Earl Cooks Low-Carb Philly Cheese Steak Skillet

Tonight I wanted a Steak. In fact, a cheese steak. But as you may know, I am now on a low carb diet due to a recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, so NO BREAD! But I had a plan. I knew I had some steak strips and a what Trader Joe's calls a "Melange a Trois" - 3 peppers - red, yellow & green, sliced and ready to use in whatever dish one wants, and I wanted a CHEESE STEAK! 

The only other pantry ingredients I needed were half an onion and shredded cheddar cheese, both items I always have on hand! I sauteed everything in my cast iron skillet and topped it with the cheese and let the residual heat and steam melt it when I covered it.

 This was great on several levels. It tasted just like a cheese steak...except I didn't have any mushrooms on hand, but it was very good without. It was all from products I had on hand (and will keep on hand), and was LOW CARB! As my wife would say "it's a keeper"!

Earl Cooks Low Carb - Steak & Chips

My new jouney with Type 2 is leading me down new paths, carb-less paths mostly. I am supposed to lose weight of course, but Karbs are Killers (see what I did there)?

For my first low carb I had some Thin Cut Ribeye Steaks that I bought to celebrate Father's Day. Turns out that steak is good for me! High in Protein with NO carbs. I just had to figure out what to eat with it, since potatoes are out. Earlier in the day, Daughter #2 and I went shopping, and she pointed out that when she was on her Keto Diet, she liked the Terra Chips, and was buying them still! I bought a bag for me and at first, thought I had made a mistake, but every bite got better and better! I decided to add something fresh to the plate, a tasty tomato medley. I love these and will eat them with many dishes.
...So meal 1 was quite a success in my opinion. Next comes Breakfast!

Earl Cooks takes a New Direction on Father's Day 2019

Me In IMC hospital bed (they became VERY uncomfortable)

I don't normally post pictures of myself on the site. This father's day, however, I  found myself in the hospital with a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes! How does this relate to EarlCooks.com? In almost EVERY way! I now have to watch EVERY aspect of what I eat and drink! The first food to go was one of my favorites Grapefruit Juice! Other juices must go too, except another favorite V8.

Why grapefruit? 2 reasons. Fruit juice is sweet and can cause a spike in the blood sugars. Second, Grapefruit of any kinde can wreak havoc with STATINS, medications for High Blood Pressure and blood thinning, a new addition to my medicine cabinet this week. 

V8 Has about ⅓ the CARBS so it is acceptable, although I think most dieticians want to harvest your own food, to be fresh. My journey is taking me a different direction. I want to modify my foods and recipes to be much like what I normally use/cook. I may change this as I go on, but for now I want to eat what I want to eat, with minor adjustments, rather than radically change my diet to accommodate my new challenges.
 
Fortunately, two of my favorite foods, bacon & eggs, are high in protein and low in carbs, so in one of my first meals I made Hard cooked eggs, bacon and a new addition to my diet "Dave's Killer Bread". It has carbs, but it also has 21 whole grains! And by-the-way, it tastes great!

My wife thinks this breakfast has the look of a face, and I put everything on the plate, into mine! I seasoned the eggs by dipping them into four different seasonings. Trader Joe's "Everything But The Bagel" seasoning, a new favorite, and one I discovered pre-type 2. Black Himalayan Sea Salt, Ground Sea Salt and Fresh cracked pepper.

This is a process, not a project, and one that will last my lifetime!

Earl Cooks Mother's Day Dinner for the Mother of My Girls

Are you my mother? No. But the mother of if my girls and the best woman I have ever known.

I started the meal with a sous-vide steakc which I then pan seared in my 12" cast iron skillet, seasoned with Chicago steak seasoning, salt & pepper.

AfterI seared off the steak, I removed it to rest and then place some

finely diced new potatoes to absorb the seasoning and beefy flavor from the steaks. Once that is well on it's way, I add some artichoke hearts to the skillet, just to heat them through. There w have it Steak & Potatoes & Artichoke Hearts.

My Gal (a.k.a.:"Turkey") is a meat and potatoes kinda girl, but she loves veggies and salads too! Love You!

Cinco de Mayo - The Mexican Holiday that isn't UPDATED

During the mid 70's I lived in central Mexico. I met the best people in the world and some delicious foods, many of which I had never tasted, or even knew existed. I tasted cactus pads (nopales), crushed worms as the base of a Salsa, Molé, Mangos, pigs feet, and many more. I discovered too, a language that was beautiful in it's simplicity and consistency. In short, I loved everything about Mexico, it's people, it's culture, and it's places.

Which brings me to this post. It is the 5th of May, or Cinco de Mayo. Never in my years in Mexico did I see any signs of "Cinco de Mayo". It wasn't a celebrated holiday. Only years later did I even learn what it was. In the U.S. it is a celebration of the Mexican Culture rather than brief, morning-to-evening battle during the Franco-Mexican War.

So, in recognition of my only second home, I am linking to my older posts where I have cooked Mexican foods or reviewed Mexican Restaurants.
Salsa Verde Poached Eggs  
Pulled Pork Quesadillas
Tacos on Taco Tuesday
All of my posts about Mexico & Mexican Foods
I will make and eat something Mexican today in celebration of a great people and their culture...

...instead, I wanted a guacamole burger with bacon from Carl's Jr. If you haven't tried one of their THICKBURGERS (they used to be called their Six Dollar Burger but now they are more than that). Anyway, the burger was their Guacamole Bacon with plenty of bacon, a good 1/3 pound burger pay and nice lettuce and tomato and onion, topped with pepper jack cheese and a nice guacamole. It was delicious and reasonable. Perfect for Cinco de Mayo. It's not strictly Mexican, but neither is the holiday!

While I was there, I tried their limited edition Bacon Truffle Fries and they were GREAT! I highly recommend them!

Celebrate Mom with Family & Sour Cream Chicken

We gathered as family of this lovely woman to celebrate her birthday. Her Children, Grandchildren & Great Grandchildren. Having departed this life 2 short years ago, but her memory, loves and life will be with us always.

For this celebration of her birth, I chose to make a favorite dish she had made her own - Sour Cream Chicken. This is actually a dish I first ate at my grandmother's home, my dad's mom. For some reason I can't remember, I was invited to eat at Grandma Mary's without the rest of the family. This is what she served. I raved about it so much that my dear mom got the recipe from my grandma and it became a family favorite, not just my favorite. She modified it to be able to use the whole chicken rather than just the breasts. The original recipe was for boneless skin-on breasts which are tough to find these day, but back in the day, the only chicken, besides whole, was a cut-up whole chicken. Skin on, bones in. Why skin on? It carries all of the flavor from the marinade into the chicken fat and makes for flavor you just can't get in skinless chicken. She used bone-in skin on legs, thighs, breasts, and whole wings to conserve both money and time. She also added a bit of extra butter to stretch the sour cream sauce created during cooking to pour over baked potatoes like the best sour cream/butter/chicken gravy ever created!

For my part, I wanted to get back as close to the original as possible. I found bone-in skin on breasts and decided to use them. My baby sis offered to provide baked potatoes and her home for the celebration. My Daughter #2 & #1, a birthday cake & soda pop respectively (mom loved Diet Coke). Other delicious favorites were provided by my brother and sister's families. Not all could be there but we all felt that mom was there.

Shown at the right, is a plate full of deliciousness like no other. Probably high in fat, calories and carbs, it is perfect for a celebration of life and love like today.

For the complete recipe Click Here

Earl Cooks Two Lunches From Leftovers

The first 'Lunch from Leftovers' starts with cooked broccolini. Broccolini is basically small, tender broccoli which I steamed for dinner earlier in the week, but since it is pricey, I kept the leftovers, not knowing how might use them but not wanting to waste them. I simply reheated them, added some cheese and quartered colorful tomatoes, and topped it all with capers. If you haven't discovered capers, you should! They give a nice tang to everything from steaks to sauces and are relatively inexpensive. This turned into one of the healthiest lunches I have fixed myself in quite awhile, and it was fresh and tasty!

My Second starts with my spicy 'creole' mac and cheese. I made this as a test for my friends food truck, and ended up with extra because it was too spicey for my wife. This was more simple than the first since all that was involved was heating the mac & cheese and adding some extra cheese sauce to the top. The extra sauce cut through the  creole spices nicely, and my friend now uses this as part of his food truck menu.

The reason I like to reconfigure leftovers is threefold. First, I hate waste! Second, I have watched the Food Networks "Chopped" quite a bit and am amazed what chefs can do with odd ingredients. And Third, I like to eat!

Earl Cooks Weeknight "Breakfast for Dinner"

We often have what others consider breakfast for dinner, and when we do, most often it is scrambled eggs. We like them with lots of cheese and we usually top them with green onions. But tonight my wife (a.k.a."Turkey") wanted the onions sauteed and more mild. I was more than willing to oblige, since variety is the spice of life, I sauteed the onions, whipped up the eggs in my handy little mixer and before I knew it, it was time to add the shredded cheese! Scrambled eggs are by far the quickest way to get a protein rich meal on the table.

My wife likes hers with ketchup, but I prefer Chili Sauce, which is basically very chunky ketchup, which I learned to eat when my mother made a large batch of it for my father when I was a child. I later found it in the grocery stores and they called "Homemade Chili Sauce" which is what we called too!. Heinz also makes a version, and most grocery chains have their own version. Not to be confused with salsa, this is mild, like ketchup, with the chunky freshness of salsa. When my dad later ran out of the real homemade, he switched to Tabasco, which isn't close. He didn't do the shopping and the good stuff wasn't available in the coffee shops he frequented. I also like mine with toast because it helps me shovel the eggs toward my fork, My toast was a delicious piece of my wife's homemade bread slathered with butter. Dinner is complete—veggies—proteins—carbs!

McDonald's Does BACON in a Big Way - A Review

Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese,
pickles, onions – on a sesame seed bun and now with BACON!

I  don't have  anything good or bad to say about McDonald's as a general rule. It does seem that they try to get away with as little quality and innovation as the market will bear. That said, today's fast food market in the U.S. is driven by McDonald's! They could use this power for good, and now they have! They are offering BACON on several dishes including their flagship BIG MAC®. They also have a Quarter Pounder® with Bacon and Cheesy Bacon fries.

As anyone who knows me can attest, I like bacon. I have tried bacon gum, bacon toothpicks, bacon toothpast, bacon floss...I have a bacon necktie and a shirt with a bacon slogan on it. I have tried it on many dishes but until now, never on a Big Mac®. It was lunchtime and I was passing a local McDonald's so I thought it was a great way to buy and try their newest offering. Pictured at right is a comparison with mine on the left side and theirs, (as pictured on their website), on the right. I don't think any restaurant can claim their food tastes as good as they MAKE it look, so I am always willing to TASTE it and decide. I may be at a bit of a disadvantage since the Big Mac® has never been my favorite burger at McDonald's, but when I worked at Wal-Mart, you could smell the bacon cooking as it wafted through the vents.
Let's begin:

The Big Mac® Bacon: This was a good burger! The bacon made it better and I don't have anything bad to say. They actually put a fair amount of bacon on each burger and though I would like more, that's my problem. I would recommend they make this a permanent menu item!

The Cheesy Bacon Fries: Normally, I like fries at McDonald's. These were NOT good! The bacon was okay, but the cheese was HORRIBLE! It was worse than any canned cheese I have ever tasted. Next time I might say "Cheesy Bacon Fries please...hold the cheese!" No. I will never order these again.

As always, McDonald's knows how to cross promote. Left is a clip of the bag my food came in. I have yet to try the Quarter Pounder® with Bacon, but I am sure it will be good too. Funny thing, the Quarter Pounder is Daughter #1's favorite, but she doesn't much care for bacon (we're still awaiting the DNA test because she might not be related😊)

Try the Big Mac® Bacon! DO NOT TRY THE CHEESY BACON FRIES!!!

"Turkey" Pressure Cooks Artichokes - Simple IS Better

Before I married my lovely wife, (a.k.a. "Turkey"),  more than 40 years ago, I had never eaten an artichoke (in fact, I had tried to avoid foods with the word 'choke' in them).

One of our wedding gifts was a Presto Deluxe pressure cooker in the lovely 70's color of Avocado Green and stenciled with animals, vegetables, and kitchen implements (shown at the bottom). A pressure cooker was also something I was unfamiliar with. Our kitchen growing up didn't have one, but my lovely wife knew just what to do — read the directions, follow the recipe guide — things I rarely do! One of the first and best uses of the new device is artichokes! We used to eat these regularly as our daughters grew up, and they loved them too. Don't confuse these with the canned or bottled stuff in the grocery store. These take real work to cook & real work to eat them right, but man, are they worth it.

 If you have never eaten a whole artichoke, a brief anatomy lesson is on the right, alongside  the required bowl of melted whole butter required to enjoy each petal. One may say that anything dipped in a bowl of butter is good, and I won't argue with that, but the act of peeling, dipping and then scraping the bit of artichoke flesh dripping in butter left on the petal is unique. I am a bit of a purist and butter is all I need, but my wife does like a bit of lemon on hers. And once you devour all of the petals, remove the thin purply covers, you get to the choke, which is aptly named, but once you remove it you are left with the heart.

Yes, the heart is what every one wants, bottles, or cans, and there is a reason—It is like butter coated smoothness, and then it is gone😒.

In the past, I have recommended frozen artichoke hearts, and they are fine, but the experience of eating them freshly cooked by my wife is light years bond those! Obviously, you can't have hers, but try them in your pressure cooker or instant pot or even in a steamer basket!

Earl & "Turkey" Cook Trader Joe's Wonton Soup

I love shopping at Trader Joe's! They have some great people, products that are unique or hard to find at the normal grocery store, and most products are their own private label! But don't think generic or cheap. Their products are reasonably priced and often imported. That said, sometimes their frozen products have failed to be what we expected. But I am always on the lookout for something new and tasty. On this visit I found Trader "Ming's" Chicken & Vegetable Wonton Soup. It looked good at first glance, but then I noticed it was microwave only, which always worries me. It had an uncooked protein, a wonton wrapper, and frozen carrots...three items I normally don't care to micro-zap. But the picture looked tasty, and we rarely go out to eat Chinese food, and I never cook it, so i bought one for each of us, and we each cooked our own.

My wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") had me go first. All I had to do was add about 5 ounces of water and microwave it for about 5 minutes in the provided bowl and voila, it's soup! I topped it with fresh ground pepper, added a dash of Soy Sauce and it was great! My wife even said it was good enough to do all over again. For a quick, satisfying meal, it is nice to have on hand!

Conclusion:
Taste ⭐⭐⭐⭐(Very good)
Price 💲💲(Really nice)

P.S.: I read a review today that said they didn't care it. We must have been eating different meals. Nothing they said applied to our meals!

Earl Compares Three Cheese Snacks

I can't express how much I like CHEESE! It is not only good by itself, it is good as an ingredient...I can honestly say I have never found a cheese I didn't like! Of course there are some I like more than others and some that are usually out of my price range (that's what I love about grocery stores that have good cheese sections - THE SAMPLES!) It will come as no surprise then that cheese snacks are almost always in my cheese keeper (fridge). For this post I am reviewing three cheese snacks. One is the one my #1 Daughter loves, one is a favorite of my wife (a.k.a. "Turkey"), and one is a newcomer to the marketplace at Sam's Club, Members Mark Jack Snack Cheese.

Let me start at the very beginning...a very good place to start, with the Jack Snack. I expected this to be a knockoff, like so many store brands. In fact, I was surprised that knockoffs of Babybel hadn't happened before now, at least near me. But when I opened it and tasted it, I was pleasantly surprised. From the name, I expected it to be a Monterrey Jack, but nothing on the package identified the type of cheese, just it's components. It is a semi-soft cheese, but not like the Babybels I have tried. It was sharper and tangy-er, a bit like Swiss, but not really, and I loved it. They come in a bag of 26 and run about 29¢ each. If you like cheese, you should buy these! As you can see from my photo, they do not have a nice red coating as the Babybels do, but that really means less trash!

The next in this taste test is Mini Babybel Mozzarella style. This is Daughter #1's favorite. It's texture is semi-soft, it's flavor is VERY mild, and much like mozzarella in bricks at the store. It seems an attempt to compete with string cheese, but this is NOT string cheese. It is smooth and quite delicate. No rubbery cheese here, and of course, no strings...don't even try. I like it, even if it has no identifiable flavor profile. These run 35¢ each and are also sold in a bag of 26.

My final review is my wife's favorite of the three. Mini Babybel light. "Turkey" (a.k.a. my wife) does not like cheese plain. On crackers, as an ingredient, melted on top of...fine. She likes to take one of these and mix it with her scrambled egg for lunch, or on a cracker with a Little Smokie for a game-time snack. I started buying these rather than the original to cut some fat calories from our lives. It hasn't worked, but I still have hope. These are very nice to have around. Like the mozzarella style, they are semi-soft and wrapped in plastic and red wax coating to remind you of it's heritage, coming from a French version of the Dutch EDAM cheese, which also is often red wax coated. Surprisingly, this is the most expensive of the 3, running 38¢ each, at Sam's. Not much, but if you extrapolate it to price per pound, it is more than $8/pound!

I started my taste test with trying to take a similar sized bite from each of the three. As you can tell from the photo, the Jack Snack is larger in diameter but also slightly less thick. All three weigh in at ¾ of an ounce.

I also tried them on a cracker. My cracker of choice is a Club Cracker. It's buttery goodness compliments the creamy texture and the salt kicks the flavor a bit, but my rankings remained unchanged with or without the cracker.


 My rankings are  as follows:

• First: Jack Snack—I liked the tangy element this offered, and the price is also the lowest.
• Second: Mini Babybel LIGHT—Because of the fat calories. It almost came in last because of it's added cost.
• Third: Mini Babybel Mozzarella style—This is a great snack and only came in third because I have so many other mozzarellas to chose from, I don't need another, but I may sneak one when I am at Daughter #1's!

My price comparisons were all from Sam's club, and Mini Babybels are quite a bit more at the grocery store. 

There are many more cheese snacks available, I chose these because I had them available for comparison. While I have had string cheese that wasn't stellar, mostly I would choose cheese over candy bars any day!

Earl Gets a Leg (and Thigh) Up on Lunch

My wife brought home a lovely rotisserie chicken so I could make a homemade chicken noodle soup. One of the best deals in most supermarkets and warehouse stores are their rotisserie chickens. Whether you use them for soup or one of the myriad of other dishes, or even just sit down and eat them caveman style, you cant go wrong. For my soup, I need the meat to place in my vegetable broth for a quasi-homemade chicken soup. Just one thing...my wife doesn't care for dark meat!  This is a win for me because I do! I set the chickens hind quarters aside for me for lunch later and this post is the result.

I don't care much for proteins heated in a microwave — especially if the are bone-in, and chicken NEVER! A microwave changes their flavor and textures to something I consider inedible. So I have these hind quarters from the rotisserie chicken and I have decisions to make. My first thought is chicken salad, always a great lunch, but no, I want to eat them as I did in my youth, when we would all scream for the legs, so I decided to heat them up whole. Not in the microwave, on my stove top grill! I heat the grill up, place them on it and use a bacon press to give it some nice crispiness and lovely grill marks.

It takes a bit longer to get them warm, but the flavor is worth it. If you don't have a grill pan, you can place them on a wire rack in the oven or even a skillet. 

I ate them caveman style and enjoyed every bite. 

Earl Cooks Smoked Brisket & Veggies for Sunday Dinner

Roast Beef was one of my mom's favorite Sunday dinners to cook, because it was a one-pot meals that could cook while we were at Sunday Services. On the TV series "Big Bang Theory Howard Wolowitz's mother makes a nice brisket, and of course for St. Patrick's Day corned beef brisket becomes corned beef & cabbage. We never had brisket growing up, just whatever roast was on sale. This last summer I was introduced to Capt. Len's Smoked brisket, and fell in love!

In years past when I had brisket in other BBQ places it was okay, but often dry and not real flavorful.

But the Captain's is Special. Shown Right is a whole smoked brisket after the Captain's rub, developed over years, and then smoked for many hours. Below is the piece I was working with for our dinner.

I placed the brisket in my favorite slow cooker, to bring it up to temp. I don't need to add additional seasonings and it is fully cooked, so I line the slow cooker with onion slices to provide moisture and protect the brisket. Quartered Yukon Gold potatoes are placed on top of the onions and the juices from the brisket will run down and make them brown and luscious. A few carrots are placed around the crock-pot. I made a simple Au Jus to drizzle over all and leftover brisket becomes an awesome Sunday dinner.

I always want to have extra brisket on hand for this and many other meals. It goes great in Ramen, stew, sandwiches and I made some Jerky that was a real hit and I will share in an upcoming post.

Earl Eats Wendy's Giant Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger Meal - A Review

It seems to me that when I see an ad for a new food product, I take it as a challenge! I don't know why but I want to compare and contrast whatever they are offering with their prior offers or similar offerings from their competition. This post is no different. Wendy's advertised a limited time offering of a GIANT Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, I had to give it a go. The pictures on the left show mine on the top with a side view. And below the picture Wendy's has. I am no food stylist, but you can see the difference. This combo is only $5 and includes 4 chicken nuggets, a small fry, the Giant Jr. and a drink. My break down is $1 for the fries, $1 for 4 nuggets $1 for a small drink, making the Giant Jr. $2.

Results & Conclusions:
First let me say that I will buy this again if the limited time isn't too limited. Next let me tell you that the Wendy's original JBC has always been one of my favorite bargain burgers because, well, BACON! And while this did not look like the advertised burger, it was good and relatively tasty!. You can get bigger drinks at other fast food places and you can get 10 nuggets for a buck at Burger King, though Wendy's are the second best (the best being Chick-Fil-A), and fries are, well fries.

When compared to the other $5 combos out there, this is at the top of the pile and blows away Taco Bell's $5 offerings. If you like Wendy's burgers, you should try this.

One of the things I like about this burger is that it has leaf lettuce and a nice slice of tomato. Their meat is never frozen and I think that shows, mostly in the texture. They say it is twice the beef and twice the bacon, and it tastes like it!!

Earl Eats Beyond - Way Beyond!

For my first post of the year, I never expected this! Let me clarify that this is NOT a move toward a vegan or vegetarian way of life. In my household we are meatatarian all the way, but events came together and voilà! I found myself eating a meatless burger at a fast food joint!
Let me explain the events that created this collision.
We had a family wedding reception to attend and didn't have time to eat beforehand. Just as we left, the weekly load of junk-mail arrived and I noticed something strange...Carl's Jr. is now offering MEATLESS burgers! I put that tidbit of knowledge in the back of my mind and we went to the reception. At the reception we could have loaded up on pastries and punch, but I decide we should stop somewhere on the way home to get a burger. There was a Carl's Jr. en route, and I decided I wanted to try their meatless marvel. They call it the "Beyond Meat Famous Star". It isn't cheap at $6.50 for the burger alone, but I decide to give it a try, and was I ever surprised! It looked like a burger, had all the condiments of a burger and even the almost melted slice of American cheese was there! (Yeah, I know that part isn't vegan, so sue me...or leave it off). Now for the tests...taste and texture. The taste was much like every fast food burger and surprisingly beefy for a no-meat burger. The texture was a bit off, but I don't think I would have noticed if I hadn't know it wasn't beef. It had a graininess to it, but better than most dollar burger offerings. It does have a bit of a preformed look to it but no worse than most fast food burgers.

And now the nutrition numbers. I normally don't post this kind of info because normally I don't care. But I thought I it was interesting on TWO points. The numbers are almost identical except for #1-Iron The Beyond has more than DOUBLE the iron of the beef #2-Cholesterol, the Beyond has NONE. 

I should note for anyone who might be vegan, that the Beyond Burger Patty is certified VEGAN, but the Carl's Jr. burger is NOT. It is prepared with mayonnaise (eggs) and is not produced in a vegan facility, something I didn't know was even a thing! Of course the American cheese makes it non-vegan too, although the jury is still out on whether their is really dairy in many of those slices😏.

You can now buy the patties in most large supermarket chains. The plant protein comes from peas, which was a surprise because, as I stated earlier, I have never cared about alternate sources of protein because I am perfectly happy with eating chicken, pork, and beef in all of their forms.
In Conclusion:
Go try this! It is tasty and filling. I won't be replacing burgers with it anytime soon, but a surprise is always welcome! Next time I may try it without cheese and add sliced avocado instead!

Earl Cooks Bacon Topped Brussels Sprouts & Mushroom Ravioli

Sometimes is is fascinating to find out where one's food comes from. Sometimes, not. They say you don't want to know how hot dogs are made, but this is about the origins of Brussels Sprouts. From time to time Trader Joe's has the full stalks for sale. I had to pick one up when another shopper said that once you taste them fresh from the stalk, they will seem like another food. We like Brussels Sprouts at our house. I'm not sure when I first tried them, probably after getting married, but we have tried them many ways since. I usually get frozen because they are fine, but this Brussels Sprout Stalk sort of reached out to me. It was about 3 feet long and had the sprouts growing in a somewhat random pattern all along it's length.

 The Stalks grow in fields, mostly upright with broad leaves at their base, as pictured on the right. They have random outcroppings along the length which look like stalks for leaves.

For this dish, I decided I wanted bacon-wrapped Brussels Sprouts, but then decided that was too much work! After cooking the sprouts, maybe I should say a bit overcooking them, I instead plased a half slice of bacon, anchored with a toothpick, in each sprout, which I had halved and then pan-seared.

To accompany the sprouts, I cooked a package (frozen) of Trader Joe's Mushroom Ravioli with Truffle Sauce. I thought it was tasty, but my wife, who doesn't care for mushrooms or pasta, was unimpressed. I had hoped it would be similar to my favorite dish at Olive Garden, mushroom ravioli in garlic Alfredo, but it wasn't and I don't think it is still on the menu at Olive Garden either, but it was very tasty, although I doubt I will buy it again, (you know, happy wife, happy life.)

I enjoyed this departure from a meat-centric meal, and not relying on salad to be the only way eat a bit lighter, even though I will never fix this meal again, I will use what I learned for future meals.

Christmas Gifts for A Cook Too Poor to be a FOODIE

Merriam-Webster's definition of a foodie is :foodie noun food·​ie | \ˈfü-dē : a person having an avid interest in the latest food fads. This is not just because I am relatively poor; I love traditional comfort foods. The only thing I would like to do is have some of the equipment and ingredients I see used on the food shows. My wife and I have for years gone Christmas shopping together and we just pick out things as we walk through the store. No surprises, no returns. It has worked well, but this Christmas I started looking for things earlier than usual and found a couple of items I thought we would like and could use. These are not the price or quality used by chefs on TV shows, but practical kitchen items we can use.

❶The first item I bought, is much the same as the one we use and love, so this is a backup with improvements. It happens to be an "as seen on TV" item. What does it do? It cooks EGGS. it is the Copper Chef Perfect Egg Maker. I first discovered this little gem under the name DASH Rapid Egg Cooker on clearance at Wal-Mart and we fell in love with it. In case you are unaware, boiling is not a heat, rather a function of air pressure. At our altitude, 4,488 feet, water boils at 180℉, NOT 212℉ as you were taught. All of this science-y stuff means if I want a boiled egg, it must cook LONGER. Steam, however, carries 5 times the cooking energy of water. These cookers use Steam to cook the eggs! Shown at left, are the 3 ways it cooks eggs. Hard boiled, omelette-like, and poached-like. The improvement over the original is adding a ring and a second tray. It can now cook up to 14 eggs! (my original -  only 6). It was at a reduced price and now we have an improved model. If you get one, 2 things - to cook the eggs properly, you must PIERCE the shell on the wide end, and you will need so experiment to get it to how hard you want your eggs cooked. For my wife's liking, that meant 2 extra minutes in the steam after it shuts off. This may be the most used small appliance we own.

 ❷This may be my favorite gift this year. It is the Hessler Gourmet Series Surgical Stainless Steel Cutlery Set. I watched a demonstration in Sam's Club while shopping and I am a sucker for cutlery, but only when I can get a deal. The deal here is it is GUARANTEED for LIFE. The set included a VERY sharp chef's knife, 2 carving knives, and 2 paring knives.It also came with what they call a Robo Wisk, a small, spring action wisk, which my wife said was "cute".

❸We love fresh ground pepper and salt, however, my wife (a.k.a."Turkey") likes her pepper finely ground and I like coarse grind. For her I bought this gravity activated Salt & Pepper Mill set. Tip it over and it grinds! Fresh pepper makes almost every savory dish complete and is a requirement on egg or potato dishes. 

If you think you may be over doing it with salt, try fresh ground pepper! You may find that you reduce the need for it because of the great flavor added by the fresh ground pepper. Not the pepper ground so fine you can barely see it. Fresh ground pepper and a nice, course salt can add so much. "...but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men". This is from Matthew 5:13 KJV. I think it means bad salt is only good to be used as ice melter.😀The same goes for pre-ground pepper!

 

❹This next item may be the most foodie item, and is a gift from Daughter #1. It is a Brie Cheese Baker Set. We love Brie, but have never baked it. It is just the right size for a small wheel of brie, but I have the warehouse store large economy size wheel. When I bake some, I will keep the blog updated.

❺There was a time when mere mention of "Trader Joe's" evoked thoughts of foodiness. I had never been in one. Finally! One opened nearby! It is just plain fun! The people are great, the prices are reasonable, and they have products hard to find or non-existent in other stores. This year 3 items caught my eye:

• Stroopwafels - a Dutch caramel waffle  cookie. YUM!
  
• Cocoa Batons - much like Piroulines. Creamy and crunchy,
• Taste Test of Caramels - This one intrigued me most. It is a selection of 12 caramels, and the task is to guess which flavor is which. It is a lot of fun and one of the tastiest tests I've ever had. We make a game of it and see who's taste buds are best!

❻This next one is the most thoughtful. My dear mother-in-law, knowing I like to cook, bought me a Veggetti. If you haven't seen the infomercial, a clip of it is on the right. We have a Veggetti Pro, and a Veggetti, but the thought was what made this special.

❼Lastly, we watch a lot of PBS cooking shows and my wife became enamored with the measuring cups Annabel Langbein, a host from New Zealand, uses. I found some quite similar in the Pioneer Woman collection at my local Wal-Mart, and knew she would like them. They have what I call a flea market look, each having a different design and trim. They are porcelain and the measurements are marked on the inside. I gave this to my lovely wife and will never be able to use it, but thought it needed to be included here.

Earl Eats at 3 Polish Dog Places - Reviews and a Comparison

We love hot dogs at our house. In fact my wife and I used to have a standing date at Sonic when they had their hot dogs on sale. We still eat there on occasion, because they have great hot dogs, though not like we once did. Today, I am reviewing not hot dogs but Polish Dogs, because I like the little bit of kick the seasoned meat adds. My wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") not so much, but that's okay because she actually thinks it's okay to put KETCHUP on a hot dog, well, they say there's no accounting for taste! I will start the reviews with my first Polish dog experience -  Wienerschnitzel.

Theirs is not just a Polish Dog, but a Polish sandwich. As a teenager we would go downtown to the only Wienerschnizel in the STATE to buy their mustard dogs, back then using Oscar Meyer hot dogs, for just a quarter. My friends and I would get a dollar's worth and be in heaven! But times change. Now there are more Wienerschnizels, but not near me. I was driving by one and thought it would be a great idea. And while the food was what I expected, the service was absolutely HORRIBLE. I went to the drive-up, so expectations were low to begin with, but this may have been the most rude fast food order taker EVER! The picture above (top right) is their website photo, below that is the sandwich I got and right the polish dog on a slice of Swiss cheese and a nice dill pickle. There is mustard too, but you can't see it here. The rye bread is mild, but the whole sandwich is just what I wanted, without the bad attitude from the man who took my order and my money.

Next, a surprise! Sam's Club sells a Nathan's Polish Dog for only 99￠cents! Add a giant drink for another 60 cents and you have a real deal! We like the prepackaged kraut, (though not the best) and the chopped onion is okay. These are not glowing endorsements of the product, but the quality of the Nathan's dog is as high as there is. As an aside here, Costco offers a similar deal but use their store brand hot dogs. Sam's has taken it up a notch. It is a great way to NOT shop hungry too!

This may not be the best eating experience you will ever have, but it may be the best bargain in all of Sam's club.

The last stop on this "Polish-palooza" is also my first visit to this place. I have heard good things about their food and have waited far too long to eat here. They do just one thing - DAWGS! Polish or all beef. They are grilled and have a great char. They are cross hatched, as their logo shows, and they are quite proud of their "Special Sauce". It is about the consistency of a vinaigrette and very sweet. I ordered mine with the sauce and little else to try it for the first time. While the sauce was tasty, I don't think it added to the almost perfectly cooked "dawg" and buns milled locally and made fresh daily. They have just 2 offerings, and chips and drinks. The price is not cheap, but it is worth it. In fact, it is the most pricey of the 3 offerings, but every bite was was nice.

In Conclusion:
The best Polish Dog was from J.Dawg. Best Quality, Best Cooked, Best Service.
The best deal is Sam's. High quality meat and a variety of condiments.
Sadly, in last place was the first place I ever had a Polish dog...Wienerschnitzel. I love the rye but wish I enjoyed the experience more.

1st⭐⭐⭐⭐ J. Dawg - for the food
2nd⭐⭐ Sam's Club - for the deal
3rd⭐⭐ Wienerschnitzel - because of the bread, in spite of the service