John's Macaroni Salad

This recipe is a slight departure from the one posted on the box of pasta purchased at Safeway.  You can elect to follow the box or the option posted below.   I think mine is far better.

Ingredients

• One box Golden Grain "salad" pasta or other manufacturer, but use the cylinder type pasta not elbo.  The following recipe makes a double recipe and has 16 oz. of pasta (full box of pasta).  So, if you use the full box of pasta you will need the following ingredients.  If only half the box, cut the recipe in half. 
• 2 cups good quality mayonnaise.
• 6 TB of apple-cider vinegar.
• 2 TB prepared mustard (I use French's)  do not use any other type as that significantly impacts taste.
• 4 Teas. Sugar.
• 2 Teas. Salt.
• 1/2 Teas. Black Pepper.
• 2-2/3 cups chopped (diced) fresh Celery.
• 1/2 cup diced red onion.
• 1 bunch of chopped (diced) radishes. (Kathy, my sister-in-law, uses radishes in her salad, so I replaced the green and red peppers with finely diced radishes.) 
• 1/4-1/2 Teas. Cayenne Pepper to taste.

Procedure

• Follow instructions on box for pasta (I cook the pasta for about 13 minutes).
• Combine all remaining ingredients to make sauce for pasta while pasta is cooking.
• Strain pasta and wash with cold water until pasta is cooled.
• Mix in combined sauce.
• Cover with clear wrap and chill overnight.
• Next day, stir macaroni salad and taste.
• Mix in no more than 1 TB of mayonnaise and/or 1 Teas. prepared mustard if needed for taste. (Make sure you do not add too much mustard).  

Gretchen's Chicken Wings

Gretchen Eckelhoff Murin, a member of our lodge, and a great lady, just shared her recipe for Chicken Wings.  While she got it from "Cooks.com", she has added a great ingredient to make them even better.  Enjoy and thanks Gretchen.

Ingredients

• 40 chicken wings (drumettes and wings - no tips)
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup soy sauce - I would recommend using Tamari soy sauce if you have it.
• 1/4 cup Sriracha chili sauce - or less to taste
• 2 Teas. vegetable oil
• 2 large clovers garlic, crushed and minced
• Pepper to taste

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 375 degress. Place chicken wings in a single layer on a baking dish. 
• In a medium bowl, stir honey, ketchup, Tamari, oil, garlic, Sriracha and pepper until blended.
• Pour over chicken pieces, turning to coat.
• Bake for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until chicken is done basting occassionally.
• An easier way to cook these is to - put all ingredients into a crock pot.  Cook on low setting all day.
• Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Bourbon BBQ Chicken with Sixteen Spice Rub

Throwdown is a great Bobby Flay series.  He recently did a competion with Brad Turner, Army Drill Sergeant and cook for the Secretary of Defense.  Bobby brought this recipe.  While Brad's chicken was good, Bobby won.  Enjoy and have fun grillin.

Ingredients

Sixteen Spice Rub -

• 3 Tb ground cinnamon
• 3 Tb ancho chili powder
• 3 Tb pasilla chili powder
• 3 Tb ground cumin
• 3 Tb ground coriander
• 3 Tb ground ginger
• 1 Tb ground clovers
• 1 Tb ground fennel seed
• 2 Tb garlic powder
• 2 Tb onion powder
• 1 Tb allspice
• 1 Teas. chile de arbol
• 3 Tb brown sugar
• 2 Tb kosher salt
• 2 Tb coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 Teas. cayenne pepper

Barbecue Sauce

• 2 Tb canola oil
• 1 Medium Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup bourbon, plus 2 Tb
• 1 cup ketchup 
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 Tb ancho chili powder
• 1 Tb paprika
• 1 Heaping Tb Dijon mustard
• 1 Tb red wine vinegar
• 1 TB Worcestershire sauce
• 1 canned Chipotle chile in adobo, chopped
• 2 TB dark brown sugar
• 1 Tb honey
• 1 TB molasses

Chicken

• 3 bone-in, skin-on breasts
• 3 bone-in, skin-on thighs
• 3 bone-in, skin-on legs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 to 3 cups buttermilk
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Procedure

• Make the BBQ sauce - Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan.  Add the onion and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in 1/2 cup of the bourbon and cook until reduced.  Add the ketchup and water, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Cool for about 5 minutes, then transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Pour into bowl, add the remaining 2 TB of bourbon and allow to cool at room temperature.  The sauce will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator stored in a tightly sealed container.
• Soak the chicken for about 2 hours in buttermilk.  Remove and pat dry.
• Heat the grill to medium heat.  Season the chicken with the spice rub.  Season with salt and pepper if needed.  Actually, I would wait until the chicken is partially cooked and you can taste. Grill the chicken slowly, with the lid closed, until golden brown on both sides and fat has rendered.  Begin brushing the chicken liberally with BBQ sauce during the last 10 minutes of grilling.  Cook until internal temperature reads 155 degrees.   
• Let rest for 5 minutes and then serve.

Crab Cakes With Chipolte Chili Mayonnaise

This posting is an older posting that was deleted.  I still think it is the best crab cake approach.  I posted another crab cake recipe in January 2011.  They are both good.
Take your pick.  Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 1 pound of fresh hunks of Crab Meat. 
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs. 
• 1 egg (optional)
• 2 cups mayonnaise. 
• 1 Chipolte chile in adobo sauce, finey chopped, plus 1 teas. of the adobo sauce from the can. 
• Zest and juice of 1 Lime. 
• Salt and Pepper to taste.
• 2 TB butter and 1 TB vegetable oil. 

Procedure

• Put crab meat in bowel.  Add Panko bread crumbs until mixtures binds to make firm Crab patties.  You might not need a full cup. It is important that you do not add too much of the Panko crumbs.   Add egg if warranted - see note below.  Stir in 1 cup of mayonnaise.  Store in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to firm.
• Combine - 1 cup of mayonnaise, chopped chile, zest and juice of 1 lime.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Put aside.
• Heat butter and vegetable oil over medium-high heat until mixture starts to smoke slightly.  Pan fry until brown in each side.  

Important note:  You can add one egg to the ingredients.  The egg will tend to increase the binding capacity of the mixture.  I would do the basic mixture first and see if it easily forms into patties.  If not, add the egg and try again.  Good Luck.

Chichen Wings in Adobo Sauce

This recipe is from the "10th Ave. Burrito Co. in Belmar, New Jersey, as viewed on Guy Fieri's Triple D.  The owner, Brian Katzl, makes what looks like a killer Adobo Sauce from scratch.  I have adapted the recipe from what I viewed to an amount that should work for a weekend party.  Brian prepares this sauce in large amounts.  Thus, the need to reduce to the quantities cited herein.  You prepare this sauce in a pot with a strainer insert like a pasta pot with strainer.  I would use an 10 to 15 quart pot and insert. I still need to try this recipe.  Therefore, at this point, it is a guessing game.  That said, when I do try it and find any changes, I will update this posting and let you know of the update.  So, here goes.

Ingredients

• Chicken Wings 4 - 8 pounds as needed

• 3 cups of smoked jalapenos
• 3 whole heads of garlic
• 3 whole white onions
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 cup of Thyme
• 1/4 cup of Oregano
• 3 crushed Bay Leaves
• 2 large chunks of Piloncillo (hard Mexican sugar) - find in speciality store or try to make it yourself (still looking for recipe to prepare this type of hard sugar).   http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/piloncillo_mexican_brown_sugar/

• 4 whole cloves
• 3 oranges cut in half
• 1 quart of water 
• 2 cups of White vinager
• 2 cups of tomato puree (Tomato puree consists of tomatoes that have been cooked briefly and strained, resulting in a thick liquid. Commercially, look for something like "Freschissima" chopped tomato sauce in bottles).

Procedures

Sauce

• Put the smoked jalapenos in the bottom of the pot and insert strainer into pot
• Put in all of the ingredients except for the Tomato Puree - no need to cut up vegetables, just toss in whole.
• Cover and Cook for 3-1/2 hours under medium heat - watch for boil overs
• Pull out stainer insert and discard cooked vegetables
• Add tomato puree and stir to incorporate puree
• Let cook for 10 minutes or until puree is fully combined and infused
• Using an immersion blender (motor boat) puree the sauce and cook for an additional 20 minutes
• Let cool to room temperature

Wings

• Pat wings dry - very lightly salt and pepper
• Cook wings on BBQ for about 15 minutes (medium grill) or deep fry until slightly brown (under cooked say at 120 degress)
• Toss partically cooked wings in Adobo sauce
• Continue cooking on the grill until ready (150 degrees)
• Re-toss in sauce 
• Serve with Blue Cheese dressing, Ranch dressing or other milk based dipping sauce

Dungeness Crab Cakes and Spicy Chipotle Mayonnaise

Recently at our Elks Lodge, we had our annual crab feed.  I purchased about 1.5 pounds of crab and made crab cakes the next day.  The basic recipe for these cakes and the mayonnaise is from Tom Douglas's great crab cake book entitled "I Love Crab Cakes!".  Enjoy.

Ingredients
Crab Cakes

• 1 large edd yolk
• 2 teas. fresh lemon juice
• 2 teas. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teas. Tabasco
• 2 TB plus 1 teas. Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 teas. paprika
• 1/2 teas. chopped fresh or dried thyme
• 1/2 teas. celery seeds
• 1/4 teas. freshy ground black pepper
• 5 TB extra virgin olive oil
• 5 cups Panko bread crumbs - mushed to make sure they are fine and not course
• 3/4 cup chopped parsely
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 pound Dungeness crabmeat, drained, picked clean of shells, and lightly squeesed if wet.
• 5 TB unsalted butter
• Optional Ingredients include:
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1.4 chopped red bell pepper

Chipotle Mayonnaise

• 1 cup Mayonnaise
• 2 TB fresh lemon juice
• 2 TB Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 1-1/2 TB pureed canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce ( I normally use one whole pepper and one-half of a second from the can).
• 2 teas. minced garlic 
• 1 teas. kosher salt

Procedures

Crab Cakes

• In a food preocessor or a blender, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, mustard, paprika, thyme, celery seeds, and black pepper.  Pulse to combine.  With the motor running, slowly add the oil through the feed tube until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaisre.  Set aside.  If you are worried about making the mayonnaise, try this.
• Add the lemon juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, mustard, paprika, thyme, celery seeds and black pepper to 1/3 cup of prepared mayonnaise and mix throughly and set aside.
• Put the Panko bread crumbs in a shallow container and mix in 1/2 cup of chopped Parsley (reserve the remaining 1/4 cup chopped Parsley for the crab cake mixure). See aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the onion and remaining 1/4 cup Parsley and bell peppers if used.
• Add the reserved mayonnaise and the crabmeat amd mix lightly to combine.  Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 cup of the bread crumb-parsley mixture.  Do not overwork the mixture or the crab cakes may get gummy.  Gently form 8 patties and dredge the patties lightly in the remaining bread-crumb parsley mixture.  
• Cover the crab cakes with plastic wrap and chill for an hour or longer.
• Place 1 or 2 nonstick skillets (depends upon the size of the skillets and the size of the crab cakes to cook) over medium heat and add about 2-1/2 TB butter to each plan.  As soon as the butter is melted, add 4 cakes to each pan (or the correct number of cakes so long as the cakes do not touch each other in the pan).  Gently fry the crab cakes until they are hot through and golden brown on both sides, turning once with a spatula about 4 minutes per side.

 Chipotle Mayonnaise

• Put the mayonnaise in a small bowl
• Use a whisk to stir in the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil
• Add in the cilantro, chipotle, garlic and salt and stir to combine
• Add more lemon juice, garlic or salt to taste
• Store in refrigerator until ready to serve

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with Blue Cheese Slaw

Aaron McCargo Jr. of "Foodnetwork" fame, has published the following sandwich. Try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

Blue Cheese Slaw:

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 (10-ounce) package cole slaw mix
• Kosher salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Canola oil, to fry

Buffalo Chicken:

• 1/2 cup buffalo hot sauce, store-bought
• 4 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken cutlets
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika, plus more for seasoning
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• 4 soft club rolls, split and toasted

Procedure

• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, crumbled blue cheese, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice until well incorporated. Add cole slaw mix and toss well. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• In a deep-fryer or heavy-bottomed pot, heat enough canola oil to come halfway up the sides of the pot, to 350 degrees F.
• Put buffalo sauce in a shallow dish and set aside. Season thechicken with smoked paprika, and salt and pepper, to taste. Put the flour, 2 tablespoons of paprika, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of pepper in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish add the egg, buttermilk, and hot sauce and whisk together. Dredge each piece of chicken in the buttermilk mixture and shake off any excess, then dredge into flour mixture. Fry until the chicken is cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes and the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F on an-instant read thermometer. Dip the finished chicken in the buffalo sauce and put them on the club rolls. Top the chicken with a liberal amount of slaw and form a sandwich.