Monthly Archives: October 2013

Simple Tacos

Posted on October 28, 2013 by pauldelancey

Mexican Entree

SIMPLE TACOS

 INGREDIENTSsimptac-

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons Meat MagicTM spice
1 1/2 cup grated Four Mexican cheeses
6 taco shells
1 1/2 cups lettuce
1 1/2 cups salsa

PREPARATION

Mince the onion in a food processor. (My cooking life took a quantum leap when I acquired this gizmo. Get one.) Add onion, cumin and meat spice to ground meat. Mix by hand.

Cook mixture in saucepan until all of the meat is no longer pink. Shred lettuce by hand or chop into middlin’ sized pieces with a knife. Gosh, fill the taco shell with meat, lettuce, cheese, and salsa. Better yet, get a 20-inch across Lazy Susan and let your diners make their own tacos according to their tastes.

Lazy Susans are fantastic. They are round, rotating platforms, usually made of wood. Put a bowl on the Lazy Susan for each of the beef, cheese, taco shells, lettuce, and salsa. With this handy device the need to constantly pass bowls back and forth disappears. (Just try to find a Lazy Susan. Anywhere. I weep for America.)

TIDBITS

1) Tacos have always been my favorite food. I asked for tacos for all of my childhood birthday dinners.

2) My grandmother was born in Mexico. She made tortillas by hand.

3) “Tacos” is an anagram for “coast”, “coats”, “o scat”, and “o cats!”

4) Cumin goes with so many Mexican dishes.

5) Supposedly long ago, a wealthy Mexican family had a maid named Susan. She didn’t enjoy constantly moving bowls back and forth. So she invented the device that bears her name. For this, someone called the tool the “Lazy Susan.” Seems to me, it should have been named the Entrepreneurial Susan.

6) When I was growing up, my family had a superb Lazy Susan made of hardwood. It’s gone, gone. Where did it go? It’s hard to get a good Lazy Susan these days. Why? Why?

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Great Arctic Eats – Murmansk, Russia

Posted on October 26, 2013 by pauldelancey

If you hunger for good Russian food served in the Arctic, you really must visit Murmansk, Russia. There are many fine hotels and hostelries if you ???????????????????????????????????????wish to stay a while in a place where you can take big steps without bumping into someone. The Park Inn by Radisson is a favorite while the unfortunately and ominously named Terminal Hostel and Terminal Hostelries get good reviews. Try to reserve rooms in advance as the nearest town is really, really, really, far away.

TripAdvisor rates Cafe Leto as the best restaurant. The best sushi is found at Fusion. Lovers of Italian food should stampede Mama Mia. And check out M-Club Meridian Hotel for fine barbecue and Russian.

Murmansk’s restaurants

Murmansk has a lot to see. So, it’s best to avoid the winter when the days are short and the nights mighty long. Most people will want to visit the Lenin Nuclear Icebreaker. I’d love to take that for a test drive. People wishing to know the local history must go to the Aloysha Monument for the Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the Great Patriotic War. Fish lovers will want to spend time at the renowned Murmansk Oceanarium. Enjoy the arts at the Murmansk Regional Drama Theater with the best productions for miles around. And don’t forget to spend some quiet time at the St. Nicholaus church.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Peanut-Butter Milkshake

Posted on October 24, 2013 by pauldelancey

American Dessert

PEANUT-BUTTER MILKSHAKE

 INGREDIENTSPeaBuMS-

3 cups milk
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream

PREPARATION

Put milk in blender. Add 1 cup of peanut butter. Put the peanut butter directly into the blender until the level of the milk reaches 4 cups. (Measuring sticky peanut butter exactly by the measuring cup is a colossal pain.) Make sure, though, that the peanut butter is completely submerged in milk. Similarly, add the ice cream until the milk’s level reads 6 1/2 cups.

Blend the mix at the “milkshake” or “blend” speed until you get your desired level of smoothness. You smooth operator, you.

TIDBITS

1) This has a lot of calories in it. So beware.

2) It sure is tasty, though.

3) I had a peanut-butter milkshake in Plains, Georgia, the hometown of President Jimmy Carter.

4) Everyone told me how I had just missed seeing him by a half hour and how he liked to talk to people.

5) I waited a bit hoping he would come back soon, but he didn’t.

6) I never saw him, ever.

7) Culinary life isn’t always fair.

8) But I’ve gotten over it, mostly.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

 

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Deviled Eggs

Posted on October 23, 2013 by pauldelancey

American Appetizer

DEVILED EGGS

INGREDIENTSdevdegg-

4 eggs
1/3 teaspoon paprika
1 1/3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/3 teaspoon mustard powder

PREPARATION

Place eggs in a pot. Put water in pot. Bring water to boil. Cook for twelve minutes. (Read short sentences.) Do not overcook; a green coating on the yolk would look especially horrible for this recipe. Put eggs in bowl of cold water for fast cooling. Remove shells, cracking the eggs from the bottom first.

Cut eggs in half, lengthwise. Remove the egg yolks. Release your pent-up frustrations mashing them with your handy whisk. Mix in paprika, mayonnaise, and mustard powder.

Spoon this mixture back into the holes left by the removed yolks. Sprinkle only a lit bit more paprika over each entire egg for visual effect. Serve.

This is so easy. And it’s considered a gourmet food. Wow! There’s no excuse not to look suave and sophisticated at dinners or potlucks with this recipe.

TIDBITS

1) Paprika is by far the most popular spice in Hungary. The poppy seed is almost revered in that country. Hungarians refused to join the European Community until they were guaranteed unrestricted poppy-seed production. The European Union caved.

2) The ancient Egyptians boiled goose eggs. Apparently, those eggs are indigestible otherwise. A raw goose egg? Ugh. I’ll take the word of the ancients on this one.

3) Spicy stuffed eggs were eaten in 13th century Andalusia, a region of Spain. Spain discovered the New World in the late 15th century. Coincidence? Perhaps.

4) King Louis XV ate boiled eggs every Sunday. This practice ceased with his death.

5) The culinary term “deviled” arose in the late 18th century and referred to highly seasoned or fiery dishes.

6) My wife doesn’t like using the term “devil” in anything. So if you have another name for this dish, I’d appreciate hearing it.

7) Tampa’s baseball team used to be called the Devil Rays. They are now know as the Rays. So, other people must feel the same way.

8) My brother and I had egg holders when we were children in Australia. Neither of us ever played for the Rays. Coincidence? Perhaps.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

 

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Cooking Basics: Cheerios

Posted on October 21, 2013 by pauldelancey

American Breakfast

CHEERIOS

Every budding chef, whether five years old or fifty, must start somewhere. Why not with this confidence builder?

INGREDIENTScheerio-

1 bowlful CheeriosTM
1 bowlful milk, 1 pint maybe?

Pour a bowlful of CheeriosTM into a bowl. A ceramic bowl works best, but if this dish is a challenge for you and you’re fifty, you might only have a plastic dish with the slogan, “Gashud for Kansas Agricultural Commissioner” on it. Fear not, the plastic bowl will work just fine.

The next step is critical.

Pour the milk over the CheeriosTM and into the bowl. The amount of milk is a matter of taste. I prefer just enough to make the cereal float. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

DO NOT leave this bowl of milk and Cheerios unattended for more than ten minutes. The cereal will lose its crunchiness. It will become soggy. Ugh. This horrifying mistake will scar your psyche for life. Don’t do it. No! Eat the cereal right away.

If this recipe didn’t turn out quite right, don’t fret. Try again. As the famous chef Julia Child maintained, if no one saw your culinary mishap it didn’t happen.

If you succeeded in this venture, congratulations. You are ready for your next culinary triumph.

TIDBITS

1) A nice relaxing bath with powdered Cheerios relieves itching. Do the Cheerios get soggy? I imagine so; I’ve never tried it.

2) Cheerios does not have evil high-fructose corn syrup in it.

3) Break apart a Cheerio to form the number one. Put thirteen whole Cheerios after it to form the number ten trillion, roughly the size of the Federal deficit.

4) I have a sneaking suspicion Ian Fleming came up with the idea for James Bond, 007, while eating Cheerios.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

 

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Great Culinary Mishaps Along The World’s Roads

Posted on October 19, 2013 by pauldelancey
“All the pig carcasses and the 86 live pigs were carried off, while the local police reportedly declined to intervene.”
.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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SPAM Bento

Posted on October 18, 2013 by pauldelancey

Hawaiian Entree

SPAM BENTO

INGREDIENTSBentoBox-

2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup dandelion greens
1 Roma tomato
2/3 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup pineapple juice
4 teaspoons red wine
3 tablespoons cup soy sauce
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 12 ounce can SPAM
4 pineapple rings
2 cups plain cooked rice

makes 2 bentos (a Japanese style lunchbox)

PREPARATION

Mince garlic clove. Snip stems off dandelion greens; cut each green leaf into four pieces. Slice tomato into thin slices.

Prepare the marinade. Put garlic, brown sugar, lemon juice, pineapple juice, red wine, soy sauce, water, and cornstarch in large mixing bowl. Stir with whisk or fork until brown sugar dissolves and cornstarch blends in.

Slice SPAM into 4 thin rectangles;. add to marinade and let marinate for 60 minutes.

Place a skillet on medium heat; when hot, add SPAM and pineapple. Fry for 4 minutes on medium heat. Turn over SPAM and pineapple. Fry for another 4 minutes. Add marinade to SPAM and pineapple in skillet. Simmer for 8 minutes on low heat, stirring constantly.

Place half of the dandelion leaves in a small section of the bento. Put tomato in another small section. Place SPAM in one side of the large section and pineapple in the other side.

Serve with plain cooked rice. Wild dandelion leaves may be used in this. Fresh ingredients always taste better. It is not possible to get fresh SPAM.

Just look the recipe photo and wonder why bento boxes haven’t caught on everywhere.

TIDBITS

1) I entered this recipe in the International Bento Contest 2013. I was so proud to have participated.

2)I have tried to show with this bento dish how cooking fosters friendship between countries even when there has been conflict. American soldiers and seamen brought SPAM, canned spiced ham, with them as they fought in the Pacific from 1942 to 1953. Hawaiians and Koreans, in particular, learned to love this food and adopted it into their own cuisine.

3) I created SPAM bento to show how fun and enjoyable dishes can be when created with the humblest ingredients.

4) I presented this meal in honor of Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving Holiday, which was being celebrated at this time. Koreans celebrate by visiting family, paying respects to ancestors, and giving and receiving gift-wrapped cans of SPAM.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Launa McNeilly’s Baked Stuffed Lobster

Posted on October 17, 2013 by pauldelancey

Baked Stuffed Lobster

LaunaLobster

My name is Launa McNeilly and I am a writer of three published novels with a fourth due out soon. I was asked to blog about something that I bake and since I am from Maine I decided to share my recipe for Baked Stuffed Lobster. This recipe is not for the faint of heart. PETA will certainly ban me from all of their functions but it’s worth the risk for a meal that you will remember for the rest of your life. I made this meal for my sister and her husband. She took the picture that you see of the finished product.

Stop reading here if you are faint of heart.

Ingredients:

2 live lobsters
2 boiled lobsters, picked
1 cup+ unseasoned breadcrumbs
Butter ( lots of it)

Slice live lobsters down the middle on belly side. Clean out the inside of lobster. You will see the guts that need to be pulled out. Gross, but necessary. Put cleaned out lobsters on an ungreased baking sheet.

Mix cooked lobster, cut up in small chunks, with cup of breadcrumbs, or more, depending on amount of chunk lobster. Stuff the cavity of uncooked lobster and drizzle melted butter over stuffing. Bake at 350 degrees in oven for about 30 min.

Melt butter for dipping lobster meat.

Serve with whatever makes you happy. I used corn on the cob and nothing else since this is a rich and filling dish. I can see lots of different sides with this, as well as different seafood in the stuffing, like scallops, crabmeat, or shrimp. If you can’t decide, put them all in for a seafood stuffing. Yes, later I served dessert, but that is for another blog.

Enjoy this wonderful taste of Maine.

My books can be found on Amazon.com.

Lies in a Season of Tribulation

Touches from the Beyond

The Evil Within

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Atty Eve’s Novel Recipe

Posted on October 16, 2013 by pauldelancey

Atty'sAttic

Hi, my name is Atty Eve and since this is my guest post I’m going to make myself at home. I am a writer also but I write thrillers. My debut novel My Beautiful Suicide is out right now. The blurb and links are below. In my novel the main character, Cosette, spends a lot of time in her best friend’s café. And in keeping with the theme of this blog I will share with you all Cosette’s favorite dish.

Bar-B-Que Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Mac-N-Cheese.

Ingredients needed

For the shrimp

8 slices center-cut bacon, halved widthwise
16 large raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed (jumbo does not cook well with this recipe)
1 cup of your favorite Bar-B-Que sauce
16 wooden toothpicks or 4 wooden skewers

For the Mac-N-Cheese

1 (8 ounce) package cavatappi
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
black pepper, to taste
2 ½ cups finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, don’t skimp on quality!
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, buttered

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Spray 13×9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray
Start heating water to boil for cavatappi.
While that’s warming up to a boil, start on shrimp.
Take a half-slice of bacon and coat it in the Bar-B-Que sauce then wrap it around a shrimp. Poke a skewer or toothpick through it and place it, seam side down, on a foil sheet.
Repeat with the rest of the bacon and shrimp.
Brush on sauce and let sit while preparing Mac-N-Cheese.

Mac-N-Cheese

Water should be to a rolling boil by now.
Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions; set aside.
In a large saucepan sauté garlic in butter.
Add flour mixed with salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper, using a whisk to stir until well blended.
Slowly pour milk and cream in; stirring constantly.
Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).
Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes.
Add only 2 cups of shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.
Take off heat
Add macaroni to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.
Transfer macaroni to 13×9 baking dish.
Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and remaining ½ cup of cheese
Now the yummy part. Place bacon wrapped shrimp on bed of Mac-N-Cheese.
Bake 20 minutes until the top of pasta is golden brown, the shrimp are cooked through, and the bacon is crispy.

So there you have it, Cosette’s favorite dish.

Now just so you get an idea of what my book is about and who this Cosette girl is, here is a blurb about

My Beautiful Suicide.

“Suicide is selfish.

It tells the world that you are weak. It tells the world your family and friends have failed. It leaves them with guilt that they could have done more but didn’t. It tells them they are clueless and helpless.

I am weak, but I am not selfish.

My suicide will not leave my family and friends with guilt and shame; it will leave them thankful that they knew me for the short time I was here.” – Cosette Hugo

Her brother died. Her parents divorced. Her high school bully is relentless. Cosette doesn’t have a lot to live for, but it isn’t until she accidentally kills someone that Cosette makes the decision to take her own life.

Unwilling to bring shame to her mom, best friend Mattie, or her boyfriend Chris, Cosette decides the best method of suicide is to become a victim of the local serial killer, The Poser. But every time she goes out to find him she gets attacked; her instincts take over, and she ends up killing her attackers. This quickly leads to unbearable guilt. Desperate to finish this before she gets caught or racks up more victims, Cosette does the unthinkable.

“And when I reach my final goal, to meet my brother in heaven, and we’re looking down at my victim in Hell, he will say to me ‘Well done, Cosette. What a Beautiful Suicide.’”

Thank you so much for reading this far, here are my links.

Amazon— http://www.amazon.com/My-Beautiful-Suicide-ebook/dp/B00FUUHQA2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1381669933&sr=1-1&keywords=my+beautiful+suicide

Smashwords— https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/363915

Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-beautiful-suicide-atty-eve/1117053371?ean=2940045306386

www.attysattic.com

https://www.facebook.com/atty.eve

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Powegian Smoothie

Posted on October 14, 2013 by pauldelancey

American Dessert

POWEGIAN SMOOTHIE

INGREDIENTSPowSmoo-

2 cups plain yogurt
1 cup milk
1 cup mixed berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries)
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup sugar

SPECIALTY APPLIANCE

blender

PREPARATION

Put yogurt, milk, mixed berries, honey, and sugar in blender. (Milk will always refer to cow’s milk. If I mean another sort of milk, such as goat’s milk, or yak’s milk, I will specify it. I hope I never come across a recipe that uses yak’s milk, because I don’t know where to find it either.) Blend at “milkshake” setting for about 30 seconds or until thoroughly blended. Woo hoo, tasty and simple.
TIDBITS

1) Yogurt has been around for 4,500 years.

2) However, don’t get yogurt this old. Look at the expiration dates on the yogurt containers.

3) Plain yogurt can be made from any mammal’s milk, including the yak and the camel.

4) A store in Britain is selling ice cream made from human breast milk. Not sure about this.

5) Eating yogurt can reduce bad breath. It still is easier though to pop a mint in your mouth before kissing a date than to run to your car and eat a pint of yogurt.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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