the sweetness in strawberries.
So I grabbed my precious bottle (the grapes were aged 25 years) and drizzled it on the strawberries in the oatmeal. EUREKA!!!
This oatmeal was so tasty, I had to take some to Mrs. Mista (Luckily I caught her before she brushed her teeth. Toothpaste would have ruined it.)
I highly recommend you give this a try. It will shake up your mornng!
Balsamic Strawberry Oatmeal by Bigmista
Enjoy!
Bigmista
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
Sunday turned out to be a great day for us at the Atwater Village Farmers Market. We had a lot of people that came out to get some BBQ for Super Sunday and they got to try our MOINK Balls.
MOINK Balls (yes it is supposed to be capitalized) are bacon wrapped meatballs, sprinkled with our secret pork rub and smoked until the bacon is crisp. We serve it with our Signature Blueberry-Chipotle Sauce that is made specifically for the MOINKs. If you haven’t tried them, you should be following us on twitter or facebook so you will know when we will be serving them. They are a special item and not on our regular menu.
WE sold out of everything we had on Sunday and there were some disappointed people so let me emphasize this point.
YOU CAN CALL OR TEXT US AT 562-708-2318 TO PRE-ORDER YOUR FOOD!
That will insure that you get what you want and we get a better idea of how much food to cook. It takes us hours upon hours of preparation to create our Barbecue dishes. It’s not something we just “whip up in the back”. So when it’s gone, it’s gone for the day.
Now for a moment of MOINKitude…
MOINK Balls
Thank you.
Bigmista
Anybody who knows me will tell you that it’s hard for me to leave well enough alone. So after eating way too may of the Monkey Muffins that I learned about on The Pioneer Woman Cooks site, I decided to take a few liberties with the recipe.
I started off just like the recipe says by putting a thin pat of butter and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in each muffin cup.
Muffin cup with butter and sugar
I also added 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to each cup. Next I fried up some thick sliced bacon until it was crispy. I recommend cooking over medium heat and turning frequently so it doesn’t burn.
Crispy Bacon
Then I took the canned biscuits and broke them in to 3 pieces each and wrapped each piece around some of the crumbled bacon.
Biscuit dough wrapped around bacon
Next I put 3 pieces in each muffin cup…
Filling the muffin cups
…sprinkled on more bacon and covered that with another pat of butter and the same amounts of sugar and cinnamon.
ready for the oven
Then I put them in a 400 degree oven until they were golden brown and delicious. In the mean time, I made a glaze by slowly blending 1/2 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of brandy in a sauce pot, over a low fire until it was smooth.
This is what I ended up with…
Glazing the Monkey Muffins
More Glaze
A bacon Surprise!
I wish I had words for how good this is. You need to try this recipe and then let me know what you think. Once you come out of your sugar coma that is.
Enjoy!
Bigmista
After reading a post about Monkey Muffins by The Pioneer woman cooks I decided to try it out myself. Since I didn’t have any leftover dough, I used some canned biscuits. I split them into 3 parts before putting them in the muffin pan. They came out great! I think I will try some variations in the coming days.
Here are a couple of pics:
Monkey Muffin
Muffin Split
Thanks to The Pioneer Woman Cooks and Steamy Kitchen for pointing me to her site.
Enjoy!
Bigmista
The other day I got a call from a person a Yelp.com. They were organizing a party to celebrate the opening of the Orange County Fair. The party title was “Bacon Bash”and all of the vendors their were to serve bacon themed dishes.
We were contacted because they heard about Bigmista’s Barbecue and their Pig Candy and MOINK Balls. So after some hemming and hawing because we had a market and another catering gig the same day, we reluctantly accepted the invitation. When we heard that there would be over 400 people there, we realized the scope of what we had to do. We had to make over 400 MOINK Balls!!
I contacted Larry Gaian at the International MOINK Ball Appreciation Society (yes, there is such an organization) and asked if this would be a record for the most MOINKs in one cook. He said as far as he knows it is. So we set off to get this done.
Here is what we started with:
That’s about 30 lbs of meatballs and 42 lbs. of thick sliced bacon (some of which was for pig candy).
Here is the first batch wrapped:
Here are some in our Medium Spicewine cooker:
Here are more in our Large Spicewine cooker:
When it was all said and done, we cooked 480 MOINK Balls and 250 pieces of pig candy. A new record!!
We served it with a Blueberry Chipotle sauce that was inspired by Larry Gaian and Allison Osorio. It was a big hit at the party! With that being said, I never want to do that again!!!
BIG MISTA HELPS GET YOUR GRILL ON
Fresh & Easy partners with award-winning grilling expert to offer tips for the perfect BBQ
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is partnering with pitmaster and grilling expert Neil “Bigmista” Strawder of Bigmista Barbecue to share tips for this 4th of July holiday. He is a resident of Long Beach, California-and is a food vendor at various farmers market’s across Los Angeles. He is sharing some of his award-winning barbecue tips that will help you impress family and friends at your upcoming cookouts.
“Anyone can put a piece a meat on a grill,” says Bigmista. “But if you want that tender, melt in your mouth flavor, there are a few simple techniques that will guarantee a delicious barbecue.”
1. Grill – Buying an expensive grill will not make your barbecued food taste better. Find a kettle grill at a local supply or hardware store for less than $50. This classic grill distributes heat more evenly and when the lid is on, it holds in the flavor-enhancing smoke from the grease or smoking wood added to the charcoal fire.
2. Fire Management – You don’t need a big fire to barbecue. Use 15 coals for chicken and 20 coals for steaks and burgers. Never use lighter fluid as it leaves a chemical taste on the meat. The secret to a great barbecue is a chimney grill starter, which is a tool to heat the coals that is also available at supply or hardware stores. Place the coals on the top chamber and place newspaper on the bottom chamber. Light the newspaper with a match and in fifteen minutes the coals are ready to use.
3. Coal Placement – Place all coals on one side of the grill. Slow cook the meat with the indirect heat on the opposite side of the grill. Then crisp the skin with the direct heat. This allows for meat to cook thoroughly, preventing a burnt outside and a raw inside.
4. Wood Chips – Add hickory, apple-wood, cherry-wood or mesquite-wood chips to the coals to infuse flavors into the meat. Wrap a hand-full of wood chips in foil, poke holes through the tent and place it on top of the coals.
5. Brine – To get chicken as tender and juicy as possible, Bigmista recommends soaking it in brine which is made up of:
1/2 cup salt
1/2cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon allspice
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1/2 gallon of water
Put all ingredients in a large plastic bag or a 16-quart pot and soak chicken for up to four hours in the refrigerator. Discard the brine and then rinse the chicken, pat dry with paper towels, and rub it with a flavorful marinade.
6. Savory Rub – A basic rub that can be used on any type of meat with great results is created by combining the following ingredients:
4 parts kosher salt
4 parts garlic powder
2 parts black pepper
1 part cayenne
7. Pineapple Coleslaw – Bigmista is sharing the recipe to his very popular side dish that compliments any barbecued meat. This pineapple coleslaw is a guaranteed hit at cookouts.
1 bag pre-shredded cabbage
1 can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
Pour the juice from pineapple into a bowl. Add the vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar. Mix and set aside. This is the dressing. Put the pineapple in a large bowl with the cabbage. Pour in the dressing and toss well.
So when you can’t make it to one of the markets for some of Bigmista’s award winning barbecue check out Fresh and Easy for your grilling meats and sides, they have you covered. A few customer favorites include:
o fresh&easy Grill Pack – over 4½ pounds of quarter-pound beef patties, chili-seasoned chicken thighs or drumsticks and Italian pork sausages $5.99*
o Buxted Pork Spare Ribs $1.59/lb*
o fresh&easy BBQ Macaroni Salad $3.99/30oz*
o Taurino Beer $12.99 for two 12 pack bottles*
o fresh&easy 9” Apple Pie $3.99 each*
*Promotional prices valid from July 1st through July 7th while supplies last. Promotional price for Taurino beer is valid when purchasing multiples of two.
About Neil Strawder, a.k.a. Bigmista
Award winning and seasoned pitmaster/griller, has been competing in California barbecue competitions since 2005. He has won numerous awards for perfecting his briskets, pulled-pork and ribs. His catering business, Bigmista’s Barbecue, has a following at Farmer’s Markets around Los Angeles County. To contact Neil Strawder, visit his Web site www.bigmista.com.
About Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market
At roughly 10,000 square feet, Fresh & Easy markets are smaller than the typical supermarket to give customers a faster, easier shopping experience. In addition to fresh, high-quality prepared meals and produce, Fresh & Easy offers everyone’s favorite national brand products and household items, all at budget prices. More information regarding Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market can be found at www.freshandeasy.com/blog.
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
